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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/20/16 Minutes - Regular MeetingMINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Lyons called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Gene Doss provided the Pledge of Allegiance INVOCATION: Pastor Jake Kim, Northminster Presbyterian Church provided the Invocation. ROLL CALL: Council Members Herrera, Low, Tye and Mayor Lyons. Absent: Mayor Pro Tem Lin was excused. Staff Present: James DeStefano, City Manager; David DeBerry, City Attorney; Ryan McLean, Assistant City Manager; David Liu, Public Works Director; Greg Gubman, Community Development Director; Dianna Honeywell, Finance Director; Kimberly Young, Senior Civil Engineer; Anthony Santos, Assistant to the City Manager; Marsha Roa, Public Information Manager; John Beshay, Associate Engineer; Amy Haug, Human Resources Manager; Alfa Lopez, Senior Management Analyst; Christy Murphey, Recreation Superintendent; Cecelia Arellano, Public Information Coordinator, and Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: As presented. 1. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATES, PROCLAMATIONS: 1.1 M/Lyons and City Council Members presented a Certificate Plaque to Public Works Director David Liu, in recognition of his 25 years of service to the City. 1.2 C/Tye and City Council Members proclaimed Friday, September 23, 2016 as "Vin Scully Day" in recognition of his 67 years of broadcasting the LA Dodger games. NEW BUSINESS OF THE MONTH: 1.2 C/Low and City Council Members presented a Certificate Plaque to the Store Manager and District Manager for Smart & Final Extra, 240 S. Diamond Bar Boulevard, as New Business of the Month for September 2016. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL 2. CITY MANAGER REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: 2.1 Introduction of Deputy German Perez. (Rescheduled for a future meeting). 2.2 Update on the Diamond Canyon Park Project. , CM/DeStefano reported that the park has taken longer to construct than anticipated due to scheduling difficulties and work left to be done by other bureaucracies in order for Lennar to be able to complete their items. During the past week the majority of those items have been resolved and Lennar is now able to move forward to complete the park. Tentatively, the official Grand Opening will be held on December 3rd. Also in October the City will be commencing the beautification project at the intersection of Diamond Bar Boulevard/Brea Canyon Road which is expected to be completed in December. CM/DeStefano spoke about how PWD/Liu has been a rock for the community as the City's second Public Works Director and has suffered through four City Managers. He and PWD/Liu have worked together for a very long time and PWD/Liu has witnessed about a dozen City Council elections, has worked with about 22 different Council Members during that time and has officiated at about 250 Traffic and Transportation Commission meetings and attended at least 500 City Council meetings. In addition, PWD/Liu thinks about Diamond Bar 24/7 which is about 9000 days that he has focused on the City. PWD/Liu is one of the most hard- working professionals he has had the pleasure to serve with. It has been CM/DeStefano's honor to work with PWD/Liu as he knows all of his colleagues, staff and others have experienced. CM/DeStefano hopes for many additional years with PWD/Liu at the helm. 2.3 Update on Restaurant Week October 8 through 14, 2016 AM/Lopez announced that there will be a total of 18 participating restaurants during Restaurant Week which begins October 8th. Restaurants will be offering some of their best deals of the year which is a perfect time for residents to enjoy a meal with friends and family while supporting local dining establishments. Diners are encouraged to visit the website www.dbrestaurantweek.com to view the most recent list of participants, special menus, "Dining out in Diamond Bar" videos and related news articles. Participating in Restaurant Week is very easy. Diners can click on the restaurant's dedicated page, view the restaurant's special menu offers and visit the restaurant of choice. Although it is not required, staff recommends making reservations for large parties. The website also includes a mapping feature where diners can select food by type and includes a feature that allows diners to subscribe to receive news articles regarding Diamond Bar Restaurant Week. Diamond Bar SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 3 CITY COUNCIL Restaurant Week was created to spotlight the unique local cuisine that enhances the City of Diamond Bar as a dining destination. To achieve this effort, there were three goals for the event -1) to highlight Diamond Bar's unique local flavors, 2) to increase restaurant visibility and 3) to assist restaurants in gaining new customers. There is time for other dining establishments to participate in Restaurant Week by filling out the easy registration form online and for a nominal fee, restaurants receive all of the benefits of the event promotions between now and October 14 which include bus shelter ads, advertising in local and regional papers, advertising with the local Chamber of Commerce, DB Connection articles and outdoor banners and various promotional items. The public is encouraged to support local dining establishments during this event promotion. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Pui-Ching Ho, Diamond Bar Library, invited residents to join in the celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month with an afternoon of traditional Mexican music with a live Mariachi performance on Saturday, September 24 at 3:00 p.m. The Red Cross will present an Emergency Preparedness Workshop on Thursday, September 29 at 6:30 p.m. The Diamond Bar Library and Friends of the Library are sponsoring another great month of activities in October based around a specific book "The Suspect' and suggested that everyone read the book before October to prepare for participating in the fun and interesting activities planned for the month that include a Canine program for children on October 1 at 10:30 a.m., an Arts and Journal Workshop at 2:00 p.m. Allen Wilson, a 20 year resident, takes Foothill Transit to various areas and noticed that some areas have bus benches while others have bus shelters and asked if the City could work with Foothill Transit to convert the benches to shelters. Kashal Sonawala spoke about development projects in the City and said he had heard from local residents that they want to know what is happening with certain properties in Diamond Bar such as Kmart, Diamond Jim's, and Diamond Bar Honda as well as issues including water conservation and unsightly properties. Individuals have also expressed concerns with delayed traffic signals at the intersection of Diamond Bar Boulevard and Grand Avenue, Diamond Bar Boulevard and the SR60 and Diamond Bar Boulevard and Golden Springs Drive and Prospectors Drive. He also believed that curfews should be extended to 11:00 p.m. through 6:00 a.m. for youth. 4. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS: C/Herrera said that she is on the executive board for Foothill Transit and said she would communicate the request for shelters to find out if money is available for this type of conversion. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 4 CITY COUNCIL CM/DeStefano explained that the bus benches are not provided by Foothill Transit but by the bus shelter company the City contracts with as it has done for many years, basically in exchange for the advertising they provide as well as, private and public advertising for which the City receives the benefit. The company provides the benches and shelters pursuant to the City's design and typically the shelters are located on the more heavily pedestrian oriented portions of the community where there is a higher intensity of people who might use public transportation. With respect to the location that was referenced, the City through Foothill Transit will look at the area to determine whether it makes sense to provide a shelter versus a bench. If the answer is yes, the City would work with the bus shelter company to complete the transition. Foothill Transit is principally responsible for location of the bus stops. Regarding economic development and projects in the City referred to by a speaker, some are stalled and not likely to move forward in the near future. Some are moving along behind the scenes and are now ready to come forward in a more formal public constructed manner. For example, Kmart has been closed for a few years and has been owned by the same property owner for 12- 15 years and will be transformed into about four or five new stores. Some of the existing building will be retained but it will not look anything like the box that is seen today. He knows for certain that there will be a very well-known national grocery store operator at that location which was so interested in Diamond Bar that they almost outbid Smart & Final for the old Haggen space. Thankfully, this operator spent additional time looking at Diamond Bar and worked a deal with the Charles Company that owns the Kmart property and the City will hopefully see that grocery store operator.on site in about a year. In addition, a nationally known pet store operation, a nationally known soft goods clothing store operation, a nationally known Mexican -oriented limited service restaurant and a well-known regional coffee house will be at that location. Many people believe that the Kmart property extends from Gentle Springs to Golden Springs and from Diamond Bar Boulevard to the back of the Kmart building, but it does not. The Kmart property is basically just the Kmart building and the empty parking lot. Everything else on that site is basically separate parcels with separate ownerships. The Kmart property owner is working with some of those adjacent separately owned properties to try and build a larger center piggybacking on what the public will see completed at about this time next year. McDonalds is one of the separately owned properties and will completely tear down the existing restaurant and build a brand new state-of-the-art restaurant. McDonalds submitted plans today and will be at the public review level prior to going to the Planning Commission in about three to four months with construction commencing when possible in 2017. The Kmart project is headed to the Planning Commission in October for a public hearing and should the Planning Commission approve the project, construction will begin almost immediately thereafter with the properties reverting to the new operators in about May 2017 for construction of tenant improvements. Again, the anticipated delivery date is about this time next year. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 5 CITY COUNCIL The Diamond Jim property was for many years a gas station which turned into a drive-through dairy. The property owner sold to a developer who received approval for 9 condominium units. Once the developer began digging they found contaminated soil from the old gas station and since that time, the developer has been stalled in the process to get approvals of their plan to "clean" the soil to allow humans to inhabit the buildings. Most recently in May the report was submitted to the Water Quality Control Board and is awaiting approval. Once the report is approved the contractor can begin that work prior to building the condominium project. The Diamond Bar Honda/Burger King site is owned by a developer who purchased it just prior to the recession and has been struggling since that time to put a project on the land. At this time the owner is working with the City toward construction of a hotel anchored development. The City Council rezoned the property about three years ago in order to focus attention on a hotel anchored project. There is still market -share for such a project and discussions continue. The road immediately adjacent to the property is technically owned by the City of Industry and Diamond Bar is working with the City of Industry to try to have that road turned over to the City of Diamond Bar so that the City can work with the developer to create a slightly larger site for a slightly larger hotel anchored project. Just today he received a voice message from the architect talking about his moving forward with the plans for that project but this is a project that is many months or a couple of years from being submitted to the City for possible approval to commence construction. There has been interest from the Hilton, Marriott, and WoodSprings Executive Suites and others for a business/freeway oriented hotel project of at least 120 rooms with ancillary uses such as offices, etc. Staff will need to look at the matter of dry front yards on a case-by-case basis. While there are standards for yard maintenance the City has been a bit more lenient in the past year or so that it has had a drought mandate (water reduction mandate) from the state. While the yard can be dry there are maintenance requirements that come into play. With respect to traffic signals, PWD/Liu has remained on top of traffic related issues, transportation matters, vehicle and pedestrian goods movement during the past 25 years and his creation of the Traffic Management System inside City Hall is a rare component for cities the size of Diamond Bar. Grand Avenue has been affected greatly by the recent opening of Mt. SAC and the new population at that location. A few days ago there was a traffic signal in Walnut near Mt. SAC that shut Grand Avenue down from that location in Walnut to Golden Springs in Diamond Bar. In addition, Caltrans has jurisdiction over signals for the on and off ramps that are under construction and has reset all of those signals which has had an impact on traffic as well. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL 5. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE EVENTS: 5.1 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting — September 22, 2016 — 7:00 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.2 Planning Commission Meeting — September 27, 2016 — 7:00 p.m. Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.3 City Council Meeting — October 4, 2016 — 6:30 p.m., AQMD/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive. 5.4 Diamond Bar Restaurant Week Celebration — October 8 through 14, 2016. 6. CONSENT CALENDAR: C/Herrera moved, C/Low seconded, to approve Consent Calendar as presented with the exception of Item 6.8 pulled by C/Tye. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera, Low, Tye, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: MPT/Lin 6.1 WAIVE READING IN FULL OF ALL ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS AND ADOPT THE CONSENT CALENDAR. 6.2 APPROVED CITY COUNCIL MINUTES: (a) Special General Plan Update Kickoff Joint Meeting with Planning Commission of August 10, 2016. (b) Regular Meeting of August 16, 2016. 6.3 RECEIVED AND FILED TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MINUTES for the Regular Meeting of July 14, 2016. 6.4 RATIFIED CHECK REGISTER — dated August 11, 2016 through September 14, 2016 totaling $2,131,130.81 6.5 APPROVED TREASURER'S STATEMENT for the Month of July 2016. 6.6 WAIVED SECOND READING AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 05(2016) REVISING THE CITY'S PURCHASING SYSTEM, AMENDING THE DIAMOND BAR MUNICIPAL CODE, AND RESCINDING ORDINANCE NO. 07(2014) IN ITS ENTIRETY. 6.7 APPROVED AGREEMENT WITH LOS ANGELES SMSA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, DBA VERIZON WIRELESS, TO CONSTRUCT A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SITE AT PANTERA PARK. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 7 CITY COUNCIL 6.9 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2016-34: AMENDING FISCAL YEAR 2016-17 BUDGET IN THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT. 6.10 APPROVED AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO THE CONSULTING SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR STORMWATER COMPLIANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING SERVICES WITH JOHN L. HUNTER & ASSOCIATES FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $74,250 PLUS A CONTINGENCY AMOUNT OF $7,000. 6.11 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2016-35: APPROVING AND ORDERING THE SUMMARY VACATION OF A PORTION OF A 50' WIDE EASEMENT FOR A FUTURE STREET AND A PORTION OF A 20'— 50' WIDE EASEMENT FOR SLOPE PURPOSES WITHIN LOT 130, TRACT NO. 30578, LOCATED WESTERLY OF TIMBERTOP LANE AND SOUTHERLY OF LAZY MEADOWS DRIVE (LOT 130 OF TRACT NO. 30578 IN THE COUNTRY ESTATES). 6.12 APPROVED FISCAL YEAR 2017 APPROPRIATION ADJUSTMENT FOR CARRY FORWARD EXPENDITURES, SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS CARRYOVERS, CAPITAL PROJECT CARRYOVERS, FISCAL YEAR 2015-16 FINAL ADJUSTMENTS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW FIDUCIARY FUND. MATTERS WITHDRAWN FROM CONSENT CALENDAR: 6.8 APPROVAL OF FULL EXONERATION OF SURETY BOND NO. 92959037 TO COMPLETE IN -TRACT PRIVATE STREET IMPROVEMENT; REDUCTION OF 75% OF SURETY BOND NO. 929598539 TO COMPLETE PUBLIC STREET IMPROVEMENTS; REDUCTION OF 75% OF SURETY BOND NO. 929598537 TO COMPLETE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC STREET LIGHT IMPROVEMENTS; REDUCTION OF 75% OF SURETY BOND NO. 929598541 TO COMPLETE LANDSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS; REDUCTION OF 75% OF SURETY BOND NO. 92959840 TO COMPLETE TRAFFIC SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS; AND, REDUCTION OF 90% OF SURETY BOND NO. 929582966 TO COMPLETE SEWER IMPROVEMENTS FOR TRACT NO. 72295 (WILLOW HEIGHTS LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF DIAMOND BAR BOULEVARD AND BREA CANYON ROAD). C/Tye said he believed that when the City focuses on certain projects he believes other things could fall through the cracks such as the northeast corner of Diamond Bar Boulevard and Brea Canyon Road where the utility company dug into the sidewalk and cut through the median. He wanted to be sure that the portion of sidewalk on the Good Time Donut side that was currently filled with asphalt is not forgotten. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 8 CITY COUNCIL PWD/Liu responded that there have been numerous activities at that intersection and the areas of concern is on staffs list and either the contractor or City staff will take care of it during the upcoming project. As CM/DeStefano mentioned earlier, as part of the intersection enhancement project a new paver, crosswalk and decorative poles will be installed similar to the Diamond Bar Boulevard/Grand Avenue intersection. C/Tye moved, C/Low seconded, to approve Item 6.8 as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera, Low, Tye, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS:. MPT/Lin 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None. 8. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION: 8.1 ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2016-36; CREATING THE GENERAL PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE (GPAC), AND ESTABLISHING COMMITTEE RULES AND PROCEDURES. CM/DeStefano stated that both Item 8.1 and 8.2 involve the General Plan Update Project and the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC). CDD/Gubman presented staffs report for Item 8.1 stating that tonight the City Council will be asked to ratify the nominations to the GPAC. Before doing so, staff recommends that the City Council adopt a set of Rules and Procedures for membership and participation in the GPAC. The Resolution provided in the Council's Agenda packet seeks to fulfill three primary objectives: 1) Establishing criteria for present and future appointments to the GPAC as well as, the eventual dissolution of the committee; 2) define the role of the GPAC and its members; and, 3) to establish the parliamentary procedures for the GPAC meetings. Each GPAC member will receive a copy of the Rules and Procedures to serve as their guide when participating in committee activities. Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution. C/Low asked if member service on the GPAC falls under the Brown Act with respect to Conflict of Interest and Communication Regulations. CA/DeBerry responded that GPAC members fall under the Brown Act; however, with respect to Conflict of Interest regulations under the Political Reform Act, since they are strictly advisory committee they do not fall under that provision and will therefore not be asked to complete SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 9 CITY COUNCIL Statements of Economic Interest. C/Low asked if GPAC members would receive training with respect to Brown Act requirements prior to serving on the Committee. CA/DeBerry said that they would receive training from staff. C/Low asked how GPAC members would be notified that they were being removed for failure to attend meetings. CA/DeBerry stated that the Council would be notified if a member of GPAC was not attending the meetings and the procedure would be for the Council to consider whether or not to remove that member and appoint a new member. If that member is removed, the Council Member who nominated that individual would then nominate a replacement for Council approval. C/Tye said that once the committee is put together and there is a procedure in place for removal for non-attendance, is there any consideration given to "behavior" should they be difficult to work with, make the meetings difficult, is there a procedure for dealing with that. CM/DeStefano responded that there is a provision for that which is entitled "Decorum" and speaks to that type of issue. The decision is ultimately the City Council's decision to remove someone who may not be behaving properly. C/Tye asked if the removal would require a super majority. CM/DeStefano responded "no". Fundamentally, this process follows the Council's process for appointing and removing Commissioners. Many of the provisions are the same and staff has highlighted the specifics because the City has not had a GPAC in 25 years and 25 years ago the Council was not astute enough to put together this type of detail in order to help appoint, guide and work with a GPAC over a multi-year period. Many of these things may feel new but they are actually mimicking what has been done for many years with the Council's Commissioners. CA/DeBerry expanded on C/Low's earlier question that while GPAC members are not subject to the Political Reform Act there is still a provision in the document with respect to the conflicts of interests and the Council is asking them that if they believe they have a financial conflict with a particular decision that is being made, i.e. if they own a business and the GPAC is recommending some type of General Plan Amendment to that location which might affect their business by enhancing or decreasing the value, they would be asked not to participate in that particular aspect. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 10 CITY COUNCIL Allen Wilson asked for clarification of the statement in the rules under "Political Activities" that "GPAC Membership shall not be used by members as a platform for political activity" and whether that meant the person could not boast their activity on GPAC if they intended to be a candidate for City Council in the next election. With respect to the meetings, "the Community Development Director will serve as parliamentarian" and parliamentarian requires a person with a sense of knowledge of parliamentarian rules and wondered if the Community Development Director was a certified parliamentarian. Regarding the section on Conflict of Interest "establishes that GPAC members shall excuse themselves from participating in any manner before the committee" and wondered if the GPAC members would be subject to filling out the Statement of Economic Interest form 700. When he served on the Diamond Bar Community Foundation he was required to fill out the Statement of Economic Interest form 700. Regarding the member attendance rule "if members miss two or more meetings they may be removed from GPAC" and his understanding that members are to attend nine meetings over a period of two -three years. There are City Council members who have missed more than two meetings. With respect to interaction with staff and consultant and asked if email communications between members and staff would be public and subject to review and inspection. He strongly believes in government transparence and is the City Council planning to permit "ex -parte communications" between the public and GPAC or will it be banned. CA/DeBerry responded to the speaker regarding the prohibition against using appointments for political activities stating that the intent of this statement is for members not to represent themselves as a GPAC member when engaging in political activities. Obviously, if one is engaged in political activities outside of that group, they are asked not to do so as a representative of the City and the GPAC. CA/DeBerry stated that with respect to the question regarding "parliamentarian" the Community Development Director has been in enough public meetings that he can act sufficiently as a parliamentarian. Obviously, there is a very complicated rule that one can become engaged in such as Roberts Rule of Order, but when questions come up amongst members as to how to proceed, CDD/Gubman will be present to direct and advise the members. CA/DeBerry reiterated that since the GPAC Members are not subject to the Political Reform Act and because the GPAC is strictly an "advisory" committee, members are not required to provide a Form 700. CA/DeBerry pointed out that it is two or more "unexcused" absences that can qualify for removal. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 11 CITY COUNCIL CA/DeBerry said that with respect to interaction between members of the GPAC- and the public, there is a prohibition against GPAC members directing staff and consultants to do certain things and there is a process wherein whatever concerns or questions GPAC members may have go to the Community Development Director who then determines whether or not to enlist staff and consultant time to address those issues. As far as interacting with the public it is a basic part of their job — members get input from the public and if those communications are in writing they may be subject to the Public Records Act Request, but if it is merely an oral communication the GPAC members are not being asked to apprise everyone about all of their conversations with every member of the public. All GPAC decision-making and advisory opinions will take place in a public meeting. C/Herrera moved, C/Tye seconded, to Adopt Resolution No. 2016-36: Creating the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC and Establishing Committee Rules and Procedures. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera, Low, Tye, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: MPT/Lin 8.2 CITY COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS OF GENERAL PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTTEE (GPAC) MEMBERS. CM/DeStefano stated that this item calls for Council to consider the nominees by each of the City Council Members and appoint those individuals as recommended by each Council Member to the GPAC body. This General Plan Update process began with the August 10 City Council meeting. Since that time staff proceeded to implement a considerable amount of publication and marketing regarding the General Plan Update project and the opportunity to sere on the Advisory Committee. There have been many public announcements. The September issue of The Diamond Bar Connection that is delivered to all 18,000 addresses in the City headlined the General Plan Project and headlined the opportunity for residents and interested parties to become members of the General Plan Advisory Committee. The City's website has a webpage for this effort that was completed by the consultant and can be viewed at www.diamondbargp.com. The website has all of the information regarding the project and will include minutes of all of the meetings including the City Council's Joint Session, GPAC meetings, future Commission meetings, Council meetings, etc. All of the information produced for the General Plan Advisory Committee's deliberative process will be a part of the webpage. There is currently additional information on the webpage that includes the 1995 existing adopted and completed General Plan and all of its components. Staff received 39 applications by the deadline. Each of SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 12 CITY COUNCIL those 39 applications were provided to the City Council and after a complete review, made decisions for its recommendations as follows: C/Tye - Mehendra Garg, Brian Worthington, Joyce Young C/Low - Ching Liu, Victor Ramirez, Paul Sherwood C/Herrera - Larry Black, Amy Harbin, Gil Rivera MPT/Lin - David Busse, Cindy Liu, Tony Torng M/Lyons - Taruni Evans, Lee Mao, Mark St. Amant CM/DeStefano concluded staffs report and recommended that the City Council render its decision. Allen Wilson said the only thing he found in the agenda packet was a one- page report and why were there were no applications included for public review. He said he was concerned about applicant Tony Torng who is a school board member for Walnut Valley Unified School District and has been an elected official "on this body." He submitted that a member of the public who was not an elected official should hold a position on the GPAC. CM/DeStefano responded to the speaker that like the Council's Commission appointments, applications are solicited from interested parties for those positions and those applications are public and readily available. They are not often provided as part of the agenda packet. It is not a matter of "transparency' — in fact, the City Council is making the decision and the City Council has received all 39 applications for each of those applicant candidates/interested parties. As the speaker indicated, one member of the nominated body is an elected official for the Walnut Valley Unified School District and there is absolutely no prohibition on that type of an individual serving. In fact, Mr. Torng has been a member of the Diamond Bar community for many years and was a member and Chairman of the City's Planning Commission that deliberates on a variety of land use matters and served well for several years before he was successfully elected to the school board. All of the nominees come from a varied background and many, many of these names are well-known in the community because they are active members of the community. C/Tye said he cannot think of anything that is more transparent than holding a public meeting every first and third Tuesday and at 7:45 to 7:53 p.m. the choices are announced to serve in the role of General Plan Advisory Committee members. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 13 CITY COUNCIL C/Low added that of the 39 applications the City received she personally reviewed each of them. She looked at them very carefully and it is her hope and belief the Council has succeeded, in creating, if approved, a body that is diverse and with varying viewpoints that reflect the community. She hopes and believes the Council will have picked individuals who have vision and are creative and are able to communicate that excitement from the Planning Commission and City Council to the community. She thanked each and every applicant, many of whom she recognizes in the audience this evening, for the time and the effort spent in preparing their applications. She thanked the applicants for their love of Diamond Bar, their willingness to serve and the City is honored to have their involvement. Whether or not certain individuals are on the list, she hoped they would continue to step up and volunteer to serve the community. C/Herrera echoed C/Low's comments. C/Herrera is very impressed that 39 citizens of Diamond Bar wanted to take on this huge and important task on behalf of the City. For those whose names are not on the list there will be several public meetings where those individuals can come and give their public input which will be recorded and transmitted to the City Council. Council does not intend to exclude any individuals. Council will be hearing from GPAC members as well as members of the community who wish to express their views about the