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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/21/18 Minutes - Regular MeetingMINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR AUGUST 21, 2018 CLOSED SESSION 5:30 P.M., Room CC -8 Public Comments on Closed Session Items — None Offered. Closed Session Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9 Conference with Legal Counsel — Existing Litigation City of Diamond Bar v. City of Industry, et al, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BS173224 City of Diamond Bar v. City of Industry, et al, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BS171295 Public Employee Performance Evaluation pursuant to Government Code Section 54957 — Title: City Manager CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Low called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA. CM/Fox stated that no reportable actions were taken during tonight's Closed Session. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: MPT/Herrera led the Pledge of Allegiance. INVOCATION: Garett Rice, Youth Pastor, Diamond Canyon Christian Church provided the Invocation. ROLL CALL: Council Members Lin, Lyons, Tye, Mayor Pro Tem Herrera and Mayor Low Staff Present: Dan Fox, City Manager; Omar Sandoval, Assistant City Attorney; Ryan McLean, Assistant City Manager; Ken Desforges, IS Director; David Liu, Public Works Director; Ryan Wright, Parks & Recreation Director; Greg Gubman, Community Development Director; Anthony Santos, Assistant to the City Manager; Amy Haug, Human Resources/Risk Manager; Kimberly Young, Senior Civil Engineer; John Beshay, Associate Engineer; Cecilia Arellano, Public Information Coordinator; and, Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: As Presented. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATES, PROCLAMATIONS: BUSINESS OF THE MONTH: M/Low displayed the City Tile that would be presented to the owners of Good Time Donuts, 3220 S. Brea Canyon Road #G as Business of the Month for AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL August 2018. 2. CITY MANAGER REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Public Safety Update — CM/Fox introduced ACM/McLean and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Capt. Al Reyes who provided an update. AGM/McLean reported that total Part 1 crimes are down by almost 20 percent, for the first half of 2018 violent crime down 14.3 percent and property crime, which has been a struggle due to several legislative changes related to the criminal justice system, is down 20 percent. Within that property crime number, staff focused on two specific items — burglary (down 18.1 percent) and larceny (down 22.4 percent). The City is seeing positive results due to the good work of the men and women in the Sheriff's Department and the programs the City Council has put in place to respond to some of the recent legislative changes. A quick analysis of all numbers revealed positive trends in Diamond Bar which include an increase in Call for Service through the See Something, Say Something campaign. This is the third consecutive period in which there have been increased calls for service which means that people are not hesitating when they see something that looks out -of -place. During the period January 1 through June when compared to last year, Diamond Bar has had the greatest drop in total Part 1 crime, property crime, burglaries and larceny. In addition, this underscores how well the City's Captain, Lieutenant and Deputies are doing at the Diamond Bar/Walnut Station which is the only station with across-the-board decreases in all categories out of the six stations in the East Patrol Division. There are a number of crime prevention strategies that include the Council's decision this year to invest the largest amount of resources in the City's history in law enforcement services, over $6.5 million. The Council has appropriated additional funding for ongoing undercover operations, special patrols and operations that specifically target property crimes. Diamond Bar continues to offer the STAR program. The Council has also joined the Take Back Our Communities Coalition, a group of more than 30 public agencies in the San Gabriel Valley area that looks for legislative options to improve Public Safety. - The City's website, www.citVofdiamondbar.com provides a host of online information including a Deputy Blog by Deputy Aaron Scheller, Diamond Bar's Neighborhood Watch Deputy and a number of other resources. The City is working to increase deputy presence on school grounds with deputies dedicated to being onsite at the schools on a regular basis as well as, traffic patrols in the school areas. During the past year City staff, law enforcement and fire personnel have jointly held Let's Talk Public Safety programs reaching more than a thousand residents providing information on public safety tips, crime prevention, disaster preparedness and fire safety. Going forward, staff looks to have more public meetings including a Chinese language Let's Talk Public Safety meeting this fall. AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 3 CITY COUNCIL The Council also appropriated money for the Ring discount program which was a partnership with the Ring Corporation to provide subsidy discounts for security cameras. Over the past 18 months