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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020.04.21 - Minutes - Regular MeetingCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING APRIL 21, 2020 STUDY SESSION: 5:17 p.m. Draft Fiscal Year 2020-21 Capital Improvement Project Budget. Public Comments: None Study Session Adjourned at 5:57 p.m. to the Regular City Council meeting. CALL TO ORDER: order at 6:30 p.m. Mayor Tye called the Regular City Council meeting to CM/Fox announced that tonight's Study Session included a presentation and discussion of the Draft Fiscal Year 2020-21 Capital Improvement Project program. Mayor Tye stated that consistent with COVID-19 regulations, all Council Members and staff are participating via teleconference and there is no physical location for public attendance. The Public has been invited to join the meeting online or by phone at the numbers printed on the agenda. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Tye led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Council Members Andrew Chou, Ruth Low, Jennifer "Fred" Mahlke, Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Lyons, and Mayor Steve Tye Staff participating telephonically: Dan Fox, City Manager; Ryan McLean, Assistant City Manager; Amy Haug, Human Resources Manager; David DeBerry, City Attorney; Anthony Santos, Assistant to the City Manager; David Liu, Director of Public Works; Dianna Honeywell, Director of Finance, Grace Lee, Senior Planner; Greg Gubman, Director of Community Development; Ryan Wright, Director of Parks and Recreation; Ken Desforges, Director of Information Services; Cecilia Arellano, Public Information Coordinator; J.R. Ybarra, Media Specialist; Kristina Santana, City Clerk APPROVAL OF AGENDA: As presented. 1. CITY MANAGER REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: CM/Fox provided an update on the City's response to COVID-19. The City of Diamond Bar closed its public facilities to the public on March 13th and staff is providing online and telephone services. On March 19th the City Council declared a local state -of -emergency and the City activated its Emergency Operations Center as a precaution and as a way to better communicate and coordinate with the county and state partners which also makes the City potentially eligible for reimbursement to certain COVID-19 related expenses. APRIL 21, 2020 PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL All City facilities remain closed to the public through at least May 15th including City Hall, the Diamond Bar Center and the Heritage Park building. All community events remain canceled along with all recreational programs, contract classes and rentals at the Diamond Bar Center. In addition, City playgrounds, trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, picnic shelters, the Dog Park and Skate Park remain closed through May 15th. Street sweeping parking enforcement will continue to be suspended through May 15th while the City continues to provide street sweeping services and residents are encouraged to move their vehicles away from the curb on street sweeping days. The City continues to be able to provide essential services to maintain its streets, traffic signals, parks, landscaping and facilities as well as, many services online and by phone. The majority of staff is working remotely and staying healthy. He is especially proud and greatly appreciative of staff's efforts, creativity, flexibility, dedication and their continuing to serve Diamond Bar during this crisis. The City has been able to issue building permits electronically and accept online credit card payments. The Recreation Department has been developing virtual programs and activities and creating a library of material that continues to grow on the City's website. The Public Information staff is continually providing updates and adding new resources about COVID-19 on the City's website as well. Staff and Council are aware there is a lot of talk about reopening. Staff is beginning to plan for what that might look like and will begin working with County Health Officials for appropriate guidance to ensure that the City can protect its employees and the public to the greatest extent possible. This will be a slow and measured approach to make sure that everyone is as safe as possible given the nature of this virus. Orders are still in place through May 15th The City is anticipating significant financial impacts to its budget as a result of this health crisis and we will be taking a hard look at the changing financial resources as we look to prioritize essential services and defer other services and projects as the budget is developed for the next fiscal year. The City is committed to seeking reimbursement to the greatest extent possible from FEMA and Cal OES to help offset those financial impacts. Please be sure to visit the City's website for the latest information. Stay home, stay healthy and stay safe. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS: CC/Santana stated that one comment was submitted by email from Naila and Azaan Barlas and forwarded to each Council Member. CC/Santana read the comment, asking for support from the City against COVID-19 related fraud. Douglas Barcon said that GoToMeeting has a smart meeting app that does transcription live time which might be a consideration to help those who are hearing impaired. He believes thaere is much misinformation about COVID-19 on social media and suggested the LA County Public Health and Governor Newsom websites for trusted information. APRIL 21, 2020 PAGE 3 CITY COUNCIL Azaan Barlas asked if anyone had questions about what has happened with respect to the comments from Naila Barlas. Donna Earnhardt requested information regarding a development proposal at 1111 North Diamond Bar Boulevard for a new residence. She would like a copy of the traffic study and wanted to know what the study cost Diamond Bar. And, she would like to know who owns the property. Paul Akin said asked if there was a video portion for the meeting or if is strictly an audio -only meeting. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS: CM/Fox responded to Mr. Akin that tonight's meeting is audio only. There is no video component to this meeting. CM/Fox responded to Ms. Earnhardt that SP/Lee will be in touch to make sure she receives information she has requested regarding the application. This item is not on Council agenda and not subject to Council comment. CM/Fox responded to Mr. Barlas that staff will coordinate with the Sheriff's Department to make sure they are doing what they can to assist with the situation. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR: MPT/Lyons moved, C/Mahlke seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of Consent Calendar Item 3.3 pulled by MPT/Lyons for further consideration. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS Chou, Low, Mahlke, MPT/Lyons, M/Tye None None 3.1 APPROVED CITY COUNCIL MINUTES: 3.1a REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 7, 2020. 3.2 RATIFIED CHECK REGISTER DATED MARCH 26, 2020 THROUGH APRIL 8, 2020 TOTALING $1,829,106.73. 3.4 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2020-10 AUTHORIZING SUBMITTAL OF A PROJECTS LIST TO BE FUNDED BY SB 1: THE ROAD REPAIR AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2017 FOR FY 2020/21. MATTERS WITHDRAWN FROM CONSENT CALENDAR: 3.3 RESOLUTION NO. 2020-09 AMENDING THE CITY'S PERSONNEL APRIL 21, 2020 PAGE 4 CITY COUNCIL RULES AND REGULATIONS EFFECTIVE APRIL 21, 2020. MPT/Lyons said she is concerned about Page 101 and the Item entitled Rule 13 Holidays which refers to employees working on City holidays such as the 4th of July. The item states that employees can bank the hours into their "leave" bank and if they do not take the holiday, they will automatically be paid out. She is very concerned about paying any employee out right now because the budget for next year looks bad. She would propose that instead of paying employees out that they are given the hours owed as a "floating" holiday adding to their floating holidays and that they would then have the rest of the year to take the day and still get paid for working the holiday and get the extra day off as a "floating" holiday rather than getting extra salary. HRM/Haug stated that the Personnel Rules & Regulations takes a long- term view creating policies and practices that are in line with best practices for Human Resources Policy and are good practices for the City's particular situation as well. When the City asks employees to work on the 4th of July holiday, as an example, it is not operationally feasible to have them take additional time off before or after the holiday. The recommendation is to allow the employee to bank the eight or nine hours of holiday time without pay into their leave bank and allow them to take it at a later time. The original recommendation indicates that the banked holiday hours must be taken within a certain amount of time, and if they are not taken, they would automatically be paid out. Staff would be open to either the original language as proposed or the recommendation provided by MPT/Lyons. The main point is that the City wants to offer flexibility for employees and more importantly, make sure the City can take care of various operational priorities and staff those priorities appropriately. C/Chou asked if there was a cap on the number of hours that can be added to "floating holiday" leave. HRM/Haug stated that currently, as part of the holiday leave provision, employees are given two floating holidays and this recommendation would allow them to earn more than just two. While there is no cap, there is a timeline (a calendar year) in which they would need to take those additional days off. At the end of the calendar year, if those floating holiday hours are not taken, the employee would lose those banked or converted floating holidays. C/Low said she had concerns about Page 74, a conviction an employee receives and on Section 23 on Page 68, the 10 percent merit increase that is being modified as given. She also questioned merit pay increases for individuals who are on probation. The way she reads that section is that someone who is newly hired and on probation, after six months of satisfactory performance, are eligible for a merit increase and 12 months later they are also eligible for an increase. She asked if the probationary APRIL 21, 2020 PAGE 5 CITY COUNCIL period is 12 months or 18 months and what the wisdom is of having someone eligible for increases while they are on probation. Also, it seems to her that in budgeting for the next fiscal year, as others have mentioned, she imagines that it will be very challenging in terms of funding normal expenses. As of today, the County of Los Angeles is projecting a $2.2 billion revenue shortfall. C/Low offered a motion to table this item and schedule a Study Session discussion regarding the entire policy. This is a big item and the City cares about its employees and wants to take care of them. At the same time, the Council has a responsibility to be prudent and responsible. She complimented HRM/Haug for the fine job she did in putting this together. MPT/Lyons agreed with C/Low. The possible fiscal impact of paying out the employee is what got her to thinking about this policy and perhaps there are other fiscal impacts that will be impacted with the new plan and the Council should probably look at it in depth. MPT/Lyons seconded C/Low's motion to table the item and schedule a Study Session item about the entire policy. M/Tye reread the item under discussion. He said he did not understand why the Council was getting tangled up on whether the employee is paid out because they did not use it or they bank it and use it before the end of June. Either way, the City of Diamond Bar is paying that employee for working on an observed holiday. MPT/Lyons said the way she understands it is that with the big 4th of July party the City had, employees worked on the 4th of July, got paid holiday pay and then they had eight or nine hours of banked time to take before the end of the year. And the change to the policy says that if the employee does not take the banked time, they will receive it paid out which means they would get they would not have gotten otherwise. M/Tye said that it was a paid day off. M/Tye asked HRM/Haug if he was misinterpreting this and she responded "no, Mayor". M/Tye said he now realizes the Council is in the weeds on this issue and believes it is a good idea to table Item 3.3 and bring it back at a Study Session. C/Chou said he understood what MPT/Lyons and C/Low were saying. In the world of human resources there are many landmines, rules and regulations which are statutory. He does not believe any of the Council Members are HR professionals and if the Council is considering getting into the weeds of tweaking some of the language, he has a feeling this will turn into a much bigger project than what was intended just to be compliant. Although he is supportive of a deeper study, he cautioned his colleagues APRIL 21, 2020 PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL that this could potentially turn into a much bigger project than what the Council Members have considered. M/Tye said that the professional in the room is HRM/Haug and Council will depend on her. This is an update and something that can be addressed in a Study Session. M/Tye called for the vote on C/Low's motion to table the item and consider the details in a Study Session: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Chou, Low, Mahlke, MPT/Lyons, M/Tye NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None 4. PUBLIC HEARING(S): NONE 5. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION: NONE 6. COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND MEETING ATTENDANCE REPORTS/COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS: C/Mahlke said it will be of no surprise because of the stay-at-home order, that she has not actually attended any meetings. There is a lot of information about COVID- 19 as mentioned by Mr. Barcon and she cannot recommend enough the City's website when it comes to getting updated information. It is a great place to start and a place where one can be assured they are getting accurate and reliable information. The virtual Rec Center staff has worked diligently to open up looks fantastic. She gets to leave the house tomorrow because she is going to give blood at the City of Hope and for anyone thinking about leaving their house to give blood, she recommends they call the local Red Cross or the City of Hope to do their pre-screening on the phone. C/Low said that she and her colleagues helped celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of Ernest and Hazel De Pass who were outside of their house with their four kids. Police cars drove by with their sirens and lights on as did City Council Members and members of the Fire Department. Everyone stayed in their cars and there were no violation of distancing orders. Regarding the Barlas' comments about the fraudulent use of their personal information, while we are safer at home, our personal information, our credit and our identity is never in more danger than it is now. The bad guys are working overtime to steal our money like they are trying to do with the stimulus checks by offering to assist. What they are really doing is scamming people out of their money. Please remain aware that the government will never charge you or ask you for your social security number, credit card information or bank account information. Although City Hall is closed, everyone is getting emails and there were a lot of emails concerning Project Room Key. While the laudable goal of this project is to provide housing, shelter, food and care to homeless persons, unfortunately, many of the local cities in the area are APRIL 21, 2020 PAGE 7 CITY COUNCIL not part of this project and have not been invited to be a partner or provide input. Even worse, there has been little information forthcoming about how this project works and how it affects their cities and residents. She asked M/Tye to convene a special meeting to educate the Council and residents about how this project will work, how it will benefit the community and what the City can expect. Perhaps staff can reach out to the County. COG is collecting questions they want to present to