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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/04/16 Minutes - Regular MeetingCITY OF DIAMOND BAR CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION OCTOBER 4, 2016 STUDY SESSION: M/Lyons called the Study Session to order at 5:30 p.m. in Room CC -8 of the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765. Present: Council Members Carol Herrera, Ruth Low, Steve Tye, and Mayor Nancy Lyons Absent: Mayor Pro Tem Jimmy 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; Ken Desforges, IS Director; Anthony Santos, Asst. to the City Manager; Amy Haug, Human Resources/Risk Manager; Marsha Roa, Public Information Manager; and, Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk. Also Present: Joe De La Garza and Danny Wu, WSP/Parsons Brinkerhoff; Anna Luo, Fehr and Peers, and Sung Su Yoon, Southern California Association of Governments. 110. PROPOSITION 64 — ADULT USE OF MARIJUANA ACT (AVMA) — Report from Staff and City Attorney. CM/DeStefano stated that in response to questions and concerns voiced by the City Council and the fact that polling indicates Proposition 64 will pass, the question is whether Diamond Bar is prepared and what, if anything, the City needs to do to augment its existing ordinance regarding marijuana usage. CA/DeBerry reported that Prop 64 is the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) which essentially makes it under state law not a crime to use marijuana for recreational purposes. Currently, there is a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries which includes a ban on transport and cultivation. Thus, if Council so directs, the current ordinance will need to be tweaked a bit to expand it to cover marijuana dispensaries in general whether they are for recreational or medical uses. The three areas that require policy guidance from the Council are 1) Does the Council want to ban dispensaries in total; 2) Does the Council want to ban deliveries of marijuana into the City; and 3) Does the Council want to ban outdoor cultivation of marijuana. CA/DeBerry stated that under AUMA the City cannot prohibit the indoor cultivation of up to six plants. There is some flexibility with local jurisdictions to regulate indoor cultivation; however, at this point he does not know what those regulations might be. As it stands in the City at this time, because of the Compassionate Use Act, qualified patients can grow OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 2 CC STUDY SESSION heir own Marijuana for medicinal purposes. As indicated in his earlier reports, it is really de facto recreational use because one can go online, and for $200 get a doctor's recommendation for almost anything including "writer's block". In Diamond Bar, qualified patients or their primary care givers, as the terms are defined, can grow marijuana on their premises for "medicinal" uses. M/Lyons asked if this was limited to only six plants. CA/DeBerry said that one of the holes is that there is no limit stated in the Compassionate Use Act. It merely says "for their personal use". However, under this particular act, cities can ban outdoor cultivation. Under the Act, cities cannot currently prohibit indoor cultivation of up to six plants and should the Council wish to regulate indoor cultivation the City should wait to see if there are any problems because that could be done at a later date when information becomes available as to what those regulations might be. In the short term, if the Council wants to have it mirror the Medical Marijuana Dispensary ban that can be done. If adopted, the Act will take effect soon thereafter but even at that point a dispensary cannot exist without a state license and the state government is not set up to issue licenses yet so there will be time which the league estimates to be mid to late 2017. Having said that, the three areas are pretty black and white and staff can begin crafting an ordinance and have it take effect if that is what the Council wishes to do. M/Lyons referred the discussion to C/Low who brought this item up. C/Low said she understands the law will go into effect the day following adoption and she is assuming that of that point someone could conceivably open up a pot shop across the street from Lorbeer which for her is a problem because first it would be next to a school and although it would not be criminal for someone over 21 to possess marijuana it is criminal for someone under 21 to possess it. CA/DeBerry reiterated that his point was that one could not open a pot dispensary until the State is set up to issue licenses so that will not happen. However, having said that, there is no reason to delay if the Council is clear on what they wish to do it is not that difficult to prepare an ordinance. C/Herrera said she believed it would be best to adopt an ordinance to address these matters prior to the passage of Proposition 64. If Proposition 64 passes and Diamond Bar does not have an ordinance in place it will be difficult to conduct any type of enforcement. CA/DeBerry said he was not suggesting the Council wait to implement the ordinance. He believes that once people start doing things and the City tries to stop them from doing those things there is more likelihood of a OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 3 CC STUDY SESSION lawsuit. He recalled that when the Medical Marijuana Ordinance was implemented there was a lawsuit stating the City had violated CEQA. Even though the City won the lawsuit, it had to go through the process of spending money and dealing with it. He again stated that he was not suggesting the Council wait but rather move forward at this time to cover the three areas discussed. M/Lyons said she was in favor of moving forward with an ordinance Both C/Low and C/Herrera agreed. C/Tye believed it was wrong-headed legislation and the Council should move forward with an ordinance. The country, at the behest of the Surgeon General, has sought to make tobacco illegal with taxes, label warnings, etc. and the legalization of marijuana makes no sense to him. CA/DeBerry said that in Colorado, for example, the tax rate (35%) was so high it drove the black market for marijuana and people were still selling outside of the ordinance. So there is that same issue of whether it is going to be so costly to purchase that legally there will continue to be a black market for it. CM/DeStefano asked the Council to clarify that there is unanimous agreement to allow the City Attorney to move forward with documents, resolution and/or an ordinance for the Council's consideration at a subsequent Council meeting to which there was unanimous voice consent. SR57/SR60 CONFLUENCE SUPPLEMENTAL NEEDS STUDY CM/DeStefano