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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/16/16 Minutes - Regular MeetingMINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR AUGUST 16, 2016 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Lyons called the Regular City Council Meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Leiora Davidson gave the Pledge of Allegiance. INVOCATION: None provided. ROLL CALL: Council Members Low, Tye, Mayor Pro Tem Lin and Mayor Lyons. Absent: Council Member Herrera was excused. Staff Present: James DeStefano, City Manager; David DeBerry, City Attorney; Ryan McLean, Asst. City Manager; Ken Desforges, IS Director; David Liu, Public Works Director; Dianna Honeywell, Finance Director; Greg Gubman, Community Development Director; Kimberly Young, Senior Civil Engineer; Christian Malpica, Associate Engineer (Traffic); Anthony Santos, Asst. to the City Manager; Marsha Roa, Public Information Manager, Cecelia Arellano, Public Information Coordinator, and Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: CM/DeStefano requested that Council consider Consent Calendar Item 6.10 as amended. This item asks the Council to take five actions, one of which involves the rejection of a bidder. Staff is asking that Council accept a letter of withdrawal from that bidder in place of rejecting the bidder. 1. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATES, PROCLAMATIONS: 1.1 M/Lyons and Council Members presented Certificates of Recognition to Girls Softball 8U, 12U and 14U Teams for participating in the Junior Olympic State Championship and for 12U and 14U earning a spot at the Junior Olympic National Championship. NEW BUSINESS OF THE MONTH: 1.2 M/Lyons and Council Members presented a Certificate Plaque to Adrian, Fan, owner of Jimmy John's, 22438 Golden Springs Drive Unit 110, as New Business of the Month for August 2016. 2. CITY MANAGER REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: CM/DeStefano reported on the beginning of the General Plan Update project. Council has talked about the need for updating this visionary document for the last two or three years and the City Council has prepared for this event by setting aside the resources needed to prepare a proper document. It has been about 25 years since the last document was prepared which generally, is the end of life for AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL a General Plan. There have been periodic updates over the years involving the Housing Element as required by state law. However, overall, the document has remained virtually the same as the City and the City Council has spent the past years implementing the 325 Goals, Objectives, Policies and Vision Statements within the document. At the last City Council meeting it was announced that on August 10 there was a scheduled City Council/Planning Commission joint public meeting for the purpose of launching this effort. This was one of many, many meetings and many efforts to outreach that will be under way over the next few years. There will be a variety of stakeholder meetings, appointment of individuals to the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC), a variety of General Plan Advisory Committee meetings, creation of an interactive project website, public workshops, open houses, and go -to booths at public events which will lead up to at least a dozen Planning Commission and City Council meetings toward the end of the project. This is a three-year effort and the balance of 2016 will be spent outreaching, listening, and working with community members to begin talking about Diamond Bar and its vision for the future. Most of 2017 will be spent developing strategies and beginning to get into the details and toward the end of 2017, there will be a quest to develop some overall plan concepts and major strategies that will then be further tested. Most of 2018 will be spent producing environmental documentation, analyzing alternatives that have been formulated through this process and toward the end of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 the adoption hearings will take place before the Planning Commission and the City Council. The City put together a page of information on the City's website prior to the August 10 meeting which contained all of the information that was provided to the City Council and Planning Commission during that meeting. The page includes a great deal of information about what this project will be moving forward. As the project moves into full swing in the next few weeks, there will be a dedicated City of Diamond Bar General Plan Update web page. Residents and interested stakeholders can be involved throughout the process because all meetings will be open to the public. In addition, interested residents and stakeholders can apply to be a member of the GPAC. The City Council has been asked to consider the appointment of 15 community members on September 20. Anyone who wishes to be considered can go on the City's website and complete an application form to apply or contact a City Council Member by Thursday, September 15 to be considered to be a member of the General Plan Advisory Committee. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Kushal Sonowala — Stated that he believes there needs to be more businesses and incentives in the City to attract people between the ages of 18 and 25. Many people he grew up with in Diamond Bar have moved out because these amenities are lacking and it is difficult to find affordable housing in the City. There are not enough apartments considering that Diamond Bar is close to very good universities such as CalPoly Pomona. He asked about the status of the AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 3 CITY COUNCIL Blue Ocean Seafood'Grill which was supposed to have opened by spring of this year. The upcoming Senate Bill 1432 which addresses the district of choice is being offered for renewal with threats of rescinding the bill. Many parents are concerned that if SB 1432 is not passed kids who come to WVUSD schools through "district of choice" may be forced to go back to their original school district, the negative consequences of which are that there is a possibility teachers and staff members will be laid off and property values will decline. Mr. Sonowala also reported that there have been reports of mailbox thefts in the City. He is part of the original Diamond Bar Facebook group page and on that page there have been continued mailbox thefts and he has heard from his constituents that something needs to be done including increased Sheriff patrols and incentives such as offering locking mailboxes at no charge. He asked everyone to join the Diamond Bar Buzz. CMiDeStefano responding to the speaker, stated that the former Coco's Restaurant entered into a lease with a restaurant operator that has two or three restaurants in the City of West Covina and has been working on a business plan and model for that property for quite some time. Everyone would like for him to finalize his thought process and complete construction of the building. But that construction pace and effort is entirely within his hands. Recently, he met with the City's Building and Safety Director and talked about the possibility of changing the concept (a seafood oriented concept) to something more akin to the Buffalo Wild Wings. Along that line, he recently submitted new plans to make changes to the previous plans