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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/02/17 Minutes - Regular MeetingCITY OF DIAMOND BAR CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MAY 2, 2017 STUDY SESSION: M/Lin called the Study Session to order at 5:32 p.m. in Room CC -8 of the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765. ROLL CALL: Council Members Herrera, Lyons, C/Tye, Mayor Pro Tem Low and Mayor Lin Staff Present: James DeStefano, City Manager; David DeBerry, City Attorney; Ryan McLean, Assistant City Manager; Greg Gubman, Community Development Director; David Liu, Public Works Director; Dianna Honeywell, Finance Director; Ken Desforges, IS Director; Anthony Santos, Assistant to the City Manager; Amy Haug, Human Resources/Risk Manager; Christy Murphey, Recreation Superintendent; Marsha Roa, Public Information Manager; Cecilia Arellano, Public Information Coordinator, and Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk. ► CITY MANAGER'S DRAFT RECOMMENDED FY 2017-18 GENERAL FUND BUDGET FD/Honeywell walked Council through the General Fund portion of the City Manager's Draft FY 2017-18 Budget. She reported that Fiscal Year 2016- 17 has seen the national, state and local economy continue to improve. Revenues have come in slightly higher than anticipated and expenditures were rolled over from the previous year. Staff expects to end this fiscal year putting back about $1.4 million into the General Fund which will bring the General Fund Reserves balance to $21.4 million as expected. However, not as many projects were finished as budgeted so those will be carryovers to the next year. In FY 2016-17 CDD/Gubman and his staff kicked off the General Plan Update, a big undertaking for the City since the current General Plan's adoption in 1995. Thus far, there has been great community participation in the process. In addition, City governmental re -organization was undertaken and completed with the citywide maintenance services of parks and streets, etc. moving under the Public Works umbrella and since implementation, the City has seen projects come in on-time and in many cases, under budget. Under the direction of ACM/McLean, the Recreation Department was reorganized and continues to run smoothly with the addition of two Recreation Supervisors, each of whom have a focus on specific programs throughout the City. The City also underwent a Citywide Fee Study which Council currently has under consideration. The budget presented this evening is based on the existing fee schedule and does not assume that the Council will be implementing fee changes at any particular point in time pending further direction from Council. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 2 CC STUDY SESSION Under the Economic Development umbrella, the former Kmart retail store site has seen significant development with the addition of several nationally recognized stores and restaurants scheduled to open in the fall of this year and into the spring of FY 2017-18. In addition, the City is looking to redevelop the Honda site with a hotel with another hotel project at the site of the existing Brea Canyon trailer storage site. Staff estimates that these two hotel anchored projects, when completed, will bring in approximately $400,000 each in new TOT revenue in future fiscal years. Since these projects are only in the planning stages, they are not factored into the FY 2017-18 budget. There is a new 99 -home single family residential project under construction known as the South Pointe Development, which is anticipated to be completed during FY 2017-18 and will result in a "one time" developer fee revenue of approximately $500,000 by June 30, 2018. This revenue has been included in the proposed budget. The current proposed FY 2017-18 General Fund Budget continues to be conservative in its revenue projections and for the most part, is a rollover budget of the expenditures. It is expected that the City will have estimated General Fund Resources of about $29.9 million and most of the revenue source category levels are up, with property taxes assuming a 4 percent growth rate. The TOT sales tax is down slightly because the City received a one-time "true up" in the current fiscal year that makes this year's number increase slightly. However, there is a continuing upward trend. Also proposed is the sale of Prop A Funds in exchange for General Fund Revenue, which should occur by the end of this Fiscal Year and the cities of Commerce and Industry have expressed an interest in the purchase. Staff is looking for at least 75 cents on the dollar. C/Herrera said that Foothill Transit and West Covina also buy Prop A Funds. FD/Honeywell said that staff would look at discussing the purchase of Prop A Funds with those entities as well. The sale of the Prop A Funds will most likely be designated for CIP projects which is the City's usual practice. Estimated appropriations are at about $29.2 million. The Public Safety Law Enforcement budget increased 3.8 percent. In addition, the City contributes 10 percent to the Liability Trust Fund. The total law enforcement budget is nearly $6.7 this year and personnel changes are expected to include a 2.4 percent COLA(based on the March to Mach CPI of 2.42 percent) with a $50 increase to the Benefit Allotment. The City Manager looked at the operations of all of the departments with an eye toward making it the most streamlined and best combination to provide the best possible services to residents. As a result, it was recommended that the City establish a Senior Neighborhood Improvement Officer position which would reclassify an existing Neighborhood Improvement Officer due to the complexity and responsibilities that are often assumed in working with MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 3 CC STUDY SESSION the City Prosecutors office. This change would result in an additional cost of $6500, but would allow for much more flexibility in what the SNIO would be able to accomplish. Another recommendation was to establish a Permit Services Coordinator. The current staff position is classified as Permit Technician and over the years those responsibilities have also become more complex, and in addition, overflow between RKA and the Permit Technician has increased significantly. This change will result in an additional cost of approximately $6100. In this case, the Permit Technician classification would be eliminated. Lastly, there was a recommendation to establish a part time non -benefited Recreation Leader III position. Currently, this position includes Recreation Leader I and II and if implemented, the Recreation Leader III position would provide more depth to the classification and would lend more oversight to the Recreation staff. HR/Haug said there is no request for additional funding for this item in this budget presentation, only a request to establish a salary range with the City filling those positions as needed within the allotted resources that are approved within the FY 2017-18 budget. FD/Honeywell stated that staff proposes the City use about $4.5 million of the General Fund Reserves for the following purposes: 1) Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) - $3,059,025. FD/Honeywell pointed out that one of the projects has a placeholder ($918,000) for the Grand Avenue and Golden Springs Intersection project because not all of the funding has been secured. Staff hopes to receive more funding next year as a result of the new Measure M and SB1. 2) Economic Development - $361,835 3) Transfer Out — LLADs - $290,539. FD/Honeywell noted that the City will - - have to again supplement District 39abOut$33,000 for one-time costs. _ - -- C/Lyons asked for an update of the districts at the next meeting. 4) Transfer Out— Technology Reserve Fund - $100,000. 5) New Finance & Recreation Systems - $700,000. Staff is proposing to replace the City's aging Finance and Recreation system during FY 2017- 18. Both systems are over 20 years old and there has been discussions about the systems not supporting the current platform and in addition, the new systems would provide better productivity for employees and enable them to serve the community a lot better with more online access capabilities including options for payments, etc. C/Lyons asked if the City had the manpower to change both systems in one year. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 4 CC STUDY SESSION IS Director/Desforges responded "yes." While it is a big undertaking staff will get through the RFP process, contract negotiations and initial implementation. Whether the entire switchover is completed during the next fiscal year depends on availability of staff, when the contract is actually approved and the availability of the software vendor to actually implement. M/Lin said that if the City raised its fees by some $900,000 this would be additional revenue. CM/DeStefano said staff was estimating that the increased fees would generate closer to $650,000 but whatever amount the fees would generate would drive down the use of those reserve dollars. PWD/Liu confirmed to M/Lin that there are a variety of outside funding sources, especially for streets and signal projects. CM/DeStefano said that at the next City Council Study Session staff would provide additional information about the CIP profile which will detail all of the funding sources. It is in the current budget that lists about 20 different sources with perhaps a dozen being the most popular. Each year staff tries very hard to stay away from using any General Fund dollars. Where the City -tends to use those --dollars most is in Parks and- Recreation- Capital Improvement Projects. M/Lin asked if the Law Enforcement Liability changes each year. CM/DeStefano said that it did. A few years ago it was at zero. It depends upon claims, loss patterns, etc. and Diamond Bar will see an 8-12 percent increase for another couple of years based upon the number of cases that have come before the department that have been settled as well as, a much higher jury award on some of the higher -profile cases than have been seen in prior years, which is related -to a nationallaw enforcement issue. The amount Diamond Bar spends for this pool is significantly less than what other cities spend on local police departments. Covina and other local cities are easily spending double what Diamond Bar spends by having their local police departments and, in addition, they also have pay local retirement. C/Lyons asked if the 10 percent (contribution) was based on the size of the contract. CM/DeStefano responded that it was. The only way the City could reduce the $585,000 amount would be to trim the allocation of resources the City currently subscribes to. So as an example, if the trim amounted to one. deputy and one car, it would reduce the amount by $250-270,000 which would save a small amount. Based on the profile the City wishes to maintain and encourage amounts to $585,000 going into the insurance fund. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 5 CC STUDY SESSION MPT/Low asked if Diamond Bar's contract was the same size as Walnut's contract. CM/DeStefano said no. Diamond Bar's contract is about double that of Walnut, which has everything to do with the City's policing program, use of more deputies, more boots on the ground, the size of the City being larger than Walnut, and more commercial that generates different kinds of law enforcement needs, etc. M/Lin questioned the average salary of employees in PWD/Liu's department and asked if a line item contains a salary amount. CM/DeStefano explained that in accordance with MPT/Low's request, staff included the chart today and the matrix shows their title and salary ranges which will give everyone a sense of their salary, depending on where they are in the salary range. MPT/Low asked how many employees were at top step. Many employee salaries are broken up within different funding sources so there may be a piece of an employee in one fund and a piece of the employee in another fund and another fund, etc. all totaling 100 percent. The City does so in an attempt to protect the General Fundand-use-all of the other -resources as - prudently as possible. An example of the breakdown of employees and the percentage being charged to a particular fund can be found on Page 238 of the current budget. In short, the City does everything possible to spend everybody else's money before spending City money. MPT/Low asked for explanation of the Economic Development budget and what the $361,835 buys. FD/Honeywell referred MPT/Low to Page 23 to determine how the dollars - -- are allocated. - MPT/Low wanted to know what consultants do for the City. C/Herrera explained that as an example, Consultant Larry Kosmont is well known throughout the Greater San Gabriel Valley area. He makes economic recommendations as the City tries to understand what businesses would go in within a center to help make it successful. Larry has a lot of contacts. C/Tye said that Larry can give the Council the information about what the City could expect a hotel to deliver. MPT/Low said it has been 10-15 years and the City has not gotten one. C/Herrera said it is not Larry's fault, it is the Honda property owner's fault. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 6 CC STUDY SESSION CM/DeStefano said that at the top of Page 131 of the current City budget there is a breakdown of the employees. As an example, 20 percent of the City Manager's time is charged to Economic Development and with a couple of other employees, pieces of their time as well. The City looks at the way it uses General Fund and other dollars each and every year. Sometimes those numbers change. Depending upon who the next City Manager is and how much time that City Manager is dedicated to Economic Development, that number may change. Also on Page 131 happens to be the current Fiscal Year breakdown for Professional Services which is currently $215,000, most of which is set-aside for some unknowns such as property appraisals, market studies, and the need to hire economic development consultants to perform specific tasks. As an example, when the City was looking at the Honda hotel site a few years ago, the City spent $70,000 with ADCOM to provide a market and feasibility study. The City uses specialized consultants for real estate appraisals so as an example, the appraisal that was recently done in order to talk about the possibility of acquiring land for future public use that was discussed in Closed Session, the dollars that were used for that appraisal came out of this account. Larry Kosmont is an Economic Development Consultant Advisor that the City has used off and on. His contract is about $25,000 and runs $25-40,000 depending on what the City has him do. Staff would expect the Council would be using his services even more in 2017 and 2018 as CM/DeStefano is hopeful the hotel project kicks into gear. If so, Larry Kosmont will be a great resource for that effort. The City also uses HDL and Barry Foster which is much more nuts and bolts. He deals with helping to get national and regional retailers into the community. As an example, without Barry's expertise Diamond Bar would not have been successful in landing Smart & Final. He is an excellent resource to help secure Sprouts and other business. For other smaller projects such as Restaurant Week, $15,000 was allocated in the current budget. For the upcoming budget $20-$25,000 was proposed because Restaurant Week was a successful event and should be expanded into a multi-year effort. And, there is always more money set aside in the Professional Services than the City ultimately needs. MPT/Low thanked CM/DeStefano for getting the information to the Council so quickly as it is very helpful to the budget consideration process. CM/DeStefano said that thanks go to FD/Honeywell and HR/Haug for producing the information for the Council. With that said, Councilmembers always have good questions about the budget and staff sometimes assumes Councilmembers know every detail. It is not a problem for staff to provide any information the Council may need to help make the policy choices coming forward. Any questions that arise prior to adoption can be directed to staff. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 7 CC STUDY SESSION Public Comments: None. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to come before the City Council, M/Lin recessed the Study Session at 6:23 p.m. to the Regular Meeting. ;I TOMM E CRIBBINS, City Clerk The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 16th day of Ma 2017. a,� L' JIMM �L.IN, Ma or MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR MAY 2, 2017 CLOSED SESSION: Public Comments: ► Id 5:00 p.m., Room CC -8 None. Government Code Section 54956.8 Conference w/Real Property Negotiators Property: APN8718-005 — Parcels 007 and 008 (Vacant Property) Diamond Bar, CA 91765 Agency Negotiators: James DeStefano, City Manager David DeBerry, City Attorney Negotiating Parties: City and YMCA Under Negotiation: Price and Terms of Payment Government Code Section 54967 — Public Employee Appointment Title: City Manager STUDY SESSION: 5:30 p.m., Room CC -8 ► City Manager's Draft Recommended FY 2017-18 General Fund Budget Public Comments: None. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Lin called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA. CM/DeStefano reported that tonight's Closed Session included two matters - a Conference with CM/DeStefano and CA/DeBerry on Real Property which resulted in no reportable action, and the Pending Public Employee Appointment for the position of City Manager for which there also was no reportable action. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: C/Lyons led the Pledge of Allegiance INVOCATION: Pastor Randy Lanthripe, Church in the Valley gave the invocation ROLL CALL: Council Members Herrera, Lyons, Tye, Mayor Pro Tem Low and Mayor Lin MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 2 CITY COUNCIL Staff Present: James DeStefano, City Manager; David DeBerry, City Attorney; Ryan McLean, Assistant City Manager; David Liu, Public Works Director; Ken Desforges, IS Director; Dianna Honeywell, Finance Director; Greg Gubman, Community Development Director; Anthony Santos, Assistant to the City Manager; Christy Murphey, Recreation Superintendent; Marsha Roa, Public Information Manager; Cecilia Arellano, Public Information Coordinator, and Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: As Presented. 1. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATES, PROCLAMATIONS: 1.1 M/Lin proclaimed the month of May, 2017 as Water Awareness Month and City Council presented the Water Awareness Proclamation to Walnut Valley Water District General Manager Mike Homes and Board Members Theresa Lee and Ed Hilden. 2. CITY MANAGER REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: CM/DeStefano reported that during tonight's Study Session, the City Council was introduced to the draft Fiscal Year 2017-18 City Budget by FM/Honeywell who provided an overview of the General Fund portion. The Study Session in two weeks will focus on the balance of the budget followed by a public discourse and adoption of the budget on June 6. CM/DeStefano also reported that this morning, commuters and residents of the City of Diamond Bar were greeted at about 7:00 a.m. by an early morning fire at the south part of the City. In spite of enormous traffic congestion the fire department performed brilliantly as they usually do, in extinguishing the fire. CM/DeStefano then introduced Acting Asst. Fire Chief Vela who will brief the Council on the fire. Acting Assistant Fire Chief, Division 8, Vela briefed the Council and community on this morning's brush fire on the southbound SR 57 just south of Diamond Bar Boulevard. When the first unit arrived they reported two to three acres ablaze with the fire running uphill. The County of Los Angeles offers one of the "most robust air force brush responses in the nation with three water -dropping helicopters and 24 resources on a reported brush fire to keep it as small and contained as possible with minimal threat to structures, which was done this morning. With the help of air support, the ground crew was able to contain the fire to 3.9 acres and at no time were structures threatened. Because of the area it was in, the ground resources were only able to deploy from the bottom of the base up the hill once it was determined the firemen could not be brought in at the top to keep the fire from going into any of the buildings near the base. The cause is still being investigated and appears not to have been arson but rather something from the freeway such as a chain being dragged or a catalytic converter that was dumping at various spots because there were two to three separate starts. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 3 CITY COUNCIL 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Pui Ching Ho, Diamond Bar Librarian, spoke about several May events at the library, including a program for teens on Saturday, May 6 at 3:00 p.m. where they will create their own shoebox projectors to use with their smart phones. All materials and supplies will be provided and space is limited so anyone who is interested in participating should register at the information desk. On Saturday, May 13 at 3:00 p.m. families can enjoy an entertaining and educational puppet show presented by the American Red Cross. There will be an interactive session where young people can ask questions and learn how to be better prepared. Teens between the ages of 14-17 can enjoy a fun and challenging summer by becoming teen volunteers at the Diamond Bar Library to help with children's reading programs and earn service hours. Applications are available at the library and are due by Monday, May 15. To check out these and other programs, visit the website at www.colapublib.org. Many library programs are sponsored by The Friends of the Diamond Bar Library. Gladys Crittendon stated that for some time now, Mt. SAC staff have been teaching computer skills to senior residents in the library and she wondered how and why it was decided that there would no longer be such computer classes. She wondered if there could be some reconsideration to bring these very helpful classes back to the library. Hamzah Daud said he. attended the April 25th Planning Commission meeting where Item 7.1 Crooked Creek Time Extension was approved and recommended for future City Council consideration. He noticed in the agenda that the letter submitted on April 15th from the Kizh Nation's archeologist, Dr. Stickel, was not included. Dr. Stickel arrived early to the hearing and gave a copy of the letter to a staffer. The staffer came back and told Dr. Stickel they had a copy of the letter. Also, during public testimony he observed the City Attorney discount Dr. Stickel's input citing that AB52 was not applicable because the project was approved in 2007 before AB52 was instituted in 2015. To him it appears the City of Diamond Bar does not wish to communicate with the Kizh Nation or their representative, Dr. Stickel. Is this true? Furthermore, he wants the City of Diamond Bar to explain how they are upholding Governor Brown's Executive Order 131011 from 2011 and SB18 which says that cities must have a policy to communicate and consult with California Tribes. What are the claims in Dr. Stickel's letter that are correct? New science does reveal that the Kizh Nation is the only true Gabrielano Mission Indians. Wouldn't the City of Diamond Bar wish to preserve its ancient cultural history? If not, why. He also wants to know how the government seeks to uphold the proper interpretation of CEQA which allows disclosure to the public about decision-making processes utilized by agencies to approve discretionary projects_ Furthermore, how does the City correct possible errors by erroneous consultations and work to preserve our environment and our cultural resources. If this cannot be answered tonight, please write to him by June 2. His High School Democrats of America Club wants to know more about how their City is governed and he believes that transparent governing is essential MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 4 CITY COUNCIL to engaging the youth and cultivating a civic -reactive generation. Robin Smith stated that it appears that the industry of Independent Environmental Consultants employed by either developers and/or lead agencies is unregulated in the State of California. Accordingly, any individual may be become an ecological consultant and may prefer serving the interests of their clients over prioritizing the public welfare. This is a predicament well documented by state and federal conservation agencies. Indeed, much has been written about pay to play environmental reports which also involve vote - trading. Presumption of unbiased competence of independent ecological consultants may put the public health, safety and well-being at risk. It wastes taxpayer revenue and city budgets and exposes the cities to liability. Therefore, the people of Diamond Bar ask honorable Mayor Lin and any City Councilmember, if you have this information, please explain how City staff vets, verifies, monitors, and corrects the quality of environmental assessments for all development projects, especially those which pose significant environmental impacts, immediate or cumulative, to the neighborhood and to the community. Is there an implemented program of checks and balances applied to independent environmental consultations? The people have observed City staff acting on occasion to hold accountable certain discretionary surveys and the people are grateful for this. However, there is much inconsistency, minimization and apparent confusion in the process, depending on the project. Another question is, what scientific, -biological qualifications, training or licensing does—the City of Diamond Bar staff members possess to authorize CEQA Categorical Exemptions, mitigation plans or excuse programs from protocol -level environmental surveys. Without proper training, how could staff detect and intervene in assuring "best practices?" One example of city contractors working on outdated information is the landscape arborist who is ignorant and not trained on oak woodland habitat biological systems and their essential plant alliance understory. Science reveals that this particular habitat, along with Coastal Sage Scrub is the most effective support for greenhouse gas emission mitigation. The main purpose of CEQA was and is to disclose to the public, information about development projects which impact the health, safety, recreation and_ aesthetic qualities where people