Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/6/2003 Minutes - Regular Meetingn 1 1 CITY OF DIAMOND BAR CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MAY 6, 2003 STUDY SESSION: M/Herrera called the St dy Sess on to order at 4:41 p.m. in Room CC -8 of the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center, 21865 E. Copley Dr., Di mond Bar, CA. Present: Council Members Chang, O'Connor, Zirbes, MPT/Huff and M/Herrera I Also present were: Linda Lowry, City Manager; Mike Jenkins, City Attorney; James DeStefano, Deputy City Manager; David Doyle; Deputy City Manager; David Liu, Public Works Director; Bob Rose, Community Services Director; Linda Magnuson, Finance Eirector; Lynda Burgess, City Clerk; April Blakey, Public Information Manager; Sharon Gomez, Administrative Analyst; Fred Alamolholda, Seniorngineer Kim Crews, Senior Management Analyst; Linda Smith, Develop ent Services Assistant and Susan Full, Accountant Il. ► Fiscal Year 2003-04 Budget ► Public Comments 1) Fiscal Year 2003-04 Budget CM/Lowry reported that the agenda package budget packet carries this year's business forward into next year and does not address VLF reduction allocations from the state. The packet includes unaltered state subventions, positions that have been budgeted for this yea,, 3% cost -of - living increase and includes $25 increase in cafeteria plans f r all full time employees. The items included in the goals and objectives re continued into the budget. Staff's presentation includes an update cf where staff sees themselves with regard to meeting the objectives within the goals. For the most part, if there were items pushed out when staff formulated revisions to this budget, those items have been built back in o the budget that has been presented to the Council. In one case, the slu ry seal it ms have been reflected on the cover sheet, the third page of the budget document. This shows the presentation of the "going fo ard" bu get relative to the general fund living within its current -year res urces.taff has not moved spending prior -year fund balance carryovers and left sl irry seal items off. Those would be visible down next to the bottom line the capital transfer -out items are shown. We met with wt the Finance ere Committee this morning and were directed that the slur seal items belong as part of the presentation for next year. In order to fund the sl rry seal items because they have been approved in the current year budget, we could legitimately spend out of the general fund carryove s. The pew spreadsheet includes the revised budget presentation to inclu a the slurry seal items as part of the going -forward general fund business or next ear with the anticipation that completion of the slurry seal is one ol, the best MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 2 CC STUDY SESSION practices that the City wishes to continue. Staff looked at this proposal with the Finance Committee and the Committee said to review the proposal as it would appear were the City to suffer a $1,000,000 reduction in VLF and make a third -round proposal were the City to suffer a $2,000,000 reduction in VLF. In accordance with those instructions, the second to the right column, third line from the top reflects a $1 million reduction in subventions. The last column on the right reflects an additional $1 million reduction in subventions. Accordingly, staff reviewed the reductions and each department head prepared an explanation of what those cuts would entail for them based on the budgets they had presented to the Council, that being a go -forward on this year's goals and objectives. With this information, Council could have a sense of the context within which it would be looking at other directions to staff on how to prepare another draft of the budget. The circumstance of having unknown revenues along with an ongoing set of goals and objectives invites criticism about the budget process. If Council would like staff to give a line by line explanation, that would be appropriate. The presentation could include presentations by department heads to indicate what they included in the original presentation, what would be the impact of $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 reductions. M/Herrera explained that the Finance Committee felt it would be better to take a more prudent approach rather than a "business as usual" approach in the budget that was distributed to the Council. Rather than wait to see what the state gives the City, the Finance Committee felt it would be better to prepare reduction scenarios from the outset in an effort to be pro -active rather than re -active. MPT/Huff stated that the budget is a complicated document. One of the things that confused. him was how staff arrived at what are called "available resources" -- general fund resources. For the sake of argument, assume a budget of $15,000,000 last year. Perhaps because the City did not have enough staff or did not get around to it, the City may have spent only $11,000,000 even though there was $14,000,000 allocated. So, the City basically built up $4,000,000 extra dollars than what was anticipated to build up the City's fund reserves. In looking at it once again, we could assume that this has already been allocated. So we're showing it now as a reserve. We had a way to target that in the past saying this is something the Council agreed on. We included it in the budget and it did not get spent. So now what we're looking at is this $19,000,000 and a $2,000,000 million reduction in available resources. Some of that money includes money from the past year that the Council allocated in this last fiscal year that for whatever reason was not spent. So, the general fund resources improved by a larger amount. But we still think in our heads that this thing is going to get taken care of because we budgeted for it. MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 3 CC STUDY SESSION C/Zirbes said he went through the budget contained in the ` acket over the weekend and was comfortable with what he saw and with the numbers nd a contained in the budget. He also understood the concern about wl ether there would be a reduction in the VLF. There is so much confusion a higher about what's going on in Sacramento — "we're not going to take away fro the cities" - "we're not going to balance on the backs of the driver If Sacramento were looking to balance their budget he would believE ." they would