for which he had received approval to construct and is in the process of working his way through his decision-making and his construction. There is a hole in the City's restaurant inventory and staff would like to see him move forward to be ready for restaurant week in October and are encouraged that he is investing substantial amounts of money into a restaurant that will bring a new choice to Diamond Bar, lots of new jobs and a new place for residents to enjoy. With respect to SB 1432 District of Choice, it is clearly a measure that is out of the realm of the City Council. The two school districts and school districts statewide are very interested in the measure which was authored by Senator Bob Huff, a Diamond Bar resident and former member of the City Council. As of yesterday, that measure was on life support in committee in the Assembly. This is a result of the chair of the assembly not allowing the measure to move forward for debate and vote. Senator Huff is working hard to try and find out what the problem is with respect to the measure and why the Assembly Chairwoman is not allowing the bill to be considered to at least, have a debate in committee and be persuasive enough to move the item forward. Every committee this measure has come before has passed it overwhelmingly. Senator Huff has until the end of August to get this matter resolved and the new senator (assembly member) who takes over at the end of the year may be able to pick up the ball and run with it. AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 4 CITY COUNCIL But as time passes it gets more complicated and doubtful. Anyone who has an interest in that measure should get in touch with the assembly committee and the chair of the assembly committee to state their views and to let Senator Huff know that his bill is supported or that they have questions about the bill. The schools within the Pomona Unified School District that are located in Diamond Bar are outstanding as are the schools within the Walnut Valley Unified School District. It is those schools, the district and performance of the teachers that have created the interest in "District of Choice" for those children and parents who wish to come to Diamond Bar. If "District of Choice" were to go away, he understands there would be pretty significant consequences to the WVUSD in particular, but it will not diminish the quality of education in Diamond Bar. Regarding mailbox thefts, they have become more common in the last few years as another way to steal identities and it is difficult to trace because people generally do not know that their mail has been stolen. Diamond Bar has periodic problems with mailbox theft but the Sheriff's Department works very closely with the post office and those that have determined they may be the victim of mail theft. Mailboxes belong to individual residents and if residents want boxes with locks they need to provide them. 5. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE EVENTS: 5.1 Planning Commission Meeting — August 23, 2016 — 7:00 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.2 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting — August 25, 2016 — 7:00 p.m. Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.3 Labor Day Holiday — September 5, 2016 — City Hall Offices closed in Observance of Labor Day. Offices reopen Tuesday, September 6, 2016 at 7:30 a.m. 5.4 City Council Meeting — September 6, 2016 — 6:30 p.m., AQMD/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive. (Canceled under Consent Calendar Item 6.6) 6, CONSENT CALENDAR: C/Low moved, MPT/Lin seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented with the exception of Items 6.8 and 6.10 pulled by C/Low. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Low, Tye, MPT/Lin, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 5 CITY COUNCIL 6.1 WAIVE READING IN FULL OF ALL ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS AND ADOPT THE CONSENT CALENDAR. 6.2 APPROVED CITY COUNCIL MINUTES — Regular Meeting of August 2, 2016. 6.3 RECEIVED AND FILED PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES - Regular Meeting of June 28, 2016. 6.4 RECEIVED AND FILED PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES — Regular Meeting of June 23, 2016. 6.5 RATIFIED CHECK REGISTER — Dated July 28, 2016 through August 10, 2016 totaling $1,368,995.02. 6.6 APPROVED ADJOURNING THE AUGUST 16, 2016 CITY COUNCIL MEETING TO SEPTEMBER 20, 2016. 6.7 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2016-30: APPROVING PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS AND ESTABLISHED A PROJECT PAYMENT ACCOUNT, AWARDED THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR WASHINGTON STREET CUL-DE-SAC AT LINCOLN AVENUE PROJECT TO CT&T CONCRETE PAVING, INC IN THE AMOUNT OF $101,450 AND AUTHORIZED A CONTINGENCY AMOUNT OF $8,550 (8.4% OF THE TOTAL CONTRACT) FOR CONTRACT CHANGE ORDERS TO BE APPROVED BY THE CITY MANAGER, FOR A TOTAL AUTHORIZATION AMOUNT OF $110,000. 6.9 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2016-31: AUTHORIZING AND APPROVING THE SALE OF $600,000 OF PROPOSITION A FUNDS (LOCAL RETURN TRANSIT FUNDS) TO THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES. MATTERS WITHDRAWN FROM CONSENT CALENDAR: 6.8 APPROVAL OF A CONSULTING SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH KIMLEY HORN TO DEVELOP A PROCUREMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR AN ADAPTIVE TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM (ATCS) IN THE AMOUNT OF $209,081, PLUS A CONTINGENCY AMOUNT OF $30,000 FOR PROJECT CHANGE ORDERS TO BE APPROVED BY THE CITY MANAGER FOR A TOTAL AUTHORIZATION OF $239,081. C/Low said she was very excited about this item. She asked that staff explain how this project will benefit the City with respect to traffic, provide the timeframe for the project and describe how the traffic signal layout will work and what residents can expect from this contract. AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL PWD/Liu reiterated that if the City is able to successfully implement this Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) the overall result will be fewer stops, fewer delays, reduced congestion, and air quality benefits as well as, real-time responses that the City will be able to provide on a day-to- day basis. The project scope/areas include all of the signals along major cut through arterials for a total of 47 signalized intersections along Diamond Bar Boulevard, Golden Springs Drive and Grand Avenue. The scope of work includes expert consulting to help procure and implement a plan. There are a variety of these types of systems available and staff has assembled a very strong review team to help guide the City through the interview and proposal review process. Staff felt that because this technology is not that new the City will want to make sure it is a system that will benefit the City for many years in the future. Staff received five proposals and interviewed three firms from which the consensus from the interview committee was that Kimley Horn provides the best team in terms of approach and process. This is a two and one-half year process and before the schedule is laid out the study will have to determine the best system for Diamond Bar. While this system will not require that streets be torn up there will be some replacement and enhancement work at intersections. 