the Neighborhood Watch Programs have doubled with more than 90 groups now participating. One of the latest components of the Let's Talk Public Safety program is the twice -monthly meetings "Coffee with a Cop" which is an opportunity for residents to meet face-to-face in an informal and friendly setting with law enforcement. The strategy is to visit establishments throughout the City. Captain Reyes thanked the City for its strong support of law enforcement and its commitment to public safety, which is a major contribution to the department's success. He meets with CM/Fox and ACM/McLean!to look at crime trends and adjust deployment efforts and strategies to keep crime at a manageable level. Captain Reyes also thanked the Neighborhood Watch Captains who are committed community leaders dedicated to public safety. Captain Reyes went on to state that because school safety is a major concern for the department, they have committed to have a presence and visibility on campuses. He visited both high schools and assured school administration staff that deputies will routinely walk the campuses, and conduct patrol checks of every school campus in the City during school breaks, sporting events and other special events. He spoke about an incident that occurred last week at Diamond Bar High School during a football game and said that the department is currently working with the school administration in conducting an investigation regarding the incident. C/Lyons asked what the period of time was compared to the 2018 statistics. ACM/McLean responded that it was to the same period in 2017, January through June. C/Lin said that everyone is very pleased about the reduction in crime and wondered what the major contribution to the actual decrease in the crime rate over last year - more call -ins by residents or because of the doubling of the Neighborhood Watch Groups? Captain Reyes responded that he believed it was a combination of things but most importantly, it was the increased public awareness and the partnership with the community that had the greatest effect in reducing crime, the City's implementation of the Ring subsidy program and hardening of homes. Additionally, it is very important that when people leave to go on vacation that they notify their neighbors, leave their homes looking like they are occupied and most importantly, that they not post their plans on social media. C/Lin asked how the City could prevent further occurrences of fake potential incident reports through social media of the type that occurred at Diamond Bar AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 4 CITY COUNCIL High School. Captain Reyes stated that the best way to prevent such occurrences was for families and schools to discuss these types of situations and engage the Sheriff's Department to open a dialogue with school administration. With respect to sporting events, it will be important for school security and law enforcement to be on guard, assess the situation, minimize the panic, and restore order to allow for orderly evacuation, if that should become necessary. MPT/Herrera stated that one of the reasons there has been a decrease in crime is because the City has put additional money in its Public Safety Budget for additional cars and additional patrol to be on the lookout for suspicious activity. She believes the City is to be congratulated for stepping up and helping to fight crime. Captain Reyes agreed and stated that it demonstrates the level of commitment the City has for Public Safety and preventing and fighting crime. C/Tye said he believed it was important to remember that as a contract city, Diamond Bar is able to directly respond to specific requests for a change in service or additional service. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Allen Wilson said it was sad to hear about the closure of the Whole Enchilada. He also spoke about an article that appeared in the Orange County Register regarding the Tres Hermanos property and voiced his concern about the transparency of the JPA. Douglas Barcon encouraged everyone to participate in the Coffee with the Cop event at McDonald's. Residents miss the Whole Enchilada but believes the City's hands are tied when it comes to intervention in the business of the property owner. He was also concerned about the GPAC's pursuit of adding businesses at the south end of the golf course because of all of the current vacancies in town as well as, the potential effect on Diamond Bar business of the City of Industry's buildout on Grand Avenue. 4. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS: CM/Fox said that the City was as surprised as everyone else when the Whole Enchilada announced on Thursday afternoon that they were closing their door on Sunday. Obviously, it is a well-respected, long-time business that was a very good corporate citizen and very generous to this community. Upon learning of their closure, CM/Fox personally contacted the store manager and owners as well as, the property management company, the property manager, and the leasing manager to ascertain the facts of the situation and to see if there was anything the City could do to deter their closing. Their lease was up for renewal AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 5 CITY COUNCIL and the property management company proposed a new rent that