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HomeMy WebLinkAbout080619 - Minutes - Regular MeetingMINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR AUGUST 6, 2019 CLOSED SESSION: 5:45 p.m., Room CC -8 ® PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957. TITLE: CITY MANAGER CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Herrera called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA. Staff Present: ' Dan Fox, City Manager, Ryan McLean, Assistant City Manager; David DeBerry, City Attorney; Ken Desforges, IS Director; David Liu, Public Works Director; Ryan Wright, Parks and Recreation Director; Dianna Honeywell, Finance Director; Greg Gubman, Community Development Director; Amy Haug, Human Resources/Risk Manager; Anthony Santos, Assistant to the City Manager; Cecilia Arellano, Public Information Coordinator; Alfa Lopez, Sr. Management Analyst; Anthony Jordan, Parks and Recreation Superintendent, and Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Herrera led the Pledge of Allegiance. INVOCATION: None provided. ROLL CALL: Council Members Chou, Low, Lyons, Mayor Pro Tem Tye and Mayor Herrera. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: M/Herrera announced that Public Hearing Item 7.1 related to the Landscape Assessment District No. 39 would be moved forward to begin at 6:45 p.m. 1, SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATES, PROCLAMATIONS: 1.1 M/Herrera and City Council Members presented Certificates of Recognition to the Coaches of the 4 Divisions of the Diamond Bar Girls Softball Teams. Team members were also provided with Certificates from State' Senator Ling Ling Chang. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 6:47 p.m. 7.1 . FORMATION OF NEW LANDSCAPING _ASS.E.SSM.E.NT. DISTRICT NO, 39--2019: CM/Fox stated that tonight's Public Hearing is the conclusion of the ballot AUGUST 6, 2019 PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL process allowing property owners within Landscape Assessment District No. 39 to decide whether or not to approve an increase in funding for the proposed district. Council Member Low stated that she had been advised that in accordance with the Fair Political Practices Act she should recuse herself from any participation in this item and left the dais. Jerry Bradshaw, City's Assessment Engineer stated that this is the third and final step in the Proposition 218 ballot process. Currently, there are 1,249 properties that each pay $236 per year to support the required maintenance work which generates about $295,000 per year. However, the expenses amount to about $504,000 per year, which is an annual shortfall of about $209,000. This measure is about putting this district back on a self-sustaining, self-supporting basis, which is how it was intended to be when it was created. In order to do that, the district has been broken up into three zones based on the level of improvements nearer to the homes in the amount of benefit received. The rates proposed for the self-supporting structure range from $358 per parcel in the northern area to $387 per parcel per year for the southern area south of Grand, which is $120 to $150 per year more for each property (about $10 to $12.50 per month). There are currently about 580 ballots turned in which is a good return rate for this type of measure out of over 1200 property owners. M/Herrera opened the Public Hearing at 6:55 p.m. With no one present to speak on this were any remaining ballots be turned MPT/Tye moved, C/Lyons seconded, carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: item, M/Herrera then asked if there in to the City Clerk. Seeing none, to close the Public Hearing. Motion Chou, Lyons, MPT/Tye, M/Herrera None Low M/Herrera announced that the counting of the ballots would commence and that this item would be continued until all ballots were counted at which time the public hearing would reconvene for announcement of the results. C/Low returned to the dais. 2. CITY MANAGER REPORTS -AND RECOMMENDATIONS: None. AUGUST 6, 2019 PAGE 3 CITY COUNCIL 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Pui Ching Ho, Librarian, Diamond Bar Library, spoke about events and programs available through the library during the month of August. Barb Cameron thanked the City for getting the Pickle Ball courts up and running. The Diamond Bar Healthy Day was a real success with over 100 individuals of all ages participating. She is looking forward to being able to use the courts. 4. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS: None 5. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE EVENTS: 5.1 Traffic and Transportation Commission Meeting — August 8, 2019 — 6:30 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.2 Planning Commission Meeting -- August 13, 2019 — 6:30 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive (Canceled). 5.3 City Council Meeting — August 20, 2019 — 6:30 p.m., AQMDIGovernment Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive. 6. CONSENT CALENDAR: CILow moved, C/Chou seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Chou, Low, Lyons, MPT/Tye, M/Herrera NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None 6.1 APPROVED CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES: 6.1a Study Session of July 16, 2019 —as presented. 