Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021.05.04 - Minutes - Regular MeetingCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MAY 41 2021 STUDY SESSION: 5:00 p.m. Draft FY2021-22 Capital Improvement Project Budget Public Comments: None Adjournment: M/Lyons adjourned the Study Session at 6:02 p.m. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Lyons called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Mayor Lyons announced that consistent with COVID-19 regulations, all Council Members and staff participated via teleconference and there was no physical location for public attendance. The Public was invited to join the meeting online or by phone at the numbers printed on the agenda. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: M/Lyons led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Council Members Andrew Chou, Stan Liu, Steve Tye, Mayor Pro Tern Ruth Low, Mayor Nancy Lyons Staff participating telephonically: Dan Fox, City Manager; Dave DeBerry, City Attorney; Ryan McLean, Assistant City Manager; Anthony Santos, Assistant to the City Manager, Ryan Wright, Parks and Recreation Director; David Liu, Public Works Director; Hal Ghafari, Public Works Manager/Assistant City Engineer; Greg Gubman, Community Development Director; Brent Mason, Interim Director of Finance; Amy Haug, Human Resources and Risk Manager; Ken Desforges, Director of Information Services; Marsha Roa, Public Information Manager; Cecilia Arellano, Public Information Coordinator; Kristina Santana, City Clerk Also Present: Diamond Bar/Walnut Station Captain Stephen Tousey, LA County Sheriff's Department; Consultants Anna Sarabian, Fieldman Rolapp & Associates and Cyrus Torabi, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: As submitted. 1. CITY MANAGER REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: None 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS: CC/Santana read the following public comments submitted via email: Terry Carlos wrote about Victims of Crime and asked fora vote of "no confidence" for Los Angeles District Attorney Kevin Gascon. MAY 41 2021 PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL Kathy Giordano asked for a vote of no confidence" for newly elected LA County DA, George Gascon. Jaime Va supported a vote of no confidence" for LA County DA, George Gascon. Public comments offered telephonically: Pamela Delgado felt it was important that residents cast a vote of "no confidence" against DA Gascon, Theresa Lee, Walnut Valley Water District, thanked the City Council for its support of Water Awareness Month and residents' for their continuing efforts toward water conversation. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR: MPT/Low moved, C/Liu seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Chou, Liu, Tye, MPT/Low, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None 3.1 APPROVED CITY COUNCIL MINUTES: 3.1a APRIL 20, 2021 REGULAR MEETING. 3.2 RATIFIED CHECK REGISTER DATED APRIL 8, 2021 THROUGH APRIL 21, 2021 TOTALING $1,059,636.46. 3.3 DECLARED THE 1997 OLDSMOBILE ACHIEVA (VIN 1 G3NL52M3VM333500) AS SURPLUS AND AUTHORIZED THE CITY MANAGER TO TRANSFER TITLE TO THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT. 3.4 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2021-14 EXTENDING THE DECLARED LOCAL EMERGENCY REGARDING NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID- 19). 3.5 ADOPTED THE PROCLAMATION DECLARING MAY AS CALIFORNIA'S WATER AWARENESS MONTH. 3.6 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2021-13: AUTHORIZING THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR/CITY ENGINEER TO RELEASE RESTRICTED USE AREAS (RUAs) AND TO RECORD A WRITTEN INSTRUCTION WITH THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY RECORDER RELEASING THE RUAs. MAY 47 2021 PAGE 3 CITY COUNCIL 4. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 4A DISSOLVE LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NO. 39. C/Chou and MPT/Low who live in the district, recused themselves consideration of from Item 4.1 and left the meeting. C/Tye asked for confirmation of the voting process for Item 4.1 and CA/DeBerry responded that all resolutions require three (3) votes for approval. PWM/Ghafari presented the staff report and a petition signed by 60 residents living in 40 properties in District No. 39 requesting that the City Council postpone its decision to dissolve the district. M/Lyons opened the Public Hearing at 6:48 p.m. Submitted via email and read by CC/Santana: Garrett Rukes felt dissolution of the districts would adversely affect the parcels and urged the Council to consider other solutions such as, reduce services to a minimum, educate the residents more clearly and provide additional time to vote for other options, or have owners relinquish ownership of their parcels to the City. Speaking telephonically: Mimi Chan asked for postponement of the dissolution to give residents an opportunity to study the matter and to work with the City to come up with a plan. Patrick Imburgia said that when he moved into his property in 1986 the County recorded two instruments on his property granting the County an easement to go onto and take care of his property which was then conveyed to the City of Diamond Bar for maintenance purposes. He asked for copies of those documents and asked if he would receive a reconveyance of the easement from the City if dissolution moved forward. Paul Deibel asked how the City planned to protect the Canyon Loop Trail area and surrounding nature preserve if there was no backup pIan prior to dissolution. Rashmi Malik said that she believes 80 percent of the residents