was essentially double what they were paying on the current lease. Typically, the City does not get involved in these types of negotiations. In speaking with the restaurant owners, they took the rent notification as something that was not open for negotiations and decided to close, and unfortunately waited until the last hour to make the announcement to the community leaving no opportunity for the City to intervene to possibly help facilitate negotiations. CM/Fox said that he did not get the impression from the property owner they had any other tenant lined up. In fact, they mentioned that they preferred to renew leases to every extent possible so they would not face marketing and new tenant improvement expenses and the loss of revenue while they sought a new tenant. Regarding the Tres Hermanos article that was in the newspapers, as was pointed out, Diamond Bar is in discussions and negotiations with the City of Industry regarding a settlement to Diamond Bar's three existing lawsuits. It is a normal and good process for the parties to be in discussions because it has been almost a year since those lawsuits were filed, and prior to this there had been no discussions. It is a confidential attorney-client privilege matter between the Diamond Bar City Council and the City of Industry's City Council. However, he can assure everyone that once the City is in a position to, do so and if a settlement can be reached, the public will most certainly be informed. What can be shared with the public at this time is available on the City's website. The Council has been very clear that Diamond Bar's position is that it is opposed to any type of massive solar farm proposal that may have been proposed at one time or another on that piece of property and, through litigation and ultimately through negotiations, the goal would is to be certain that proposal does not come to fruition. With respect to comments regarding a JPA, a JPA is an official public entity that is authorized by State Government Code. At least the Joint Powers Authorities that Diamond Bar works with; the Southern California Association of Governments, the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, the other Powers Authorities with insurance entities or fire authorities, their board of directors are elected members of the cities that are part of those JPA's. 5. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE EVENTS: 5.1 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting — August 23, 2018 — 7:00 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.2 Planning Commission Meeting — August 28, 2018 — 7:00 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.3 Labor Day Holiday — September 3, 2018 — City Offices closed in observance of Labor Day. City Offices reopen on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. 5.4 City Council Meeting — September 4, 2018 (canceled) AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL 5.5 Planning Commission Meeting — September 11, 2018 — 7:00 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.6 Traffic and Transportation Commission Meeting — September 13, 2018 — 7:00 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.7 City Council Meeting — September 18, 2018 — 6:30 p.m., ACMD/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive. 6. CONSENT CALENDAR: C/Tye moved, C/Lyons seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Lin, Lyons, Tye, MPT/Herrera, M/Low NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None 6.1 APPROVED CITY COUNCIL MINUTES: 6.1 a Regular Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2018 — as presented. 6.2 RECEIVED AND FILED PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES: 6.2a Regular Meeting of June 26, 2018. 6.3 RECEIVED AND FILED TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES: 6.3a Regular Meeting of June 14, 2018. 6.4 RATIFIED CHECK REGISTER DATED AUGUST 2, 2018 THROUGH AUGUST 15, 2018 TOTALING $1,260,505.64. 6.5 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2018-36 ESTABLISHING THE DAY, TIME AND LOCATION OF REGULAR MEETINGS OF THE PARKS & RECREATION, PLANNING AND TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSIONS FROM 7:00 P.M. TO 6:30 P.M. BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2018. 6.6 APPROVED DESIGN AND PLANS, AND AWARDED CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT TO ACE CD, INC. FOR THE PANTERA PARK WALKWAY LIGHTING SYSTEM PROJECT. A) ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2018-37 APPROVING THE DESIGN AND PLANS, AND ESTABLISHING A PROJECT PAYMENT ACCOUNT FOR THE PANTERA PARK WALKWAY LIGHTING AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 7 CITY COUNCIL SYSTEM PROJECT; B) ACCEPTED THE BID WITHDRAWAL FROM THE APPARENT LOW BIDDER, YAKAR GENERAL CONTRACTORS RECEIVED FOR THE PANTERA PARK WALKWAY LIGHTING SYSTEM PROJECT, AND AWARDED BID TO THE SECOND LOWEST RESPONSIBLE BIDDER, ACE CD, INC.; AIND, C) APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR TO SIGN, A CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT WITH ACE CD, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $459,293.48 PLUS A CONTINGENCY AMOUNT OF $34,500 FOR CONTRACT CHANGE ORDERS TO BE APPROVED BY THE CITY MANAGER, FOR A TOTAL AUTHORIZATION AMOUNT OF $493,793.48. 