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08/24/2006CITY OF GRAND TERRACE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - AUGUST 24, 2006 A regular meeting of the City Council of the Cityof Grand Terrace was called to order in the Council Chambers, Grand Terrace Civic Center, 22795 Barton Road, Grand Terrace, California, on August 24, 2006, 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 Tracey Martinez, Deputy City Clerk Lary Ronnow, Finance Director Gary Koontz, Community Development Director Richard Shields, Building & Safety Director Lt. Hector Guerra, Sheriff s Department John Harper, City Attorney ABSENT: Steve Berry, Assistant City Manager The City Council meeting was opened with Invocation by Councilwoman Lee Ann Garcia, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Jim Miller. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL MEETING ITEMS TO DELETE - None SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2A. Commendation - Outgoing Planning Commissioner Bidney Mayor Pro Tern Cortes read a Commendation for Robert Bidney for his involvement in the design, review and approval of projects that have enhanced the quality of life of all those who live or do business in Grand Terrace and for the outstanding community service he has provided to the City of Grand Terrace through the Planning Commission and presented him with the Commendation. Robert Bidney, thanked the Council for the presentation. He stated that he enjoyed serving his four year term as a Planning Commissioner. He stated that you can never make everyone Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 2 happy. The Planning Commission takes the whole City into perspective. The Planning Commissioners study each project and make their decision based on all the information that they are provided and the input that they receive. The Planning Commission is very dedicated and want to do what is right for the citizens of Grand Terrace. 2B. Recognition - Grand Terrace Little League Softball 9-10 All -Star Team Mayor Ferr6 reported that the 9-10 year old Grand Terrace Little League All -Star Softball Team that won the District 21 Championship, Section 7 Championship and finished third in the Southern California State Tournament was being recognized at the meeting. She introduced each of the girls, Manager and Coaches and expressed how proud the City is of them and presented each of them with a certificate. David Fisher, Team Manager, wanted to acknowledge the girls for their dedication that they put forth. He reported that they spent about 6 weeks in All -Star competition practices and games. Out of 45 days they only had 5 days off. He stated that they not only represented the league but the City of Grand Terrace as well in winning the three tournaments and finishing third in State. CONSENT CALENDAR Patricia Farley,12513 Michigan Street, stated that she knows that it is hard to get everything down exactly in the minutes as it is said, however, sometimes very important statements are made that some people don't realize when they are typing it. She feels that the minutes did not include all of Lee Swertfeger's statements and feels that the following statement should be included in the August 10, 2006 minutes: Not only did he claim to be in the trucking business since the sixties but that he also stated that he had been charging people to park on his property for all those forty plus years. It was the consensus of the Council to direct the Deputy City Clerk to amend the August 10, 2006 Minutes to include Mr. Swertfeger's comments as verbatim and to bring them back for approval at the next meeting. CC-2006-95 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA, CARRIED 5-0, to approve the following Consent Calendar Items with the removal of item 3A., 3C., and 3D.: ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR 3A. Approve Check Register Dated August 24, 2006 3D. Lease Agreement - Colton Joint Unified School District Community Services El Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 3 Building CC-2006-96 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER MILLER, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, CARRIED 5-0 to approve the following Consent Calendar Items that were removed for discussion: 3A. Approve Check Register Dated August 24, 2006 3D. Lease Agreement - Colton Joint Unified School District Community Services Building PUBLIC COMMENT Don Faris, 2482 Gail Drive, Riverside, stated that there is a problem everywhere with where to park trucks. He stated that there are only 8 to 10 trucks that park at Swertfeger's equipment. He stated that vandalism and security are issues for owner operators. He would Iike to be able to continue to park his truck at Swertfeger's Equipment. Graham Wetzel, 12355 Vivienda Avenue, he would like the City Council to allow him to continue parking his truck and trailer at Swertfeger's Equipment. He has been parking there for forty years and has never had a problem with theft or vandalism. His trucks have always been maintained and inspected regularly by the State of California Highway Patrol and has passed every inspection for low emissions and does not make