live. CEQA engages public participation in the process for a fair reconciliation of the impacts and mitigation for such projects. She respectfully asked how the City may engage the problem of inconsistent, incomplete, inaccurate environmental consultation reports so the public trust for our City may be strengthened. R. Lee Paulson stated that he also attended the Planning meeting for the Crooked Creek project last week and spoke about mitigation. He understands that if a developer needs to mitigate by paying the City a fee instead of putting in a park or decide to cut down trees they can pay the City a fee and he wanted to know if that was a) true and b) if true, where the money goes and how the funds are dispersed. The 1995 General Plan said that the City's Goal was to have 5.5 acres (of parks) per 1,000 people and currently, there is just a little bit over 1 (acre per 1,000 people). He thought residents were working on the planning MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 5 CITY COUNCIL process for Site D and that there would be enough parks and open space when it was all done, and instead, there was just a teeny little sliver at the end. At the Planning meeting he asked what was being done about the mitigation and what would be done to ensure that the General Plan guidelines were being enforced and there was no answer. His concern is that living in that part of the City there are not enough parks and does the City have a procedure so that if a developer does not put in the right amount of parks or if they cut down trees or destroy the landscape that actual mitigation occurs. He is concerned that the Planning Department Okays this and the only mention was when the developer said "we'll take care of you. This City is an ecological hot spot and its resources and open space are some of the most important assets the City has. Dr. Gary Stickel represents, as their tribe archeologist, the original Indian Tribe of this area, the Kizh. They are more commonly known as Gabrielanos, a name given to them by the Spanish Empire conquerors in the 1700's. It is a name they do not like. They prefer their original name of Kizh which means "people of the willow and thatched houses. In his opinion, these people have lived here for 9,000 years and when they had stewardship of "mother earth" to keep, they kept it in harmony and preserved it. This was a paradise and it certainly has the best weather in the world. Since then, through a succession of governments, all of this now, millions and millions of us live on this land that was sacred to the Kizh and still is. The majority of it including the vast majority of this City has been --destroyed. So it has come to our --attention- that in2010 at letter was"sent- to CDD/Gubman about a project. Unfortunately, Mr. Gubman never responded to Chairman Andrew Salas which is in violation of CEQA. More recently, there have been more concerns about other developments such as the Cathay Development and Crooked Creek that was mentioned earlier. Every bit of undeveloped land, especially land that contains the sacred oak trees called Saguache in Kizh, these trees have been called "the bread of life" to California Indians. They provided the acorn and the Kizh invented the process to eliminate the toxic Tannic acid from acorns so that they are edible. What is left on one property is some 400 trees that are sacred to the Kizh. He also heard that artifacts have been found there. He has not had a chance to observe them, but he understand that sacred artifacts such as what archeologists call cod stones are present in the City, maybe on that property. The Kizh call them sunstones — they represent the sun deity Tomete and so they are extremely sacred. This is evidence you have, evidence that should be educated to your people. The Kizh have a wonderful culture and they call this area yoweja. Chairman Andrew Salas had a death in the family and otherwise would have been here so that he could identify himself and his people to you who are struggling to get the recognition they so well deserve because these people have been subjected, as no other people have in California, to incredible oppression, suppression, and genocide. This is a legacy he wants the City to change because he wants the City to preserve the last of its oak trees. He understands from a previous speaker that the City is "park poor" and the City needs more parks so that the children and young people like the outstanding young man who spoke earlier can see and enjoy nature and this is the legacy that needs to be preserved for the children of MAY 2, 2017 this City. PAGE 6 CITY COUNCIL 4. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS: CM/DeStefano said that the last few speakers were all communicating with the Council regarding a project that is before the City Planning Commission headed to the City Council. It is a subdivision of land consisting of about 16 units at the end of Crooked Creek. It is one of the older land subdivisions that dates back to about 2008 that is now under consideration for Final Map approvals, recordation and the owner's intent to construct homes. It is an old project and just recently there was a Planning Commission decision to support a continuation of that project. That Planning Commission decision needs to come forward to the City Council and it is therefore not appropriate for the City Council to engage or to talk about a project that may be headed its way in the near future. Again, the speakers are representing interests that were expressed at the Planning Commission meeting regarding their opinions about the appropriateness of a project on the property and the Planning Commission's action to allow it to continue for the life of the permits. At this time, the City Council cannot get into the Crooked Creek project because it is a project that is not yet before the City Council and will come before the City Council sometime in the near future. Ms. Crittendon spoke to the use of a space that used to be within the Diamond Bar Center and was relocatedto-City Hall (the Willow Room).-- It is a space that was created many years ago as a "computer lab training center" for use by City employees as well as, Mt. SAC classes. When the space was relocated to City Hall around 2012 the space was expanded and all new equipment was put into the space, and the classes and use of the equipment was provided free of charge through the Mt. SAC program. The City is now at a point where significant consideration is underway regarding replacement of that aging and outdated equipment that would accommodate the type and style of classes that take place in that room free of charge. The cost to replace that equipment is easily in the $50-75,000 range. Staff has looked at that space and is working to determine an appropriate course of action -Conversations with Mt. SAC -began about a year ago and through confirmation of a letter dated August 2016 the City informed Mt. SAC that the classroom would no longer be available for use starting July 1, 2017. Staff believes there might be a better use of that space and any new equipment which would need to happen before new sessions were scheduled for the use of that space. In addition, the City offered Mt. SAC the opportunity to continue to use the space at a nominal rental rate which would offset some of the cost of the use of the space and the equipment that is in that room, but Mt. SAC refused. So at this point in early May the City is nearing the current term of the scheduled free classes and staff is not recommending that any additional use of that space be undertaken unless and until staff has had a chance to thoroughly examine what is occurring in that space and what the appropriate use of the public's resources are. Should it be for free, should it be for a nominal cost, or should it be for full -cost recovery are issues in a broader context that are before the City at this time with a fee study that Council is MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 7 CITY COUNCIL examining for City services throughout the organization While a couple of the speakers referred in different ways to the proposed project that may be coming the Council's way for public discussion and public decision- making, one speaker in particular, spoke to the use of environmental documents and technical expert consultants in the various disciplines to help determine the environmental impacts, environmental mitigation measures that might be appropriate and so on. Diamond Bar's City staff, particularly in the Development Services area is small and like many cities, the City's small staff does not have the depth and breadth of all of the disciplines needed to examine physical development in the City. Combined with a community like Diamond Bar that has lush forests of trees, that has hillsides with geotechnical concerns, that has a variety of unique features, it is therefore imperative