6.7 APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR TO SIGN, THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE VENDOR SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH EXTERIOR PRODUCTS CORPORATION, TO INCREASE THE ANNUAL NOT -TO -EXCEED AMOUNT FROM $50,000 TO $115,900. 7. PULIC HEARINGS: NONE. 8. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION: DIAMOND BAR BOULEVARD COMPLETE STREETS PROJECT CONCEPT ALTERNATIVES: . SCE/Young reported that staff is presenting the two conceptual alternatives that have been developed for the Diamond Bar Boulevard Complete Streets Project. This project was developed as a result of the first comprehensive streetscape project that was completed in 2016 at Diamond Bar Boulevard and Grand Avenue as well as, at the intersection of Diamond Bar Boulevard and Longview Drive. Key elements of the project will include the streetscape element, green street elements targeted to treat storm water before it enters the storm drain system that drains out to the ocean as well as, elements that are geared toward targeting enhancements to pedestrian paths of travel and bike routes or bike lanes. SCE/Young provided a power point presentation that gave a brief side-by-side comparison to distinguish the differences between the two alternatives. Both alternatives incorporate the streetscape, green streets and complete streets elements. In the construction cost estimates, one of the largest differences between the two alternatives $4.5 million as estimated in the conceptual phase for Alternative 1 and $5 million for Alternative 2. AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 8 CITY COUNCIL SCE/Young stated that this is still in the conceptual design phase and that whichever alternative Council selects will be reviewed in final design and presented to Council prior to going out to bid. With Alternative 1 the enhanced crosswalks and decorative traffic signals will be completed at the three intersections along the corridor which include Diamond Bar Boulevard/Golden Springs Drive, driveways to the two shopping centers on either side of Diamond Bar Boulevard as well as, Diamond Bar Boulevard/Gentle Springs and Palomino. The parkway post and rail with planters similar to what was incorporated at Diamond Bar Boulevard and Grand Avenue will be incorporated along the corridors, parkway trees with decorative tree grates will be added to the corridor and new ornamental trees and landscaping will be included in the medians. The three existing pine trees will. There are currently five pine trees in the area, two of which will need to be removed in order to lengthen the left -turn pocket at north Diamond Bar Boulevard at the shopping center in coordination with the redevelopment of the Diamond Ranch Center. The developer has contributed funds for this portion of the project so that this project will incorporate that improvement. In the incorporated parkway area of Alternative 1 creates a physical barrier between the pedestrians, sidewalk and vehicular traffic. However, the bike lane will remain on the same grade directly adjacent to the vehicular traffic. In order to incorporate the Complete Streets goals for the bike lane, the bike lane enhancement will include green asphalt. In Alternative 1 the number of travel lanes and lane widths will remain unchanged from what currently exists and the bicyclists will remain on the same grade as the vehicular traffic with pedestrians separated from vehicular traffic by the planter and the bioswale, the Green Streets element where stormwater will be directed through the bioswale to be treated naturally by the plantings within the bioswale before it enters the catch basin. Alternative 2 incorporates the same streetscape elements as Alternative 1. An up close view of the parkway area reveals that in this Alternative the bike lane adjacent to the vehicular traffic has been removed and relocated adjacent to the pedestrians within the parkway on the same grade as the sidewalk. However, there will be a physical barrier between the bike lane and the pedestrian path of travel. As in Alternative 1, the number of travel lanes will remain unchanged even though the curb and gutter is being relocated with Alternative 2. The bioswale will be directly adjacent to vehicular traffic to treat the stormwater and the bicyclists will have a five-foot dedicated lane to travel on the same grade as the pedestrians being separated by a landscape barrier. Through the Watershed Management Program, the City is required to treat a certain, amount of stormwater by 2026, the target year of the permit and this project will help reach that identified goal. The planting palate shows examples of the landscape improvements being identified for either alternative. The median trees could be planted with camphor trees and the ornamental tulip tree. AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 9 CITY COUNCIL Bioswale shrubs would incorporate both green shrubbery and flowering plants to enhance the bioswale that not only functions to treat stormwater but also creates aesthetic improvements for the project in the corridor. Rockwork plantings would exist in both the median and the bioswale and the rockwork along the medians would be similar to what currently exists along Diamond Bar Boulevard at Grand Avenue. Parkway trees are identified to be Crepe Myrtles and median plantings are targeted to be drought -tolerant Red Yucca. Currently, the median plantings are Yellow Yucca at Grand and Diamond Bar Boulevard. Agave plants and other types of drought -tolerant plants would be planted in the median areas. Streetscape Elements include what has been incorporated in other areas of the City — decorative signal poles, the rustic steel panel with the iconic windmill, paved crosswalks with the colored concrete as well as, the tree grates identifying the City by name. In order to get public input on the two conceptual Alternatives, an Open House was conducted on September 27, 2017 for residents and businesses surrounding the corridor, and other residents were notified through other forms of social media and the newsletter. 