the county as well. C/Chou thanked staff for putting together the CIP report. We are six weeks into safer at home and people are starting to get restless. He appreciates residents who are being patient. When he makes his essential trips to the post office or grocery store, the vast majority of residents are observing the face covering mandate and being polite and respectful. The local stores seem to be better stocked and he is observing that people are not making a run on essential items. He thanked residents for their classy participation. Stay safe and stay home and together we will get through this. An additional resource that came to his attention was via the Labor and Workforce Development Agency of LA County that is coming out with a new assistance program called "Pandemic Unemployment Assistance" which specifically targets those who are self- employed and gig workers. The weekly minimum benefit is $167 plus $600 for weeks between March 29 and July 25th as part of the COVID-19 response. This program is retroactive to February 2"d. Application for this program becomes available Tuesday, April 28th on the website www.labor.ca.gov. MPT/Lyons thanked PWD/Liu and his staff for his thorough analysis of the Capital Improvement Project budget and the recommendations. With the budget cuts the City will be facing, he made very wise choices and provided a very complete explanation of those choices. She agreed with C/Low about the need for more information on Project RoomKey. She attended the COG meeting and there was an interesting presentation by Sarah Dusseault, Chair of LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority who provided a great deal of information about this project which is the county and state's efforts to put the homeless in shelters to help contain the Coronavirus. Still, a lot of questions remain about how it works, notification to the cities, coordination with the Sheriff, etc. and much more that the City needs to understand. She concurred on the great drive by parade to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of Ernest and Hazel De Pass who are 55 -year residents of Diamond Bar. She asked the Mayor to close tonight's meeting in honor of their 60 years of wedded bliss. M/Tye asked CM/Fox if he was thinking about a special meeting to learn more about Project RoomKey. CM/Fox responded that staff could schedule a special meeting or put it on the agenda, whichever the Council wishes. Staff would need some time to coordinate a meeting with county representatives. CM/Fox said he participated in a call yesterday that was headed by the Police Chiefs Association which included City Policy Chiefs as well as, contract City Sheriff's. Supervisor Chair Katherine Barger along with Supervisor Pro Tem Hilda Solis announced that they have a new single APRIL 21, 2020 PAGE 8 CITY COUNCIL point person out of the CEO's office that will be heading this up. They also acknowledged some of the shortcomings with notifying cities and their staff prior to entering into these types of agreements and indicated they will be providing notice to the cities as they have interest from hotels. What staff has come to learn is that the Quality Inn at Fairway and SR60 in Rowland Heights in the unincorporated area of the county has signed up to participate in this program. He is not aware of any Diamond Bar hotels that are participating and no one has indicated that there is interest in doing so at this point. M/Tye said he has little to no confidence in the county's representative regarding Project RoomKey based on the misinformation to date. But if Supervisor Barger and Solis are making efforts to improve and deliver that information, he would be encouraged by their participation. What he does not want to happen is for there to be too many items on the May 5th agenda. He asked C/Low if she was seeking a special meeting rather than having this placed on a regular meeting agenda and C/Low responded yes, that she would support having a special meeting. There are a sufficient number of Diamond Bar residents who are concerned about this and who want to know about the program. The Quality Inn, while not in the City limits of Diamond Bar, is very close to the City's borders and she believes the residents who live near that facility want the information which is a service she believes Diamond Bar owes to its residents. MPT/Lyons agreed that it was essential that the information be brought to the residents in a noticed special meeting. Council concurred to hold a special meeting on Friday, April 24th M/Tye urged everyone to continue doing their part to end this pandemic, whether it means staying home or if identified as being essential, being careful and wearing masks. He does not know how much longer this will last but knows we are one day closer. He hopes everyone will remain optimistic and remember to choose joy and, tomorrow perhaps do something to make somebody's day. The De Pass's made his day. It was wonderful to see them sitting on their lawn and enjoying the adoration they were able to enjoy from a distance. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to conduct, M/Tye adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 7:39 p.m. in honor of Ernest and Hazel De Pass on the occasion of their 60th wedding anniversary. Respectfully submitted: Kristina Santana, City Clerk APRIL 21, 2020 PAGE 9 CITY COUNCIL The for Jpg minutes are hereby Steve ye, Mayo approved this 5t" day of May, 2020.