6.10 APPROPRIATE $85,286.54 FROM THE QUIMBY FUND RESERVES TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2016-2017 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM BUDGET; ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2016-32: APPROVING PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS AND ESTABLISHING A PAYMENT ACCOUNT; ACCEPT THE LETTER OF WITHDRAWAL FROM PRINCIPAL CONTRACTING INC. DATED AUGUST 12, 2016 AND, AWARD THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR THE STARDUST AND PETERSON PARK IMPROVEMENT PROJECT TO ACE CD INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $435,667.88, AND AUTHORIZE A CONTINGENCY AMOUNT OF $43,566.79 (10% OF THE TOTAL CONTRACT) FOR CONTRACT CHANGE ORDERS TO BE APPROVED BY THE CITY MANAGER, FOR A TOTAL AUTHORIZATION AMOUNT OF $479,234.67. C/Low wanted residents to see what was going into these parks. She asked staff to explain why these improvements were not completed during last year's improvement project at Peterson Park. CM/DeStefano showed slides of Peterson Park and explained that the Peterson Park playground equipment desperately needs to be replaced including the posts in the foundation for the playground equipment that have rusted through. The park was secured several months ago to ensure that no one would be hurt by the deteriorating playground equipment. Prior to that the City began a project to repair the rubberized surface adjacent to the playground equipment. In order to repair surface, it had to be pulled out, during which it was discovered that posts had rusted and therefore it was a much bigger problem that included the AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 7 CITY COUNCIL equipment. In order to replace the posts they would have had to be fabricated specifically for this site due to replacement parts no longer available for the aged equipment. Because the City Council had the resources, staff made a determination that all new equipment needed to be installed and therefore the procurement process took a while because it was no longer a "maintenance" project but a Public Works project for which staff needed to develop plans and specifications, professionally bid the job, etc. So that brought this project to this point in time because it was bundled together with Stardust which is a small neighborhood park near the Diamond Bar Center between Summitridge and Longview that was due for a complete renovation. The park was originally privately built many years ago and also contained old playground equipment. Staff undertook an effort to completely redesign that park which resulted in what is proposed for Stardust. Stardust is a much bigger project than Peterson and involved new sidewalks, landscaping, playground equipment, benches, picnic tables, etc. Both projects are anticipated to be constructed simultaneously and staff will be working with the selected contractor to complete these projects once the Council makes its decision to move forward on a detailed schedule for construction. The absolute end of construction will most likely be the end of November for Stardust and most likely be 45-60 days before Peterson is completed. M/Lyons said that earlier this year the City redid the parking lot and re - fenced the skate park at Peterson Park which was a different project. MPT/Lin asked CA/DeBerry if all bids exceeded the engineer's estimate is there a law that requires the City reject all bids. CA/DeBerry said that Council did not have to reject all of the bids; however, the City Council always has the option of rejecting all bids and putting it back out to bid. The engineer's estimate is not tied to whether or not the City Council must accept the bid. MPT/Lin asked staff to explain why all bids exceeded the engineer's estimate of $385,000. PWD/Liu said that in terms of the engineer's estimate, there are a number of things that could increase the cost including the fact that this is a busy time for contractors. When one considers all of the constraints and site locations he believes much has to be considered when a contractor is expected to work within a neighborhood such as Stardust and Peterson Park neighborhoods and even more so for Stardust. Construction could be fairly straightforward but from a timing standpoint staff was not able to take advantage of an earlier time to complete these projects. The City is moving into the rainy season which is another factor considered by the contractors and there are specific conditions unique to each of the project sites. For example, the soil at Peterson Park is corrosive. There are AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 8 CITY COUNCIL ground water issues and staff has done everything possible in terms of the design requirements and whatever gets built and installed will last for a long period of time. Everything considered, staff feels good about the overall bids. Early in this process the architect felt the project could run about $450,000. Staff asked the contractors to sharpen their pencils when considering their bid proposals. Part of the strategy is to advertise the engineer's estimate to be able to lower the architect's estimate. MPT/Lin was surprised that the City offers the engineer's estimate to the bid process because he felt it should be confidential information. PWD/Liu said that when public works projects are advertised it is usually one of the first questions the prospective bidders will ask and staff is letting the prospective bidders know that it has done its due diligence to come up with a project that should be potentially constructed from the engineer's design and assessment that has been prepared for the public. MPT/Lin suggested that a more appropriate way to handle the bidding process would be to give the prospective bidders a range. CM/DeStefano explained that if staff were to do that all of the bids would come in at the high end or above. Staff's experience, having done this for decades in Diamond Bar and elsewhere, says that first of all an engineer's estimate needs to be as accurate as possible and it needs to reflect the contemporary construction costs, standards, unique qualities of the construction site, etc. In this case, the consulting engineer may have just missed it on this one - it has happened before. Clearly, all of the proposers except for one came in higher than the engineer's estimate which tells him there was a bigger problem with the engineer's estimate than there was with the bids. The engineer's estimate is used to help staff understand what the project costs might be so that the items can be budgeted appropriately and also serves as a major directive to the bidders that that is the amount of money the City has to spend. Should the City wish to go above that amount it has the option to do so as the Council is being recommended to do this evening. So from staff's perspective he would not recommend a range because there will never be a bid submitted at the bottom, it will always be at the top of the range. C/Low moved, C/Tye seconded, to approve Consent Calendar Items 6.8 and 6.10 as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Low, Tye, MPT/Lin, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 9 CITY COUNCIL 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 7.1 ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION NO. 2016-33: AMENDING THE CITY'S CONFLICT OF INTEREST CODE FOR DESIGNATED CITY PERSONNEL AND RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. 