be more likely to raise the vehicle license fees as Opposed to doing what they did several years ago by passing along the deficit to the cities. He felt it was smart to take a look at alternative budgets in case the City is faced with the reduction, but he wondered what the likelihood would be that the City would see any reduction in the VLF. right, b t we MPT/Huff said that the assumption was the City would be hit in this CLIrrent year. There's a stalemate going on between the two sides and nc one wants to pull the plug on the VLF, but if they don't, they have to f nd a different way to balance the budget. Even if they pull the plug on V F, it would solve only a part of the problem. If car owners are paying a higher VLF, the cities may still take a hit. That's the part we don't know. All we know is the question we rhetorically asked this morning. Are we in a situation of "business as usual" and the answer is "no." The state as a $25-35 billion deficit and they keep looking in our bank account. Questionnaires to cities ask these types of questions. What they're oing to do is try and measure the reserves and set -asides. So, the Fin nce Committee felt that it should bring something to the Council that addressed "business as usual" although we don't think that'c, right, b t we felt it was important to look at various scenarios. As a Council, we have to make an "on -faith" decision. Also, there are various constitt encies Within the City that advocate different capital items that have not yet been contemplated such as soccer fields and a library. If we build a library, how do we maintain it? We need to figure out how much of this reserve can we spend and how much of the reserve can we not touch regardless. He felt it would be helpful to look at the budget in that way. Does the Council want to fund ongoing expenses out of the reserves or do you want to keep the capital. Secondly, does the Council want to do business as usual and fund the deficit with capital reserves? The subcommittee felt it shuld present something that would reflect what the City might anti ipate. C/Zirbes said that as a business owner, he has always analyzed est case, worst case scenarios and consider at what point in ti a he w uld pull the plug on certain expenses. He felt it was prudent fort ie Coun it to do the same. However, being held up by the state causes a dilemma for this City. The City is to the point where it needs to be adopti g some ype of a budget coming into the new fiscal year. He would be cu ious to k ow from each of the directors what the City loses. MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 4 CC STUDY SESSION MPT/Huff said that if the City decided to proceed on a "business as usual" basis we might have to trim back when the budget is finally determined. C/Chang said that regardless of the items the state would probably cut some of the money flowing to the City anyway. It depends on how big the cut is. On the other hand, the City has enough so that it does not really have to worry about how much the state is cutting. Luckily, this City has money to supply its own budget. If we have problems in this City, we can resolve them. Although the problem'is created from the state, the City still has the tools to resolve it. With that in mind the City should certainly be more conservative in its spending. In the meantime, he does not believe the City should cut back on the quality of service. C/O'Connor felt there should be a starting point and that Council should proceed through the budget as submitted by staff to determine what cuts the Council would recommend. M/Herrera agreed that today is the starting point for Council to receive information. Staff has presented Council with a rollover budget. It is a snapshot of exactly what the City is doing today with respect to programs and revenues. CM/Lowry explained that because the City is trying to live within its resources, staff played with those resources to determine what could be done to decrease the amount of cuts. Because CSD/Rose's budget includes $110,000 in maintenance, staff thought to offset that amount by drawing down on bond money that can legally be spent for maintaining the parks. Staff snipped another $10,000 from the City Attorney's fee. According to the spending pattern, the City could probably live with that. Staff combined the office of the City Manager and City Clerk and pulled out the position of Senior Management Analyst and looked to combine other staffing resources, possibly looking to reduce some of the support staff in those areas resulting in an overall savings of about $78,000. Staff similarly combined f=inance and Human Resources to reduce that budget amount through staffing reductions. Other changes involve Information Systems interns. Some of the changes anticipated for Public Information would be improvements in the newsletter and increase in inventory for the D.B. store. Those would likely be cut back for a $10,000 reduction. Additionally, .there would be a general government reduction of $32,000. A rearrangement of law enforcement contract items such as the school safety program by not filling a vacancy and working with Lt. Maxey's staff is certain that the amount could be reduced significantly without adverse impacts to public safety. DCM/Doyle explained that there is presently one vacancy that is funded from the general fund. The other is a grant deputy. C 1 MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 5 CC STUDY SESSIO CM/Lowry said that staff considered cuffing back on some of the doyote control. Staff pulled out the $75,000 allocated for community planning. Building and Safety is a based on demand. Staff removed an u filled position and reduced overtime for Neighborhood Improvement. Staff could reduce Community Services Administration by removing part -ti ers. CSD/Rose said that removal of part time cost, overtime cost and sm 11 tool purchases would result in savings of about $26,300. Elimination of the track meet, tiny tots program and Winter Snow Fest would result in a $119,138 cost cut. DCM/DeStefano explained that more than half of tie economic development budget goes to a particular business in town is a rebate in accordance with the sales tax agreement. Therefore, the reduction of about $36,000 to meet the $1,000,000 goal would come entirely cut of professional services (appraisal work, economic development work, financial consultant support). CM/Lowry said