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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/04/2002 - City CouncilREGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF COSTA MESA NOVEMBER 4, 2002 The City Council of ,the City of Costa Mesa, California, met in regular session November 4, 2002, at 6:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers of City Hall,77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. The meeting was called to .order .,hy- the Mayor, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to- the Flag- led ---by,- Mayor Pro Tem Monahan, and invocation by Pastor William-Hemenway, Christ Lutheran Church. ROLL CALL Council Members Present;, = --M/ byor Linda Dixon Mayor Pro Tem Gary Monahan =uCouncil Member Libby Cowan (arrived at 8:00 p.m.) Council Member Karen Robinson Council Member Chris Steel Council Members Absent: Officials Present: None Deputy City Manager/Develop- ment Services Donald Lamm Assistant City Attorney Tom Wood Public Services Director William Morris Finance Director Marc Puckett Budget and Research Officer Agnes Walker Deputy City Clerk Julie Folcik MINUTES On motion by Mayor Pro Tem Monahan, seconded by Council October 16, 21, and Member Robinson, and carried 4-0, Council Member Cowan 23, 2002 absent, the minutes of the special meetings of October 16 and 23, 2002, and the regular meeting of October 21, 2002, were approved as distributed. ORDINANCES AND A motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Monahan, seconded by RESOLUTIONS Council Member Robinson, and carried 5-0, to read all ordinances and resolutions by title only. PRESENTATION . Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva presented a symbolic key, OCTA Senior Mobility representing the City's new senior bus, to Mayor Dixon in Program Grant recognition of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Senior Mobility Program, and announced that the. grant monies had been forwarded to the City. He reported that the City of Costa Mesa applied for and received grant funding and a refurbished bus, and in association with the Costa Mesa Senior Center and Western Transit Systems, began providing the OCTA Senior Mobility Program service on October 1, 2002. He congratulated the City on the manner in which they address senior issues. PUBLIC COMMENTS Hildegard Gonzales, '1932 Pomona Avenue, No. A, Costa Mesa, Hazardous Street/Alley reported that she had tripped and fallen in the alley near the Conditions Department of Motor Vehicles, 650 West 19th Street. She noted that the sidewalk in front of her residence is uneven, causing another hazardous situation, and asked that the City follow up on these conditions. She asked that Council be accessible to citizens. 1 1 1 '447 Alley Trash Problem Janice Davidson, 1982 Arnold Avenue, Costa Mesa, concurred with the above comments made by Mrs. Gonzales, stating that she is prone to falling and is at risk. She commented that the DMV alley is filthy and filled with trash. November 5, 2002, Martin Millard, 2973 Harbor Boulevard, No. 264, Costa Mesa, Election addressed the November 5, 2002, election, commenting that he felt that council members other than those in office would be elected. He observed that there is a lack of leadership in the City and current Council priorities are not in order, citing major crime and slum conditions in Costa Mesa caused by illegal aliens. Russ Niewiarowski, 20102 Kline Drive, Santa Ana Heights, encouraged residents to vote on November 5th, recommending several politicians and ballot measures. The Assistant City Attorney reminded speakers from the audience that voting recommendations are not an appropriate subject for public comment. Robin Leffler, 3025 Samoa Place, Costa Mesa, representing Mesa Verde Community, Inc., stated that the media is predicting record levels of indifference to the November 5th election, and asked citizens to assist in proving them wrong. She encouraged reading of the ballot measures in order to make an informed choice. Taping of Council Paul Bunney, Post Office Box 11024, Costa Mesa, reiterated his Study Sessions/ request that City Council study sessions be televised, stating that a Channel 74 Announce- commitment had been made by Council over a year ago. He ment commented on the foreign language announcement on Channel 74, asking the reason for this occurrence. He asked that residents support City Council candidates who care about people who vote here and honor their interest in local government. Council Candidate Ed Keane, 2777 Lorenzo Avenue, Costa Mesa, was bothered by Conflict of Interest financial support received by the candidates and attempted to address the .individual cases. . The Assistant City Attorney reiterated his position that this is not appropriate. Mr. Keane felt that Council Members should not vote on issues which involve special interest groups from which donations had been received. Costa Mesa Trash Karl Ahlf, 157 East 23rd Street, No. A, Costa Mesa, complained Problems about trash on the streets and sidewalks, suggesting that the City set up more recycling centers. School Funding Doug Sutton, 2739 Canary Drive, Costa Mesa, addressed the loss by Costa Mesa schools of a large amount of community originated funds supporting academic enrichment programs, and suggested that the liaisons to the Newport -Mesa Unified School District Board encourage the City to work with the community to replace funds. Sid Soffer Brian Evans, Post Office Box 15070, Newport Beach, distributed handouts to Council, claiming that the enclosed documents would exonerate former Costa Mesa resident Sid Soffer, 540 Bernard Street, who had previous legal problems with the City involving a building permit. He summarized Mr. Soffer's situation. MOTION/Granted A motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Monahan, seconded by One -Minute Time Council Member Robinson, and carried 3-1, Mayor Dixon voting Extension no, to extend Mr. Evans' time to speak by one minute. as Mr. Evans concluded his presentation, asking Council to consider the information presented to them. Long -Term City Needs Robert Graham, 3260 Dakota Avenue, Costa Mesa, thanked Council for their efforts, hoping that the next Council will address the City's long-term needs. Water District and Heather Somers, 313 Robin Hood