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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/30/1998 Minutes - Special Meeting with Sup. KnabeDIAMOND BAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING SPECIAL "MEET AND GREET" SESSION WITH SUPERVISOR DON KNABE JULY 30, 1998 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Herrera called the meeting to order at 9:20 a.m. in Conference Room A, Diamond Bar City Hall, 21660 E. Copley Dr., Suite 100, Diamond Bar, California. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Herrera ROLL CALL: Council Members Ansari, Huff, O'Connor, MPT/Chang, M/Herrera Also present were: Terrence L. Belanger, City Manager; Michael Jenkins, City Attorney; James DeStefano, Deputy City Manager; Fred Guido, Chief of Staff for Supervisor Knabe; Mishal Montgomery, Field Representative for Supervisor Knabe and Lynda Burgess, City Clerk. 2. MATTERS OF MUTUAL INTEREST M/Herrera thanked Supervisor Knabe for participating in the Pantera Park Grand Opening Ceremony. S/Knabe commended the City on the park and said he appreciated the opportunity to participate. M/Herrera stated the Council is looking forward to the rededication of the library on August 15, 1998. S/Knabe believed that the library renovation is one of the best cooperative ventures that has taken place in the State. He further stated that he appreciated the opportunity to meet with Council on a regular basis and be of assistance to the community. MPT/Chang welcomed Supervisor Knabe and his staff members. He had heard that the County may be interested in selling the D.B. Golf Course and stated that if there is an opportunity, the City would like first right of refusal to acquire the property. S/Knabe said he was not aware of any plans to offer the golf course for sale. There has been discussion to hire a consultant to propose improvement plans only. C/Ansari pointed out that D.B. has no facility to accommodate large weddings or banquets. If the Clubhouse were to be expanded and refurbished, it would be an excellent opportunity for the County. Ms. Montgomery explained that the Park Preservation Act prohibits certain uses of park property for uses other than recreation. Therefore, a joint use JULY 30, 1998 PAGE 2 COUNCIL/SUPV. KNABE situation may be difficult. CM/Belanger stated that a reasonable case could be made for using the facility for other purposes such as offices that are not consuming land that would otherwise be used for recreation purposes. C/O'Connor asked how many parking spaces are available. S/Knabe said that there are a good number of parking spaces and as square footage is increased, expansion of the number of spaces could take place. CM/Belanger stated that discussions have included use of the facility to include a permanent City Hall. Supervisor Knabe indicated that such a venture would require a good deal of political discussion. CM/Belanger believed it would be less difficult at the golf course location than consideration of a virgin piece of ground that had no active use. S/Knabe stated that it may be a possibility. There is consideration of expansion of the clubhouse which can be accomplished on a short term basis. There are a number of restrictions on use of open space. CM/Belanger suggested that the parking lot could be turned into a parking structure with the upper profile being used for a second level of parking. There are ways to accomplish expansion if everyone is interested in creating such a facility. Presently, there is a great deal of wasted space because the facility was constructed on a single story. Consideration could be given to a three story structure in the area of the asphalt around the greens with golf carts being located at the street level, which would change the look of the entire facility. C/Ansari stated that there is a considerable amount of useable space to the right of the driveway as you enter the facility from Golden Springs Dr. C/Huff said that part of the problem is that in D.B., there is a north/south mentality. There are different school districts which has led to some housing differentials. A civic center needs to be somewhat centrally located in order to bring the community closer together. The County has an excellent property from that standpoint. The property is centrally located, easily accessible to the freeways, located in the flatlands and would not infringe on virgin territory unlike any other location that may be proposed within the City. From the City's perspective, it is a good deal and the Council is interested in entertaining the idea of working jointly with the County to accomplish such a use. JULY 30, 1998 PAGE 3 COUNCIL/SUPV. KNABE M/Herrera stated that the City is interested in having its own facility and has tried to be creative in figuring out solutions with respect to locations. This is one idea, which may or may not be the most feasible. S/Knabe said that the County can certainly look at the possibility; however, he would not want to give the City a ray of hope at this