reported that the City has been working on this project for many years and Council is very familiar with the four phases mentioned over those many years, the first of which is now under construction. There is now an additional opportunity for roadway/interchange improvements that PWD/Liu and his team have been looking at for a number of years. PWD/Liu introduced the team and stated that this study is being funded by Caltrans Partnership Planning Grant in the amount of $100,000 and Local Management Grant for Diamond Bar in the amount of $25,000 for a total of $125,000. The request for this application is to begin thinking about how the next phase of the confluence area will be funded. In 2008 the feasibility study looked at everything from double decking to tunneling and from that exercise the phased approach was adopted for the confluence area. Phase I and Phase II are fully funded ($50 million) and $205 million for Phase III, for which the LA voters will decide. The 2008 study failed to address several key issues; missing connectors beginning at the SR57/60 and whether or not it is cost-effective and addresses issues such as OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 4 CC STUDY SESSION weaving, safety, traffic diversion, etc. in order to decide whether or not this would ultimately be the solution for the SR57/60. The purpose of tonight's study session is to provide an overview of the supplemental study to the Council as well as, an update on the progress to date which began in September/October 2015. Joe De La Garza stated that this study includes five major goals and objectives: 1) Update travel demand model; 2) Develop future traffic volumes; 3) Update Traffic Operations Model (VISSIM); 4) Quantify Transportation Benefits, and 5) Recommend Improvements for future study. The Project Development Team (PDT) includes SCAG, City of Diamond Bar, City of Industry, Caltrans, WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff and Iteris. One of the first tasks was to develop Evaluation Criteria which includes criteria to evaluate feasibility and mobility benefits of improvements and assess how well each alternative relieves congestion, improve circulation, safety and air quality. There are 12 evaluation criteria, some of which are quantitative and much of which is qualitative. Major topics include how major freeway operations will be effective, how will arterial circulation in the vicinity be affected, safety, environmental sustainability, constructability and project cost. The four alternatives are: Alternative 1 — Providing direct freeway connectors between SR57 and SR60 on the northern end of the Confluence; Alternative 2 — Creating a direct connection from westbound SR60 to the Grand Avenue interchange; Alternative 3 — Addressing HOV connections between SR57 and SR60 on the southern end of the Confluence; and, Alternative 4 — Extending the HOV facility on SR57 through and north of the Confluence. The team is looking at five scenarios including 1) Future network with all of the SR571SR650 improvements currently planned (one model run); 2) Future network with all of the SR 57/SR60 improvements currently planned, with each of the four concepts individually (four model runs); and 3) Future Network with all of the SR57/SR60 improvements currently planned, with four concepts together (one model run). This is a "High Level" study which does not necessarily look at every single inch of freeway and how it would interact; however, as engineers everyone is thinking about those things in advance. Some of the issues that would need to be documented are "where are the existing off -ramps and how do they line up, how is the grade and super elevation going to happen to make these flyovers/connection, the length of the connector may require two lanes per Caltrans requirements, etc." Alternative 2 is creating a direct connection from westbound SR60 to the Grand Avenue interchange. C/Tye said he has heard for years this could not be done because of the sharp angle and how would it compare to something like a HOV from the northbound SR55 to the northbound SRS. OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 5 CC STUDY SESSION Mr. De La Garza said that the SR57/SR60 Alternative is a much sharper angle but anything is possible in engineering. C/Tye said it looked like a 90 degree angle. Mr. De La Garza said it is less than that — it is an acute angle and with respect to curves there would be more of a super elevation and obviously, it is a very tight right-of-way because there are houses right up against the edge. He agreed with C/Tye that it is definitely a challenge. It could be that they might swing out wider and come back in — different things can happen. Mr. De La Garza stated that Alternative 3 is the HOV connections and once again, there is another tight angle being looked at. He did not have a graphic showing all of the alternatives but said that one can imagine that if a connection HOV to HOV was made and Alternative 1 was included, there would be a four - level area with connectors sprawled around. Today's meeting is the first somewhat public meeting and wanted to provide the Council with an update to get feedback and discussion. The plan is to meet again in December for another update and discuss the next steps at that point. The team plans to meet with LA Metro and SCAG in December to keep them informed about what is coming and how everyone can work together since SCAG has the money and money will be needed for any of these alternatives to move forward. The analysis will be completed within the next month or so and the Final Report will be done by December 2016. M/Lyons asked if the final report would indicate which of the four options was best. Mr. De La Garza responded that it will not necessarily be the best option, but it will be options that are recommended for further study. M/Lyons asked if the 12 criteria were weighted or were equally weighted. Mr. Garza said at this time they are not weighted but he believed that as each were evaluated they will likely be weighted to some extent. M/Lyons asked if City staff would have input into how they are weighted. Mr. De La Garza responded "absolutely." M/Lyons said she believed it would have a big effect on the decision. OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 6 CC STUDY SESSION Mr. De La Garza said that the next steps involve working with the stakeholders to secure funding for additional studies, preliminary engineering, environmental, etc. C/Herrera asked if the goal was to do all four of the possibilities or the best of the four possibilities. Mr. De La Garza responded that if all evaluation criteria looks good on paper and are scored and weighted at 10 out