have no idea how this will affect them and was concerned about how and whether the area would be maintained if the District was dissolved. MAY 41 2021 PAGE 4 CITY COUNCIL M/Lyons closed the Public Hearing. CA/DeBerry stated that easements were granted for maintenance purposes only which is simply a finance instrument and not an entity for acquiring an easement. He is studying the possibility of whether prior to dissolution, the District can Quit Claim those easements back to the property owner. The City has been unable to locate a copy of the County's resolution but due to the length of time since the City assumed responsibility, gives him no legal concerns. CM/Fox said the City is currently and will continue to maintain the City's parks, trails and large open space area, and the matter of postponement is a policy decision for the City Council. C/Liu referenced the 2019 "no" vote that residents did not wish to have their property taxes raised to pay for expenses. If the property owners decide to reform the District, do they have the option to do so at any time in the future and CA/DeBerry responded that at any time, property owners can petition the City to form a Landscape District with a majority petition which could include more or fewer properties, and if the City agreed to do so, it would set the rates with escalators, in order to fully continue to fund maintenance of the district. C/Liu asked if there was a law that prevented increases to keep up with costs of maintenance. M/Lyons said that if C/Liu was asking if the City could increase the amount the residents have to pay on the District and that answer is no which is the reason the City held a vote because the City is unable to increase the amount without a majority vote of the property owners. CA/DeBerry explained that when the districts were formed in 1986, the LA Board of Supervisors could increase the assessment without going to a vote; however, when Prop 218 was passed in 1996 after the City assumed maintenance, it required a vote of the people to increase the assessments. C/Tye felt that rather than dissolving the district and establishing a new districtI this needed to be done correctly. The City cannot advocate but it can educate. The Council has looked at this issue every year and this is the first Council that has had the courage to go forward with it. If the folks in District No. 39 are saying they want another chance to vote on it, he believes that is what ought to happen. M/Lyons said that if District No. 41 passes the measure they will stay as they are now and pay their own expenses. If it does not pass and District No. 41 is dissolved, is that something that could be done at this late date with respect to District No. 39 and CM/Fox responded that although tight, there is time to start a new Prop 218 process for District No. 39 and staff would need to bring back a recommendation to the Council on May 18th in MAY 412021 PAGE 5 CITY COUNCIL order to start that process which means an even shorter timeframe for District 39 whereas, District No. 41 has been going through this process for nearly two months. The other concern is that it would be about $15,000 to put together a ballot measure and in this case, there is no HOA that could champion the effort. While a few have indicated an interest in moving this issue forward, there are almost 1250 parcels and only about 100 parcels that have maintenance being performed by the District. The realistic likelihood that another Prop 218 would be successful is not in the City's favor, and staff would still recommend that District No. 39 be dissolved this evening and if the vote is not successful, they can come back in the future and repetition the City for reconsideration of a new LLAD. C/Tye felt that since District No. 39 was being given less time than District No. 41 they were being set up for failure and that it would make more sense to postpone this action and do it right. CM/Fox responded that if that is the desire of Council, staff would need to come back to the Council to continue the current assessments and subsidies for another year in addition to maintaining the private property. M/Lyons asked how many days/weeks between now and when the vote would take place and CM/Fox said it is about a three-month process between the time staff comes to the Council and the actual vote takes place. It would be 45-days by the time the Council approved the engineer's report and the actual ballot to the time when the ballots are tallied, and it would need to be by the end of July in order to make the deadline to get the assessments into the County Assessor's office in early August. M/Lyons asked if C/Tye was proposing to delay this a year and C/Tye said he believed it was a matter of giving the District U. 39 the same benefit that District No. 41 has enjoyed. Again, he believes it is better to do it right than to get it done by a certain deadline M/Lyons asked C/Liu for his opinion and C/Liu said he agrees with C/Tye's perspective. He was not on the Council for the 2019 vote, but in listening to residents and their concerns, giving the same treatment for District No. 39 as District 41 is something the Council should consider. On the other hand, he wonders how the City could better educate the voters in District No. 39 at this time in order to have a favorable outcome. C/Tye moved to not Dissolve Landscape Assessment District 39 and help the residents to become better educated toward succeeding in a Prop 218 vote. The motion died for lack of second. CM/Fox explained that if the Council does not vote to dissolve District No. 39 tonight, staff would need to come back