particular point. C/Huff said the City appreciates the fact that the tenant has cleaned up the fence areas. CM/Belanger indicated that the tenant is currently dealing with the drainage problem on the back 9 which has been a retention basin for years. Flood waters from higher elevations flow down into the golf course. It is an evaporation area and therefore, during certain times of the year following the rainy season, a couple of the fairways are inundated. CM/Belanger stated that the Redevelopment Agency has forwarded its check for the library renovation. In future relationships, the County will be aware that it has a solvent partner which pays its debts on time. C/Ansari asked for an update on the effectiveness of the Alzheimer houses. S/Knabe reported that database collection has occurred. The County was concerned that it was being inundated with such facilities. There is no control over licensing the facilities and it is difficult to determine how many exist. He said he is not aware of the current status of the collection efforts. Mr. Guido indicated that he would look into the matter and get back to Council with the information. C/Ansari reported that a resident who attended the most recent Council meeting told her that she has five Alzheimer houses in D.B. M/Herrera wondered if the woman was concerned about parking on the street. CM/Belanger responded that the woman was, in fact, concerned about parking on the street. She said she had called in complaints about people parking in front of some of her group homes because they interfered with the operation of her group homes. S/Knabe did not believe they were all Alzheimer homes. CM/Belanger stated there are a couple of homes that house teenagers with problems. JULY 30, 1998 PAGE 4 COUNCIL/SUPV. KNABE S/Knabe indicated that one of the things they are trying to do is not make it so profitable for people to have these types of facilities. He further stated that someone approached him at the Pantera Park Grand Opening Ceremonies to talk about motorhomes parked on City streets. He indicated that the County has had an ongoing battle with this same concern in Cerritos. The matter was upheld three or four times by a ballot vote. Cerritos created an Ordinance to allow flexibility for loading and unloading. The City works a permit process through the Community Safety Office which approves a sticker for homeowners to park operating and licensed vehicles on the street. The Ordinance bans overnight parking. C/O'Connor said a Senior Patrol officer with Walnut Sheriff has questioned Walnut residents about their overnight parking ban. Many stated they are used to the ban and work with the Ordinance. Walnut issues free permits. C/Huff said D. B. may want to issue free permits to take some of the sting out Of it. M/Herrera spoke about SB 2010 and AB 1281 and said she is very pleased with the action that the Board of Supervisors took yesterday to finally oppose the double joining, which she believed was a significant step. S/Knabe appreciated the Council's participation, which he believed was important to the issue. He understood his colleagues' efforts to get some compromise. What is dangerous about SB 2010 is that it creates a whole new agency with a $15 million budget, another funnel of money to an agency that is not accountable to anyone. M/Herrera stated that originally in Senate Bill 2, there was about $70 million the budget for this new conservancy. S/Knabe felt that SB 2010 is dead in the water in Sacramento. As a courtesy to the Chairman, the bill will be heard again, so the opposition cannot let up. M/Herrera expressed concern that it may come down to where the City gets only a couple of hours of notice, which will not provide enough time for cities, water agencies or environmental groups to get to Sacramento. S/Knabe asked if the City had a contract lobbyist. CM/Belanger said the City has Gonsalves to take care of the matter. S/Knabe said that this issue is critical. "The Board of Supervisors has worked so hard on LACTA. A million people are going to be paying abhorrent insurance rates. We've worked hard to get bipartisan support. All of a sudden Hayden writes the Office of Management and Budget and the JULY 30, 1998 PAGE 5 COUNCIL/SUPV. KNABE President of the United States saying you might want to slow this thing down a little bit. I think we have another solution to this whole thing - clearly undermining what we've worked so hard to accomplish. If you can imagine, we have Barbara Boxer and Steve Warner on the same side. It's like a miracle. She got $40 million on the Senate side and Steve got $60 million on the Congressional side." M/Herrera said whoever would have thought that all of the environmental groups would line up with the cities and the water district on a single issue. Everybody is adamant about opposing SB 2010. S/Knabe responded that they are accountable to no one. They make false problems as it relates to the expenditure of money. M/Herrera said that people have asked her why Senator