21 people were in attendance and of those 21 persons, 18 identified as residents and 5 identified as businesses. Clearly, there were a few that identified as both residents and business owners. Of the 21 attendees, 20 completed survey cards to provide feedback on their preferred Alternative and what sort of decorate elements and streetscape elements were preferred. Alternative 2 was identified as the preferred Alternative within the survey by 75 percent. Very low utility impacts for Alternative 1 because the existing street will not be altered (curb and gutter) whereas, Alternative 2 will require moderate utility impacts with relocation of fire hydrants once the curb and gutter is relocated; In Alternative 1 there is no significant change to vehicular behavior; however, with Alternative 2 there will likely be a change in vehicular behavior even though the lane width does not change. Staff has observed in other areas of the City that the simple perception of the roadway being narrowed by the relocation of the curb and gutter has altered driver behavior which will likely mean reduced speeds through the corridor; In Alternative 1 the crosswalk length will be maintained whereas in Alternative 2 the crosswalk length will be shorter due to bringing in the curb and gutter and associated curb ramps. The next steps are to seek Council's direction to select a preferred alternative so that staff can proceed with preparation of final plans, specifications and engineering estimates based on the identified Alternative. This will take four to five months to complete the process. Staff will continue to seek grant opportunities for funding of the project to offset the funding. Developers for the Diamond Ranch Shopping Center as well as, the recent improvements to the McDonald's remodel contributed $318,000 in funds toward the streetscape which AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 10 CITY COUNCIL has been collected by the City. The City needs additional funding for which staff will continue seeking grant funding to offset the overall construction. Construction will start based on the City's success in obtaining grant fund. M/Low thanked SCE/Young for a great presentation. C/Lin noticed that the public meeting took place about a year ago and wondered why it took an additional year for staff to come back to the Council. SCE/Young explained that it took staff time to review the survey information and put a comprehensive plan together of what was identified in the survey. In addition, staff went through the budget process for . Fiscal Year 2018-19 to determine how much available funding the City would have for the project, so with completion of the budget process in June, staff is present to provide a full report and discuss the concepts with the Council. C/Lin asked the minimum width of sidewalks in the City's Ordinance. SCE/Young responded that in order to comply with ADA, it is a minimum of four feet. C/Lin said this was a very busy commercial area and a four foot sidewalk might be too narrow. He believes that whatever is done in this area could set the footprint for improvements for Diamond Bar Boulevard in the future. A lot of people have wondered why a bikeway and so forth is needed and his response is that "active" transportation is becoming an important mode of transportation for people throughout the town. In Measure M there is a lot of money allocated for bikeway plans and designs and even with S131 which was approved a year ago, a few billion dollars was set aside to build bikeways. He recently spent time in Copenhagen, Denmark which is probably the most bicycle -friendly city in the world where forty percent of residents commute by bicycle. He rented a bicycle and spent four hours cycling around town. It is energy-saving and healthy so he commends staff for incorporating a good bikeway design into this project. He thinks a separate bike lane would be a better alternative for safety reasons and he personally prefers Alternative 2 as well, but he wants staff to review the width of the sidewalk because again, because he believes a four -foot sidewalk may be too narrow. M/Low asked if at the beginning and end of the project the bike lane was on the same grade as the pedestrian walkway how the biker would maneuver from one grade (vehicle level) to the other (pedestrian level) to get into the bike lane. SCE/Young responded that the biker would use the curb ramps the pedestrians use. C/Lyons asked if there was a projection toward the goal of treating stormwater this project would provide. AUGUST -21,2018 PAGE 11 CITY COUNCIL SCE/Young responded that the City's goal to accomplish treatment by 2026 per volume is just about 38 -acre feet so that any treatment that is included in design projects would need to treat that volume in perpetuity until a new permit identifies otherwise. To date, based on projects that have been incorporated as well as projects that are planned, the City has been able to accomplish up to about 15 - acre feet. These projects include Willow Heights and even private development projects that treat stormwater counts toward the City's goals as well as Peterson Park parking lot improvements, all of which has contributed to the 15 -acre water feet to date. This project would add just under two -acre feet. C/Lyons stated that she has a concern with Alternative 2 with the phrase "a tightened radius for turning" for vehicular traffic and asked if there was a safety issue. SCENoung said it would occur at left -turn pockets only because the street is being narrowed and the crosswalk lengths are less which produce a tighter turning radius. This occurs only when entering and exiting the shopping centers. C/Lyons asked about the same issue with respect to making a left turn onto Golden Springs Drive from Diamond Bar Boulevard. SCE/Young said that it would not be impacted because the turning lane width is not being changed on Diamond Bar Boulevard. Similarly, when traveling east on Golden Springs turning northbound onto Diamond Bar Boulevard, the lane width will not change. However, when turning into the curb lane there is no five-foot bike lane, only the curb. C/Lyons asked if SCENoung felt the project would reduce the speed on Diamond Bar Boulevard. SCENoung said the actual speed limit will not be reduced. Based on past experience with traffic calming projects, when driver perception of the roadway is altered, they automatically reduce speed which is an alteration of driver behavior only and not of the speed limit. MPT/Herrera said she had concerns with Alternative 2 and it would seem that Alternative 1 has fewer traffic and pedestrian impacts. That area is newly built out and there is a considerable amount of vehicle congestion. To narrow the street or narrow the sidewalk where people are crossing to go from one center to another center is of concern to her. As such, she would likely be a proponent of Alternative 1. C/Tye felt that one had to see the presentation that was done for the public at Lorbeer Middle School to appreciate the different grade separations and whether the bikes are going to be in the same place as the cars with the green lane or if they are going to be separated by the swale and pedestrians. In his observation, he does not see Diamond Bar Boulevard between Golden Springs and Palomino AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 12 CITY COUNCIL with a parade of people where four or five feet of sidewalk would make a great deal of difference. He believes that aesthetically, Alternative 2 is much better and he believes everyone would like it when it was finished. He is not sure tonight's PowerPoint presentation came across as well as it did in the presentation at Lorbeer but again, he believes something that tends to slow down traffic is a good thing. The City has traffic calming measures such as those on Palomino where islands were installed and over by the Little League field where the curb was extended out. That is designed to encourage people to drive slower and he thinks those things are very, very beneficial. He really likes Alternative 2. M/Low said she noticed that on Saturday and Sunday mornings in Diamond Bar there are bicycle riding clubs riding through the City during the morning hours. She asked SCE/Young if she really envisioned clubs actually forming a line and then riding onto the sidewalk when they hit this area or does she think they will be riding in the street and, is there a way to encourage them to be on the sidewalk and how would it work with the large influx of bicyclists? SCE/Young said she believed it would depend on the goal of the bicyclist. If they are simply riding through the City and through the corridor they may not see it as desirable to go into the parkway. However, if the goal is to try and promote the rider to stop and rest and visit the shopping centers, it may be beneficial to have them go into the parkway and establish that sense of "place" where they can take a break. It just depends on what the goal of the project is going to be and what the City wants to target for the bicyclist. M/Low said she can see a larger sidewalk would encourage walking from one center to another on the other side. On the other hand, having a shorter crosswalk would encourage that as well. C/Tye reiterated that he did not believe it came across very well in the PowerPoint presentation that the bikes are not on the sidewalk, they are in their own protected "lane" so that the bike and pedestrian are not fighting for the same space in Alternative 2. He was speaking with someone who said that bikes are vehicles and are not actually supposed to be on a sidewalk and again, from. an aesthetic view, he believes Alternative 2 is a much better alternative than Alternative 1 and perhaps that makes a difference in considering where the sidewalk used to be five feet, it is now four feet. C/Lyons said she wished she had seen the presentation at Lorbeer. It concerns her that there were only 21 people present and the input from that small number of people is being used when there are 56,000 residents. She wanted to know how it is working for other cities that have something similar to Alternative 2 when you have people walking and biking and the bikers might cut through planters where people are walking and the people that are walking might cut over to where the biking is. Are there other cities that have done something similar to Alternative 2 and does staff know what the experience has been? AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 13 CITY COUNCIL PWD/Liu referred the Council to the stretch of Brea Canyon Road south of Diamond Bar High School, the easterly side of Brea Canyon Road that faces south of the high school toward Diamond Bar Boulevard. More than a decade ago the City took advantage of the additional right-of-way it had. So, the City utilized that parkway and ended up with both a bike lane and pedestrian walkway side-by-side. To this date, he has not heard of any conflicts or potential issues. In fact, many of the residents on that side of the community continue to tell staff that this is one of the biggest assets they have seen over the years because people would look at that corner as a meeting point corner and the cut through traffic that one sees day in and day out during weekdays has to work within that two lane roadway. M/Low said it sounded to her like the Council needed additional information and better photos and perhaps this matter could be continued to a study session. CM/Fox said it sounded like there was Council consensus to continue the matter and that staff would do more research to answer some of the Council's questions, put together a few more exhibits, and determine whether to schedule a study session or bring it back on a future City Council meeting agenda. Council concurred. C/Lin asked if in the meantime, staff would continue pursuing a grant. PWD/Liu responded that staff recently submitted a grant application for a different corridor on Golden Springs Drive which includes the intersection of Diamond Bar Boulevard and Golden Springs Drive. In addition, two weeks ago the City also submitted a grant application to the San Gabriel Valley COG. Because our COG, as a separate entity, receives the sub -regional funding under Measure M. One of the projects staff submitted to COG is the Diamond Bar Boulevard Complete Streets project and for this first year under Measure M Sub - Regional Grant Funds, they are considering the City's grant application. It is very competitive but staff continues to pursue all avenues. 9. COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND MEETING ATTENDANCE REPORTS/COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS: C/Tye said he was at Diamond Bar High School Friday night with his granddaughter when a very unfortunate event occurred that turned to panic and chaos. School Superintendent Bob Taylor asked C/Tye to communicate to the community that as a result, the school district is focused on making changes to their response plan. C/Tye would like for staff and/or the Sheriff's Department, perhaps at a future City Council Meeting, to give the people who opened their homes to the students seeking safety a pat on the back to let them know how much they are appreciated. Secondly, he and his family are sad to see the Whole Enchilada go after 33 plus years in Diamond Bar and most frustrating to him is the social media chatter about the Council doing nothing about business leaving Diamond Bar. He recounted the many times that Council has taken AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 14 CITY COUNCIL initiative in these matters and has been dedicated to bringing reliable businesses to the City and creating town centers. He recounted the number of businesses that have changed or left the City as a result of corporate decisions. Diamond Bar and the City Council continue to be very business -friendly and spend much of their time and effort seeking out new businesses and work hard to recognize and support continuing the businesses that are in the City. C/Tye, as the Council's representative to the Diamond Bar Foundation, announced that the Diamond Bar Community Foundation's First Annual Beerfest "On the Lawn" fundraiser will be held at the Diamond Bar Center on Sunday, September 16 from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. All proceeds go to art, culture and recreation in the City as well as, scholarships. C/Tye asked that tonight's meeting be adjourned in memory of Gerry Plunk who over the weekend lost a very, very valiant battle with cancer. This guy was just an amazing individual. If he couldn't find it he could build it, and if he couldn't build it he would invent it. He would actually sit down and figure out what he would need to do to make that happen and what resources he needed in order to get it done. We think of Lydia and her family in their time of loss. MPT/Herrera said that C/Tye very eloquently spoke about the Whole Enchilada and the efforts made by the City. Several Councilmembers also made efforts to intervene, and contacted the managers to offer them help in relocating in the City. Unfortunately, the remaining owner who is elderly and who lost her husband a couple of years ago did not have the energy to go through a relocation. It is a restaurant that we will all miss and one that has given us all many happy memories. Regarding Tres Hermanos, she believes the City Council is very, very much aware of the desires of the community and what it would like to see there. And as the elected officials of this community, it is the Council's primary goal to represent all residents and their interests. Residents are not accountable to anybody including the JPA but Council Members are accountable to all of the residents who elected them. C/Lyons also _spoke about the countless events held at the Whole Enchilada and over the years. She asked everyone to please be careful with the morning rush and watch for school buses and kids running toward them with the start of the new school year. C/Lyons reminded everyone that there is a wealth of good information about a myriad of things including classes for all ages and upcoming events for all ages and groups in the City in The DB Connection that staff puts together and that is sent out to every residence in Diamond Bar. C/Lin echoed MPT/Herrera's comment about Tres Hermanos and hoped the Council would soon have good news for the community in that regard. He was very pleased to learn that the City's overall crime rates have decreased in the past six months. A major responsibility of government is to ensure the safety and security of its residents and he is glad the City is able to put money where its mouth is. With the collaborative effort of the Sheriff's Department, City Council and City staff, this is a City that unlike many others, does so much to help the residents with things such as subsidies for the Ring camera program. He AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 15 CITY COUNCIL thanked Captain Reyes for the fine efforts of the Sheriff's Department. C/Lin said he wanted to set the record straight and push back on the speculation that appeared on the internet concerning his potential conflict of interest with him being the President of an Engineering firm and a member of the Diamond Bar City Council. Prior to assuming his position with the City Council in 2015 his company had a long-term working relationship with the City of Diamond Bar as one of the professional engineering firms that provided professional services to the City. However, upon becoming a City Council Member that working relationship was mutually terminated to prevent any potential Conflict of Interest. So during the first six months of his tenure on the Council his company had to wrap up the remaining work of the contracts and each month when the invoice came in front of the City Council for approval he recused himself from discussing and from voting on that item. His company has absolutely no business dealings with the City of Diamond Bar upon completion of his contract assignments in 2015. Therefore, for him to serve on the Council, he not only lost Diamond Bar as a longtime client, he lost a good revenue stream for his company. Nevertheless, now that he can render his expertise freely without charge to assist the City in resolving one of its top priority problems, the City's traffic issues, he is very pleased and very proud to do so. M/Low thanked the Parks and Recreation staff for the great job they did over the summer with the Concerts in the Park series and Movies Under the Stars which ended in August. She too, is very sad about the Whole Enchilada but she wants to thank them for being really good corporate and City partners. They hired a lot of the City's young people and they kept employees for a long time and even helped their employees look for jobs when they closed. The Whole Enchilada participated in community events and were very generous with the City's fundraising efforts. M/Low thanked Captain Reyes and the people of the Diamond Bar/Walnut Sheriff's Station for a great job and to ACM/McLean for his direction with the City's Public Safety efforts. She appreciates everyone's hard work in getting the City's crime numbers down and reminded everyone to remain vigilant. M/Low echoed what other Council Members said regarding Tres Hermanos. This Council and staff are working very, very hard on behalf of what they know the community wants. Anyone who wants to know what is happening with Tres Hermanos can go to the City's website and click on the link and read credible and true information. She asked residents to please do not fall victim to rumor and speculation. If folks are unable to get their answers on the website, they can call the City and seek answers to their questions. The Council is here to serve the residents as MPT/Herrera mentioned and the Council is accountable to the residents and all Council Members take that as a sacred duty and honor as noted by Council Member Lin who gave up thousands of dollars to serve this community and its residents. When you hear things on social media, filter that information and you will get the right answer. Peace and condolences to his wife Lydia and the family of Gerry Plunk. AUGUST 21, 2018 PAGE 16 CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to conduct, M/Low adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 8:10 p.m. to September 18, 2018, in memory of Gerald (Gerry) Plunk. J � TOMMYEtRIBBINS, CITY CLERK Thefor going mi tes are hereby approved this 18th day of September , 2018. RUTH LOW, MAYOR