to the City Council to start the assessments for next year regardless of whether the Prop 218 vote is MAY 41 2021 PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL successful. The $15,000 that was provided for the ballot measure in District No. 41 does not include any type of public outreach effort on the part of the City. There is some educational material available to be put up on the City's website, but there would be a substantial additional cost and a very short timeframe if the Council is expecting the City to provide a robust educational community outreach effort to support this effort. M/Lyons said that if this is postponed a year, the momentum will be lost and the assessments would be left as they currently exist with a shortfall to the City. CM/Fox explained that one option would be to continue this item until the same hearing that the vote is counted on a new Prop 218 ballot measure, and at that time the Council would have the decision that if the new assessments are approved, and if not, take the action to dissolve the districts at that time. In this case, staff would need to bring a resolution back to Council on May 18t" to initiate that process and to designate the assessment engineer of record. And in this case, it would be the end of July/early August for the meeting to be held to count the ballots. Following further discussion, C/Tye the Public Hearing for Resolution No by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS moved, C/Liu seconded, to continue 2021-15 to May 18th. Motion carried Liu, Tye, M/Lyons None Chou, MPT/Low C/Chou and MPT/Low returned to the meeting. 4.2 DISSOLVE LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NO. 41. C/Liu lives in District No. 41 and recused himself from consideration of Item 4.2 and left the meeting. PWM/Ghafari presented the staff report. M/Lyons opened the Public Hearing at 7:45 p.m. CC/Santana read the following public comments submitted via email: John Catanzaro, President, Ridgeline HOA, wrote about the Board's resolve to advocate for passage of Prop 218 throughout the community by meeting bkweekly to discuss communication strategies and share the progress of their efforts. The Board understands that it is in the HOA's best interest to vote for the property tax increase and thanks the City for its support in this effort as it has become evident to the Board that the City MAY 4, 2021 PAGE 7 CITY COUNCIL is the first and best choice to continue the essential uninterrupted and ongoing landscape maintenance services. Signed by: John Catanzaro, President Ridgeline HOA; Tony Lee, President Oakridge HOA; Dino Luzzi, President Woodglen I HOA; Alex Stewart, Vice -President Woodglen II. Public comments offered telephonically: Alex Stewart, Vice President, Woodglen II, reiterated the HOA's efforts toward a positive vote on the Prop 218 ballot, and was concerned that this item would not be clarified on the ballot and asked for clarification. M/Lyons closed the Public Hearing at 7:57 p.m. CM/Fox stated that the ballot will be presented at the Council's May 18cn meeting for review along with the engineer's report, and it can be revised or better clarified at that time. MPT/Low felt that if the property owners have not been participating in Council discussions and have not been visited by a HOA and simply receive a ballot with the same language as last time, the result is likely to be negative and all of the effort by the HOA will be for naught. She believes the ballot language needs to be legally insightful. CA/DeBerry responded that telling homeowners that if the increased assessment is not approved it could mean the dissolution of the district and that they would have to take over maintenance of the property is not advocacy. And, it is a question of what can fit on the card sized ballot and what the law allows to be placed on the ballot, which staff will determine prior to the next meeting. M/Lyons said she would like for the ballot to be as clear and as simple as possible. C/Chou moved, RAPT/Low seconded, to adopt Resolution No. 2021-16 to Dissolve Landscape Assessment District No. 41. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: C/Liu returned to the meeting. 5. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION: ChouTyeMPT/Low, M/Lyons 5.1 APPOINTMENT TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION TO FILL UNEXPIRED TERM. C/Tye recommended appointment of Lia Murphy to the Parks and MAY 41 2021 PAGE 8 Recreation Commission. CITY COUNCIL M/Lyons moved, C/Tye seconded, to appoint Lia Murphy to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Chou, Liu, Tye, MPT/Low, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None 5.2 2021 LEASE REVENUE REFUNDING BONDS (DIAMOND BAR CENTER). CM/Fox introduced this item and announced staff received notice that S&P (Standard & Poor's) has given a AA+ rating to the City 's new bonds, the highest possible rating for the lease revenue bonds. It was particularly noted that the City had very strong management with good financial policies and practices that were well imbedded in the organization, and that the City had very strong budget flexibility with strong reserves. Ann Sarabian, Friedman, Rolapp &Associates provided the refunding report. MPT/Low asked if there was any concern about the bonds not being purchased by investors and Ms. Sarabian said she was not concerned, given the highest possible rating the City has received for this type of credit. Cyrus Torabi, Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth, explained the legal documents. M/Lyons opened Public Comments. Public comments offered telephonically: Paul Deibel asked if