2014-37 IN ITS ENTIRETY. CC/Cribbins reported that every two years the FPPC requires that cities review their Conflict of Interest Code and if necessary, make any changes to accurately reflect'job classifications that may fall under the Conflict of Interest Code. On June 7, 2016 the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2016-20 amending the City's Compensation Plan and Fringe Benefits. With the adoption of the Resolution the following positions were re -titled: Human Resources Manager became Human Resources and Risk Manager, and Community Services Director became Parks and Recreation Director. In addition to these changes, it has been determined that the following positions be eliminated: Community Services Director, Human Resources Manager, Planning Manager and Senior Neighborhood Improvement Officer. Staff is recommending that M/Lyons open the Public Hearing, receive testimony, close the Public Hearing and after discussion, Adopt Resolution No. 2016-33 which will reflect the changes and/or deletions to the Conflict of Interest Code. M/Lyons opened the Public Hearing. Kushal Sonowala said he did not favor the four positions being eliminated because they are meant to help the Diamond Bar residents. He feels that it was especially important to have a community services manager who could guide resources toward programs for City of Diamond Bar residents. He has taken advantage of tennis classes every summer and feels they have been managed well by different personnel in the City. With no other testimony offered, M/Lyons closed the Public Hearing. CM/DeStefano stated that sometimes California Code Regulations are confusing and this may be one of those times. The action that the Council is being asked to take is to simply change titles on a listing of City job titles for all of those employees that work within the organization. The City is not eliminating bodies, it is eliminating antiquated job titles that are no longer necessary to be on this list and the City is adding new job titles that the Council approved a couple of months ago with its budget to the list. Meeting the requirements of the state does not eliminate people nor does it change service levels that the City has been providing. C/Tye said the position of Community Services Director and that person will hereafter be referred to as a Parks and Recreation Director. AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 10 CITY COUNCIL CM/DeStefano said that while his answer is yes if C/Tye is referring to the action before the City Council, as of the adoption of the budget that title is no longer within its family of positions. This is in effect a housekeeping measure by eliminating the title from this list. C/Tye said that now the Human Resources Manager is hereinafter referred to as Human Resources and Risk Manager. CM/DeStefano responded yes because again that is reflective of the Council's decision to broaden the responsibility of the Human Resources Manager with which comes a new title and new responsibilities and via housekeeping, the Human Resources Manager title is no longer required on the list. MPT/Lin Moved, C/Tye seconded, to Adopt Resolution No. 2016-33: Amending the City's Conflict of Interest Code for Designated City Personnel and Rescinding Resolution No. 2014-37 In Its Entirety. AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Low, Tye, MPT/Lin, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera 8. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION: 8.1 FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE 05 (2016): REVISING THE CITY'S PURCHASING SYSTEM, AMENDING THE DIAMOND BAR MUNICIPAL CODE, AND RESCINDING ORDINANCE NO. 07 (2014) IN ITS ENTIRETY. FD/Honeywell stated that the item before the City Council tonight is a revision of the City's Purchasing Ordinance which was last updated in October 2014. Since that time, staff has had an opportunity to put the new policy into practice. Changes to the current policy set forth in this latest revision help to streamline the procurement process for better efficiency, and includes cleanup language to reflect the intent of the policy and to incorporate the recent organizational changes made to the Public Works Department and the City Manager's Office. The majority of the changes to the policy are found in the section entitled "Purchasing Procedure". It is recommended that the City change the threshold at which informal bidding and purchase orders are required from $2,500 to $5,000 because it is at this level that a verbal bid quote will be required. Also changing is the threshold at which a written bid quote is required from $5,000 to $10,000. It was found that staff was often spending more time acquiring bids and processing paperwork than seemed appropriate for projects and repairs on this smaller scale. AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 11 CITY COUNCIL Other items included in this section are the application of Use Tax for out- of-state purchases, cleanup language for annual maintenance contract requirements, and clarification of credit card purchase requirements. Another item of note is the change to the formal bid process for the non- public works projects with the proposed revision eliminating the need for a public bid opening in these types of projects. The public bid opening proved to be cumbersome and was not the original intent of the policy for these types of projects and contracts included in this category. M/Lyons asked if the new purchase order maximum was in line with other municipalities or was the City going out on a limb. FD/Honeywell responded that it is well within the realm of what other cities do based on the number of transactions Diamond Bar is used to seeing. In fact, when auditors look at the City's books the materiality level for them is about $5,000 to $10,000. C/Low referred to the top of Page 9 of the report which states that "for any single items or aggregate purchase with an estimated value of $5,000 up to $10,000, three formal bids or quotes shall be solicited" and under Subdivision I it states that "bids or quotes may be obtained in verbal or written format." As she reads this it means to her that if the bid came in at $10,000 it could be a verbal bid. FD/Honeywell explained that bids between $5,000 and $10,000 need to be written so staff can call a vendor and explain that the City is soliciting a bid for X set of items and request that the vendor submit their best bid in written form. C/Low said that the report says it could be in verbal or written format and it is up to $10,000. CM/DeStefano asked if C/Low was asking if the solicitation of the bid could be verbal or written or the actual bid received, verbal or written. C/Low said that she understands from the report that "informal bids $2500 to $5000 may be received verbally." But in the body of the policy on Page 9 the "verbal bids may be received for purchases up to $10,000. FD/Honeywell said she could see where that might be confusing. What it means is that staff can email a vendor or call them on the phone but their response needs to be in written format. C/Low asked for housekeeping clarification prior to the final vote. AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 12 CITY COUNCIL C/Low moved, C/Tye seconded, to approve First Reading of Ordinance 05 (2016): Revising the City's Purchasing System, Amending the Diamond Bar Municipal Code, and Rescinding Ordinance No. 07 (2014) In Its Entirety with the provision that the language pertaining to the bid and solicitation process be cleaned up prior to full adoption. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Low, Tye, MPT/Lin, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera 8.2 APPROVAL OF A BETTERMENT AGREEMENT WITH THE ALAMEDA CORRIDOR -EAST CONSTRUCTION AUTHORITY AND THE CITY OF INDUSTRY FOR LEMON AVENUE INTERCHANGE IMPROVEMENTS TO BE DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FAIRWAY DRIVE GRADE SEPARATION PROJECT. CM/DeStefano stated that this is a tri -party agreement between the City of Diamond Bar, City of Industry and the Alameda Corridor -East Construction Authority (ACE) in order to commence the physical construction of the long-awaited Lemon Avenue Interchange Project. PWD/Liu provided a PowerPoint presentation to better facilitate the discussion regarding the agreement which included a background of milestone agreements considered and approved by the City of Diamond Bar, the most recent of which is the Betterment Agreement being presented to the City Council this evening. This began as a result of ACE attempting to better help mitigate the traffic detour impacts that will occur during construction of the Fairway Drive Grade Separation Project. In early June 2016 the City of Industry and the City of Diamond Bar were approached by ACE with a proposal to construct these interchange improvements as a construction contract change order to their ongoing Fairway grade separation project. Subsequently, at a meeting held on June 9, 2016 by the three parties there was discussion about the logistics of transitioning the construction from Caltrans AAA project (Advertise, Award, and Administer) to ACE, and it was changed to an Encroachment Permit project. Following the final design plan approval, Caltrans issued the Encroachment Permit to ACE in July allowing for the construction of the Lemon Avenue Interchange project to proceed. In order for the work to be included in ACE's Fairway Drive Grade Separation project, the two cities and ACE must enter into this Betterment Agreement to define improvements to be constructed and the applications of each city to reimburse ACE for the construction and the construction management costs totaling $19 million. At the July 25 meeting the ACE Board approved this agreement and authorized their CEO to execute a Betterment Agreement with the Cities of Industry and Diamond Bar. On August 11 the City of Industry's City Council approved the agreement with AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 13 CITY COUNCIL amendments. The total cost of the construction budget for the project is estimated at $20.1 million which includes $18.2 million for construction by ACE, $800,000 for construction management by ACE, $1 million for remaining utility relocations costs and $100,000 for Caltrans' Independent Quality Assurance Program. The City of Diamond Bar has secured a total of $9:37 million in funding for construction which includes $7.25 million in Federal Safety In -lieu Funds that is in the process of being de -federalized through METRO and $1.85 million in METRO Prop C Funds and the City of Industry has committed $8.21 million toward construction of this project. With project funds totaling $17.58 million, there is an estimated funding shortfall (deficit) of $2.52 million based on a total cost of $20.1 million to construct and complete the project. In the Betterment Agreement Diamond Bar has updated the exhibit dealing with the financial summary/analysis and in order to work within the current available funding resources of $17.58 million the defined improvements are proposed to be done in two construction phases: Phase 2 includes construction of the westbound onramp and eastbound off ramp at a cost of $14.25 million. This phase is fully funded and estimated to last about 10 months. Phase 2 includes construction of the eastbound onramp as well as, removal of the existing on/off ramp at Brea Canyon Road. The construction period for Phase 2 is estimated to last about eight (8) months, but with a cost of $4.75 million plus the previously mentioned utility relocation cost as well as, the Caltrans IQA cost, that funding shortfall is estimate to be in the neighborhood of $2.52 million. Because of this funding shortfall amount of $2.52 million the City of Industry has amended the Betterment Agreement to provide an opportunity for any party to terminate this agreement and not commence with Phase 2 construction; however, the Betterment Agreement that was approved by City of Industry's City Council on August 11 does not contain several additional provisions which are in the Betterment Agreement being presented to the Diamond Bar City Council this evening. The agreement presented this evening accounts for not only the funding shortfall but Industry's previous commitment to identify funds to fill that shortfall. Staff has been working very closely with the City Attorney to include the following amendments to the revised Betterment Agreement which are: 1) The inclusion of ACE's commitment to reimburse the City of Diamond Bar for their 3 percent administration fee (about $225,000) that METRO wants to charge Diamond Bar for repurposing the federal dollars in order to de -federalize the money (federal dollars to local funds) as Exhibit B and the letter dated August 1, 2016 from ACE; 2) Exhibit C which is the City of Industry's commitment to lA County METRO to fill or close any funding gap on the Lemon Avenue Interchange project (letter dated June 27, 2016); 3) There is languages, provisions and clarifications AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 14 CITY COUNCIL regarding the Notification and Termination processes prior to Phase II; and, 4) In Exhibit A, staff has removed any reference for any specific party to close the funding gap. All of these amendments are necessary because staff does not want to become contractually obligated to contribute any additional money to close this funding gap. As staff firmly believes, these regional freeway improvements provide benefits to the Caltrans facility and are necessary as a result of project mitigations with the City of Industry's years of development activities to the north and east of the City. This project was a substitution for the required mitigation at the intersection of Golden Springs Drive and Brea Canyon Road. Staff believes with all of the funding commitments provided by both cities, Diamond Bar has already contributed substantially and should not spend any additional monies toward completion of this project. In order to move ahead with the project without delay, staff recommends that the City Council approve the Betterment Agreement so that ACE can proceed with building the westbound onramp and eastbound off -ramp at a cost of $14.25 million; however, in order to do the eastbound onramp at a cost of $4.75 million, other stakeholders need to fill the shortfall gap/deficit of $2.52 million. Further, staff believes that Diamond Bar should continue work efforts over the next 10-12 months for others to close this funding gap. MPT/Lin said he agrees that it is good that ACE is willing to take over the construction management as part of the project. Typically, a change order is for a small amount and this agreement includes a very large amount for the change order so did ACE already have the Fairway Grade Separation project bid out. ` PWD/Liu responded "yes." MPT/Lin asked how ACE would then