that with the above cuts, the savings is just under a $1,000,000 left over at the end of the year. CSD/Rose confirmed to that the City realizes $90,000 fromt e track meet, tiny tots program and Winter Fest. The money goes into th general fund as revenue. C/Chang felt it did not make sense to cut those programs tsave and that staff should re -look at that item. PWD/Liu, said that his department deleted the $100,000 carryover fc Neighborhood Traffic Management program. In this scenari , staff v propose to reduce a few more items. The proposed budget incl $3,000 for traffic mitigation for the SR 57/60 HOV project. T e other i include storm water runoff for a total reduction of $60,000. CSD/Rose said the budget was stripped down $25,000 tree planting and $11,800 from the $150,000 street main- CM/Lowry summarized that the above is the r first blush of budget by $1,000,000. She then explained the items that we the $2,000,000 reduction column. Reduce park maintei additional $50,000. Sell Prop A monies for $200,000. Add took away the 3% (cost of living increase), the $25 (cafeterh some of Council's travel money, and $5,000 of the Ci allowance.- Also, another $25,000 was removed from the Ci office budget. General government was further reduced. Bot CPI, all vacancies left open, no $25, no contract with vide( Neely, etc, public information reduction, less promotional busi ce budg ......s..11 benefit) ney the )uld Jed Ims for t. the J in an taff ind Manage. 1. ►m line no people, Mr. ass, law MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 6 CC STUDY SESSION enforcement reductions of $100,000, 25% reduction in volunteer patrol services, some reduction and cutback in fire services, animal control and emergency preparedness. Emergency preparedness could potentially be reduced by $1,000. DCM/DeStefano said that of the $90,000 that remains to be cut from Community Services includes $25,000 for salaries, $30,000 for professional services and other small cuts. CSD/Rose explained that further cuts would eliminate certain maintenance items, replanting slopes and slurry seal for a couple of the park's parking lots. PWD/Liu said that the reduction would eliminate replacement of street signs. CSD/Rose explained that the tree planting would be reduced by $40,000 and street sweeping would be reduced by $46,800. CM/Lowry further explained that the standard deposit for self-insurance would be eliminated. At this point, the fund is over $1,000,000. Even with the $2,000,000 reductions, staff expects a $1,000,000 amount of excess revenue over appropriations. The consideration is whether, as a policy matter, the Council would wish to redistribute the amount back up into the budget or hold it as a cushion for unanticipated increases or unanticipated shortfalls. C/O'Connor asked what the 3% and $25 amount to. FD/Magnuson responded that the 3% cost of living adjustment would amount to approximately $86,900 and the $25 cafeteria increase would cost approximately $14,450, for a total adjustment of $101,400. C/Zirbes asked what the open positions total would be. FD/Magnuson said the Senior Neighborhood Improvement Officer position comes to about $77,000 for salary and benefits and the Senior Management Analyst position is about the same. Currently, those are the two full-time positions that are open. CM/Lowry said that one of the creative ways to keep people is to leave those humans in the special fund. There could be other ways to reorganize the City around future vacancies and other ways to allocate funds for use of staff. MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 7 CC STUDY SESSIO M/Herrera said there is some speculation that the City will not take a big hit this year. A lot of people are predicting the hit will occur in the following year. Perhaps the Council does not need to spend a whole lot oi time thinking about alternative ways of financing some of t e Pers nnel. However, we should start thinking about it for the long term fr the following year. C/O'Connor felt that salaries should not be cut. If the City can't ke p its good employees, it has lost a great deal. The $90,000 shou d be left in no matter what. MPT/Huff said he didn't mind cutting the $1,000,000 cushio becaus it is all reserves. It seems the problem is reallocation becau a we h ven't done all of the stuff that was included in prior budgets. C/O'Connor said that the residents have commented that tf�e City s be spending its $20,000,000 reserves. CM/Lowry said that the problem with the state revenues being so up and down is the state's problem. Because of the City's foresight, it has not had to weather so many of those ups and downs until now. In the last 30 ' years, certain cities have had to endure that. And now, D.B. is in that cycle. One of the ways the City can protect itself is to analyze the reserves and make policy decisions, your commitment about how you want those reserves to work. How do you want the City to arm itse f so that either the reserves are always there or there is a definite plan to meet the goals. Before we knew the state was going to try and take theCity's money, it was allocated for certain projects. Now that there is a pots tial shortfall, how do we reallocate that money not knowing if your revs ues will be able to keep up with your expenditures and not knowir g if speni Jing that money will incrementally increase revenues or deple a reven es. Instead, we should plan for all contingencies. When the Council gave her employment interview, one of the questions was how the C uncil warited to handle its reserves on an ongoing basis to cover the City on an emergency basis. How much reserve does the Council wart to keep for something happening that the City didn't plan. She pointed out that it takes 120 days to amend personnel spending. It takes 120 cays to fi ure out how to make a layoff policy or how to negotiate termination packs es for employees. How much money do you think you have to have on hand to deal with that. The way you plan is to actually weigh those options and then create a capital improvement budget that goes five yeas out. ear to year allocation leads to confusion about how much is left from a prior year. How much of the fund balance is really committed toctual car ital improvement projects? Instead, the money should be trans erred ou of the general fund into a capital improvement reserve and Darmarkhe projects inside the reserves. This City does not put the