small investors could acquire these bonds, or if it was limited to institutional investors only. Ms. Sarabian said that her firm would welcome retail investors and especially, investors living within the City's boundaries. Priority can be given to local residents who are willing to purchase the bonds and to do so, the investor must go to his broker to complete the purchase or, if the investor does not have a broker, she can provide information about Raymond James who, as underwriters, can facilitate the order. M/Lyons closed Public Comments. MAY 412021 PAGE 9 CITY COUNCIL C/Chou asked how the underwriting firm was chosen and Ms. Sarabian responded that on behalf of the City, her firm sent out Requests for Proposals for underwriting services to numerous underwriters who are active in underwriting lease revenue bonds for California Public Agencies. Responses were received and reviewed and based on the review and evaluation of each proposal, Raymond James was selected. C/Tye moved, C/Chou seconded, to Adopt Resolution No. 2021-17 approving the legal documents for the issuance of City of Diamond Bar Public Financing Authority Lease Revenue Refunding Bonds, 2021 Series A (" 2021 Bonds"), authorizing the execution of the necessary documents and certificates, and other related actions. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Chou, Liu, Tye, MPT/Low, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None RECESS: M/Lyons recessed the Regular City Council Meeting to the Public Financing Authority Meeting at 8:36 p.m. RECONVENE: M/Lyons reconvened the Regular City Council Meeting at 8:42 p.m. 6. COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND MEETING ATTENDANCE REPORTS/COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS: C/Chou congratulated everyone on their participation and rendering of very important decisions on behalf of the City during tonight's long meeting, reminded everyone that LA County has moved to the yellow tier, and that Diamond Bar is at a 63 percent vaccination rate. C/Liu thanked staff and Ms. Sabarian and Mr. Torabi for their detailed presentations, and thanked the City for adopting May as Water Awareness Month and residents for their responsible water use and conservation. He congratulated Ms. Lia Murphy for stepping up to serve her community, thanked neighbors who have taken the initiative to pick up trash on their neighborhood walks and thanked the Diamond Bar Community Foundation and The Windmill for featuring articles to bring awareness that the Diamond Bar community stands in solidarity against hate crimes. May is Asian -American Pacific Islander Heritage month for recognizing the contributions and influence of Asian - Americans and Pacific Islander Americans through their history and achievements. Happy Mother's Day to M/Lyons and MPT/Low and all of the amazing moms in the world. C/Tye thanked staff and his colleagues for a very productive meeting for which he was grateful to be a participant, asked to have the matter of a 19no vote of MAY 41 2021 PAGE 10 CITY COUNCIL confidence" of LA County District Attorney George Gascon placed on the next agenda, and thanked staff for the excellent information on the Capital Improvement Projects budget, the bond refunding information, the incredible AA+ rating by S&P. He welcomed Lia Murphy to the Parks & Recreation Commission, and spoke about the incredible teachers from both school districts who serve the community's young people. MPT/Low thanked her colleagues for their comments and staff fora great job. She is so excited the City received such a great credit rating which is attributed to the great job staff has been doing throughout the City's history. She thanked staff for the great job on the Capital Improvement Program budget and looked forward to completion of the projects. The City is preparing a Hazard Mitigation Plan and residents are asked to participate in the process by completing the survey on the City's website. May is also Older Americans Month and the California Department of Insurance is hosting a virtual town hall on May 30t" from 1:30 to 2:30 pm to provide information to residents on how to fight back against fraud and scams. She wished everyone a Happy Mother's Day, especially to M/Lyons, Patty Tye, Margaret Liu and Jennifer Chou and a special Happy Mother's Day to her mother who is approaching 90 years. M/Lyons agreed with C/Tye to agendize a "no vote of confidence" for LA District Attorney Gascon. She and C/Chou attended the Heart of Hope program on Sunday and thanked Director Joanna Low for continuing the program through the pandemic. Last week she attended the Capital Projects and Construction Committee meeting and two noteworthy items announced were that the San Gabriel Valley Bike Share Program is resurfacing and Diamond Bar may want to relook to participate in the program, and during the discussion about the SR57/60 Confluence she heard that the golf course has promised to reopen in world class condition with new irrigation, new greens, fairways, etc. She is excited to note that the Parks and Recreation staff will have five bands performing five different concerts during the Concerts in the Park summer series, and is very pleased and happy that Council plans to begin meeting in person again starting on May 18t" and appreciates all the work staff has done to make this happen. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to conduct, M/Lyons adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 8:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Ana Santana, City Clerk The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 18t" day of May, 2021.