that the City gain the expertise that the City and public needs through the public decision-making process to determine the impacts to any given site. To that end, the City will routinely employ, through a contract basis, engineers, biologists, environmental scientists and whatever might be needed based upon the initial impacts a project may have on a given site. All of that is vetted through the process including the public discourse such as comments received tonight and it all results in an environmental document that has been prepared and utilized to help in the decision-making for a particular project. The City engages in the contract with the professional for the specific services required for the project. The applicant who is -requesting -this- specificserviceandwhois-benefiting-by-the decisions from that specific service (personal service), pays for that service versus the community of Diamond Bar paying for an applicant's permit request through the City. So if there is a technical biological report, a detailed assessment of impacts to water quality or whatever there might be, those are skills that the City staff does not have and that the City will contract for to ensure that the project is provided with its proper review and that the City has a good understanding of what the impacts might be. Again, the cost for those projects are paid for by the City but from fees that are paid by the developer so that as previously stated, the community is not paying for that requested permit to build 16 homes on a piece of ground --it is the developer -that -is paying for that permit processing The consultants that are hired assist in the preparation of the documents and they are often experts in the field, well-heeled and well-respected authors, scientists and so forth. Typically, that firm or firms will be used to try to determine what the mitigation measures to the proposed project may be. So by example, trees may be removed, but new trees may need to be installed on that site or elsewhere. environmental consultants will be employed by the City for what is called Mitigation Monitoring, so if there are trees that need to be planted on that site or elsewhere, the planting of those trees to ensure it has been properly done (size, species, location, etc.) are done by an environmental mitigation monitor hired by the City to basically ensure that whatever is taking place out in the field is in compliance with the standards set forth for that action as well as, the conditions and the environmental mitigation measures that typically the City Council will apply to a project when the City Council approves a development. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 8 CITY COUNCIL A speaker was asking about parks, parkland, fees for parks, etc. Diamond Bar overall is park deficient, particularly in the area of "active" parks, ballfields, basketball courts, etc. With respect to more passive recreation, open space and so forth, the City is overall in pretty good shape in terms of the standards that are typically applied. Diamond Bar is not alone as a City in not having enough parkland, thanks to Los Angeles for not providing Diamond Bar with significant parkland prior to incorporation. The City has done a great job since incorporation by amassing hundreds of acres of passive open space, particularly the area near the Diamond Bar Center where there are hundreds of acres there now owned by the City. There are also many new parks that the City has developed in the years since incorporation. One of the most recent parks was Diamond Canyon Park in the Willow Heights Site D project neighborhood. That particular location was earmarked early on as an opportunity to create a park in a neighborhood that did not have a park. Some neighborhoods in the City do not have public schools where folks can recreate after hours. Some neighborhoods in the City also do not have any public parkland at all. And that particular neighborhood had zero of either. So Site D was looked at as an opportunity for park land which was debated over many years. Ultimately, a four -acre park with passive components and active components was created at Diamond Canyon Park. The City Council continues to look at opportunities to acquire additional park land space for either passive or active park use. The City continues to fund and support the construction of trails throughout the system. There is a new trail about ready to belaunched just north of Pantera Park which was a park the City Council created many years ago that the County should have done and never did. The City put up its money to get Pantera Park completed. In some parts of the City there just is not any feasible or suitable land for a public park purpose and so in some instances, developers may want to offer the City unusable property to get it off of their docket and to place it on the public's docket, which may not be an appropriate use of the public's resources. Sometimes the City will say "no" to such a proposal and those park lands/open spaces become Homeowner Association property which can be found in the Homeowners Association above Target, at Willow Heights, at the project across from South Pointe Middle School andso -on-In some cases thedeveloper like the developerof-SiteDWillow --- Heights is required to provide and build a specific park to the City's standards. The project across from South Pointe Middle School is another example of another four -acre park being built, which is currently under construction. In short, sometimes there just is no land for a park or the land is not suitable that is attempted to be gifted to the City. In those cases, a fee is established for that park land or for the potential destruction of trees. Those mitigation dollars (fee) go into specific funds that are found within the budget and are used at the City Council's discretion specifically for parks projects, either maintenance projects or new construction. C/Lyons said that with respect to the Mt. SAC classes held at City Hall she knows that there was a letter explaining the cutoff date and offering Mt. SAC the opportunity to rent the room at $50 per hour. She wondered if that offer was still on the table. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 9 CITY COUNCIL CM/DeStefano said the offer is absolutely still on the table. More importantly, a broader offer since the letter was written in August 2016 is on the table and for several months the broader offer has been to sit down with those that are asking the questions and Mt. SAC to see what the specific needs are combined with the City's needs and combined with the items needed to upgrade or replace the equipment to see whether an agreement can be struck. There is no requirement for the City to provide this service and there certainly is no requirement for the City to provide it at zero cost meaning the taxpayers are paying versus the specific users paying for that personal choice service. CM/DeStefano said he believes conversation can and should ensue to see whether a mutually acceptable agreement can be reached. C/Tye asked if these classes were taking place in the Willow Room at City Hall with the City's equipment with Mt. SAC providing the educators. CM/DeStefano responded "yes." C/Tye asked CM/DeStefano to elaborate on "experts" whether they be CEQA or Arborists, etc. when a developer has a project and the City is paying for it and being reimbursed through fees, that those experts are at the City's choosing and not at the developer's choosing. GM/DeStefano said that C/Tye was correct. In addition, -sometimes a developer will want to provide their own information. They will say they can get a tree guy to go out and count trees, physically measure the size of the trees, etc. In such cases, the City cannot reject that information the developer may wish to provide; however, the first thing the City does is hire an expert in that particular field (trees) to double check absolutely everything. Interestingly, the information is at times not correct from the developer and that is why the City does its own checking. Yes, the City picks the consultants that are needed for any particular task — traffic engineering or anything else, and the developer has zero say in that - - process. It is the City's choice as the stewards for the land and the assistance to the City Council and Planning Commission in the decision-making process and to not make it a cost of the general public, the developer who is asking for that construction permit is the one who pays the City who in turn pays the consultant. The City determines those costs through the consultant contract. 5. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE EVENTS: 5.1 Planning Commission Meeting — May 9, 2017 — 7:00 p.m. — Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.2 Traffic and Transportation Commission Meeting — May 11, 2017 — 7:00 p.m., Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 5.3 City Council Meeting — May 16, 2017 — 6:30 p.m., AQMD/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 10 CITY COUNCIL 5.4 City Council Special Closed Session - May 17, 2017 - 3:00 p.m., Public Employee Appointment (City Manager) Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957, Diamond Bar City Hall, Grand Conference Room, 21810 Copley Drive. 6. CONSENT CALENDAR: C/Herrera moved, C/Lyons seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of Item 6.5 pulled by MPT/Low. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera, Lyons, Tye, MPT/Low, M/Lin NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None 6.1 WAIVE READING IN FULL OF ALL ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS AND ADOPT THE CONSENT CALENDAR. 6.2 APPROVED CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES - April 18, 2017. 6.3 RATIFIED CHECK REGISTER DATED April 13, 2017 through April 26, 2017 totaling $1,083,898.48. 6.-4 APPROVED TREASURER'S STATEMENT FOR MARCH 2017. — 6.6 APPROVED CONTRACT AMENDMENT NO. 2 WITH FEHR & PEERS FOR ON-CALL TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING SERVICES IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,000 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016-17 AND $100,000 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017-18. 6.7 ADOPTED RESOLUTION 2017-14: AMENDING 2016-17 FISCAL YEAR BUDGET IN THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT. 6.8- APPROVED EXONERATION OF SURETY BOND NO. 0183110 TO COMPLETE ROUGH GRADING IMPROVEMENTS AND SURETY BOND NO. 929598537 TO COMPLETE PUBLIC STREET LIGHTS IMPROVEMENTS FOR TRACT MAP 72295 (COMMONLY KNOWN AS WILLOW HEIGHTS). 6.9 APPROVED CONTRACT AMENDMENT NO. 2 WITH ONWARD ENGINEERING IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,250 FOR ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR THE MORNING CANYON ROADWAY REHABILITATION PROJECT FOR A TOTAL CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $56,490. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 11 CITY COUNCIL 6.10 ADOPT ORDINANCE NO. 03(2017) OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR AMENDING DIAMOND BAR MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 2.03.030 OF TITLE 21 (SUBDIVISIONS) AND TITLE 22 ("DEVELOPMENT CODE") IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH RECENTLY ENACTED STATE REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS (ADUs): 22.080.030, 22.16.140, 22.42.060, 22.42.110, 22.42.120, 22.68.030 AND 22.80.020. MATTERS WITHDRAWN FROM CONSENT CALENDAR: 6.5 AWARD A THREE-YEAR CONTRACT WITH SIEMENS INDUSTRY, INC. FOR PROFESSIONAL TRAFFIC SIGNAL MAINTENANCE SERVICES IN A NOT -TO -EXCEED ANNUAL AMOUNT OF $185,000. MPT/Low said that the agenda package, page127 one of the paragraphs indicates that the City Council chose Siemens because of the strength and thoroughness of their proposal as well as, their competitive pricing. Siemens' pricing is not the least expensive for which she requested clarification. C/Lyons said that was her question as well. - -M/Lin said -that -in speaking with-PWD/Liu he was -told that -the lowest bidder is a very reputable company owned by Econoline, one of the largest traffic signal equipment manufacturers in the County which is why he also questioned the disparity of pricing. CM/DeStefano stated that Siemens is also one of the nation's largest providers of this particular service and has been the City's provider for many years. The City has a very robust system whereby it receives traffic alerts almost instantly when a signal is out and staff has the capability to make contact with Siemens almost immediately to have them come out and deal with the situation. They have a one-hour response time requirement within their current contract which is scheduled to be retained. Part of the reason staff is recommending that the Council continue with the successful relationship with Siemens is not only based upon the strength of the services that they have provided the City over many years, but as the Council may know, the City is expending a great deal of money changing out controllers at several intersections in the City. So far about 15 have been converted over to technical software known as D4 and the City is planning to spend more money to modernize the balance of the signal system and this company, Siemens, has experience with that particular software program. The low bidder does not. The lower bidder's monthly routine maintenance was a proposed dollar amount that was in error. The bidder submitted a proposal for only 50 of the 66 traffic signals. Each of the different providers of the service provided varying amounts based upon their best -guess as to what the services would cost and what MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 12 CITY COUNCIL their needed profit was to provide that service. The low bidder was significantly lower which does not always mean it is better. In fact, quite often in these types of contracts, maintenance costs raise more eyebrows than anything else. In this case, staff noted that there are services that Siemens and other are proposing to provide at a rate of $45 which is not expensive at $45. The low bidder was proposing a rate of $3. Does that mean the low -bidder missed a digit and will have issues later on? Staff does not know what that means but what staff does know is that the low bidder that is being referenced did not demonstrate, in staffs minds, an understanding of the requirements of the City, may not have clearly understood the contract with its detailed specifications and therefore, may not have bid properly. Those are all questions that raise concerns with your professional engineering staff which is why the recommendation was to go with the second highest bidder for the services that were called out in the bid specifications. C/Tye asked if bidding on 50 versus 66 because they did not like the other 16 because it would be too expensive and they could not be competitive, or was it because they missed the fact that the bid required 66 units. CM/DeStefano said that staff does not know, but when it makes the comparison and knows there are 66 signals in the City and a bidder is proposing to service only 50, something went -wrong. It is not staff's responsibility to educate the bidders. MPT/Low asked if there was dialogue between the City's engineers and the bidders and whether staff went back to them to discuss the difference. CM/DeStefano said that in the case of a professional services contract that can be done, but in these types of services, no. It is much more black and white and there is not an educational process, which is frankly why staff is sometimes very concerned when there is a contractor who is a low bidder and is significantly lower. It usually means something has been missed and the question becomes, is that something that will be made up in a change order later on or will it be made up in delivery of the specific services in some way. Staff does not know, but there is no back and forth on those types of issues. And, if such a contract were awarded, there would likely be subsequent contractual change request orders, but it is usually not the result of any back and forth. MPT/Low said that likewise, if there is something that has been missed possibly, then Siemens is half of what St. Francis Electric is bidding and how does staff justify that fact. CM/DeStefano said that MPT/Low was correct and that similar to his response to C/Tye, staff could not tell the Council why St. Francis Electric was $4,000 per month as the base fee, almost double that of Siemens. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 13 CITY COUNCIL Staff does not have that answer, but staff does know the rate for the services they believe appropriate to cover their costs and meet the City's specifications. C/Lyons asked if staff ever goes back to the selected bidder to explain that there are lower bids. M/Lin said in a bidding war that would not be legal or ethical. PWD/Liu added that staff received a total of four proposals and if one looked strictly at pricing, Siemens is the second lowest bidder. With the lowest bidder there are inaccurate quantities and there are some items in the bid that are very alarming. For example, under the monthly routine maintenance (preventative maintenance) there are basically three items, the $3 item CM/DeStefano mentioned which is the maintenance of the underpass bridge (soffit) lights. Agis proposed a unit cost of $3 per light. We know when those lights are serviced it requires a certain type of equipment (bucket trucks) and the hourly rate for a bucket truck is $55. So was the $3 a typo? He has no idea. When this item was compared with the other bidders, everyone else was at $45 and above for per-unit maintenance cost. Another example, under semi-annual maintenance cleaning signal lenses and sign maintenance $48.50 per unit compared to - $270 by Siemens and others, which tells him the lowest bidder is lowballing for whatever reason. Under semi-annual maintenance for replacing controller cabinet filters which are usually carried in their trucks, Siemens proposed a unit cost of $3 and Agis proposed a unit cost of $24.25 per filter which makes no sense to staff. When the monthly, semi- annual and annual costs are added together the basic cost differential is about $10,000. CM/DeStefano said that staff is recommending Siemens which is a choice the City Council has before it. If Council is comfortable with the explanations and detail in the request for contract proposal, staff would recommend that the City Council continue the service delivery with Siemens. If the Council is uncomfortable, Council may wish to continue the matter to another meeting. Staff is thoroughly satisfied that Siemens is the proper company which is staff's recommendation. C/Herrera said she knows staff has spent a great deal of time on this and they are the professional staff that has experience with this company that has served the City well and has done a good job. M/Lin echoed C/Herrera's comments and said he was satisfied with staffs response and explanation. He said that when he adds the numbers together for three years it appears staff is asking for less money. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 14 CITY COUNCIL PWD/Liu said that historically on an annual basis the City spends about $200,000 a year on signal -related maintenance items. The contract amount is estimated to be $185,000 per year. The City has $230,000 budgeted for the Traffic Signal Maintenance item. The budget level is more than adequate; however, $185,000 per year is based on years of experience and records. Remember that in addition to the routine maintenance (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual) the City has a lot of extraordinary items — everything from knockdowns to power outages which are all considered extra work. M/Lin asked if with respect to the service amount exceeding the $185,000, would it be easier to have Council approve $185,000 plus a 10 percent contingency. PWD/Liu said yes, but at this point he feels very comfortable with the recommendation because the City has had this working. relationship for many years. More importantly, through the RFP process not only does the City have the most current/contemporary proposals, staff also had a chance to compare Siemens rates with the other bidders and after doing so, staff feels very confident the City can maintain the $185,000 per -year contract along with the budget amount the City proposed this evening. C/Herrera moved, C/Lyons-seconded, to award a three-year contract with Siemens Industry, Inc. for Professional Traffic Signal Maintenance Services in a not -to -exceed annual amount of $185,000. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera, Lyons, Tye, MPT/Low, NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None 7. PUBLIC HEARING: 7.1 ADOPT RESOLUTION 2017 -XX: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR ESTABLISHING AND ADOPTING A SCHEDULE OF RATES, FEES, AND CHARGES FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AND ADMINISTRATIVE/ MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES, FOR THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR. (CONTINUED FROM APRIL 18, 2017.) M/Lin stated that two weeks ago the Council spent considerable time debating the merits of this item, opened the matter for public hearing and no one chose to speak or comment on this item. It seems to him that the City Council was not very comfortable about making its decision and was requesting additional information. To him, there are three options before the Council: 1) to approve the Resolution, 2) no motion is made or a motion is made and dies for lack of second. He believes the Council MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 15 CITY COUNCIL needs to have a more in depth review of the process and fees and does not believe in micromanaging the City because the report is very well laid out. However, he would offer a 31d option which would be for him to appoint an ad hoc committee consisting of two Councilmembers who can spend quality time reviewing the matter and offer their recommendation to the entire Council. He would prefer the 3'd option with the ad hoc committee spending at least a month studying the issue after which the City Council would hold another Study Session to discuss the matter before coming back to a regular Council Meeting for a public vote. CA/DeBerry said the Mayor of a city has the power to appoint subcommittees. MPT/Low said she would support that recommendation because the paperwork is voluminous. In reviewing this week's packet the consultant lays out four different ways of dealing with fee schedules and up to this point the Council has looked at only one and not explored the other three and for that an ad hoc committee would be helpful. C/Tye said it was probably a good idea since he thought they were going to look at this in a Study Session tonight. In his conversations with ACM/McLean about how confusing the packet and finding the information was for him he felt it would be very helpful to have an ad hoc committee. C/Herrera also agreed with creating an ad hoc committee. C/Lyons said she completely agreed that it would be a good idea to have an ad hoc subcommittee meeting to sit down with members of staff including ACM/McLean and after completing that process have the matter come back to the full City Council in a Study Session. CM/DeStefano said that based on what appears to be a consensus of the Council, staff would recommend that any action be postponed for tonight. Staff would further recommend that because this was a Noticed Public Hearing that the Council may wish to open the Public Hearing to see if there may be anyone in the audience who may have come to tonight's meeting to speak on this matter. The Council could take the testimony tonight or the speaker could hold the testimony until the date this matter would be continued to. Therefore, the recommendation would be to open the Public Hearing; receive public testimony; close the Public Hearing; and then for the Mayor to make his selection as to which Councilmembers he would like to have serve on the ad hoc committee; and, continue the Public Hearing to June 20, 2017. This will give the committee ample time to meet and then to come back to the City Council with a recommendation. M/Lin opened the Public Hearing. MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 16 CITY COUNCIL Diane Sherwood, Clear Creek Lane, said she has spent a number of hours going through the documents trying to understand the fees. There are fees that are based on the size of the projects and there are fees that are simple and straightforward that address simple increases in things like business licenses. In going through the documents, she came across a misrepresentation and called City Hall Friday afternoon to point this out to staff. Her concern was that some of the fees increase quite significantly from the current amounts. In particular, the Plot Plan Review fee with a current amount of $246 and a proposed amount of $1,670. In the packet it is indicated as a $344 increase when in fact it is a $1,428 increase (580 percent). There are other fees like the Solar Plan Check which is, in fact, going down so there are fees that are decreasing, some that are increasing moderately and others that are increasing quite significantly, which is her concern. Residents see fees in their property tax bills, water bills, phone bills, cable bills and on November 1 the City asked that citizens vote for California Measure M which increased the property taxes. The State is talking about increasing the gasoline tax and California has the second highest gasoline tax in the nation. It seems like government continues to ask for more taxes and if not taxes, then fees. She recognizes the City needs to keep its costs current and she understands the reason for the users of these services to pay for their fees. However, everyone benefits when someone permits work that is being done at their house. When neighbors and businesses do this, everyone benefits and she is not opposed to seeing tax subsidy for some of these fees. She noticed there are services that are not being charged for now that will be charged for in the future which she believes is appropriate. She noticed a Landscape Plan Check Fee. Her Homeowner's Association charges her a fee when she has to do work in her yard so she will be paying double for something like that. Again, she asks that these fees be considered seriously by referring to the report in the packet about the analysis that was done in 2009 which resulted in the City Council adopting a 3 -year phased fee increase and after that, an annual consumer price index adjustment per fiscal year. She would prefer that the Council consider phasing in these fee increases over a period of years. Receiving no other testimony, M/Lin closed the Public Hearing at 7:59 p.m. M/Lin appointed C/Lyons to Chair the Fee Study Ad Hoc Subcommittee with MPT/Low serving as a member. C/Herrera moved, MPT/Low seconded, to continue the Public Hearing for Item 7.1 to June 20, 2017. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 17 CITY COUNCIL AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Herrera, Lyons, Tye, MPT/Low, M/Lin None None 7.2 FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 04(2017) AMENDING TITLE 15 OF THE DIAMOND BAR MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADOPT BY REFERENCE, TITLE 32, FIRE CODE, OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY CODE, AS AMENDED, WHICH CONSTITUTES AN AMENDED VERSION OF THE CALIFORNIA FIRE CODE, 2016 EDITION. BO/Tao reported this Fire Code Ordinance comes up on a three-year cycle from the State of California where cities adopt the California Building Codes. The Building Code was previously adopted late last year and this ordinance relates to the Fire Code because of the late adoption by the LA County Fire Department to the Board of Supervisors. Their Code was. effective March 1 and staff is requesting its approval tonight. Most of the items are carryovers and editorial items changing prior codes with no substantive changes. Only eight items listed are changed, two of which are most applicable to Diamond Bar and include fee changes from the Fire Department where some fees were never charged (services provided at no fee) or had not been increased since 2007. Many of the changes are based on studies that have been done with other local agencies. The other change is for the roadway access requirements which include specific requirements that they used to have along with policy requirements they codified into Appendix D. With respect to Building Standards, there is a slight differentiation about how the Public Hearing takes place which is done on the Second Reading and this Code is being introduced for First Reading by Title Only of the Ordinance Amending Title 15 of the Diamond Bar Municipal Code to Adopt by Reference Title 32, Fire Code of the Los Angeles County Code, as amended, which constitutes an amended version of the California Code, 2016 Edition. MPT/Low asked if the updated fees are calculated by the Fire Department or by the City and whether the fees go to the Fire Department or come to the City. BO/Tao responded that the fees are calculated by the Fire Department based on their studies with adjacent agencies and are collected through the fire department only. The City does not receive any of the fee revenue. CA/DeBerry advised Council that the Public Hearing will take place at the Second Reading. C/Tye moved, MPT/Low seconded, to approve Ordinance No. 04(2017) for First Reading by Title Only, Waive Full Reading and schedule the MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 18 CITY COUNCIL 91 91 Public Hearing and Second Reading for May 16, 2017. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: COUNCIL CONSIDERATION: None. Herrera, Lyons, Tye, MPT/Low, M/Lin None None COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS AND MEETING ATTENDANCE REPORTS/COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS: C/Lyons said it has been a very busy couple of weeks for the City Council during which all Councilmembers and CM/DeStefano attended the Friends of the Library Wine Soiree which was held last Sunday. Everyone worked the event to raise money for the Diamond Bar Library. Funds raised will be used in many wonderful ways to benefit the community. One of the first such events will be the very popular Summer Reading Program. She thanked all of her colleagues who participated. She knows there are many in the Diamond Bar community who are familiar with Paul Knopf who was the Youth Director for Northminster Presbyterian Church for many years and she is very happy to report that Paul was ordained and installed as Pastor at the Magnolia Presbyterian Church of Riverside during a ceremony last Sunday which she attended. She showed a slide of what is "behind the fence". Everyone is looking forward to the new Sprouts Market, new Ross Clothing store and other retail establishments that will open in 2017 and 2018. While all of this work is being done at the former Kmart site, there is a big construction fence blocking the view of the restaurants and retail establishments. On their behalf, she asks that residents continue to patronize those businesses that are open. C/Herrera congratulated the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library for an absolutely wonderful and successful Wine Soiree last week. She has attended many of these events over many years and it seemed to her this was the most heavily attended and had the greatest number of baskets in the Silent Auction. It was amazing. There were so many people one could hardly walk through the aisles. It takes a lot of work on the part of many people including two Councilmembers who worked very hard as co-chairs of the event. Hopefully, the event made tons and tons of money. C/Tye reiterated the 24th Annual Friends of the Library Wine Soiree was so successful that when he realized that 22 years ago he had no idea whether they would make it to the fourth or fifth annual event. The community continues to sustain the event and it reminds him that coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, but working together is real success. It was a successful event and every cent earned goes back into the library. We talk about programs MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 19 CITY COUNCIL that are not funded like a Mt. SAC program in the library while many things in this County Library are done through the generosity of the Friends of the Library. Congratulations! Tonight the Council began the budget process looking to save as much as possible while continuing to provide the programs and services everyone expects. This process should be wrapped up in the next month or so going into the next fiscal year. He thanked everyone on staff who participated. C/Tye went on to state that Dianna Honeywell gets to present the budget but he knows everyone gets their input to make sure the City gets what it needs and the Council understands what it is looking at. It came in early and it came in under budget. C/Tye asked everyone to participate in the Relay for Life of Walnut Valley. Without exception, everyone knows about someone who has cancer or has lost someone to cancer and he hoped the communities would make this the best event ever. The event takes place on June 10-11 at Susanne Middle School in Walnut. He thanked the Interim Fire Chief for his presentation tonight. It is so impressive to learn about all of the available resources and to know that the department can quickly assess how they can fight a fire with no property or lives lost. A lot of inconvenience for freeway drivers but a very, very small price to pay for being safe. Thank you to the Fire department for all that they do which is greatly appreciated by the community. MPT/Low congratulated the Friends of the Library for their very, very successful Wine Soiree last Sunday. And -a big shout -out and thank -you to her colleagues as well as, the community members who came out to support the event and gave generously which helps the Friends to further the work into the community. For those who missed the event last week there will be another next year. Last week she and M/Lin attended the 27th Annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner hosted by the Walnut/Diamond Bar Sheriff's Booster Club. This is an event where volunteer patrol members are recognized for their generous contributions to the community by donating 2,000 hours, 5,000 hours and even 10,000 hours. Those honored included Sebe Garton, Lois Van Akin, Fernando Prado, Larry Wang, Victor Hassan, Mark Coon and Isaiah Garcia. Thank -you to all, congratulations and thank -you for your continued service. May 14th is Mother's Day and she hopes everyone will remember their mothers and all there is to be grateful for. M/Lin said that one of the advantages of speaking last is because everything you want to say has been said. He remembered that when he and MPT/Low attended the volunteer's dinner he sat next to Captain Reyes and Lt. Marquez. This is one of the longer meetings and seeing the younger attendees are getting antsy he does not want to delay any longer and wished everyone a goodnight. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business to conduct, M/Lin adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 8:06 p.m. I/ TOMM E CRIBBINS, CITY CLERK MAY 2, 2017 PAGE 20 CITY COUNCIL The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 15thday of May 2017. 2r�j t='� JIMMY OW MAYO