of 10 the team would then recommend that because all of the alternatives look good they should move forward in some way. It could be that only one looks viable based on cost -benefit in which case that would be the recommendation for moving forward with the study. C/Herrera said she believed residents would want to know which of the four would be most effective in relieving the traffic. Others will want to know the cost for each of the alternatives and make their decision based on that type of evaluation. The westbound 60 to northbound 57 — the 90 degree turn, there is a section of undeveloped land there that years ago was proposed by a former council member to be used as a ramp to transition. However, as she understands, that land has become a landslide and she hoped the team would verify the viability of the suggestions that will be forthcoming. Mr. De La Garza said that is a great point and there is plenty of information that is being uncovered and in such an event could mean that that alternative might never happen. PWD/Liu said that all of the other stakeholders will be at the table. Over the years the City has heard from Caltrans that when it comes to missing connectors between the SR57/SR60 they too had doubts and questions about that area, especially with the upcoming improvements on the 71. The 71 will eventually be widened between the 10 and the 60. C/Herrera said that was a part of Measure M. PWD/Liu agreed and said that just this week he heard that Metro has committed funds to do the design of the 71 widening so they are getting ready which is good news for Diamond Bar. But just because Diamond Bar is doing this preliminary work the City is not certain of the outcome. All options are on the table as part of the due diligence process. At the end of the day there will be several criteria as well as, input from all of the stakeholders at which time Caltrans and Metro will weigh in heavily. When it comes to the HOV system, Caltrans has their own vision for California. M/Lyons asked if the City believes that one or more of the four options would be funded by Measure M. OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 7 CC STUDY SESSION PWD/Liu responded no. M/Lyons asked where the City would get the funding for implementation. PWD/Liu said there are two steps after the study is completed. If the City wanted to move ahead with one or two of the alternatives it would have to work very closely with Caltrans and Metro to do a Project Site Report, a programming document that involves a lot more engineering and environmental study. From that exercise more information will be revealed and from that point the project would move into the design phase. On the programming side, Metro has the entire interchange program for 20-29. The long range transportation program includes $770 million for the SR57/60 but just because it is programmed does not mean it will be funded. It requires future dollars and future grants. But it is on their books and will have to be justified as to why this should move forward. Because Diamond Bar has been at the table from the beginning, the City's final recommendations will be very seriously considered by the other stakeholders. Mr. De La Garza said that when they begin to rank all of the future projects, how they come about and which dollars go where, projects that have environmental work done and other preliminary work done that show there have been efforts toward showing it to be viable, will likely move up higher on the list because they are easier to fund. In short, this preliminary process should set the City up to capture some of that funding when it becomes available, as well as, give it the ability to go after more federal dollars. C/Low asked if there were any limitations that are inherent in this process such as physical limitations or the inability to acquire different properties. Mr. De La Garza responded that this study attempts to stay within the existing right-of-way and at the same time being cognizant of areas that would be impacted and what that impact would be such as to say, this can be done but if additional right-of-ways were to be made available, this constraint is now lifted. In many of these areas, additional right-of-way involves homes and the golf course, so it becomes a challenge and for that reason this study attempts to stay within the existing right-of-way to every extent possible. C/Tye referred to slide 9 (Alternative 1) that shows the two connectors and asked how hard it would be to double deck the connectors so that it would provide more space. Mr. De La Garza responded that anything is possible OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 8 CC STUDY SESSION C/Herrera asked if everything suggested and discussed this evening can be investigated and included in the study. Mr. De La Garza responded that everything has and will be included in the process. This is very high level priority. At this time the study is looking at traffic volumes. PWD/Liu said that the timing was perfect because either way, shortly after the election the City will know the outcome, especially on a local level. The information will be handy for the City to plan its next steps, whether that involves another study or beginning to focus on completing Phase III of the Confluence project. Diamond Bar tries to be in the driver's seat as far as preparing information, and over the years has played to the City's advantage to have all of the information available in order to enter into meaningful discussions with Metro, SCAG and Caltrans whose information is limited. M/Lyons asked for an update on upcoming grant opportunities for the Confluence since Diamond Bar was turned down on the TIGER and other grants. PWD/Liu said that a couple of months ago the City learned from USDOT, the applications for the Fastlane and TIGER Grant were unsuccessful. There is an opportunity for the City to talk with USDOT to learn more about what happened in a follow up debrief. Going forward, staff is anxious to see what LA County voters decide on Measure M. Metro put together a comprehensive Traffic Improvement Plan for LA County and in the highway category the SR57/60 Phase III has been identified as one of the top priority projects and that the amount being asked for is $205 million. If voters decide not to pass Measure M the City's next option is to finish the design of Phase III which is currently at about 30 percent. Still to be done is the right-of-way engineering which will cost an additional $200-300,000. Industry has made it clear that they are hesitant in terms of being willing to complete that design. They are at about 30 percent. To date they have contributed about $35 million and anything additional falls behind their priorities. The next step is to try to get other stakeholders to come on board with at least $300,000 to complete the right-of-way engineering. This means taking little bites rather than looking for $205 million from another source. The bottom line is that the City needs to look to itself at this point. PWD/Liu said he believes that procuring the $300,000 is feasible and needs to convince Metro, SCAG and Caltrans to share that cost in a three-way split in order to continue to make progress. This is a slow paced process it needs to keep moving forward. If LA County voters approve Measure M, the $25 million will come to Diamond Bar about a year from now and Diamond Bar needs to be ready for that eventuality. So within a year the OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 9 CC STUDY SESSION remaining 70 percent needs to happen. In the meantime, Diamond Bar is moving forward. Public Comments: None. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to come before the City Council, M/Lyons adjourned the Study Session at 6:10 p.m. TOMM E CRIBBINS, City Clerk The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 18th day of octohar 2016. 4/v %° ! N NCY ✓ , M y MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR OCTOBER 4, 2016 STUDY SESSION: 5:30 p.m., Room CC -8 ► Proposition 64 —Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) Report from Staff and City Attorney ► SR57/SR60 Confluence Supplemental Needs Study Public Comments: None 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: M/Lyons led the Pledge of Allegiance. INVOCATION: Shaykh Nomaan Baig, Institute of Knowledge, 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; Ken Desforges, IS Director; David Liu, Public Works Director; Dianna Honeywell, Finance Director; Greg Gubman, Community Development Director; Anthony Santos, Asst. to the City Manager; Amy Haug, Human Resources/Risk Manager; Marsha Roa, Public Information Manager; Alfa Lopez, Senior Management Analyst, and Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: CM/DeStefano asked that Item 6.3 be removed from the agenda as it was inadvertently added after the item was approved at the previous City Council meeting. 1. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATES, PROCLAMATIONS: 1.1 C/Herrera and City Council Members presented a City Tile to Capt. Jeff Scroggin for his service at the Diamond Bar/Walnut Station. BUSINESS OF THE MONTH: 1.2 C/Low and City Council presented a City Tile to Assistant Manager Chris Keel on behalf of See's Candies, 1117 Grand Avenue as Business of the Month for October 2016. OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL 2. CITY MANAGER REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: 2.1 Introduction of Diamond Bar/Walnut Sheriff's Station's new Captain, Captain Al Reyes by Captain Scroggin. 2.2 Introduction of Deputy German Perez (traffic related issues) by Captain Scroggin. CM/DeStefano wished Captain Scroggin the very best. He has been an outstanding member of the team. CM/DeStefano has personally worked with many captains at the local station and has never worked with anyone who is as dedicated and inspiring as Captain Scroggin has been. He has been a true leader and model and with very tough shoes to fill. With that being said, Diamond Bar is looking forward to working with Captain Reyes who has worked in a variety of different station settings, including the jails and as a sergeant in a number of stations. He has been an operations lieutenant overseeing the detective bureau and a service area lieutenant. He has been in all aspects of station command and will do extremely well. 2.3 Update on Restaurant Week October 8 through 14, 2016 — SMA/Lopez announced that as of today there are a total of 20 participating restaurants. Diamond Palace Cuisine of India signed up this afternoon and the Diamond Bar Golf Course Player's Club Bar and Grill. This morning the Chamber of Commerce which was hosted by the Holiday Inn held a press conference to kick off Diamond Bar Restaurant Week. Diamond Bar is grateful to the Holiday Inn for hosting the conference which was well attended and received great remarks by restaurant owners who attended. The event was covered by several members of the media including Phoenix TV, DBTV and Singtel LA. Mayor Lyons and members of the Chamber of Commerce were also in attendance. The Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, October 13 at 11:00 a.m. at Guacs. Ribbon Cutting will take place at 11:30 a.m. Diners are encouraged to visit the website www.dbrestaurantweek.com to view the most recent list of participants and check out the special menus. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Pui Ching Ho, Diamond Bar Library, reported that the Diamond Bar Library and Friends of the Diamond Bar Library are sponsoring another great month of activities in October based around the book Suspects by Robert Crais. Everyone is encouraged to read the book and then participate in the fun and interesting activities. One of the characters in the book is a very intelligent canine named Maggie who adds her own dimension to the story and because of Maggie, Library events will be planned around animals. These events include a Basic Pet b First -Aid and CPR class on Saturday, October 8 at 2:00 p.m. The library will present a special workshop for teens interested in becoming a crime scene OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 3 CITY COUNCIL investigator, Teen Forensic Fun on Tuesday, October 11 at 3:30 p.m. Read Together is a family event and children are encouraged to read "Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle" and participate in the book discussion on Monday, October 17 at 4:00 p.m. For teens, the library suggests reading "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and to participate in the discussion on Tuesday, October 18 at 3:30 p.m. Please check the library website at http://colapublib.orq/libs/diamondbarlindex.php for additional October events. Lilian De Loza-Gutierrez, San Gabriel Valley Area Deputy for LA County Metro, spoke about Measure M that will be on the November 8 ballot. She encouraged everyone to pick up a brochure in the lobby on their way out which will provide information on the issue. Measure M is a''Y2 cent sales tax that would go toward major transportation improvements for the next 40-50 years. It is a "no sunset' sales tax that would provide 5 cents for every $10 purchase and the money would go toward transportation. It is exciting for the City of Diamond Bar because local projects such as the SR57/60 Confluence project are a part of Measure M. In addition, Diamond Bar would receive approximately $800,000 a year to go toward local transportation improvements (pothole repairs, street improvements, street improvements, signal sync, etc.). Metro encourages the City Council and members of the community to log on and learn more about this measure at www.metro.net/theplan. Contact her for any questions or concerns. 4. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS: None. 5. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE EVENTS: 5.1 Diamond Bar Restaurant Week Celebration — October 8 through 14, 2016 www.diamondbarrestaurantweek.com 5.2 Planning Commission Meeting — October 11, 2016 — 7:00 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.3 General Plan Advisory Committee Meeting — October 12, 2016 — 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.4 Traffic and Transportation Commission Meeting — October 13, 2016 — 7:00 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.5 Barktoberfest — October 15, 2016 — 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Pantera Park Dog Park, 738 Pantera Drive. 5.6 City Council Meeting — October 18, 2016 — 6:30 p.m., AQMD/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive. OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 4 CITY COUNCIL 6. CONSENT CALENDAR: C/Low moved, C/Herrera seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented with the exception of Items 6.3 (previously pulled), 6.8, 6.10 and 6.11 pulled by C/Low. 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 - Regular Meeting of September 20, 2016. 6.4 RECEIVED AND FILED PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES — Regular Meeting of July 28, 2016. 6.5 RECEIVED AND FILED PLANNING COMMISSION — Regular Meeting of July 26, 2016, 6.6 RATIFIED CHECK REGISTER — Dated September 15, 2016 through September 28, 2016 totaling $1,548.966.28. 6.7 APPROVED TREASURER'S STATEMENT for the Month of August 2016. 6.9 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 2016-37: A JOINT RESOLUTION WITH THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POMONA AND THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR, APPROVING AND ACCEPTING THE NEGOTIATED EXCHANGE OF PROPERTY TAX REVENUE RESULTING FROM THE REORGANIZATION OF TERRITORY KNOWN AS CITY OF POMONA REORGANIZATION 2015- 14, CONSISTING OF DETACHMENT OF TERRITORY FROM THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR AND ANNEXATION TO THE CITY OF POMONA, AND WITHDRAWAL FROM THE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM. MATTERS WITHDRAWN FROM CONSENT CALENDAR: 6.3 TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MINUTES — Regular Meeting of July 14, 2016 (Previously approved on September 19th Council Meeting). OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 5 CITY COUNCIL 6.8 APPROPRIATE TRAFFIC IMPACT MITIGATION FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $20,000 TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2016-17 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (CIP) BUDGET; ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2016-37; APPROVE PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS AND ESTABLISHING A PROJECT PAYMENT ACCOUNT AND AWARD A CONTRACT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GRAND AVENUE/DIAMOND BAR BOULEVARD STREET CLOCK AND MEDIAN IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT TO CEM CONSTRUCTION CORP. IN THE AMOUNT OF $64,770; PLUS, A CONTINGENCY AMOUNT OF $7,230 FOR A TOTAL AUTHORIZATION OF $72,000. C/Low said it was her understanding that this is an item that was approved prior to her being seated on the City Council. Upon reviewing staff's report and recommendation she saw that it was a project that will sit on Diamond Bar Boulevard and is concerned that because the City is in the process of creating a new General Plan, this project would be phased out in the next couple of years. In consideration of the new General Plan she believes there will be a new vision for Diamond Bar and her concern with this plan is that it may conflict or hinder what will be part of the new plan. If it is different, the City would have spent $72,000 only to have the project changed in the future. In addition, this is for establishment of a clock and there is a clock in the area where this project is being proposed. C/Tye said he did not believe that anything in the General Plan Update would render this obsolete. He has been a proponent of this idea for many years and thinks that it would make a statement in an area that the City has developed at Diamond Bar Boulevard and Grand Avenue. That being said, the City has waited this long and it probably would not matter to wait awhile longer but he does not believe it would interfere with the current General Plan Update and would in fact, be a benefit to the community. C/Herrera asked C/Low if she proposed to make a motion to set this matter on the table until a future date. C/Low said she would propose a motion to table this matter. She believes it is a great idea to have a focal point and perhaps the City can have one or more than one which would enhance the look of Diamond Bar and would like to see it done in a cohesive manner. C/Herrera said she sees C/Low's point and it is never fun to make plans, carry through and then unmake them and spend money that did not need to be spent because of a change and she would therefore second C/Low's motion. OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL M/Lyons said she had been thinking about whether the clock matched up with the latest exit and entry to the City. M/Lyons asked for a vote on C/Low's motion to table Item 6.8. 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 6.10 APPROVAL OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES CONTRACT FOR ON-CALL SOILS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SERVICES WITH (1) LEIGHTON AND ASSOCIATES, INC., (2) NINYO AND MOORE; AND, (3) WILLDAN GEOTECHNICAL FOR A PERIOD OF THREE (3) YEARS. 