negotiate a change order that is $20 million in size. CM/DeStefano explained that the change order that ACE negotiated may seem unique to Diamond Bar but apparently it was within the boundaries of their standards and practices. They approved that change order at their last board meeting a couple of weeks ago and whatever the details of that accomplishment were they have reached it through an agreement with their contractor and now through their legal counsel and governing board. MPT/Lin said it is likely that if the change order is less than $19 million and there will not be a shortfall. CM/DeStefano said No, the construction cost is $20.1 million. It actually would have been higher had this stayed with Caltrans because Caltrans administrative overhead and lack of any interest in meeting a schedule AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 15 CITY COUNCIL would have caused additional dollars to fall on the project. The timing would have been worse and the gap would likely have grown. MPT/Lin asked if the change order had already been negotiated. CM/DeStefano responded Yes, and that the ACE Board of Directors approved the change order with the contractor at their last board meeting a week or two ago. MPT/Lin said that in order for ACE to take on this additional task to relieve the traffic congestion caused by the project it seems to him that this interchange would have to be built prior to their working on the grade separation. CM/DeStefano explained that ACE does not want to have both roadways restricted in vehicle/truck movement at the same time. By doing this under one project they can schedule and work, through the phases much easier than working with Caltrans as a separate construction authority which is advantageous to ACE. PWD/Liu stated that the tentative construction schedule staff received from ACE is that assuming the Betterment Agreement was executed one month earlier called for an 18 -month schedule with completion of the project by January 2018. He does not have the schedule for Fairway but ACE wants to make sure that because of the close proximity of these two project locations, having one single contractor managing and constructing the improvements could help alleviate or minimize some of the traffic detour impacts. Hence, to have the Betterment Agreement to be executed by all three entities. Prior to ACE taking over there were discussions about how to coordinate the different construction activities and he believes that Fairway was to take place shortly after the Lemon Avenue project was completed. But as CM/DeStefano mentioned, because of Caltrans delays the Lemon Avenue Interchange construction schedule should have been finished by now (August 2016) and ACE was planning to come in immediately after conclusion of the Lemon Avenue Interchange improvements to complete their project but working with Caltrans, it did not happen. MPT/Lin recommended that PWD/Liu contact the City's engineer to have him look at the scheduling and the potential unnecessary traffic impacts to the City of Diamond Bar as a result of these construction activities. C/Low asked what the worst-case scenario would be for the City should the Council decide to move ahead with this contract and none of the funding came to fruition. Secondly, on Page 9 of the report it indicates that in addition to the $1.421 million shown above, another $1.1 million is needed to fund the remaining utility relocation costs and she wanted to AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 16 CITY COUNCIL know if the $1.1 million was part of the $2.52 million shortfall, or if it was in addition to. CM/DeStefano reiterated that it is part of the $2.52 million shortfall. CM/DeStefano stated that with respect to the worst-case scenario, there are a couple of different scenarios. First, ACE, Industry and now Diamond Bar is considering a Betterment Agreement. Each of those Agreements is slightly different in that they each protect their own entity's interest. One of the very first things that will have to be done, assuming the Council approves this with its action tonight bearing in mind that it is important that action be taken tonight, is to go back and finalize the fine print1details and assuming that cannot be done, there is no project. And those that have already contributed hard dollars will have lost those dollars and those that have specified funds, either from the federal government or from METRO, may lose those dollars with the potential for consequences when applications are filed later on down the road so to speak. Traffic and in particular trucks going north on Lemon into the industrial park will not have the mitigation that is necessary. Traffic at Brea Canyon Road and Golden Springs Drive and where the on and off ramps are will not have the traffic mitigation. Staff is not aware of what complications there might be to Industry or to ACE, but to Diamond Bar, those are the things that come to mind. It is likely that this will move forward and find solutions to define details in the three differences within the three Betterment Agreements so that the next major hurdle becomes finding that $2.52 million. So picture an eastbound off ramp at Lemon Avenue and no eastbound on ramp which is what it means to not complete this project. It means that the eastbound on ramp by McDonald's, Chevron and Jack-in-the-Box would remain. Caltrans is not going to like that because it will be very awkward for motorists to find their way through that immediate area. The westbound onramp which is behind Color Marble near the WVUSD Admin Headquarters would be part of the first phase which would move forward as planned. The principle issue in Diamond Bar would be the disjointed on/off ramp situation, some of the access on Lemon Avenue and some of the access at Brea Canyon Road. C/Low said it sounded to her like there were provisions in the agreement that it could be severed i.e. if it were severed then Phase 2 would not get completed. CM/DeStefano said this is a bit unusual. Diamond Bar is entering into an agreement to construct a project for which not all of the funds are available and Diamond Bar is attempting, through staff's recommendations to the Council, to protect the City of Diamond Bar's interest. Staff believes that it has contributed enough money to the project and so too Diamond Bar believes that Industry has committed enough money to the project and staff would like to see this project completed. It has been Council's policy to work toward this project completion for many AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 17 CITY COUNCIL years and so staff is asking that the Council approve this item to at least get Phase 1 done but not, through this process, obligate the City of Diamond Bar to contribute any more money and not obligating construction of Phase 2 which means this project would stop after Phase 1 completion if there is not enough money to build Phase 2. C/Low asked for confirmation that this exit strategy was built into the contract. PWD/Liu further explained that there are a couple of additional considerations such as how Caltrans will look at these conditions. Assuming that only Phase 1 is completed (the eastbound off ramp and westbound on ramp) will Caltrans accept this non-standard arrangement i.e. that it concludes with an eastbound off ramp without the eastbound onramp. Without proceeding into Phase 2 (the new eastbound onramp) there will be two separate