6.1b Regular Meeting of July 16, 2019 —as presented. 6.2 RECEIVED AND FILED PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES: 6.2a Regular Meeting of June 11, 2019, 6.3 RATIFIED CHECK REGISTER DATED JULY 11, 2019 THROUGH JULY 31, 2019 TOTALING $3,172,185.23. 6.4 APPROVED TREASURER'S STATEMENT FOR JUNE 2019. 6.5 APPROVED PURCHASE - ORDER ---WITH SCNG - PRINTING FOR PRINTING AND MAILING SERVICES' FOR THE CITY NEWSLETTER AND RECREATION GUIDE THROUGH JUNE 30, 2020. AUGUST 6, 2019 PAGE 4 CITY COUNCIL - 8. 6.6 APPROVED NOTICE OF COMPLETION FOR THE CITYWIDE ARTERIAL THERMOPLASTIC RE -STRIPING PROJECT (SUPERIOR PAVEMENT MARKINGS, INC.) 6.7 APPROVED SEWER SYSTEM MANAGEMENT PLAN (SSMP) AS REQUIRED BY STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD (SWRCB) ORDER NO. 2006-03. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION; 8.1 AGREEMENT WITH THE REGIONAL CHAMBER OF- COMMERCE -SAN GABRIEL VALLEY FOR BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES THROUGH FY 2019-20. CM/Fox provided a brief comment and then introduced CEO Anthony Duarte with the San Gabriel Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Duarte, thanked the City Council on behalf of the Board of Directors and the business community of Diamond Bar for the City's continued partnership with the Regional Chamber. During the past year the Chamber held several events including legislative luncheon during which then Mayor Low and Supervisor Hahn and State Senator Chang gave' presentations. The annual Salute to Heroes Prayer Breakfast; the annual birthday celebration with 30 businesses participating; partnered with the Diamond Bar Center for the Business Showcase; annual membership meeting during which M/Herrera swore in the new Board of Directors, and honored two chamber members, Lynn Bushman, a Diamond Bar 'business owner and Jillian Wright, Valley Vista. Additionally, the Chamber held its annual Asian Business Seminar and, there are already 14 restaurants signed up for Restaurant Week this year. Mr. Duarte thanked the Diamond Bar staff, all of whom have been great to work with. C/Lyons asked how many ribbon cuttings the Chamber did this year. Mr. Duarte responded that there were fewer this year with 33 new members, 30 percent of which were in Diamond Bar for a total of seven ribbon cuttings. C/Lyons said that new businesses really appreciate the ribbon cutting ceremonies which help to shine the spotlight on them. The best example, being The. Habit with the huge. welcome to the community. The Council appreciates everything the Chamber does for the City and its business community. C/Lyons moved, MPT/Tye seconded, to approve the agreement with the Regional Chamber of Commerce — San Gabriel Valley for Business AUGUST 6, 2019 PAGE 5 CITY COUNCIL Support activities for Fiscal Year 2019-2020. C/Chou stated that he owns' a business which is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and asked if he needed to abstain from voting on this item. CA/DeBerry asked if the Chamber of Commerce was a source of income. C/Chou who said it was not. AC/DeBerry said if not, there was no need for C/Chou to recuse himself from the vote. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Chou, Low, Lyons, MPT/Tye, M/Herrera NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None 8.2 VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION PROGRAM REVISIONS: CM/Fox stated that the Special Events committee met to consider potential changes on how to continue to recognize the City's volunteers. Currently, there are two opportunities during the year when volunteers within the community are recognized. The Outstanding Volunteer Awards typically presented at the City's Birthday Party and the Community Heroes Award which is recognized at the Diamond Bar Day at the Fair. Because both events will not be occurring for some time in the future, the Special Events subcommittee has recommended that the Volunteer Recognition Awards be moved to the Winter Snowfest event, which is a large community event that is similar to the birthday party. C/Low asked if the Snowfest would provide sufficient time and attention to an award ceremony with so much going on. CM/Fox said he believed there would be because it would amount to a short period of time for them to be recognized which would free everyone to go back to their other activities. CM/Fox said he felt the important thing was to have a large audience available for this type of event to provide proper recognition and felt with proper planning focus could be adjusted accordingly. C/Chou - said he appreciated the work -done by -the Special Events committee. There are a lot of businesses that contribute as well and wondered if there could be an additional category for recognizing those AUGUST 6, 2019 PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL businesses that contribute to those events. M/Herrera