6.11 APPROVAL OF ON-CALL TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING SERVICES CONTRACT WITH (1) DKS ASSOCIATES; (2) FEHR & PEERS; (3) ITERIS; (4) KIMLEY HORN; (5) SASAKI TRANSPORTATION SERVICES; AND, (6) STANTEC, FOR A PERIOD OF THREE YEARS. C/Low stated that with respect to Items 6.10 and 6.11 she spoke with PWD/Liu who was very helpful in addressing her questions, one of which addressed the issue of having three separate on-call contractors under Item 6.10 and six separate on-call contractors on Item 6.11 and how the City determined to engage these contractors and why they are believed to be the best contractors for the projects the City intends to pursue. PWD/Liu stated that currently, the City has three on-call Soils and Geotechnical Engineering firms and six on-call Traffic and Transportation Engineering Services firms. Going forward, a couple of months ago staff sent out an RFP (Request for Proposal) to a list of pre -qualified consultants. As previously mentioned to C/Low on an ongoing basis, staff maintains a very active list of qualified consultants. During the distribution and RFP process the City distributed the RFP's to firms that are known to have more information and knowledge about local conditions and needs expressed in the Scope of Work. Diamond Bar is not a flat city and has hillside topography and it is very critical when looking at any type of work such as land development, landslide mitigation and/or capital improvement projects, staff has to make sure that based upon those conditions it is important for the City to retain firms that have experience with landslide stability and settlement issues as well as, the historical knowledge of geologic conditions in Diamond Bar. All three firms that are recommended to the City Council tonight are current service providers and going forward it makes sense to continue to recommend that these three firms' best represent the needs and project capabilities of the City. OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 7 CITY COUNCIL Additionally, these three firms consistently provide the level of service Diamond Bar expects. All three firms have done everything from plan checking and addressing last minute calls in a very responsive manner. For example, when the City was working with Lennar Homes on the Willow Heights project, Leighton and Associates was instrumental in helping staff understand some of the issues and worked very well with the developer and staff to facilitate the land development and subdivision map. With respect to the Minnequa Landslide which happened on private property, it was critical for the City to address the safety issues and immediately turned to Ninyo and Moore to assist the City in assessing the situation for which they devised a remediation plan. Willdan Geotechnical is a company that is currently helping the City with the Kmart Redevelopment project and concurrently with the South Point Residential Development. At the end of the day it makes sense for Diamond Bar to have a pool of consultants that have the experience and qualifications these companies have and if one of these companies is unavailable another can step in on short notice. When talking about land development projects it is not uncommon for a developer or their engineers to question or challenge Diamond Bar's professional staffs and consultants' requirements and conditions. With a pool of consultants, PWD/Liu can go to another party and ask for a third -party review and comments and facilitate further discussions which generally works to the advantage of the City to work with the developer to build something that makes sense for Diamond Bar and that it is a good and safe project for the City. C/Low asked how staff would work with a new firm that was interested in Diamond Bar and whether at some point they would be able to be considered through the RFP process or is the RFP limited to firms that the City has worked with previously. PWD/Liu reiterated that staff maintains an active list of qualified consultants and depending on the specific task or project other consultants will be considered based on their expertise. In addition, when it comes to the public services no consultant can be excluded from consideration. State law is also very clear that the process has to be a qualification based process so anyone who expresses interest can do their homework and submit a proposal. Staff then has to make sure that the proposal is based on qualification and other criteria including fees. The final decision is about qualifications when staff makes its recommendation to the City Council. CM/DeStefano said that with respect to Items 6.10 and 6.11, Diamond Bar was formed under a "contract city" operational model which means that the City philosophically does not subscribe to the notion that the City should have 500 employees, its own police department, fire department, etc. Diamond Bar has been very selective over the years and has grown over the years in various areas of operation. When the City began it OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 8 CITY COUNCIL contracted for Parks and Recreation, Planning, etc. for which the City now has full-time staff. In many areas and in particular the area of geotechnical services and traffic services, Diamond Bar does not have that level of technical expertise on staff. Most cities do not and Diamond Bar does not wish to. It is not the type of service levels that the City requires on a daily basis as is the case with some of its other disciplines. As a result, the City seeks consultant services in those different areas of expertise and in so doing, attempts to hire multiple firms in order to provide flexibility and agility to work fast when needed and in particular to be responsive to the needs of the Council and the community. Diamond Bar has done so in just about everything it does from legal services generalists such as CA/DeBerry and his firm and specialty services for HR and City prosecution. Could all of that be done in one firm? Yes, and when the City recruited three plus years ago for Woodruff, Spradlin & Smart to provide services, each proposer was asked whether or not they could provide all legal services. And on occasion, staff will speak with CA/DeBerry about City prosecution matters and Human Resources related matters. This scenario provides the City with that type of flexibility. Diamond Bar has tended to do this in nearly every arena including areas of contract maintenance services. While the City has parks and grounds contractors working in specific areas, the City will often mix things up to meet the needs. Recently, the Diamond Bar Boulevard medians rework was awarded to Valley Crest and yet it is Excel that does the weekly, monthly and annual work on those properties. Philosophically the City has always done so and it is not unlike having multiple providers for health services such as medical doctors, dentists, etc. The soils engineering and traffic engineering firms are on-call as needed. None of these firms are being paid retainers, they are being paid only when services are required. As PWD/Liu stated, sometimes folks on the soils side help the City with specific projects and if they are developer requests for entitlements, the developers are paying for those. If it is work that is coming from the City on City property or just a City service need, the City pays them. The same is true of Traffic Engineering and in this case it is more detailed because the City has people who assist at the state level and details of the Kmart project. They may not