excessive noise when it is running. He doesn't drive it on the weekends nor does he leave for work during the night. He leaves around 6 a.m. and is back in the yard at 6 p.m. The trucks that the neighbors are complaining about are dirt haulers that are no longer there. Chuck Vahovick, 12680 Sandburg Way, expressed his concern with every action being overturned because of a few individuals. He thought Grand Terrace is for everyone not just one person. He feels that the City needs to reconsider how they delegate their abilities to progress. Bill Hays, De Berry Street, reported that at the last Council Meeting he read an article from the Press Enterprise dated April 28, 2006 regarding the time constraints that Mr. Jacobsen set upon himself. He stated that Mr. Schwab answered that there would be a plan B. He requested clarification because the DDA shows that all of Mr. Jacobsen's time constraints have run out as of 151h on this month. He would like to know how Mr. Jacobsen can continue on the Town Center Project when his time has expired and he would like to know the status of Miguel's and the location of it. He stated again, for the fourth time, that he did a written document request for the disposition of the 1996 Ford Crown Victoria. He has been told that there is no documentation of what happened to that vehicle. Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 4 Patricia Farley, 12513 Michigan Street, stated that Mr. Lee Swertfeger was finally notified that it has been illegal for him to allow truck parking on his property for over forty years without being zoned for it and without proper permits, as he stated at the last Council Meeting. Even though he has been charging people, as he stated all these years, no mention was made regarding any damage to streets or how in allowing this has affected the quality of life for the neighbors. She feels that the fees of $41,150 should never have been waived. Mr. Swertfeger stated that he was unaware that he had been doing anything wrong and has always followed all of the rules that the City has required, however, records seem to prove otherwise. This type of operation was never even mentioned in the original conditions of approval regarding his Conditional Use Permit that was approved in 2001 of which he has been in violation because of non-compliance for many years. She believes that he is still in non-compliance with the fire department regarding what is required by them related to his handling and disclosure of hazardous materials and the City of Grand Terrace has to ensure that it's businesses meet the State and Federal Laws. Also, permits that were required in 2001 by the AQD do not appear to exist and his business was not listed on the AQMD chart for the new high school and should be. Staff knew that he had been in violation of NPDES at times and may have allowed it according to Richard Shields as he stated in minutes recently. He also stated that all of this should improve when Mr. Swertfeger is allowed to expand with a 12,000 square foot building which never should have been approved by Staff and the Planning Director with his history of non-compliance and the many documents that have been submitted recently regarding his violations and for the most part have been ignored. Other people in the City should be outraged about this and need to come forward. The Council shouldn't represent just one person. She believes that Mr. Swertfeger hasn't received the letters that Mr. Schwab sent listing the violations. The City has an obligation to see that he receives that letter and he has a right to get it so that she doesn't receive letters from his attorney accusing her of harassing her for standing up for her rights and saying that he hasn't violated anything. She can prove that the letter says he has and she has every right to protect her property and so do other residents of the City. She questioned where Miguel's is going to be located because at the last Planning Commission they said grading would begin in approximately two weeks. Laura Austin, 12356 Michigan, stated that she knows the Mayor prides herself on having an orderly professional dignified meeting and if anyone in the audience laughs, claps or speaks out of turn you have told them right then that they are out of order, which she sees nothing wrong with. However, she feels that she shouldn't single out a few people. At the last Council meeting she spoke for only 2 minutes, the entire time Mr. Swertfeger laughed at her, which could be heard across the room. When Patricia Farley got up and spoke for her three minutes, he laughed the whole three minutes. It's on the tape and people mentioned it to her. She would like the Mayor to be fair. She sympathizes with the truck drivers, she knows that it is hard to find places to park the trucks, but they bought a home and they don't want the trucks in and out of there. The first gentleman was from Riverside, where is the sales tax on parking those trucks and is a Riverside resident going to come in and give a donation to Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 5 repair our streets. They do let the trucks idle. They don't want to hear the noise or smell the fumes. She feels sad for them but would like them to find a commercial street. Stacey West, 12438 Michigan Street, stated that they have had several issues with the property and business. For forty years they have not charged for forty years worth of space rental. The Fire Department has been at their property numerous times with inspections, no problems. They are not required to have AQMD. As far as a harassment letter to Patricia Farley, yes they have had numerous harassment issues with Patricia Farley, not only with their business property but also with her mother and father's personal property. She does not know what her issue is with her family but she has one. She doesn't know why these people are complaining when they are buying next to commercial land. It is not their fault were zoned for that area. They are in perfect right to do what they are doing with their property. Because they are a commercial business they pay extra property taxes that helps with street improvements and feels that they need to do better research. Neil Derry, Southern California Edison Representative, came to discuss the recent rate adjustments. The rates have gone up by an average of 15% in the system wide average. That is everyone's rates will be affected differently depending on the size of the home and energy efficiency of the home. June and July bills were significantly up. He suggested that customers look at the website at sce.com, there are many opportunities for savings and energy efficiency programs there as well as rebates and there is also opportunities to do home efficiency surveys on that site. Due to the extreme weather and bill impacts, SCE has asked the California Public Utilities Commission to postpone additional residential rate increases from August 1, 2006 to November 1, 2006. Customers with questions about their bills can call 1-800-655-4555. Cynthia Bidney, 12219 Pascal, presented a measure for Council's consideration and inclusion on an upcoming agenda. She read the first page of the prepared packet with the entire document being entered into the record and available for public review. She would appreciate it if she can complete the first page without interruption and would then like a short moment to summarize: An Ordinance of the City of Grand Terrace, California The People of the City of Grand Terrace Hereby Ordain and Enact as Follows: Title 2, Division 3 of the Codified Ordinances (Ordinance 187) of the City of Grand Terrace is replaced in full as follows: (The Ordinance where ED is Allowed, City Clerk should be able to find the right designation) Whereas: Section 1. This Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE EXERCISE OF EMINENT DOMAIN FOR PRIVATE PURPOSES. Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 6 Whereas: Section 2. The City of Grand Terrace may not exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire property from any private Owner thereof, without such Owner's consent, when the purpose of the acquisition is to convey the property so acquired to any private party. Whereas: As used in this section, "Owner" means the owner of the fee title interest in the property to be acquired. Whereas: Section 3. Eminent domain is not to be used to further private economic development. The City of Grand Terrace shall not initiate or participate in any proceedings, or take any action to condemn private property for the purpose of making such property available for private development, nor shall the City participate, directly or indirectly, in such takings. Whereas: "Participation" means contribution, lending, providing, pledging, or foregoing, any funds, property, credit, in -kind services, or incurring any debt to lease obligation or providing any other thing of value to an agency, organization, or project. Whereas: Section 4. Property acquired by the City of Grand Terrace through the use of eminent domain after the effective date of this charter amendment must be held or used for a public use by the City for a minimum twenty year period prior to sale, lease, transfer or other disposition by the City. Whereas: Section 5. Amendment or Repeal: This initiative may be amended or repealed only by the voters at a City wide election. Whereas: Section 6. Effective Date: Pursuant to the State of California Municipal Code Section 92179217. If a majority of the voters voting on a proposed ordinance vote is in favor, the ordinance shall become a valid and binding ordinance of the City. The ordinance shall be considered as adopted upon the date that the vote is declared by the legislative body, and shall go into effect 10 days after that date. No Ordinance that is either proposed by initiative petition and adopted by the vote of the legislative body of the City without submission to the voters, or adopted by the voters, shall be repealed or amended except by a vote of the people, unless provision is other wise made in the original ordinance. She would like to offer the Council the opportunity to sponsor this measure by signing as signatures and sponsors of the measure, furthermore she would like to request this measure proposal be placed on the Agenda for full Council consideration, public hearings and vote. She provided two copies for Council signatures so that they can back up their words. Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 7 City Manager Schwab, stated that in regards to the truck parking issue at Swertfeger Trucking, Staff met with them and go over several issues regarding their expansion and the building of their new building. They agreed that they did not have a permit for the parking of the vehicles on their parcel and they agreed at that time to issue notices to those truckers to ask them to remove their trucks from the property and to discontinue storing them there. Obviously based on the comments heard tonight, they have done that. Since this item is not on the agenda, there is nothing that the City Council can do today. Right now there is no permitted use for truck storage or parking, their use is for the manufacture, sales, and repair of trucks and trailers. If they wish to pursue a use that included a truck storage, Staff would have to evaluate whether that would even for within their current zoning. The only options that they have is to make application to the Planning Department to ask if there would be a possible way for them to do that. It would require the Staff to then evaluate it and make a recommendation to the Planning Commission and that would then come before the City Council depending on what action would need to be taken. If they want this to move forward, he would suggest that they make some type of an application either through a letter to the City or to the Planning Department. There was a question regarding Miguel's, it is located exactly where it was located the last time it was approved. As the Council is aware, the Miguels' moved three times until the location it is now, which is mid block on Barton Road. In regards to the 1996 Ford Crown Victoria, several of the Councilmembers have asked and he has explained to them, five years ago when he purchased the Dodge Durango, his current City Vehicle, he was offered a trade-in by the dealer. At that time Steve Berry paid the City $1,500.00 more than what the dealer offered as a trade-in. Mr. Berry drove it to work for 2 1,12 years at which time he sold it and bought another vehicle. REPORTS 5A. Committee Reports 1. Crime Prevention Committee a. Minutes of July 10, 2006 CC-2006-97 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, CARRIED 5-0, to accept the July 10, 2006 Minutes of the Crime Prevention Committee. 5B. Council Reports Councilmember Hilkey, indicated that he is not happy with Southern California Edison. He stated that when he SCE regarding his bill he was told that he had a 31 % increase in June. He referred to a letter that stated that Edison didn't want customers to face a rate increase this summer. The schedule amortization was August 1, 2006. Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 8 Neil Derry, responded that the rate increase occurred in January and February. There were two rate increases one was 9% and one was 6% system wide average. There was one that was scheduled for August and that is the one that has been put off until November 1, 2006. Councilmember Hilkey, stated that the one that hit him was June and July. Mr. Derry, stated that there was no rate increase in June or July. The rate increases occurred in January and February. Councilmember Hilkey, stated that the woman that he spoke to stated that he has a 31% increase of his rates. Mr. Derry, stated that could not be the case, she made a mistake. Customer rates differ based on baseline, usage and a number of different factor that affect what each individual pays. The August 1, 2006 rate increase that was suppose to go into affect that has been postponed creates a new tier five rate. They currently have four tiers. The first two tiers have not been affected throughout the year. Those are the two rates that are at or j ust above your baseline. Anything above tier two did receive rate increases as of January and February. Those rate increases were due to the cost of natural gas that affect the generation of power. Councilmember Hilkey, stated that he can't do anything about his bill, he has to buy his electricity from Southern California Edison. Everyone is getting socked with outrageous rates. He went through all of the charges that are added to the electric bill. Mr. Derry, responded by giving an explanation of the charges. He stated that he would be happy to sit down and discuss the issues that Mr. Hilkey has. He stated that there are ways that you can make home energy efficient and suggested going to their website for suggestions and options. This is a statewide issue that everyone is dealing with. Councilmember Garcia, stated that she is big on getting information and questioned if the City do a link to Southern California Edison's website. Mr. Derry, responded that they have no control over the city's website, however, there is no problem with SCE if the City would like to do that. Councilmember Garcia, questioned if Edison can write some informational articles for the local papers. Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 9 Mr. Derry, responded in the affirmative. Councilmember Garcia, complimented Grand Terrace Elementary School for providing their newsletter on what is going on at the school. She reported that the Senior Center is up and running again and was pleased to see the newsletter. She noticed the house on the corner of Mt. Vernon and Minona have beautifully landscaped their yard. She questioned the status of the circulation study. City. Manager Schwab, responded that he is unsure of the status of the study and will have Assistant City Manager Berry provide a written comment for the Council when he returns from vacation. Councilmember Miller, suggested placing a no left turn sign on Barton Road near the Sav-on. He stated that he received a letter, as well as the rest of the Council, from Mr. Postmus, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors requesting support of his recommendation for a Charter Amendment which would limit eminent domain and protect property rights. He would like to propose that the City take a look at the resolution and maybe vote on it, if not tonight then later on, and see if Council is in favor of supporting Mr. Postmus. He mentioned that he would like to have a meeting with Swertfeger and any of the concerned citizens that we have to possibly talk out some of the issues. He doesn't know if this is something that still needs to be done but would like to know if there are still issues that need to be addressed. City Manager Schwab, responded that Staff had a meeting with Mr. Swertfeger to discuss. If Council would like to set up a meeting Staff can certainly do that, however, he is unsure what they would like to resolve. Councilmember Miller, feels that things are starting to escalate and is not sure that they will be able to solve anything, however, when you get people around the table and they are able to talk, maybe they can start listening to other ideas and be able to come up with some solutions. He requested that the meeting be adjourned in memory of Gerdy Molini, who passed away this past week from a long courageous battle with cancer. She was a long time resident of Grand Terrace. Mayor Pro Tern Cortes, reported that Chamber of Commerce President, Sid Bailey asked her to remind everyone about the Annual Golf Tournament that will be held on October 27, 2006 at the Shandin Hills Golf Course. It is $75.00 per player, there is a 10% discount if you sign-up and pay before the end of September. She gave her condolences to Gil Molini and his family for their loss. Mayor Ferre, reported that she attended the concert in the park last Friday evening. They estimated 300 to 350 people. It was wonderful. City Staff did a marvelous of setting up and breaking down. There was a book sale from the Friends of the Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 10 Library, Friends of Blue Mountain had a booth, Grand Terrace Woman's Club had a booth and the Grand Terrace Community Soccer Club had a booth selling refreshments. She thanked staff for doing a great job. PUBLIC HEARING - None UNFINISHED BUSINESS 7A. Second Reading of an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Grand Terrace Approving Zone Change No. 06-01 (Z-06-0 1) to Change the Existing RI -20 Zoning to R1-10 and Delete the AG Overlay Zone for an 8.26 Acre Parcel Located on the Northerly Side of Pico Street Starting Approximately 150 Feet Easterly of the Intersection of Pico Street and Kingfisher Road and Environmental Case No. 06-03 (E-06-03) - Mitigated Negative Declaration as Provided by the California Environmental Quality Act Council Procedures CC-2006-98 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER MILLER, CARRIED 5-0, to approve the Second Reading of an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Grand Terrace Approving Zone Change No. 06-01 (Z-06-01) to Change the Existing R1-20 Zoning to R1-10 and Delete the AG Overlay Zone for an 8.26 Acre Parcel Located on the Northerly Side of Pico Street Starting Approximately 150 Feet Easterly of the Intersection of Pico Street and Kingfisher Road and Environmental Case No. 06-03 (E-06-03) - Mitigated Negative Declaration as Provided by the California Environmental Quality Act Council Procedures. NEW BUSINESS 8A. AES - Discussion Item Councilmember Hilkey, indicated that he handed out to each of the Councilmembers a quick recap of the two meetings where AES presented their request for the City to allow a zoning change and a property exchange. He feels that this item is going in a different direction than he feels it was presented to Council. During the two meetings that were held he feels Council was made to believe that the Council was going to have input. Now we hear that the complete application is on its way. He feels that it is moving along quickly. The first hearing is being held in Highgrove and expressed his concern about that. He feels that we don't have a say so on the project and suggested that the Council take a position against the installation of the peaker plant. He feels that this project is going to be an eye sore and a potential pollutant. Councilmember Garcia, stated that she remembers that they told Council the CEC would ask for involvement from the City. She thought that City Hall received information on the hearing. If she thought