said she believed that because the Chamber focuses on the businesses, it would contribute to these events. C/Lyons added that the Council recognizes Businesses of the Month and perhaps an idea would be to have an award for the most community - friendly business by going through the nomination process, etc. She also thought that C/Low had a good point about attendance. MPT/Tye felt the Snowfest would provide a similar atmosphere as the birthday party with simultaneous activities and focus. . M/Herrera said the committee talked about this being different and the committee was trying to be flexible by suggesting it be tried out next year and if it should not work out as envisioned, the City Council could consider another option. One objective was to recognize these volunteers and volunteerism with a large number of residents present without incurring a lot of additional cost. M/Herrera asked for concurrence to try this next year. Council discussed whether business recognition should be included in the awards ceremony. C/Chou explained how businesses donate food, for example, and he believes it would - be good to recognize their contributions to the community. C/Low asked if C/Chou, was thinking about a certain business such as Mr. G's, would nominate the business or the owner of the business. C/Chou said he would nominate the business to promote the face of the business so as to include workers as well as the owner. MlHerrera asked if the Council was suggesting the following categories: Adult and Youth Community Volunteer Organizations and Business. The City could try this for a year and see how it goes C/Lyons moved, C/Low seconded, to program Outstanding Volunteer Awards (previously titled "Community Heroes Award") for Youth, Adults, Non -Profit Organizations for their contributions to the City of Diamond Bar and now to include Businesses to be given out at the Snowfest event for one year after which the program will be re-evaluated. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AUGUST 6, 2019 PAGE 7 CITY COUNCIL AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Chou, Low, Lyons, MPT/Tye, M/Herrera NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None M1Herrera explained that the application form would be modified according to the approved motion and staff would get it out to the various community organizations and businesses, 9. COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND MEETING ATTENDANCE REPORTS/COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS; C/Chou reported that he attended the Joint Powers Insurance Authority (JPIA) Annual Board meeting on behalf of the City where the new slate of board members was sworn in. He feels it is important for the City to have a voice on the Board because it is a very important organization that helps member cities manage their risk exposure. He commended staff for the wonderful Concerts in the Park series. Unfortunately, he missed the Diamond Bar Night -Out Concert but according to the photos and comments it was a wonderful event that was very well attended. He acknowledged the victims of the recent shootings and hopes the victims rest in peace and their families find strength in knowing we grieve with them. CILow said the mass shootings were very sad and she offered her condolences. We really do grieve with these families and communities. If anyone in the City is aware of or know of someone who may be having some issues, remember the City's motto "if you see something, say something" because it is okay to report what you observe; you might be saving a lot of grief. She showed photos of Miss Glendy Chiang with Congressman Cisneros. Miss Chiang was recognized by Congressman Cisneros and was awarded the Outstanding Asian -American and Pacific Islander Leadership Award in the Education category for being a leader in the City in Diamond Bar and- for her participation in the Diamond Bar Chinese- American As where she was the Vice Principal of the Diamond Bar Chinese School. She is a leader in her church and participates with the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library. This award is an acknowledgement of her significant contribution in this diverse community. Congratulations to Miss Chiang for receiving this prestigious award. CILow showed photos of a fire near Diamond Bar a couple of Sunday's ago. There were four helicopters flying over Tres Hermanos where they filled their containers with water to dump onto the fire which they did for about three hours. The City is so grateful that it has such excellent firefighters who prevented the fire from spreading into the City. In light of this event, residents should always be prepared for any type of disaster. Thank you to staff for an excellent summer series of Concerts in the Park which were well attended and a lot of fun with great movies and entertainment. C/Lyons said she was with CILow when Diamond Bar resident Glendy Chiang was honored for her work in bringing the Chinese culture into Diamond Bar as AUGUST 6, 2019 PAGE 8 CITY COUNCIL well as, participating in various activities