eastbound off ramps, one at Lemon Avenue and one at Brea Canyon Road operating, how will that work which is the reason he showed the Vicinity Map — those two locations are in very, very close proximity which create operational concerns and issues. Another way to look at this is that over the course of the next 10-12 months Diamond Bar will be asking these questions of Caltrans and they know that this project was started as one project. The approach is to look at this in two phases. But operationally, while he cannot speak for Caltrans he does not believe Caltrans would, in their own interest, not proceed with doing Phase 2 and they will have to be one of the stakeholders that will have to step up, whether that is with METRO or with some other party. The crux of the issue is who are the others who will fill this gap which is built into the provisions and why staff's Exhibit A of the Betterment Agreement strongly spells out everything including additional utility relocation costs as well as, Caltrans Quality Assurance Program costs. CM/DeStefano said he heard PWD/Liu say that Diamond Bar will be asking these questions of Caltrans seeking these dollars and the City is already in that process. In May he met with the Caltrans District Director and has had follow up conversations with him since, while seeking Caltrans' input and financial support. So far that has not been forthcoming but there has been a lot of discussion at the Caltrans level. Today he had a conference call with District 7 senior officials, with State of California Caltrans officials as well as, the City's lobbyist who is helping to find funds and with the City of Industry. Staff is working this matter, negotiating this matter and he does not want to get into public negotiations and affect the City's position, but this is a bit of a game of chess and cards and who will blink first, but there are clearly people who need to come to the table with their pocketbook for a project that benefits their roadway system and staff believes that Diamond Bar and Industry have spent enough money and others need to step up and fill this gap and what staff will be working very hard to do is to get that accomplished. But to C/Low's point, if staff is not AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 18 CITY COUNCIL able to do so, there is no obligation of the City of Diamond Bar to build out Phase 2. C/Low questioned that if only Phase 1 were completed would the City see an observable improvement in the traffic situation. CM/DeStefano said that it should relieve the traffic congestion of the major vehicles (trucks) coming off of the freeway at Brea Canyon Road turning left to take Brea Canyon Road north into the Industrial Park in the City of Industry. Slow down the number of vehicles that are getting off the freeway between Jack-in-the-Box and McDonald's who are making a right turn to swing back to Lemon to go to the Industrial Park in the City of Industry. C/Low asked if staff has identified that this is a major part of the City's congestion. CM/DeStefano said it is because trucks are big, they are slow and they destroy the roadway. M/Lyons asked for confirmation that by approving the Betterment Agreement as recommended by staff Phase 1 would be done and Phase 2 would not be guaranteed but there may be a way to negotiate the shortfall funding so that it could be completed. How did this plan originate when money was not available to complete it? CM/DeStefano said it is a perfect question because the answer boggles the mind. This project was originally a fully -funded Caltrans project — a Diamond Bar project because it is within the City of Diamond Bar, but the project was to be managed and constructed by Caltrans. Caltrans took many, many, many more years than anyone thought necessary to acquire tiny pieces of property behind some of the homes where the eastbound off ramp would take place. That not only increased the estimated cost (about double) it increased the time and any development project, whether it is a private developer or in this case, a public development, time is more critical than any other factor. The time started to increase construction costs and the time also then did something that was even more devastating which was that Caltrans frequently changes its development standards (thickness of the concrete, etc.) and when Caltrans started to change its standards guess which project then had to be redesigned to meet the new standards which, by the way, cost more. So, the right-of- way phase took three and one-half years and the design phase took seven years, two to three times the normal time period for such a project. This is not that complicated a project, but because it was a Caltrans project, Diamond Bar did not have that level of control. The time created the cost increases because it was occurring concurrently with the changes in standards that created cost increases. One of the areas of AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 19 CITY COUNCIL consideration earlier this year was to try and roll back some of those standards because this is not a major intersection like the 605/10 where there are enormous bridges, etc. where the standards would be more important. The City tried to get Caltrans to agree to use the standards that were in place when the project was designed and went all the way to the State Department of Transportation and it was denied which created more time, more money and that is why it is now out of whack. That is why staff is recommending and have the good fortune to have ACE step up and wish to build it for us because Diamond Bar has a local relationship with ACE that built the Brea Canyon Road undercrossing and Diamond Bar used to be a Board Member of ACE. ACE is much more agile, much more budget and cost conscious and they can do this project through an administrative amount far cheaper than Caltrans was suggesting they would need. At one point, Caltrans administrative costs were 30 percent of the project budget which is outrageous and was one of his primary comments and complaints to the Caltrans District Director. All that said, it is where it is and there is still an interest in seeing the project move forward and staff is still recommending that it move forward but there is this issue of the funding gap. PWD/Liu said that prior to this Betterment Agreement Council approved the Caltrans AAA Agreement for Caltrans to advertise, award and administer this construction contract in September 16, 2014. At that time, had the project moved forward, the construction cost was about $13 million. It was only at the beginning of this year at the conclusion of the runway phase staff was surprised that not only had the standards changed but that construction costs had increased from $13 million to $19 million. On top of that, Caltrans construction management costs increased from $3.7 to $5.7 million and that is a frustration with the State of California that they cannot be counted on to deliver what they promise. C/Tye said that while he glazes over when hearing certain terms, staff got his attention about an administrative fee to be charged for repurposing federal safety -lieu funds in order to de -federalize the Lemon Avenue Interchange. Only the federal government would come up with repurposing federal dollars that they got from us and de -federalizing the funds. Why would Diamond Bar or anybody pay a quarter of a million dollars to have federal