money i to projects until it needs it. That's what MPT/Huff was describing It MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 8 CC STUDY SESSION confuses the fund balance. If the planning fairy waves its wand and all of the projects should happen at once, you don't know where the funding is coming from. That would be the next stage. In order to be comfortable with a forward-looking operating budget, it would behoove Council to look at establishing a capital improvement reserve fund and then we can look at how much should be kept in the general reserve fund for emergencies and how much should be dedicated to development. She pointed out that there is a real opportunity for Council to determine how it wants to proceed. For instance, the cul-de-sacing of Washington St. was on the list bedause staff thought it needed to be done. However, it seems to no longer be a real apparent need. This is the type of discussion department heads need to have with Council — a real one -on- one discussion about Council's goals and how it wants to proceed. In addition, it would help to illuminate the scoring of priorities that each Council Member applied on an individual basis. This type of exercise would assist staff in formulating and prioritizing a new or ongoing budget. C/Chang said the City might not recover from the state budget cuts. The Council needs to decide what amount of cut it wants to go for. We should go item by item and decide what to cut. M/Herrera said that another scenario is to meet on May 13 and talk about some of the things previously outlined, talk about the Council's goals and the budget. Once the Council knows the state's position, it would be in a stronger position to give staff direction about which column to pursue. C/Zirbes said he would also like to look at what the City could do to save money. At the same time, we should move forward with the proposed budget knowing there is a way that the City could save $1,000,000. Because this is a tough year, the City isn't going to put a million in the bank and instead of chopping $2,000,000 in services, cut back on some of the things proposed in the $1,000,000 cut and take the other million and consider it a $2,000,000 loss — just don't put the million in the reserves this year. There are a lot of things the City needs to provide. The proposed budget is solid. It keeps the City moving forward. Sacramento presents a question that can't be answered at this time. But it seems that staff has thought this through and considered a variety of options. As a Council, we need to consider what is important to the quality of life in this City. Is it really important for us, in a tough budget time, to put money in the bank? Some of the cuts in the $2,000,000 column seem severe while the City is still putting $1,000,000 in the bank. T MPT/Huff reiterated his agreement that it was not necessary for the City to put away $1,000,000. In fact, this budget would allow the City to free those salary budget items. MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 9 CC STUDY SESSION C/O'Connor said that we could leave the budget as is. We could suffer the $1,000,000 and suffer $40,000 less. It's easy to drop $40,000. CSD/Rose explained that part of the cost for the Co munity/ enior Center maintenance is a one-time cost to outfit the facility for about $350,000. The remaining cost is $600,000 for the an ual ope sting expenses. There would be no operating expenses untilebruary 004, about five months in the next fiscal year. C/O'Connor stated that the D.B. Community Foundation has been considering many ideas. CSD/Rose just mentioned $350,000 for fur iture and fixtures. Would Council like to consider having individuals bull, for instance, a table and have a plaque with their name installed. Also, here was a suggestion to sell your name for the banquet hall. FDr a $1,000,000, you could have the banquet hall named after you. come individuals want to donate art. Or, perhaps someone would like to i iake an endowment for the senior center, etc. Council could consider such ideas as a method of deferring costs. M/Herrera said the first thing the Council needs to determine is h w to build for next year. Perhaps Council would want to draw up new list after listening to department heads talk about why we should eliminate something. After that, staff could bring Council a decision package to be considered along with the other items of concern. After the meeting, staff will provide blank goal sheets to work on next year's goals, continuE the project assessment and get a clearer indication of how to pro eed. f CM/Lowry offered that department heads could list some goals and options for discussion. C/O'Connor said it would be helpful if Council could get the wish lists from department heads prior to the meeting. M/Herrera said that before Council considers the rollover column3, it needs to know the costs involved with the Community/Seni r Cente so that the costs do not have to be added back in later. C/O'Connor said that Council approved $15,000 in the budget for a grant writer. The Community Foundation has not spent all of that m ney because it just hired a grant writer. She noticed a line item in the budget that indicated $15,000 for a grant writer. Is that line item fortle City o far the Foundation? DCM/Doyle responded that the Foundation grant would carry over next year whatever funds are remaining at the end of this fiscal year. year when the grant writer was approved, it was done through a dec package and that decision package was not included in the b daet not MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 10 CC STUDY SESSION before you. The $15,000 budget line item is for the City's grant writer. The Foundation requested a study session with Council to determine what level of support, if any, the Council wanted to give the Foundation such as the minutes secretarial service of about $1,200 and funding for the grant writer. MPT/Huff said that the Foundation was formed to benefit the City. Funding was provided to help jump start the Foundation and help the Foundation to become self-sufficient in funding the Parks Master Plan. C/O'Connor agreed that the Foundation has to find other funding sources and looks to the grant writer for those sources. C/Zirbes said that if the grant writer is successful, he could produce 10 to 50 -fold the investment the City makes in the form of grants that it might not normally see as a City. If that were the case, the money spent would greatly benefit the City. It seems too early to tell how successful he will be. Following discussion regarding three separate budget scenarios for FY 2003-04, it was agreed that the discussion would be continued to Tuesday, May 13, 2003 at 4:30 p.m. in Room CC -8, SCAQMD/Government Center, 21825 E. Copley Dr. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None Offered. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to conduct, M/Herrera adjourned the Study Session at 6:00 p.m. to Closed Session. LYNDA BURGESS, City Clerk ATTEST: CAROL HERRERA, Mayor 1 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND B R MAY 6, 2003 STUDY SESSION: M/Herrera called the StL dy Sess order at 4:41 p.m. in Room CC -8 of the South Coast Air Quali y Manag District/Government Center, 21865 E. Copley Dr., Diamond Bar, CA. Present: Council Members Chang, O'Cc Zirbes, MPT/Huff and M/Herrera Also present were: Linda Lowry, City Manager; Mike Je City Attorney; James DeStefano, Deputy City Manager; David Doyle; E City Manager; David Liu, Public Works Director; Bob Rose, Comn Services Director; Linda Magnuson, Finance Director; Lynda Burges: Clerk; April Blakey, Public Information Manager; Sh aron Gc Administrative Analyst; -Fred Alamolholda, Senior Enginee ; Kim C Senior Management Analyst; Linda Smith, Development Se ices Ass and Susan Full, Accountant II. ► Fiscal Year 2003-04 Budget ► Public Comments Following discussion regarding three separate budget scenari( 04, it was agreed that the discussion would be continued to 13, 2003 at 4:30 p.m. in Room CC -8, SCAQMD/Government E. Copley Dr. CLOSED SESSION. 6:00 p.m. C ► Government Code Sec. 54957.6: Conference Negotiators City designated representative: Finance Subs (MPT/Huff ar Unrepresented employee: City Attorney ► Public Comments to nor, skins, 3puty unity City mez, for FY 003- uesday, May :enter, 2 825 ra) CALL TO ORDER: M/Herrera called the Regular City Council Meeting to order at 6:39 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center Auditorium, 21825 E. Copley Dr., Diamond Bar, CA. IPLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Herrera. INVOCATION: Monsignor James Loughnae, St. D nis Catholic Church MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL ROLL CALL: Council Members Chang, O'Connor, Zirbes, Mayor Pro Tem Huff, and Mayor Herrera. Also present were: Linda Lowry, City Manager; Mike Jenkins, City Attorney; James DeStefano, Deputy City Manager; David Doyle; Deputy City Manager; David Liu, Public Works Director; Bob Rose, Community Services Director; Linda Magnuson, Finance Director and Lynda Burgess, City Clerk. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: CM/Lowry asked that Item 6.13.4, Approval of Letter of Support for SB 537 (Romero) — (Solid Waste Management) be continued to either the Special Meeting of May 13 or to the Regular City Council Meeting of May 20, 2003. Further, she requested that Item 7.1, Public Hearing regarding Extended Stay America, be removed from the Agenda at the request of the Applicants who indicated they no longer wished to pursue the project. 1. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATES, PROCLAMATIONS: 1.1 Presented City Tile to Heman Tanna, Vice President of Marketing and his daughter, Khyati Tanna, Marketing and Floor Operations Manager _m for Shear Artistry, as Business of the Month, May 2003 and displayed Business of the Month video. 1.2 Presented Certificate Plaque to David Lindzey, Principal, Diamond Ranch High School, awarded "California Distinguished School." 1.3 Presented Certificate Recognizing the AYSO 2003 Cottontail Country Classic" Tournament Committee for the tournament held in April. 1.4 Proclaimed May 2003 as "Water Awareness Month." 1.5 Proclaimed May 2003 as "Fire Service Month." Fire Capt. Nieto gave a overview of the fire department's functions and demonstrated different protective gear that firefighters use. 1.6 Presentation given by Raja Mitwasi, CalTrans representative, regarding the SR 57/60 High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Freeway reconstruction project (lane construction). C/O'Connor exclaimed that CalTrans indicated it would work closely with the contractor, but how about working closely with the City of D.B. She was outraged that main arteries connecting the City to the freeway system would be closed for several months and the adverse impact it would have on residents, businesses and City streets. She would have hoped that CalTrans would work closely with the City's staff to mitigate this situation. MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 3 CITY COUNCIL Mr. Mitwasi said that what he reported was not ne to the City. CalTrans has been working with City staff since the day CalTrans started processing its environmental document for th s project more than five years ago. He assured C/O'Connor that QalTrans would continue to work closely with City officials. C/O'Connor asked if CalTrans could keep one lane pen to asure access, or close the ramp during off-peak evening ho rs. Using the map, Victor Veltodino, project director, exp ained that the Brea Canyon on-ramp would have to be closed in ord gr to corr plete a total realignment in order to accommodate the nev Grand Ave. collector road. The westbound Brea Canyon off -ramp ill be lowered six feet to accommodate the road going over the off -ramp. One f the contract requirements is that the contractor has to open the rand Ave. on-ramp before he closes the Brea Canyon westbound on-ramp. One of those ramps will always be open. The Grand Ave. on-ramp will be closed from August to December. The wetbound Brea Canyon ramp will be closed after the Grand Ave. on-ra p is on ned. C/Chang suggested that the CalTrans representatives p ovide the City with a complete mitigation plan for the Council to stu y before their next presentation. The public continues to inquire about the pr ject and the Council has no answers. Mr. Veltodino explained that the CalTrans traffic mitigat on plantakes into account the current traffic conditions in and around D.B. It is very difficult to rebuild these ramps and maintain traffic flow in the immediate area. CalTrans will continue to work witl the Ci y to reduce the closure time. Mr. Mitwasi cautioned the Council that any contract changes w uld cause possible delays and increased expenditure of tax ayer dollars. Their job. is to present the contractor's schedule and to work wit the City's professional engineers to reduce the impact and period of time the ramps would be closed to traffic. CalTrans is equa ly conce ned about presenting a minimal impact to the residents an business of the City. MPT/Huff said the City has been looking forward to this mprovenieni for many years. Council knows that CalTrans has been talking to stafi over a period of years and yet does not know how this project directly impacts the City during the construction phase. Will CalTrans have a Web site that indicates the closures and detours? Mr. Mitwasi explained that Public Information is formulating a Web Page for SR 57/60. This project will vastly improve the conges ion currently experienced in this City. It is a parking lot between the S 57 MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 4 CITY COUNCIL and 60 and even east. This project will ensure a safer and smoother transition. MPT/Huff said that it is imperative that CalTrans and the City keep the public informed about this project. M/Herrera asked if the mitigation has been developed for this project. Mr. Mitwasi responded that mitigation has been identified. As the project moves forward, CalTrans will work closely with staff to mitigate the impacts. C/Zirbes asked CalTrans representatives to keep staff members apprised of impending stages of construction so that staff could keep the community alerted to each succeeding step in the process. He had not anticipated an eleven -month ramp closure. He asked if the ending date of the project was fluid. Mr. Mitwasi explained that CalTrans has to meet the end of 2006 date set by CTC (California Transportation Commission). He assured the Council that CalTrans would work very closely with PWD/Liu and the rest of City staff to minimize the impact to businesses and motorists. CalTrans is committed to sharing this information. Mr. Mitwasi responded to C/O'Connor that it is part of the plan to provide notification to Metrolink riders. 1.7 Presentation by the City's Public Information Division re: New City Web site. 2. CITY MANAGER REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: CM/Lowry stated that during Closed Session, the City Council gave direction to the negotiator relative to the City Attorney's Professional Services Contract. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Jody Roberto felt there was a great community need for a sports complex. She asked the City to identify potential future sites and feared that if the City waited too long, there would be no land available. It is time to take action and asked what the City needed in order to move forward. D.B. has long suffered from lack of practice fields for sports groups. 4. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENT: M/Herrera assured Ms. Roberto that Council Members are looking into the possibility of different sites for a possible sports complex. Council is aware of the community's desire for a sports complex. The City's youth is very important to this Council and to the community. MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 5 COUNCIL_ 5. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE EVENTS: 5.1 TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING May 8, 2003 - 7:00 p.m., Hearing Board Room, SCAQM /coverment Center, 21865 E. Copley Dr. 5.2 LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT DPENH USE — Diamond Bar/Walnut Sub -Station — May 10, 2003 - 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., 21695 E. Valley Blvd, Walnut. 5.3 CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION — May 13, 2003 — 4:PO p.m.,oom CC -9, SCAQMD/Government Center, 21865 E. Coolelv Dr. 5.4 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING — May 13, 200 — 7:00 Auditorium, SCAQMD/Government Center, 21865 E. opley D . 5.5 DIAMOND BAR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION MEETING - Ma 15, 2003 - 7:00 p.m., Room CC -8, SCAQMD/Governmententer, 2 865 E. Copley Dr. 5.6 DIAMOND BAR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION STREET SIGN AUCTION - May 17, 2003 - 1:00 p.m., Sycamore Canyon Park, (lower parking lot) 22930 Golden Springs Dr. 5.7 COMMUNITY COORDINATING COMMITTEE — May 1T, 2003 — 7:00 p.m., Room CC -2, SCAQMD/Government Center, 2125 E. C pley Dr. 5.8 CITY COUNCIL MEETING - May 20, 2003 - 6:30 p.m�, Auditorium, SCAQMD/Government Center, 21825 E. Copley Dr. II 6. CONSENT CALENDAR: Moved by C2irbes, seconded by MPT to approve the Consent Calendar, with the exception of Items No. 6.7 6.13.1. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote with C/O' onnor vc NO on 6.3, P.O. #s 12343 and 12479: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS - Chang, O'Connor, Zirb s, MPT/F uff, M/Herrera NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS - None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS - None 6.1 APPROVED CITY COUNCIL MINUTES: 6.1 .1 Study Session of April 15, 2003 - As submitted. 6.1.2 Regular Meeting of April 15, 2003 - As subm MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL 6.2 RECEIVED & FILED PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES - March 27, 2003. 6.3 APPROVED WARRANT REGISTERS dated April 17, April 24 and May 1, 2003 in the total amount of $962,693.13. (C/O'Connor voted no on P.O. Nos. 12343 and 12479.) 6.4 REVIEWED AND APPROVED TREASURER'S STATEMENT -month of March 2003. 6.5 APPROVED BOND EXONERATIONS: 6.5.1 CASH DEPOSIT IN LIEU OF GRADING BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,477 FOR LOT NO. 51 OF TRACT NO. 30289 (2676 STEEPLECHASE LANE, `?HE COUNTRY ESTATES). 6.5.2 GRADING BOND (FAITHFUL PERFORMANCE BOND NO. 1 031 7291 1 693) IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,650 FOR ARCO FACILITY #5914 AT 3302 S. DIAMOND BAR BLVD. 6.6 THIS ITEM REMOVE© FROM THE AGENDA 6.8 APPROVED LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF INDUSTRY FOR GRAND AVE MEDIAN LANDSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS. 6.9 ACCEPTED AND APPROPRIATED INTO THE GENERAL FUND DIAMOND BAR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION DONATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,500 TO FUND AN ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY CONCERT ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2003 AT SYCAMORE CANYON PARK FROM 6:30 TO 8:00 P.M. 6.10 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2003-17 APPROVING DESTRUCTION BY THE CITY CLERK OF CITY RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS WHICH ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED AS PROVIDED UNDER GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 34090. 6.11 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2003-18 APPROVING FISCAL YEAR 2002-03 MID -YEAR BUDGET AMENDMENT (MAY REVISION). (Continued from April 15, 2003) 6.12 .'RECEIVED AND FILED STREET SWEEPING PARKING CITATION EXEMPTION/DISMISSAL POLICY. MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 7 CITY COUNCIL 6.13 LEGISLATIVE ISSUES: 6.13.2 ADOPTED RESOLUTION 2003-19 OPPOSING A13 496 (CORREA), UNLESS AMENDED TO INCLUDE LOS ANGELES COUNTY REPRESENTATION, AND ACQUISITION APPROVAL AND PROHIBITION O THE USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN, 6.13.3 ADOPTED RESOLUTION 2003-20 SUPPORTING AB 1652 (NAKANO), EXPANSION OF THE L S ANGELES METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY BOARD. 6.13.4 APPROVE LETTER OF SUPPORT F R SB 537 (ROMERO) - SOLID WASTE MANAGEME T — Cont need to May 13, 2003 or May 20, 2003. SPECIAL PRESENTATION: On behalf of the Diamond Bar Community Foundation, Board Member Jody Roberto presented the City with a donation of $1,500 top yfor an additional Concert in the Park to be held June 23, 003. M/Herrera accepted the donation with gratitude on bealf of thl City Council. MATTERS WITHDRAWN FROM CONSENT CALENDAR: 6.7 AWARDED CONTRACT TO PDG & ASSOCIATES FOR CONSULTING SERVICES TO COMPLETE THE YOUTH MAS ER PLAN IN THE AMOUNT OF $82,000 AND AU HORIZ A CONTINGENCY IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,000 FOR A TO AL AMOUNT OF $87,000. M/Herrera felt a Youth Master Plan was important. Theity values its Youth. As a former school board member, she worked cl sely wi& the youth in the community and believed it was important for the Cily to provide wholesome activities. She felt there were other more fiscally responsible ways to accomplish this contract and that th City should not approve the contract at this time. D.B. has several c ntracts from other communities to use as a basis for a Youth Master Plan. Sphe could not support $87,000 to reinvent the wheel. MPT/Huff said that during last year's budget, the Youth Master Plan was a goal of the Council as witnessed by the $50,000 E Ilocation. At the last meeting the Council found out it would cost evE in more. He agreed with M/Herrera that there are different ways withiri the bu get to accomplish the same thing. Clearly, the new amount is not wi hin MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 8 CITY COUNCIL the budget. The Council majority allocated funds, the reason this is before the Council tonight for consideration. In a time when the state is facing a $25-30 billion budget, at a time when the cities do not know what their impacts are, it is a time to move slow to implement new programs. C/Zirbes stated that the youth in D.B. are an asset and speeding the money now will enable the City to know what to implement tomorrow. The City has a lot of new programs coming on-line. The City has a new community center coming on-line and he would like the City to be able to use the center to its fullest potential. Therefore, he would like to communicate with the City's youth to find out how they would like to utilize the facility and what types of programs they would like to take advantage of in the City. Relying on volunteers or part time employees is fine, but in a contract City where staff is already overburdened and overworked, asking them to do something of this magnitude is, in his opinion, unfair to them because of a possible budget crunch. - Moved by C/Zirbes, seconded by C/O'Connor to approve the contract to PDG & Associates for consulting services to complete the Youth Master Plan in the amount of $82,000 and authorize a contingency in the amount of $5,000, for a TOTAL AMOUNT OF $87,000. Motion carried by the following Roll Cali vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS - Chang, O'Connor, Zirbes, NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS - MPT/Huff, M/Herrera ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS - None . C/Chang said he understood the pressure of the state's budget crunch. Fortunately, D.B. has reserves that allow it to implement programs that are important and valuable to the residents of D.B. The City is not just working on a community center, it is also committed to working on the entire Master Plan. It would not make sense to spend $12 million on a community center and not be able to accommodate the youths' needs. 6.13.1 ADOPT RESOLUTION 2003 -XX OPPOSING AB 1221 (STEINBERG .AND CAMPBELL) BALANCED COMMUNITIES ACT. MPT/Huff asked that a policy on handling legislation be adopted by the Council. The City has a legislative subcommittee that should initially consider these types of resolutions before they are submitted to Council unless there is a matter of urgency. Last year, there was a Steinberg bill that would redistribute taxes around Sacramento in a specific and tailored manner. This bill is an expansion on that and probably more palatable to cities and was a step in the right direction 1 D MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 9 for cities such as D.B. This City has very little opportui dollars. It would make sense to have more of the City from property tax. He was concerned that this bill wou legislature a hook into the money — if it is collect, constitutional guarantee that it would come back to 1 Council is going to oppose this bill, the legislature sh the concerns are by passing a resolution that present concerns. For that reason, he suggested the Council i on this until staff brings back a resolution with that tvi COUNCIL y for sales tax budget come give the state I, there is no e City. If this xld learn what them with the ke no position of lang age. MPT/Huff moved, C/Zirbes seconded to continue t e matte until either May 13, 2003 or May 20, 2003. Motion carried y the foil wing Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS - Chang, O'Conn�r, Zirbes, MPT/H ff, M/Herrera NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS - None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS - None 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None 8. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION: 8.1 ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2003-21: AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 1996-41 C, AMENDING THE PARKING PENALTY SCHEDULE AND LATE PAYMENT FEES. (Continued from April 15, 20 3) MPT/Huff moved, C/Chang seconded, to adopt Resol tion No. 2003-21. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS - Chang, O'Conn r, MPT, M/Herrera NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS - Zirbes ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS - None 9. COUNCIL SUB -COMMITTEE REPORTS/COUNCIL ME COMMENTS: C/Zirbes attended a variety of meetings, grand openings, and other events during the past three weeks. He wished all Mothers a Happy others' Day. He pointed out that on June 7 the D.B.I.A. would hold its annual "Paini the Town" day. He invited volunteers to participate in the event. MAY 6, 2003 PAGE 10 CITY COUNCIL C/O'Connor invited residents to purchase a D.B. Community Foundation tile for display at the new Community/Senior Center. In addition, the Foundation is having a street sign sale. Take advantage of your opportunity to own one of these collector items. The sale will take place on Saturday, May 17 at 1:00 p.m. in Sycamore Canyon Park. All of the proceeds are used by the Foundation for the betterment of D.B. The Foundation recently held a retreat -with its grant writer. One of the projects authorized by the Foundation is the Sycamore Canyon Trailhead project. The Foundation is attempting to secure a grant to supplement the City's grant of $118,000 for a total of $240,000 to complete the project. The Foundation committed $25,000 toward securing the grant. She encouraged everyone to support the D.B. Community Foundation. She asked that tonight's meeting be adjourned in memory of the father of City employee Jim DeFriend. She offered condolences to him and his family. C/Chang said that D.B. is a great City with great events that indicate very supportive residents, hard working staff members and a great Chamber of Commerce. For example, the Easter Egg hunt was a great event attended by thousands of kids. Within a couple of minutes 7-8,000 eggs were retrieved. Several residents including Jack and Wanda Tanaka helped make this event possible. He thanked the community for their participation. About 9,000 citizens attended the City's Birthday Party, another great event enjoyed by all. Almost every booth sold out and some went through several rounds of food. The dedicated staff did a wonderful job putting this event together and making certain everything went off as planned. The Chamber of Commerce had a wonderful Casino Night and helped raise money. Today the Council joined with the seniors to celebrate Mothers' Day. With the award bestowed upon Diamond Ranch High School, D.B. now enjoys two very good high schools. In addition, according to a local real estate broker, property values have increased dramatically in the northern part of D.B. MPT/Huff said that he did not vote against the Youth Master Plan tonight. He voted no because he was frustrated since the City was over the budget it had previously established. In addition, he was frustrated that the City did not explore other more cost-effective ways to meet the needs of the City's youth. On April 21, he attended a. Four Corners meeting during which SCAG's Growth Visioning Group made its presentation. The group has a bold way of thinking about how communities are planned. Overall, the view is to look at how the state would look it city boundaries were removed. SCAG will be holding workshops in different regions. He encouraged his fellow Council Members to become involved in the process and provide feedback from the outset. On April 23, he extended commendations on behalf of the Council to outgoing Walnut Mayor Tony Cartagena. Tom Sykes is the new Mayor. On April 24, most of the Council attended the Volunteer Recognition dinner. On April 25, he attended a Foothill Transit meeting. On April 26, he attended the Chamber's Casino Night and on April 27, the City Birthday Party. On April 28, he attended the Alameda Corridor East meeting. The Nogales project is moving forward. Temple Ave. is a diversion and most of the 10. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to discuss, M/Herrera adjourned the meeting at 8:37 p.m. to Tuesday, May 13, 2003 at 4:30 p.m. in memory of Joseph DeFriend, father of City stafl member Jim DeFriend. i LYNDA BURGESS, CITY CL RK ATTEST: 6ui CAROL HERRERA, MAYOR MAY S, 2003 PAGE 11 CITY COUNCIL agreements are in place for acquisition of CaiPoly property. to lose The project is scheduled about $60-70 million that would impact three interse tions including Brea Canyon Rd. The COG is looking to reprioritize funds. Or I April 30, he attended the Habitat for Humanity banquet. Many cities, incl ding Pomona, have active chapters. Many throwaway items are retrieved by Waste Management and donated to Habitat for Humanity. Cn May 1 S , he, C/Chang, Friends of the Library and ,staff members traveled to view the library in Calabasas. It was a very encouraging trip and the i formati n will be shared with the other Council Members in the near future. On May 5, he attended the COG's President's Council in the morning folio ed by a Gold Line meeting. The Gold Line Authority turned the keys over o MTA the project taken over by COG. The project was built on time ai id on bu get. MTA will be testing the system at length before they run it because it wil cost money to operate. There is also a desire to take it from the Sierra Madre terminus to Claremont and possibly Montclair. He enjoyed the senior's Mothers' Day luncheon and wished everyone a Happy Mothers Day. M/Herrera said it is apparent that Council Members work dilig ntly on half of the community. The best and biggest event was the City's Birthday Flarty. It was a wonderful event — the weather was wonderful and all day long people commented to her what a wonderfully organized event it was. Ii was a better event than people had ever seen witnessed byte numb r of attendees. The variety of entertainment and organization was bigger and better than ever before. This year, there were still a lot of people enjoying the camaraderie and music. She thanked staff, C/O'Connor, C/Zirbes and residents who came together to make the event very special. 10. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to discuss, M/Herrera adjourned the meeting at 8:37 p.m. to Tuesday, May 13, 2003 at 4:30 p.m. in memory of Joseph DeFriend, father of City stafl member Jim DeFriend. i LYNDA BURGESS, CITY CL RK ATTEST: 6ui CAROL HERRERA, MAYOR