including volunteering with the Diamond Bar Library. The City was turned down for the Infra grant it was seeking from the Department of Transportation to fund the SR57/60 Confluence project. Staff and Council have worked tirelessly to obtain these funds. In fact, the only California project that was funded is a connector/interchange in Temecula for the 15 freeway. It is very disappointing but, like Winston' Churchill, we will never, ever give up on obtaining funding for the Big Fix. It is important and it is desperately needed, She congratulated South Pointe Middle School for once again being named a middle school to watch. Only about 17 of the California schools were recognized. Congratulations to students, teachers, staff, parents and the principal, all of whom make Diamond Bar a better place and everyone is proud of the school. She thanked staff for their great support for the new community volunteer recognition award. Staff pulled together great options and ideas and the committee was able to get in go through everything in due time in order to make recommendations to the Council. Even though it may seem to be a long time between now and December, it takes time to get the forms revised and to get the word out about the new program. Concerts in the Park and Movies Under the Stars was another excellent series in 2019 with a lot of people having a lot of fun. Thank you to the Parks and Rec staff for another very successful program. MPT/Tye said it was great for the Council to have the opportunity to recognize Diamond Bar Girls' Softball and have the kids and coaches present this evening. He spoke with one of the coaches about the number of hours he had put into this effort and to multiply that times the number of coaches of various sports events going from town to town to get practice fields and go to the ball park highlights why these volunteers need to be recognized. To hear those individuals say Thank you to the City for everything it does and thanks for programming the fields and helping them get what they need to perform at the elite level is wonderful. It was great to hear from Barb Cameron about the introduction by Parks and Rec of Pickle Ball. It is nice to hear people express their gratitude because so much of the. work to get these programs put in place takes place behind the scenes and it is always time to complain when something doesn't go right, and when something works well, it is expected. Thank you to the Parks and Rec staff for all that they do including the terrific Concerts in the Park this year. Cold Duck has such a tremendous following and it was a great way to end the series. The Council is very grateful for all of the programs that the City is able to provide the residents. M/Herrera said the Concerts in the Park were great and thanked staff members who work hard to bring all different kinds of programs forward for the residents at no cost. It was certainly fun to see this auditorium filled with all of the little girls who play softball and their parents who support everything they do. M/Herrera's husband was a coach and her two daughters played in Diamond Bar Girls - Softball, which is an important -exercise and the -feeder system for kids when they get into high school. It is one reason the high schools and students do so well in their sports and activities. The Special Events Committee did their task and she AUGUST 6, 2019 PAGE 9 CITY COUNCIL declared that it be dissolved. She thanked C/Lyons for her participation on the committee. CM/Fox said that staff would place an item on the Council's next agenda to formerly disband the committee. RECESS: M/Herrera recessed the Regular Meeting at 7:38 p.m. C/Low left the meeting at 7:40 p.m. RECONVENE: M/Herrera reconvened the meeting at 9:04 p.m. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS (Continued): 7.1 FORMATION OF NEW LANDSCAPING ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NO. 41-2019: M/Herrera asked the City Clerk to read the results of the ballot proceeding for the record. CC/Cribbins stated that the ballot results of the new Landscape Assessment District No. 39-2019 are as follows with the complete results displayed on the overhead. As determined by the ballots cast, as weighted according to the amount of assessments for each parcel, 21.2 percent of -the property owners cast ballots in support of the 2019 district and 78.8 percent of the property owners cast ballots in opposition of the 2019 district. C/Lyons moved, MPT/Tye seconded, to Adopt Resolution No. 2019-35 (NO -FORMATION) Certifying -the Results of the Ballot Proceeding for Landscape Assessment District No. 39-2019. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Chou, Lyons, MPT/Tye, M/Herrera NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Low ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to conduct, M/Herrera adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 9:07 p.m. TOMM E CRIB IN$�, CITY, CLERK AUGUST 6, 2019 PAGE 10 CITY COUNCIL The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 20th day of August _,2019. CAROL HERRERA, MAYOR