Hayden is fighting so fiercely for SB 2010. My answer is that it is a good question - why, indeed. As of yesterday, everything is still the same that it was on June 29. There have been no amendments. Mr. Guido stated that one answer, and it's only speculation, is that he will return to the valley and take control of that agency somewhere down the line. M/Herrera said she did not realize until yesterday's testimony that there are 20 lawsuits pending against the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. S/Knabe responded that most of the lawsuits have to do with failed promises to purchase people's property. M/Herrera said she guessed that Edmiston's response to some of the judgements that have been made against him is that he is a State entity and that he is not liable and that the attorneys are now going to go after the JPA and the cities that participate in the JPAs with Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to collect. C/Ansari asked if Edmiston had a recent sizeable judgement filed against him. M/Herrera responded that it was for $six million. This is the attorney that is now going to turn and file against all of the JPAs that the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy participates in and that's us. That's WCCA. She said she was talking with Council Member Marty Siminoff from Brea who was very concerned about that issue and expressed that perhaps it is time to cut some ties. What would occur if that were the overall sentiment, if this became a reality where a lawsuit was filed against all of the JPAs and cities started severing ties and these different JPAs began falling apart because JULY 30, 1998 PAGE 6 COUNCIL/SUPV. KNABE everybody was leaving? S/Knabe responded that he felt the City's Attorney may be better able to answer M/Herrera's concern. Most of the JPAs were uniquely formed. CM/Belanger stated that JPAs were created to extend the influence and authority of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy beyond their statute boundaries. SB 2010 makes the JPAs an irrelevancy because they would then have authority over those same areas without having had joint agreements because they realize that the joint agreements are not all what they were intended to be. S/Knabe said that this is probably another reason they are pushing so hard on SB 2010. CM/Belanger explained that the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy will have authority over all of those areas without having to have JPAs. M/Herrera felt that they should have discovered by now how JPAs can become problematic such as WCCA, where you have one city and then two cities that don't necessarily buy into everything that they are espousing. She wondered what would happen if WCCA ceases to exist. S/Knabe responded that WCCA is specified in the Bond Act as the recipient of the $10 million. If WCCA ceased to exist as a result of SB 2010... M/Herrera said "or ceases to exist because the cities don't want to be liable for what the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is doing, exit." CM/Belanger said that if there is no longer a WCCA and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy said that they should stand in the shoes of WCCA, arguably, the County could decided to purchase the specific allocation and stand in the shoes of that agency. S/Knabe indicated that it may now be more apparent why he stood firm on this issue. There is something to be said for local control. There are still some environmentalists who hit him pretty hard on the issue but not as heavily because the issue has exposed problems in other areas. CM/Belanger said that people have had the benefit of time to see those other problems exposed which would not have been apparent with a loss of a million dollars of Proposition A money because the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy tried to change the terms of the deal and the other party involved said "I don't have to take it or leave it." It was a $3 million deal with $1 million down and the Conservancy said "we only want to give you $1.8 million." He said "no, you said $3 million and it's $3 million." And JULY 30, 1998 PAGE 7 COUNCIUSUPV. KNABE the court said the claimant is right, they have a right to $3 million. Some of these matters such as the $6 million judgement came to light after the County decided to take control of that money. M/Herrera believed that because there has been no final agreement on some very key major points of the deal, it is significant that the Boy Scouts are very hesitant about going through with it. S/Knabe said that the Boy Scouts were dealing in good faith and got burned a couple of times already. And they are really leery of the way deals are formed by so-called friends. Ms. Montgomery reported that she had spoken to Susan of Kosmont who told her that the appraisal of the Boy Scout property came in at about $3,500/acre for a total of $28 million, which is significantly higher than previous estimates. CM/Belanger spoke about Brea Canyon Oil