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09/28/2006CITY OF GRAND TERRACE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - SEPTEMBER 28, 2006 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 September 28, 2006, at 6:00 p.m. PRESENT: Maryetta Ferr6, Mayor Bea Cortes, Mayor Pro Tern Lee Ann Garcia, Councilmember Herman Hilkey, Councilmember Jim Miller, Councilmember Tom Schwab, City Manager Tracey Martinez, Deputy City Clerk Steve Berry, Assistant City Manager Richard Shields, Building & Safety Director ABSENT: Lang Ronnow, Finance Director Gary Koontz, Community Development Director Lt. Hector Guerra, Sheriff s Department John Harper, City Attorney The City Counci 1 meeting was opened with Invocation by Pastor Salim Elias, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Jim Miller. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL MEETING ITEMS TO DELETE - None SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2A. YMCA Swim Program Presentation Sandy O'Donnell, Riverside YMCA Aquatic and PE Director, feels that they had a very successful swim program this summer. She thanked all of the people involved in this partnership to help make it a success. She thanked Steve Berry and the City of Grand Terrace for making the Blue Waves Swim Program a possibility. She thanked Mari for all her hard work, registration organization and customer service. She thanked the Colton Joint Unified School District and their staff at Terrace Hills Middle School for doing a great job this year. She gave a special thank you to the Council Minutes September 28, 2006 Page 2 Riverside YMCA staff for working very hard this season at having a strong commitment to the program and the children of Grand Terrace. They held four two week sessions this summer with almost 130 swimmers in attendance. She stated that as of June 12, 2006, according to the National Safety Council, drowning claims the lives of more that 4,000 each year and children four years of age and younger have the highest death rate due to drowning. The YMCA swim program not only provides teaming how to swim but basic water safety, a positive learning experience and skill levels that are taught in an actual progression. The swim program provided a fun parent child group class designed to be an introduction to swimming and skill preparedness. They offered swim lessons for the children ages 3 to 12 years old that were non -swimmers and stroke development with minimal experienced swimmers. This year they added private swim lessons for any age and ability and it was very successful. They would like to propose to expand next season's program with open recreational swim time from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday for a nominal charge. This would provide the students with practice time for their newly acquired skills and also provide the families in the City of Grand Terrace some pool family fun opportunities. Many of the students learned to swim and the parents were genuinely satisfied. Many of the parents were thrilled to see their children succeed in swimming safely from one end of the pool to the other. Seeing the children jump into the deep end and swim to the edge of the pool was very rewarding for children, parents and the instructors. They hope to continue the successful partnership. 2B. The Friends of Blue Mountain - Denis Kidd Denis Kidd, 22874 Pico Street, Chair of the Friends for BIue Mountain, stated that the goal of their organization is the creation of a park on Blue Mountain like the Box Springs Mountain reserve in Riverside County. They joined the two parks together to form one huge wilderness park in the heart of the Inland Empire. In order to raise money to promote their cause, they are selling t-shirts for $15.00 with an authentic citrus crate label. He requested that the City Council put on a future agenda to form a joint committee with the City of Colton and the San Bernardino County Parks Department to look into the feasibility of a wilderness park on Blue Mountain. They have already made the same request of the City of Colton. City Manager Schwab, indicated that staff will do some research to see what is appropriate to try to put together a park. CONSENT CALENDAR CC-2006-104 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, CARRIED 5-0, to approve the following Consent Calendar Items with the removal of item 3A.: Council Minutes September 28, 2006 Page 3 3B. Waive Full Reading of Ordinances on Agenda 3C. Approval of 09-14-2006 Minutes ITEM REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA 3A. Approve Check Register Dated September 28, 2006 CC-2006-105 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBERMILLER, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA, CARRIED 5-0, to approve the following Consent Calendar Item that was removed for discussion: 3A. Approve Check Register Dated September 28, 2006 PUBLIC COMMENT - None REPORTS 5A. Committee Reports 0 1. Historical & Cultural Activities Committee a. Minutes of July 3, 2006 CC-2006-106 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, CARRIED 5-0, to accept the July 3, 2006 Minutes of the Historical & Cultural Activities Committee. 2. Crime Prevention Committee a. Minutes of August 14, 2006 CC-2006-107 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER MILLER, CARRIED 5-0, to accept the August 14, 2006 Minutes of the Crime Prevention Committee. 5B. Council Reports Councilmember Hilkev, reported that at the last meeting that he attended he forgot to mention that one of the most enjoyable evenings that he has ever had in Grand Terrace was at the Concert at the Park and thanked the staff for doing a good job. He sent an e-mail to the California Energy Commission concerning the peaker plant. He sited that he feels there are terrible inconsistencies in the things that we are getting from staff and AES. He received a response from them that basically tells him to pound sand. What they are saying is they are going to have the meetings where they want to have them because there is no place in Grand Council Minutes September 28, 2006 Page 4 Terrace to have them, besides the peaker plant is actually closer to Riverside County than it is Grand Terrace. They stated that they have to have the meetings at the time that they are scheduled because of plane schedules back to Sacramento. His concern is that when this project was presented to the Council it was told differently. He feels that the Council needs to be told the truth and that staff needs to protect Council more when they are told things that simply are not the truth. Councilmember Garcia, echoed what Councilmember Hilkey said regarding AES saying that there would be ample opportunity for input. Being a working community, she feels that there should be at least one, at a minimum, meeting in the evening to allow working families to attend. The CERT training that was canceled has been rescheduled, the first meeting will be held on Saturday, then there will be two Wednesday nights and then one more Saturday. The class is full. She stated that there is a lot of information available at City Hall. She referred to a flyer on a neighborhood watch program meeting that is going to be held on October 16, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. in the community meeting room at City Hall. She encouraged someone from each neighborhood to attend. She reminded everyone that the Halloween Haunt will be held on October 31, 2006, November 4, 2006 is the Country Fair and there are Dog Park Committee meetings on the first Tuesday of each month. Mayor Pro Tern Cortes, thanked Councilmember Garcia for mentioning the neighborhood watch flyer. She thought that there had been an increase in neighborhood crimes and felt that it would be a good time to get together to get some training on neighborhood watch programs. She indicated that the meeting is scheduled to be held in the evening so that more people might be able to participate. She has been going through the City to see how many neighborhood watch signs are out throughout the community. There are a few signs but they are old and beaten up. She reminded that the Chamber of Commerce will be holding their annual Golf Tournament on October 27, 2006. FIyers for the Neighborhood Watch Meeting are available on the counter if anyone wishes to take one on their way out. She thanked Mr. Phelps, who walks throughout the community picking up trash and stated that we really do have good residents in Grand Terrace. She reported that Gene Carlstrom's brother Donald Lee Carlstrom passed away and asked if the meeting could be adjourned in his honor. Councilmember Miller, reported that he attended the hearing that the CEC held at the Norton Younglove Community Center. He also feels that an evening meeting needs to be held and in Grand Terrace. He questioned why they couldn't use the Lion's Community Center. City Manager Schwab, stated that one reason that they didn't use the community center was because it does not have air conditioning. He did offer to them the community meeting room at City Hall. Councilmember Miller, reported that the Traffic Mitigation Committee have been meeting diligently going over all of the recommendations. It is their hope to get the final Council Minutes September 28, 2006 Page 5 recommendations to Council in December or the first of next year. He requested an update on the coyote situation in town Assistant City Manager Berri, responded that staff received another complaint from a resident on DeBerry and it turned out that there is a large dog that actually looks like a coyote that was causing problems. Animal Control went out to work with the owner. Staff has not heard back from Jimmy the Trapper but did receive a call from Gene Carlstrom that told him that the coyotes are coming from La Loma Hills. He will follow up on Monday with Jimmy the Trapper. Councilmember Miller, requested an update on progress on the housing project between the Highlands Apartments. He indicated that the weeds are getting out of control. Community and Economic Development Director Richard Shields, responded that he can contact the property owner regarding the weeds. He reported that someone came in asking about demolition permit requirements. He believes that they are getting ready to do something. Mayor Ferre, thanked Councilmember Miller for all of the work he is doing on the Traffic Committee and looks forward to the report coming to Council. She reported that she had the opportunity to attend the East Valley Mayors Meeting, which is a new group of east valley Mayors that was formed and will meet quarterly. The first meeting was put together by the Mayor of San Bernardino, Pat Morris, and it was held in San Bernardino. The purpose of the meetings is to discuss issues of mutual interests to each of the cities and also of regional interest. Each meeting will have a specific agenda item to discuss. The topic of this meeting was Regional Open Space Including But Not Limited To The Santa Ana River Trail. She took with her a map of the proposed Blue Mountain Park and feels that she got great support from some of the other Mayors and some great contacts that she will forward to Mr. Kidd. She is looking forward to the next meeting, which will be held in January in the City of Loma Linda. PUBLIC HEARING - None UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None NEW BUSINESS 8A. Council to Review Proposed Passive Park Design and Comment on the Concept Assistant City Manager Berry. stated that the City is looking to design and build a simple pocket park on the corner of DeBerry and Mt. Vernon. The cost estimate for the completion of the park ranges from $61,000 to $95,000 depending on the maturity of the landscaping Council Minutes September 28, 2006 Page 6 installed, electrical infrastructure, public art, and other incidentals. Funding of the park can come from a combination of sources like Fund 13, the Parks Development derived from developer fees and community donations. The Foundation of Grand Terrace has agreed to work with the City on accepting all financial donations as part of their non-profit tax status. If the Council approves this concept, staff will return to Council in the following months with a formal plan and statement of construction costs. It was the consensus of the Council to support the concept of the Pocket Park with the understanding that this comer will compliment the opposite corner by the Middle School and that staff consider using art from local artists if it is used in the park. 8B. Schedule November and December Council Meetings CC-2006-108 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER MrLLER, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, CARRIED 5-0, to approve staff s recommendation to schedule one meeting in November to be held on the 9" to begin at 6:00 p.m. and one meeting in December to be held on the 14' to begin at 7:30 p.m. following the City Birthday Celebration. CLOSED SESSION - None Mayor Ferre adjourned the meeting at 6:55 p.m. in Memory of Donald Lee Carlstrom, until the next CRA/City Council Meeting which is scheduled to be held on Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. CITY CLEU of he City of GrdW Terrace MAYO . f the City of Grand Terrace 11