funds re -purposed? CM/DeStefano responded that it is simply the "color" of the money. Federal money is a particular color. Diamond Bar got the money but METRO is holding it. In order for it to change its "color" METRO has an arbitrary 3 percent administrative fee. It is Diamond Bar's money. Congressman Miller got it for the City but has a 3 percent administrative fee for doing nothing and Diamond Bar refused to pay it. ACE stepped up and said they would pay it. It is ridiculous for ACE to pay it but it is not the City of Diamond Bar because it is staff's position that the City Council and AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 20 CITY COUNCIL this community have contributed enough dollars. Being a different color allows that the money be used differently. The swapping or changing of the color made it easier for ACE to use the money but it came with a cost that doesn't match the manpower associated with changing the color of the money but it was the fee required of that agency. Again, Diamond Bar is not paying the 3 percent. C/Tye said that if the funds actually left the federal government could they come directly to Diamond Bar. CM/DeStefano said No, not in this circumstance because they are the mothership for those kinds of dollars for transportation projects of this size and larger in this region. C/Tye said that the money went to METRO and they are sifting on it earning interest and they want to charge Diamond Bar. CM/DeStefano said he was not sure about the interest part of it but to allow for the swap in the manner discussed to actually make it easier for projects to get done, there was this fee. MPT/Lin said that all things considered this is a problem for which the City might take a calculated risk and asked why staff would not move $250,000 to Phase 1 to fix the traffic signal instead of risking that it not be completed if Phase 2 is not constructed. CM/DeStefano asked if MPT/Lin was referring to the new traffic signal at the new Lemon Avenue ramp because it will be a fully signalized intersection. MPT/Lin said that all things considered, this appears to him to be the best way to move forward at this time. MPT/Lin moved, C/Low seconded, to approve a Betterment Agreement with the Alameda Corridor -East Construction Authority and The City of Industry for Lemon Avenue Interchange Improvements to be done in conjunction with the Fairway Drive Grade Separation Project as recommended by staff. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Low, Tye, MPT/Lin, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 21 CITY COUNCIL 9. COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND MEETING ATTENDANCE REPORTS/COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS: C/Tye reminded everyone that school is back in session and hoped that everyone would drive very carefully. He thanked LA County Fire Chief Daryl Osby and County Supervisors for doing everything they needed to do to bring in more Super Scoopers as we proceed through the most dangerous fire season in his memory. It was in 2007 that the Super Scoopers were credited with savings homes in Diamond Bar during the Triangle Fire. He works with On Point Wealth Partners at UBS Financial Services and customer service is their focus. Nothing is more important than taking care of clients. During business hours anyone who calls will talk with a real person which leads him to his complete frustration with Frontier Communications. If he is frustrated he believes he mirrors what other people feel and they too are having trouble with Frontier Communications. Since July with 11 contacts speaking to people in three states for more than four hours he still does not have an answer to what he owes them. He was charged a termination fee he does not believe he owes and no one hears him say that. One gentleman was very pleasant and offered that for this bill of $145.92 that they could work out a payment plan paying $10 a month until it was paid. The issue is not whether he can afford to pay them the last bill, the issue is that there is disagreement about how much he owes them. So if he is correct and he believes he is, many people in the community are having problems with this franchisee. The reason he brings it up under Council Comments is because Diamond Bar is paid a franchise fee and they are a vendor to the City and the City should make sure residents are getting what they pay for and not complete aggravation. Anyone who is having difficulty, please call Asst. to CM/Santos at 909-839-7013. He has also asked Supervisor Knabe's office to get involved and perhaps Asst. to CM/Santos could coordinate with his office as well to see if somebody from Frontier Communications could respond face-to-face. He wished everyone a safe and happy Labor Day. C/Low congratulated the Girls' Softball team members. She thanked the Parks and Recreation Department for a great job this summer in putting on the Concerts in the Park and Movies under the Stars which were well -attended, with good community participation and a lot of community spirit. She wished everyone a happy Labor Day. MPT/Lin said that last Thursday he was at the Castaway Restaurant in Burbank attending the LA County's League of Cities Annual Dinner where he represented the City and gave a Certificate to outgoing President Carol Chen. The new President of the League is Harry Klein, the Mayor of the City of Burbank. He was sitting next to a mayor who told him he thought Diamond Bar was in Orange County. He told him no, that Diamond Bar is in LA County even though it has been ignored by the County all of these years. AUGUST 16, 2016 PAGE 22 CITY COUNCIL M/Lyons thanked her colleagues for their thoughtful discussion on Item 8.2 which was a lot to digest and she thanked staff for their preparation and attempt to clarify and simplify a very difficult issue. The Walnut Valley Water District has indicated that due to conservation efforts and heavier rain and snow in northern California, the District approved a downgrading to a Stage 1 water supply shortage which means that people may now water outdoors three times a week instead of twice a week. Everyone knows and loves Olympian soccer player Alex Morgan from Diamond Bar. M/Lyons just found out that Diamond Bar's own Eva Lee is on the Badminton Doubles Team in the Olympics which was exciting. She thanked PWD/Liu and his staff for coming up with a solution for residents who live in the Washington Street/Lincoln Avenue area for the big -rigs that have ended up in their neighborhood and have had trouble turning around to exit the neighborhood and damaged property. She knows that the residents will be very happy that the problem has been eliminated. Restaurant Week is October 8-14 and staff has been working very hard with the Chamber of Commerce to recruit restaurants for this event. She sees today that Guacs Restaurant has been added and although not yet open will be open by Restaurant Week. There are almost 100 restaurants in Diamond Bar and she hopes that a good portion will participate in the program. She echoed C/Low's comments thanking staff for a great summer. Everyone enjoyed the concerts, the movies and the 4th of July Blast. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to conduct, M/Lyons adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 8:31 pm to September 20, 2016. TOMMA CRIBBINS, CITY CLERK The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 2othday of September 2016.