we could stop it, she would support that, however, she was under the Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 11 impression that although the City would have input but unless we had valid concerns that could be backed up, there probably is not a chance of changing the outcome. Her concern is that Grand Terrace is a small City; take on the fights that we can win. She feels that in order to take on the fight you have to have the facts. She indicated that if she had a choice she would rather not have the peaker plant there but the question is does she want to direct Staff to go and do the research to fight this in the public hearing process of the CEC. She feels that you would probably have to hire an expert to challenge the process. She would like to hear what the rest of the Council has to say. City Attorney Harper, stated that going on the record that the City opposes the project probably isn't going to have much impact because you need to have some factual basis. The CEC is going to make their decision based upon substantial evidence of the record. The one thing, since he has been involved in the process, is that he doesn't know what environmental is being done through CEC. If there is an environmental impact report being done then we have the opportunity to appear in that process. Again, in comes down to us being able to submit contrary evidence if we have a problem with something their EIR says. IF you want to proceed down the path that Councilmember Hickey is suggesting, now is the time to start doing that. You are going to need someone to examine those issues and give recommendations. Given the fact that there is going to be a new high school built in the area, he would think the School District would be interested in the project as well. Councilmember Garcia, questioned if there was a chance ifwe challenged the project and we were able to identify negative impacts that we may be able to get compensation. City Attorney Harper, responded that if the City raises issues that there are potential environmental impacts and based upon those he would presume that AES is going to have to mitigate those effects but compensation is a different story. Councilmember Miller, stated that the city is going to possibly receive $850,000.00 in sales tax revenues from AES. He referred to the question, If we don't approve this project will you look to do the project where the old building is now? The answer was yes. He stated that he remembers asking Staff if we refuse to put the peaker plant where the tank farm is and they build where the current facility is will we still receive the sales tax revenue and the answer was no. He questioned if that was correct. City Manager Schwab, responded that it is not correct. The revenue that was discussed was property tax. There is no sales tax on the generation or sale of electricity. It would strictly be on property tax and in fact, the property tax issues remain the same whether they are on their existing parcel or relocated to the tank farm site. Councilmember Miller, confirmed that even if we were opposed to the project on the new site and they built the peaker plant on the existing site the City would still receive the same amount of property tax funds. When he walked away that night the Council approved the Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 12 project he didn't believe this to be true. He feels that this is the first workshop and that we will be invited and he is looking forward to the process. There is going to be 5 to 10 formal hearings and 5 to 8 public workshops. He feels that we will get information and get a better idea of which way we should go. He stated that his feeling is that we should be watchful of what's happening but feels that we still have an opportunity at the upcoming workshops and that we should wait and see. Mayor Pro Tern Cortes, wanted clarification that regardless of what the Council does it is not their final decision, it is the decision of the CEC. City Manager Schwab, stated that the CEC will take into consideration things that the City will bring up and would have to address them. The CEC is the final decision authority. The City can comment and question their EIR but the actual approval process will be done through the CEC. Mayor Pro Tern Cortes, stated that there will be another and it should be in Grand Terrace. Mayor Ferrd, stated that in the Council Packet mail, she received a letter from the CEC dated August 8, 2006 and shared the following comments that she felt were important: The Energy Commission is responsible for reviewing and ultimately approving or denying all thermo electric power plants. It also said that over the coming months the energy commission will conduct a number of public workshops and hearings on the proposal to determine whether the hvp should be approved for construction and operation and if so under what set of conditions. These workshops provide the public and local state and federal agencies the opportunity to ask questions and provide input on the proposed project. The Energy Commission will issue notices for these workshops and hearings at least 10 to 14 days prior to the meeting. If your constituents