future of Diamond Bar. Cynthia Smith, a 30 -year resident, said she is not a disgruntled applicant for the GPAC. As a volunteer, she is very troubled because she knows that the Council Members and City Manager received a copy of her email to CDD/Gubman about the proper communication of the GPAC campaign. Having a marketing background and being a professional communicator she did not see anything in the process where it communicated the GPAC campaign consistently. There was a lot of miscommunication. For example, there were no documents posted on the City's website until she made a call and talked with CDD/Gubman personally to ask why the City did not have the General Plan posted on the website. After a long conversation which included her talking about the documents that citizens need to learn about so that they can make an informed decision and the next day there were fragmented portions of the General Plan posted on the Diamond Bar website. They were not the same documents that are now available on the professional website that now exists. The professional website was posted very late and very fragmented so overall, the recruitment for GPAC was very inconsistent. There were no translation buttons included to proceed to the professional website. Fifty- three percent of the residents speak another language. Overall, she was very disturbed to think that the recruitment process was not fair. She is disturbed after having a conversation with Mr. Torng at M/Lyons Wine Soiree party where he was talking about political aspirations. She is trying to learn about how Diamond Bar is making these decisions and whether it SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 14 CITY COUNCIL is transparent and whether citizens need a fairer communication. If residents need to rely on the website it is not enough because no one received a hardcopy invitation to the GPAC. She is very concerned that there will be a fair hearing about these important decisions the City is facing in the future. CM/DeStefano responded to the speaker that as the Council and community is very well aware, this is a process that began just a month ago. Staff, as earlier reported, has been in the process of developing the dedicated webpage which was a contractual obligation of Dyett and Bhatia, the consultant engaged for this three -plus year effort. This is not a project that will come before the Commission and Council in the next couple of weeks. This is a very open, very transparent and very sustainable effort. One of the adjacent cities is completing their General Plan multi-year effort process and did not invite the public to have a General Plan Advisory Process — Diamond Bar did. It is not required. It takes time to build a proper website. The City put its website together first while the consultants were putting together a bit more polished website pursuant to their contract. These things take time and these pieces of information were layered into the website in order to provide more and more information to the public. Much of the information that is on the website and will be on the website is not required by law. The City of Diamond Bar does that because it is a very open and transparent organization and have been for many, many years. It is a bit disingenuous to decide that the City has not been transparent when the record for this City shows that it has been very transparent including the Mayor's comment tonight to a speaker providing two separate opportunities for five minutes of public communication. Most cities provide three minutes or less and Diamond Bar has always gone beyond what other cities do and what state law requires. During the time the websites were being built and providing information to the public, this too, was part of the communication process. And no, there was no "personalized" postcard to every household in the City. What was sent was an 11"x17" Diamond Bar Connection publication with 2/3rds of the entire front page dedicated to the General Plan Update process. Again, this is a three year effort that commenced just a month ago versus a one -day Barktober Dog Park event. There is a long way to go and not everyone who applied for the GPAC position will have been appointed. Some may be disappointed by not being selected, but this is an open process and staff would encourage anybody, whether they applied for the GPAC or not, to continue to participate, continue to attend meetings of which there will likely be a minimum dozen or so throughout the next three years, to participate by reviewing all of the information on the City's website, to communicate via all vehicles, traditional and otherwise that are available, throughout the life of this project. This has a long way to go. The Planning Commission is not likely to see this matter until late 2018 and the City Council is not likely to see this matter until early 2019. There is a lot of work ahead with a lot SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 15 CITY COUNCIL of opportunity to talk about and debate issues and to reach a conclusion on recommendations and finally render decisions. This is the beginning of a very long process on what will be a very successful and very good process for the community as it looks toward the next 20 years. M/Lyons said it was a very difficult choice because all of the applicants were excellent. All of the City Council Members put a lot of time into picking three whereas most would have liked to pick five or ten. She believes the Council chose a committee that is representative of every facet of Diamond Bar including all ages, races, religions, families with children, individuals, business owners, retirees, homemakers, etc. And for those who were not selected the Council wants their input and those meetings will be publicized. This is a very lengthy process. C/Low said that the last speaker indicated she had a lengthy phone conversation with CDD/Gubman and provided an email to CDD/Gubman and Council Members. She asked how long the conversation was with Ms. Smith and whether or not CDD/Gubman was able to answer all of her concerns. CDD/Gubman estimated that the conversation lasted about 20 minutes. The email was accompanied by a letter that came via regular mail. The email was distributed via cc: to all of the City Council Members and a hard copy of the letter was addressed or cc'd to CM/DeStefano and City Council Members. He provided an email response to the questions and comments and feedback that were expressed in the email and letter and he received an acknowledgement from Ms. Smith thanking him for his response which he took to mean that his reply was acceptable. C/Low asked CDD/Gubman to reiterate that Ms. Smith seemed to be satisfied and appreciative of his responses to her concerns. CDD/Gubman said he would not want to project what her impression was but he did receive a written acknowledgement and thank you for replying without further communication, questions or concerns. C/Low said that for the speaker, Ms. Smith, to comment on what Mr. Torng told her in a social setting is difficult for C/Low to accept because Mr. Torng is not here to acknowledge or refute the comment. CA/DeBerry said that the speaker's comment that Mr. Torng might have political aspirations is not a criteria to not have political aspirations to be on the GPAC. The portion that relates to engaging in political activities refers to GPAC Members not to use their positions as a GPAC Member to represent themselves to the community as having some City position. There may be any number of people who have political aspirations and some may be more vocal about those aspirations. To the point of SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 16 CITY COUNCIL hearsay, each Council Member can take a comment that someone said was made by somebody else and weigh that to whatever degree they chose and if they so choose, they can speak to the person who allegedly made the comment as well. Again, this is not saying that one cannot have political aspirations in order to be on the GPAC, it asks that individuals do not use their membership on the GPAC to further their own political ambitions. C/Low agreed with M/Lyons that there were excellent applicants and they are to be commended for efforts. C/Tye asked CM/DeStefano to recount the number of homes the Diamond Bar Connection went to. CM/DeStefano reiterated that the DBCONNECTION publication goes to every single address in the City which amounts to 18,000. C/Tye said he is frustrated that one person shows up to a meeting and complains they did not know about the meeting. He thinks back to the process the City went through in approving Site D and the Specific Plan and there were a couple of hearings with public outreach where the discussion included what the City would like to see and whether it should be all housing, commercial or a mix of commercial and housing and at the Castle Rock meeting about 75 people showed up and the complaint was that there were only 75 people there. His position at that time is what it is today that we should not discount the participation of 75 people that did show up because the entire community did not show up. 39 people submitted their application, 39 people were aware of the process and he has always seen a website as a 'convenience" which he can access from his home or office. If anyone wants a copy of the current General Plan they can drop by City Hall and get it. It has been noticed and when he was cleaning out his desk recently he came across comments that as Mayor in March 2015 during the State of the City one of the focuses of the speech was the upcoming General Plan Update process. So in fact, this process started a year and a half ago and it has been discussed at meetings and he does not know how much more transparent a City can be. Meetings will be duly noticed. Anyone and everyone is allowed to participate and provide their input. He is comfortable with the process and appreciates the information. C/Herrera said this process concerns creating an Advisory Committee that will be discussing amongst themselves and taking input on the various portions of the General Plan which they will then forward to the City Council and all decisions will be made at this level. SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 17 CITY COUNCIL CM/DeStefano stated that the GPAC will conclude its work and forward its advice and recommendations first to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission will conduct hearings as deemed appropriate and the Planning Commission will then make formal recommendations to the City Council. It is the City Council's policy choice and the City Council is the final determining body, the final decision -maker and again, that final decision will be made sometime in the first quarter of 2019 if the process remains on schedule. C/Herrera said she did not know how much more transparent a City can get when ultimately, all of the information will be at the City Council meeting where the public is invited to participate and make comment. All City Council meetings are broadcast via television. One can find agendas and staff reports on the City's website. This is and will be a completely transparent process. C/Low moved, C/Herrera seconded, to ratify City Council Appointments for the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) Members as stated and recorded during staffs presentation. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera, Low, Tye, M/Lyons NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: MPT/Lin 9. COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND MEETING ATTENDANCE REPORTS/COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS: C/Herrera attended the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments Transportation meeting. The only item of action during the meeting was to elect a Chair and John Fasana from Duarte, who also happens to be the current Chair of Metro, was elected. SGVCOG is proud to have such a distinguished member serve as Chair of the Transportation Committee. The new Vice -Chair is Sam Pedroza from Claremont. A week ago she attended the APTA Conference (American Public Transportation Association) in downtown LA, She announced that the new Chair of the APTA National Committee Organization will be Doran Barnes who is currently the Executive Director of Foothill Transit which will be very good for southern California and Foothill Transit as it continues to apply for funds for Foothill Transit projects, one of which is the FTA application for a grant for $7.24 million which was awarded to Foothill Transit and will go toward building the Transit Center at Mt. SAC. Currently, Mt. SAC has participated in a College Pass Program which has been exceedingly successful with many students taking buses instead of driving their cars. When this center is created at Mt. SAC there will be an additional number of students who will be riding buses and reducing traffic around Mt. SAC which will be greatly appreciated. She again thanked the 39 individuals who applied to participate in the GPAC. There were a SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 18 CITY COUNCIL lot of outstandingly talented folks who applied and the choices were difficult. She believes it will be an excellent advisory committee. She wished C/Low a Happy Birthday and commended her for spending her birthday by participating in tonight's meeting. C/Low thanked her colleagues for their good wishes. It is a pleasure to be here this evening. She was not able to attend the first General Plan Update Joint Meeting because she was visiting her son who was away at the university. She offered her comments and said it was exciting to be able to participate in this process. As she understands it, the General Plan is the overall umbrella and big picture of what the City is looking forward to doing in the future. In the interest of transparency, the entire minutes of that meeting is available in today's agenda package online. The way she sees the City going is in four points: The General Plan should be data driven based upon numbers and facts that are based on a retrospective look as well as a reliable forecast. The General Plan should embrace technology particularly in the area of circulation and traffic. The General Plan should have a vision for each of the 7 General Plan Elements (Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Open Space, Conservation, Noise and Safety) and the GPAC should consider combining these elements when fashioning their vision for the City's future. The General Plan should be distinctive and show that Diamond Bar is a leader. The City should be bold and innovative so that other communities can look to Diamond Bar for a vision of their cities. In combining land use and economic development the General Plan should consider thinking about them in a different way by envisioning what will serve the City in the future and make those ideas come to life by finding the proper locations. For example, much of the City's population is aging which means there will be a greater need for healthcare and the City will want to look at spaces that support and encompass healthcare such as hospitals, rehabilitation centers, etc., which in turn will bring economic development to the City. Another aspect is that the community will draw more young people (millennials) and their work habits should be considered — working at home, in their cars and shared joint spaces, so that offices and businesses can be catered to that lifestyle. She would like to combine Conservation and Open Spaces and as the City updates its Building Codes and Development Standards she would like GPAC to focus on conservation of the City's natural resources, education of the general population to conserve and participate in sustainability. She would like the City to put some teeth into policies for redevelopment by redistributing what people can do with respect to sizes of their homes and preservation of the natural resources. She would like for the City to expand the conservation efforts to its Sphere of Influence and to be as proactive as possible in that regard. She would like the City to show its commitment to mass transit and public transportation when it comes to Noise and Safety and to beef up the bus stops and shelters as part of that commitment. She would like the bike lanes to be increased as part of wellness and character. She would like safe crosswalks which also encourages wellness. Diamond Bar is a very scenic and well-maintained community which feeds into community character and a sense of place. Community standards should include art, identify of the City, creation of a town center with an eye SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 19 CITY COUNCIL toward diversity in the future. She suggested that the City consider a "public garden" in space that is underutilized. She thanked FD/Honeywell for updating the purchasing contract and congratulated PWD/Liu for 25 years of service to the City and wished her Jewish friends and neighbors a joyous Rosh Hashanah celebration in October. C/Tye wished C/Low a Happy Birthday. He congratulated PWD/Liu on 25 years of service to Diamond Bar, a career of dedication and good work. As soon as he assumed the Parks and Recreation duties he was out at the Concerts in the Park to see what was happening. He knows that PWD/Liu loves what he does and Diamond Bar is a better community because it has him. He asked that tonight's meeting be adjourned in memory of Carol Perez who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last week. Carol had the most joyous smile and effervescent personality and no one had a bad word to say about her. She was a person who felt that strangers were just a friend she had not met yet. She leaves behind her husband David and sons Manny and Michael and he hoped everyone would keep them in their prayers as the family learns to live without their mother and wife, daughter and sister. M/Lyons reported that on September 10 she participated in a panel discussion regarding the Vision for Libraries in the Future. The head county librarian listened to comments and made notes. Her number one request for the Diamond Bar Library was to have the library open earlier in the summer to better support school children and teens. Last week she and C/Tye participated in Diamond Bar Day at the Fair and recognized the 2016 Diamond Bar Community Heroes Jeanette Shapiro, Debbie Avila -Mott and Cyrus Hung. She thanked City staff and especially CSC/Tarazon for staffing and coordinating the event. Restaurant Week is very exciting. There are now 18 restaurants participating which begins October 8. She previously committed to eating at every one of the 12 restaurants that were participating at the time and she now hopes to eat at all 18. Each restaurant offers different and unique local flavors. Join the Council and community in patronizing the participating restaurants. She closed the meeting by honoring Vin Scully, a great man who got it right when he said "as long as you keep smiling you will live because it brightens everyone's day. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to conduct, M/Lyons adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 8:31 pm in honor of Vin Scully, and in memory of Carol Perez. aw7'-d-aL — — TOMMYE' RIBBINS, CITY CLERK SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 PAGE 20 CITY COUNCIL The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 4th day of October 2016. lV) N NCY LY ,ON MAYO