be the same firm and each firm may not be able to provide all of the services that the City needs. It stems from an original philosophy that has worked well for Diamond Bar and while there may be questions about why the City does what it does, it has been very successful. To reiterate what PWD/Liu earlier stated, when Diamond Bar seeks such services the City allows other providers to seek a contract with the City however the process is not opened to the world. If the City posted it on internet-based websites, etc. staff would be spending the entirety of its time looking at the 3,000 proposals the City would receive. For example, if the City had done that three plus years ago for legal services, every family law attorney would have tried to become the City attorney and staff would have had to go through all of those proposals. In OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 9 CITY COUNCIL many cases, while a specific menu of services is listed and staff works with new firms from time -to -time, it is limited because time is valuable and staff is small. In addition, there is no sense in looking at an engineering firm from Ohio that happens to submit a proposal and wastes the City's time in doing so. So, in some arenas the City has limited itself to those that are known and those that have come recommended. C/Low asked if with respect to Item 6.11 six on-call contractors was the correct number and, are these contractors similarly experienced in the City of Diamond Bar because traffic is one of the City's priorities. PWD/Lu said that with the exception of Stantec, the other five companies have provided the City with services for the past five years. Because Diamond Bar is located at the confluence of the SR57/60 roadways are being used by commuters and residents that travel the City's arterials on a daily basis. In addition, the City has school -related traffic issues. From the freeway to the local residential streets there are a myriad of issues that occur on a regular basis from requests for stop signs to addressing regional traffic issues such as tonight's discussion on the overview of the SR57/60 Supplemental Needs Study which is a very high-level planning study. Staff and Council are acutely aware that the public expects their traffic issues and concerns to be considered by the most responsible parties and team of experts. Each and every company staff is recommending to the Council tonight not only has the history with the City, but over the years they have each successfully completed several different projects. For example, within the last five years, DKS worked with residents and the City to implement several of its Neighborhood Traffic Management programs and initiate mitigation measures. Currently, DKS is helping with the media modification project at Diamond Bar Boulevard and Maple Hill Road. Tonight the Council heard from. a member of Fehr & Peers. Over the years this firm has conducted several significant studies for the City in preparation of the SR57/60 Confluence Project including everything from traffic operation models to travel demand models and the SR71 freeway widening/separation project. Since the implementation of the Traffic Management System Iteris has been a key partner in helping staff maintain the system and will play a key role in developing and implementing the Diamond Bar Adaptive Control System. Kimley Horn's expertise is similar to Iteris with respect to the Traffic Management System and they are very good at highway interchange design, a key to potential projects moving forward. Sasaki Transportation Services has been with the City for the past 15 years and acts as the City's plan check and reviewer of development related projects. He is very good at reviewing Traffic Impact studies and when he develops conditions and requirements from the City's perspective he has the best interest of the City in mind because he knows how Diamond Bar identifies needs and priorities for the community in terms of impacts to the City and its residents. Stantec is relatively new but the project manager was OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 10 CITY COUNCIL previously with another firm known to Diamond Bar and as a result, forwarded the RFP to him to see if his firm was interested in helping the City. Over the past couple of years since MPT/Lin's appointment to the City Council Diamond Bar has been winding down its business relationship with his firm, KOA. KOA has been instrumental in day-to-day plans for traffic management support work. By October 16 the City will be finished with the KOA contract. Another individual on the team of consultants was Warren Sieke who for many years served as a City Traffic Engineer. He was the contract city traffic engineer for Brea for many, many years and Diamond Bar took advantage of his expertise because he was very selective in terms of what cities he wanted to serve, of which Diamond Bar was one of his favorite. Warren Siecke retired about four years ago. In conclusion, over the years it has made sense for the City on short notice for short-term planning to draw from a pool of talented and specialized consultants. Most firms will tell you they can do everything but Diamond Bar focuses on the project managers' specific qualifications and experiences that represent these companies. C/Low said it sounds like PWD/Liu has a very good working relationship with these individuals and because of that the City ends up with very good products and services from these engineers. C/Low moved, C/Herrera seconded, to approve Item 6.10 and 6.11 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: 7.1 ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2016-38: AMENDING THE CITY'S COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PROGRAM FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016-17 TO REPROGRAM FUNDS TO THE MORNING CANYON ADA PARKWAY IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT FROM THE CDBG UNALLOCATED BALANCE IN THE AMOUNT OF $225,000. CM/DeStefano reported that there is a Public Hearing requirement for The Federal Community Development Block Program and the local LA County Community Development Commission because the City is moving unused Community Development Block Grant money from an unallocated account into the Morning Canyon ADA and Tree Preservation project. The City had previously received direction from the Council to move forward with the project and budgeted for it in May/June of 2016 with City funds. OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 11 CITY COUNCIL Subsequently, the City learned that it had an opportunity to use some unallocated dollars from the Community Development Block Grant and checked with the City's consultant who worked with the Community Development Commission to bring this about and set forth a Public Hearing Notice for tonight's discussion in order for anyone who had an interest in this proposal to move money from the unallocated account to this particular project to come forward and speak. This is simply a reallocation of Community Development Block Grant dollars in the amount of $225,000 which saves that amount being taken from the Diamond Bar General Fund. Accordingly, staff is asking that the City Council conduct a public hearing on this matter and upon conclusion, take action and approve this matter. M/Lyons opened the Public Hearing at 7:38 p.m. There being no one present who wished to speak on this matter, M/Lyons closed the Public Hearing at 7:39 p.m. C/Herrera moved, C/Tye seconded, to Adopt Resolution No. 2016-38: Amending the City's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program for Fiscal Year 2016-17 to Reprogram Funds to the Morning Canyon ADA Parkway Improvements Project from the CDBG Unallocated Balance in the amount of $225,000. 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. COUNCIL CONSIDERATION: None. 9. COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND MEETING ATTENDANCE REPORTS/COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS: C/Tye said he hoped everyone would participate in Diamond Bar Restaurant Week. This will be a very exciting first-time event and M/Lyons is to be congratulated for spearheading this project and seeing it through to fruition. He is excited to be a part of its success over the next week. He congratulated Captain Scroggin and wished him the very best. He looks forward to the leadership of Captain Reyes. C/Low welcomed Captain Reyes to Diamond Bar. Last week she attended the Wildlife Corridor Conservation Authority during which the decision was made to authorize staff to apply for a grant of $1 million from the LA County Board of Supervisors to begin the process of looking at property to acquire for conservation purposes. This grant would be taken from a $10 million fund that has been sitting in the County's coffers for 10 years. Thank you and great job to OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 12 CITY COUNCIL staff for the big beautiful large entry sign at the southern end of Diamond Bar Boulevard. She echoed C/Tye's comments regarding Restaurant Week which will be worth every one of the 10 pounds gained! She encouraged everyone to join the Library in October for Read Together Diamond Bar. C/Herrera welcomed Captain Reyes. Diamond Bar looks forward to working with and getting to know him better. She knows he will do a great job because CM/DeStefano chose him and CM/DeStefano has great taste. This morning she attended a Foothill Transit meeting and at that meeting John Fasana, Council Member from Duarte and Chair of LA Metro provided information on Measure M which she placed at Council Member desks and on the table in the lobby. She pointed out that Foothill Transit is a recipient of some of the Measure M funds and will be gaining $11 million annually. Diamond Bar is also a recipient and will gain a little over $800,000 annually. The SR57/60 Confluence project that Diamond Bar has been working on for more than 10 years to get funding for is included in the plan as well, a direct benefit to Diamond Bar. At a recent SCAG meeting she learned that SCAG has entered into a contract with world renowned Dr. Lucy Jones ("the Earthquake Lady") to conduct seven (7) sub -regional earthquake preparedness seminars throughout the next year, the first of which will be held on October 25 at the Arcadia City Hall, 240 West Huntington Drive from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The goal of the partnership between SCAG and Dr. Jones is to protect the Southern California economy from the predictable disruption that will result from a large regional earthquake and to help everyone become prepared for such an event. SCAG will continue these efforts and provide an all day workshop in early 2017 which will be offered for those cities interested in taking the next step and tackling the most critical and manageable issue affecting their communities today. So please invite people to attend if they are interested and RSVP to Javier Cartagena of SCAG at 213-236-1980. Foothill Transit is considering a double decker bus and now has on loan a double decker bus that started running yesterday along virtually the same line as the Silver Streak along the 10 freeway, and will continue to run until this Friday. Individuals can ride at no charge to check it out except that riders are asked to provide feedback before Foothill purchases a couple of these electric buses. M/Lyons asked C/Herrera to report on the double-decker bus excursion at the next meeting. There is a big election coming up in November to elect a president, vice present, new assembly member, new state senator and perhaps most of the audience have given thought to these offices. In fact, people really need to begin giving consideration to propositions, one of which was discussed this evening that can have a great effect on the region. As she understands it, there will be 17 different statewide measures on the ballot. Measure M is a county measure. Something that might be helpful in the consideration process is that there will be at least one local forum about the propositions which will be hosted by the Diamond Bar Branch of the American Association of University Women in conjunction with the League of Women Voters on Monday, October 24 at 6:00 p.m. in the Windmill Room (first floor) at City Hall. Refreshments will be served. As C/Low previously commented, M/Lyons also hoped that people OCTOBER 4, 2016 PAGE 13 CITY COUNCIL would participate in one or more of the Read Together Diamond Bar activities. The topics are quite varied and many involve animals. The first event took place this past Saturday and it was very successful. City staff, led by SMA/Lopez has put together a slate of tasty options for residents to try beginning Saturday, October 8, and she hopes each person will pick at least one restaurant and join her in this culinary adventure. At the last Council meeting she pledged to eat at all participating restaurants within the week before more restaurants were added. However, she still promises she will get to all of the restaurants within the week and will keep track and report about her experience at the next meeting. Bon Appetit! ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to conduct, M/Lyons adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 7:49 pm 14'�r' e -'e �z TOMMA CRIBBINS, CITY CLERK The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 18th day of October 2016. ;7