proposing to sell their Orange County property to a residential development at $37,000 per acre. The property is immediately adjacent to the Boy Scouts property. Part of the reason the Boy Scout property was reappraised was because they heard that $37,000/acre was out there for residential development and they were only talking about a $4,000/acre deal with the JPA and they were concerned about the significant difference. S/Knabe said that he has a good relationship with Orange County Supervisor Spitzer. CM/Belanger suspected that S/Knabe will also have a good relationship with Supervisor Aquirre in San Bernardino because it is as important or more important to that district and to San Bernardino County that there is some kind of access through that area. CA/Jenkins thanked S/Knabe for the efforts his office has made with respect to the transfer of joint liability trust fund and identification of locations over to SAFER. The process has been delayed pending further negotiation of the agreement. S/Knabe explained that he was the person who made the motion to delay the matter for 60 days. CA/Jenkins reported that the next month or so is going to be a critical time in terms of negotiation of some minor points in that agreement. He encouraged S/Knabe and his office to remain engaged in the process. S/Knabe believed the matter is a Contract Cities problem. If the item comes JULY 30, 1998 PAGE 8 COUNCIUSUPV. KNABE back to the Board in some other form than it is today, he is not sure he can get the three necessary votes. He has advocated that the simplest way to deal with the issue is to change the makeup of the review process to let contract cities be at the table. CA/Jenkins stated that money is clearly one of the factors and that he was aware that the County would like to shift that liability, over to the cities. There were a lot of smaller points that he believed could be solved because they are more technical issues and not so much money issues. S/Knabe believed the issue of money is the primary concern C/O'Connor asked if there is a possibility that the County would consider locating a regional park in the D.B. area. S/Knabe was not aware of any available space. C/Huff said the Council has considered a 78 acre piece of property owned by the school district. C/O'Connor said the City would like the County to give D.B. a piece of property. S/Knabe answered that the only piece of property of any significant size that the County owns in this area is the golf course and he doesn't see that happening. A regional park, city hall and golf course cannot all reside on the same piece of property. A regional park is at least 80. acres. C/O'Connor asked if counties ever work together to form a regional park. S/Knabe said that it is a possibility for the counties to work together. You can always build a park. What needs to be considered is the long- term operations of the facility. Somehow in government, monies are found to build things, but monies are not available for long-term operations. From his perspective, he is willing to look at anything. He said he has been candid about the golf course. He believed there were possibilities with the City of Industry and/or another county. M/Herrera explained that the City is hopeful that it can arrange to swap church property for school district property. S/Knabe suggested that a portion of the Boy Scout property could be considered for a regional park. M/Herrera said there is an appraisal amount and there is an amount that the Boy Scouts might accept. Their primary interest is in building their camp and JULY 30, 1998 PAGE 9 COUNCIL/SUPV. KNABE getting the permits to do so, getting their access roads, settling who will maintain the roads, the location of the main access road and the secondary access road, etc. S/Knabe pointed out that this location is the Boy Scout's single largest asset. This camp has been in the area for many years and there are emotional issues surrounding the area. There are some very powerful people involved as directors of the Boy Scouts. It is a phenomenal facility. He said that Council should keep in mind that the Boy Scouts are considering all options, which could include consideration of a park. M/Herrera thanked S/Knabe for his participation. RECESS: M/Herrera recessed the meeting to Closed Session at 10:15 a.m. for discussion of - 3.1 Conference with Real Property Negotiator Pursuant to California Government Code Section 54956.8. Property: 21700 Gateway Center Dr. (Lot 2, Tract No. 39679); Negotiating Parties: City of Diamond Bar and A.E.W./Tooley & Company. 3.2 Conference with Legal Counsel Regarding Anticipated Litigation Pursuant to California Government Code Section 59456.9(b). RECONVENE: M/Herrera reconvened the Council meeting at 11:10 a.m. CA/Jenkins announced that no reportable actions were taken by Council during Closed Session. 3. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further items for discussion, M/Herrera adjourned the meeting at 11:10 a.m. LYNDA BURGESS City Clerk ATTEST: