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03/13/2007CITY OF GRAND TERRACE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - MARCH 13, 2007 A regular meeting ofthe 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 March 13, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. PRESENT: Maryetta Ferre, Mayor Bea Cortes, Councilmember Jim Miller, Councilmember Dan Buchanan, Councilmember Tom Schwab, City Manager Brenda Mesa, City Clerk Steve Berry, Assistant City Manager Larry Ronnow, Finance Director Gary Koontz, Community Development Director Lt. Hector Guerra, Sheriff's Department ABSENT: Lee Ann Garcia, Mayor Pro Tern Richard Shields, Building & Safety Director John Harper, City Attorney The City Council meeting was opened with Invocation by Pastor Rick Doucette, Calvary, The Brook Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor Maryetta Ferre. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL MEETING ITEMS TO DELETE - None SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2A. Proclamation - Child Abuse Prevention Month - April 2007 Councilmember Dan Buchanan, read a Proclamation proclaiming April 2007 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the City of Grand Terrace encouraging citizens to participate in the events and to join in the efforts to end child abuse and presented it to Sue Taylor. Sue Taylor, Assistant Network Officer for Children's Network for the County of San Bernardino, thanked the Council for the Proclamation and encouraged everyone to get involved and do their part. Council MLnu;cs March 13, 2007 Page 2 2B. Proclamation - Community Development Week 2007 - April 9-15, 2007 Councilmember Cortes, read a proclamation joining the County of San Bernardino celebrating the 33"' anniversary of the Community Development Block Grant Program, and proclaim the week of April 9 through April 15, 2007 as National Community Development Week in the City of Grand Terrace urging all citizens to join in recognizing the Community Development Program and the importance it serves to our community. 2C. Proclamation - Girl Scouts Make the World a Better Place Week - March 11 -17, 2007 Councilmember Miller, read a proclamation applauding the commitment that the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council has made to girls and the community and proclaiming the week of March 11-17, 2007 as Girl Scouts Make the World a Better Place Week, 2D. Darren Kettle, Directorof Freeway Construction, SANBAG, Update on I-215 South Darren Kettle, Directorof Freeway Construction, SAN-BAG, gave an overview of the I-215 Corridor project and the status of it. CONSENT CALENDAR CC-2007-27 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER CORTES, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER MILLER, CARRIED 4-0-1-0 (MAYOR PRO TEM GARCIA WAS ABSENT), to approve the following Consent Calendar Items with removal of item 3C.: 3A. Approve Check Register Dated March 13, 2007 3B. Waive Full Reading of Ordinances on Agenda 3D. Award of Construction Bid and Contingency Fund for Barton Road Bicycle Lane from Mount Vernon Avenue to Michigan ITEM REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR 3C. Approval of 02-27-2007 Minutes CC-2007-28 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER CORTES, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER MILLER, CARRIED 4-0-1-0 (MAYOR PRO TEM GARCIA WAS ABSENT), to approve the Minutes of February 27, 2007. 0 Council Minutes t March 13, 2007 Page 3 PUBLIC COMMENT Ramon Morales, 12414 Cardinal Court, indicated that there are a lot of people that are against the power plant. Jon Souw, 22797 Finch Street, indicated that there are a lot of people that are unaware of the power plant and requested that the residents be better informed of the project and the environmental impact of the plant. Rita Schwark, 21952 Grand Terrace Road, indicated that there still is a problem with illegal parking on the corner of Barton Road and Grand Terrace. She questioned if she took a picture of the illegally parked trucks and their license plates if they could be cited. Ryan Willaims, 22005 Tanager Street, stated that he doesn't want the power plant to be in Grand Terrace. Glenna Goodrick, 12225 Michigan Street, reported that this year will be the 56`h Annual National Day of Prayer which will be May 3'. Calvary the Brook Church and Grand Terrace Baptist Church will be having an afternoon observance at 12 noon at Grand View Baptist Church. She encouraged everyone to mark their calendars for that date. Patricia Farley, 12513 Michigan Street, indicated that she had attended a lot of Council Meetings and they sit through a lot of verbiage of Council Members and feels that they could cut their speeches down. There are members of the community that have knowledge and have spent a lot of money and time researching the peeker plant, which is an extremely important issue in Grand Terrace. There seems to be a problem with staff not getting items on the agenda that really need to be on the agenda. They certainly need more than three to five minutes to go through the seriousness of the plant. She requested that Council listen and that they can do something about it. She requested that the Council, please look into the pecker plant and to give it their full attention. Charles Hornsby, 22656 Brentwood Street, indicated that the bigger issue is the location of the proposed peeker plant. He feels that this project needs to be seriously considered. Roxanne Williams, 22005 Tanager Street stated the following: My Iast presentation 2-27-2007 before the council addressed the following issues: Hazardous Air Emissions and Facilities within a Quarter Mile Land Use: 1. Proximity to Pressurized Gas, Gasoline, or Sewer Pipeline Council Mmuics March 13. 2007 Page 4 2. Proximity to High -Voltage Power Transmission Lines 3. Presence of Toxic and Hazardous Substances 4. Other Health Hazards 5. Proximity to High -Pressure Water Pipelines, Reservoirs, Water Storage Tanks Violation of Grand Terrace's General Plan Financial Conflict of Interest Possible soil and groundwater concern at old power plant My request to be placed on the agenda regarding the AES Highgrove Power plant has not been answered. Neither have I heard from staff, per the last city council meeting on 2-27-07. Recall, that AES Power plant company has made their presentation before the council. Ought not the citizens have the right for their voices to be heard as well? Aren't the Halloween Haunt and Grand Terrace Parade well -advertised and supported by the city council? Shouldn't an issue as pressing as a power plant be well -advertised as well? l . I am asking that the city council place this public safety and public health issue on the next agenda for council action/vote. 2. Citycouncil to declare its position regarding the AES Power plant: pro or con 3. City council organize a town hall meeting regarding the old and new power plant, and the new high school. What say ye: Deal or No Deal? City Manager Schwab, indicated that the City Council does not approve power plants. Power Plants of fifty mega watts in capacity are all approved by the California Energy Commission. The Commission has had two hearings to date and will continue to do so. The City Council has the ability to take a position on the issue if they so choose and if they direct staff to place an item on the agenda staff will do so. The granting authority is with the CEC as well as the Environmental Document. The Environmental Document for the Power Plant re -power project sits solely with the CEC. The Council has the ability to comment and staff has attended both meetings that have been brought into the community. At the first hearing there were very few comments. A lot of the comments that he has heard tonight the CEC would welcome and would want to hear because they are the authority that makes the decisions. He stated that staff will do additional enforcement on the truck parking on Barton Road and Grand Terrace Road. He stated that a Deputy himself would have to witness an incident in Council Minwes March 13, 2007 Page 5 order to issue a citation. REPORTS 5A. Committee Reports Historical and Cultural Activities Committee a. Minutes of February 5, 2007 CC-2007-29 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCHANAN, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER CORTES, CARRIED 4-0-1-0 (MAYOR PRO TEM GARCIA WAS ABSENT), to accept the February 5, 2007 Minutes of the Historical and Cultural Activities Committee. 2. Emergency Operations Committee a. Minutes of February 6, 2007 CC-2007-30 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCHANAN, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER MILLER, CARRIED 4-0-1-0 (MAYOR PRO TEM GARCIA WAS ABSENT), to accept the February 6, 2007 Minutes of the Emergency Operations Committee. 5B. Council Reports Councilmember Cortes, reported that the synchronisation of the signals will begin next month. Assistant City Manager Berry, stated that they are running the lines right now and will be installing control boxes on Barton Road in April and May and are expecting in June or July it will be complete. They will begin construction on the traffic signal at Honey Hill and Grand Terrace Road next month. Councilmember Cortes, announced that Jason Karger has invited all the Council Members to take a tour of the homes that he built on DeBerry Street. Anyone interested should contact him. She wished everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day. Councilmember Buchanan, stated that he was not present when the Power Plant Company made their presentation to the Council so he hasn't had the benefit of seeing that. He understands that we do not have any part in the application process, the approval process, the environmental analysis process, other than the ability to comment like anyone else. He would like to suggest that this is not an issue that we should be afraid to look at and comment on. He can't say at the moment whether he is supportive of it or against it. He can say that Council Minutes March 13, 2007 Page G he personally has some reservations about the wisdom of the project, the location and whether that is an appropriate use of the land. He feels that it is an important enough issue that it merits the Council's effort to ensure that the community understands what is going on with that project and what options they have as well as an opportunity for the City to make any determination that they want to make. He feels that Ms. Williams has three points that she raised and he would probably approach them in reverse order. He would like to know more. City Manager Schwab, stated that there has been two hearings so far that have been put on by the CEC. One was held at the Highgrove Community Center which was basically an introduction of the project and they had a public hearing in which they took comments from the public. There were very few comments that were made. The second meeting was an open house. The process is no where near the end. Councilmember Buchanan, feels that the City should help those that have an interest in the project understand what the process is, when the hearings will be held, what their comment opportunity is so that their voice can be heard. He would like the Council to participate in the process to the degree that they make a determination as to whether or not they want to instruct staff to submit material. He indicated that he will not be at the next Council Meeting. 0 Councilmember Miller, stated that there were two meetings and he attended both meetings. He stated that there were very few people from Grand Terrace at the meetings. Most of the people were from Riverside. There was a time for questions and there were very few that were asked. He feels that the Council and the Community needs to be better educated on the project and the effects of it. He would agree to having the comments of Ms. Williams included as an addendum to the next set of minutes. He stated that the Greystone project was approved over a year ago and questioned what the status of the project is. Community and Economic Development Director GaryKoontz, responded that the last staff heard they were moving forward with final design, however, we haven't seen anything yet. Mayor Ferre, reported that there was a ground breaking for Riverside Highland Water Company's new office on Michigan. She reported that she attended the East Valley Mayor's Meeting and the Gang and Drug Task Force. PUBLIC HEARING -None UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None NEW BUSINESS Council Minutes March 13, 2007 Page 7 8A. Budget Hearing Dates for FY 2007-2008 Preliminary Budget CC-2007-31 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCHANAN, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER CORTES, CARRIED 4-0-1-0 (MAYOR PRO TEM GARCIA WAS ABSENT), to schedule the Budget Hearing for May 8, 2007 before the regularly scheduled Council Meeting beginning at 4:00 p.m. CLOSED SESSION - None Mayor Ferre adjourned the meeting at 7:22 p.m., until the next CRAICity Council Meeting which is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. , � � ��' Z� -, - J2-: � '(' � MAYOR the City of Grand Terrace [I y CITY CLERK of the City of Grand Terrace