would like to participate in the Energy Commission's review of the project they should contact them. The City may participate in the Energy Commission's review of the project and it is her understanding that a staff member will attend all of the meetings. Patricia Farley,12513 Michigan, is alarmed that the Council is not recognizing that they are giving up their rights to go after them in court if you do not formally put in a letter in their EIR complaining about the issues. You must protect the rights of the citizens by doing that. Julie Wav, 690 Studebaker Road, Long Beach, there are clearly a number of questions about the California Energy Commission permitting process, which in understandable because it is a very complex process. She stated that it was their goal to have the first public workshop in the City of Grand Terrace. She looked high and low but was unable to find a location that had the capacity of the availability for the dates that the Energy Commission was available to schedule the hearing. It is certainly their goal and the Energy Commission's goal to have public workshops in the community in which the project will be cited. They will do their best to make sure that the future workshops will be held in Grand Terrace. The Norton Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 13 Younglove Community Center, which is where the first site visit and informational hearing will be held, is about a half mile from the project, so it is very close to the community, which is why they felt it was an acceptable location for this first hearing. Scott Galati, 555 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, feels that there is some confusion because the Energy Commission process is very complex. The first hearing that Councilmember Hilkey was talking about is a formal hearing to determine that an application is complete. That is the only hearing that has taken place. That starts the process. Within 45 days they do their first hearing to introduce the Commissioner to the site, to introduce the staff members to the public and to introduce the site to the public. It is called the site visit and informational hearing. The City should have been contacted for the September 19, 2006 site visit and informational hearing. The purpose ofthat hearing is for the Energy Commission themselves to tell you about their process. No decisions have been made. The application that was filed with the Energy Commission is a two volume set that staff at the Energy Commission is starting to review now. They will write what is called an issue identification report. What is their first impressions, air quality, noise, land use, and visual will often end up in these reports. This is the very beginning of the process, no one has made any decisions at this point. There will be 5 to 8 public workshops and public hearings and there will be formal evidentiary hearings before the Energy Commission ever considers the matter. There will be several documents that will be published. There will be a preliminary staff assessment, which will be like a draft EIR. The Energy Commission will also publish a final staff assessment, which is their final recommendation. At that point, rather than the Commission taking action, they have evidentiary hearings in the local community. The members of the public that want to participate do not need to participate through the City. He urges any member of the public that would like to participate to be granted status as an intervener/member. This means that anything that they would file with the Energy Commission would have to be mail to them as well as anything that the Energy Commission published. Anyone who doesn't want to take on that status can get on as a n interested party and receive everything on site. The application that they filed is in our local library or download the documents on the Energy Commission's website. It is the very beginning, they are no where near the end and they will have plenty of opportunity. We urge your participation. Councilmember Garcia, questioned who from the Staff will be tracking this project. City Manager Schwab, responded that they haven't decided yet but that he, the Assistant City Manager and someone from the Planning Department will attend the first hearing. Councilmember Garcia, requested written reports from each meeting. City Manager Schwab, responded that Staff will do that. Councilmember Garcia, requested that Staff contact the School District and have someone Council Minutes August 24, 2006 Page 14 represent them as well. Councilmember Hilkey, thanked Staff for getting the information together for him and thanked Council for considering the question. He is concerned with the meeting being held in Highrove and feels that it needs to be addressed. He hopes everyone participates and that this project gets its due hearing. CLOSED SESSION - None Mayor Ferr6 adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m. in honor of Gerdy Molini, until the next CRA/City Council Meeting which is scheduled to be held on Thursday, September 14, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. CITY CL 0 of the City a rand Terrace MAY of the City of Grand Terrace III