Lane, Costa Mesa, stated that Sanitary District she is running for the office of member of the Board of Directors for Rate Increase the Mesa Consolidated Water District because there is a planned 40 percent increase on future taxes for water and services provided by the Sanitary District. She felt that there should have been a public vote on this tax increase, and observed that it is inappropriate not to have adequate representation for the "Toilet to Tap" plan proposed by the two Districts. She encouraged everyone to vote and to make informed decisions. Referring to a remark that Ms. Somers made at the beginning of her comments regarding the fact that some people choose to take "pot shots" at local representatives instead of participating and doing the jobs themselves, Council Member Steel asked if she included him in that remark, and the "hits" that he has taken for the last two years since he had won the election "fair and square" and had been adjudicated as such. Ms. Somers said that she disagreed with the last portion of his statement but thought that it is inappropriate for anybody to get up and take hits on people when they cannot defend themselves. Council Member Steel replied that as long as that included him, he appreciated it. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION/Approved READING FOLDER Claims On motion by Mayor Pro Tem Monahan, seconded by Council Member Robinson, and carried 4-0, all Consent Calendar items were approved as recommended. The following Reading Folder items were received and processed: Claims received by the Deputy City Clerk: Shari Bonnet; Belinda Linsday; and Dolores Nevins. ABC License Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) License request from Yan Can (formerly Mandarin Gourmet), 1500 Harbor Boulevard, Suite 1008, for an original Type 41 ABC license (on -sale beer and wine for a bona fide eating -place). BUSINESS PERMIT Notice of Intention to Appeal or Solicit for Charitable Purpose was Approved Permit for received from Japanese Chamber of Commerce Foundation, 244 Japanese Chamber of South San Pedro Street, Suite 504, Los Angeles, to solicit Commerce monetary donations from customers in front of Mitsuwa Market, 665 Paularino Avenue, and Marukai Market, 2975 Harbor Boulevard, from November 30 through December 31, 2002, to support Keiro Senior Healthcare and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce Foundation. The permit was approved pursuant to Costa Mesa Municipal Code Section 9-127(d). WARRANTS The following warrants were approved: Approved Warrant Warrant Resolution 1924, funding City operating expenses for 1924 $2,238,958.16. Approved Warrant Warrant Resolution 1925, funding Payroll 222 for 1925/Payroll 222 $1,986,278.79, and City operating expenses for $1,305,354.94, including payroll deductions. 1 1 1 4_A9 ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS/Approved Agreement with AT&T to Co -locate on Golf Course Drive Mono - pine An agreement was approved with AT&T Wireless, 2729 Prospect Park Drive, Rancho Cordova, to co -locate with Sprint PCS on the monopine at 1701 Golf Course Drive, with $18,000.00 per year paid to the City, with a 15% increase each option term (the term is five years, with four, five-year options), and the City Manager was authorized to sign on behalf of the City. Approved Agreement An agreement was approved with Alderman Engineering, 19936 with Alderman to Little Woods Road, Cottonwood, for $38,000.00, for designing of Design TeWinkle Park the renovation of the TeWinkle Park lakes, and the Mayor and Lakes Renovation Deputy City Clerk were authorized to sign on behalf of the City. Approved Agreement A Partial Assignment Agreement was approved between the City with Standard Pacific of Costa Mesa, Standard Pacific Corporation, and C. J. and Segerstrom Segerstrom and Sons, transferring certain development and Transferring Right obligations rights to Standard Pacific Corporation regarding the 26 - and Obligations for acre residential portion of the Home Ranch development, and the Home Ranch Mayor and Deputy City Clerk were authorized to sign on behalf of the City. Approved Budget Budget Adjustment No. 03-051 was approved for $405,000.00, to Adjustment No. 03-051 appropriate partial funding for Fiscal Year 2002-2003 Arterial for AHRP Projects Highway Rehabilitation Program (AHRP) projects. Accepted Street Im- Street improvements at 3030 Harbor Boulevard were completed to provements at 3030 the satisfaction of the Public Services Director by Target Harbor by Target Corporation, 1000 Nicoller Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota, in connection with several encroachment permits (DR-99-22/DR-00- 22). The work was accepted, and the bonds were ordered exonerated. PUBLIC HEARING The Deputy City Clerk announced that this is the time and place GP -02-05, City of set for the public hearing to consider General Plan Amendment Costa Mesa, Police GP -02-05, City of Costa Mesa, to create a site-specific floor area Facility ratio of 0.35 for the Civic Center complex to allow an 11,000 square -foot expansion of the Police Facility and a minor conditional use permit for a deviation from the shared parking analysis, located at 99 Fair Drive in an I & R zone. Environmental Determination: Negative Declaration. The Affidavits of Publishing and Mailing are on file in the City Clerk's office. No communications were received. The Deputy City Manager reviewed the Agenda Report. Beth Refakes, 320 Magnolia Street, Costa Mesa, hoped that the Police facility will be modernized and upgraded, and capacity planning for the future addressed. Joel Faris, 1863 Parkglen Circle, Costa Mesa, agreed that the Police facility expansion is necessary, but noted that Vanguard University had expressed an interest in purchasing City Hall. He asked if there had been discussion regarding that proposed purchase. There being no other speakers, the Mayor closed the public hearing. MOTION/Adopted A motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Monahan, seconded by Resolution 02-81 Mayor Dixon, and carried 4-0, to adopt Resolution 02-81, A Approving GP -02-05 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING GENERAL PLAN AMEND- MENT GP -02-05 TO CREATE A SITE-SPECIFIC FLOOR AREA RATIO FOR THE CIVIC CENTER SITE LOCATED AT 77 FAIR DRIVE, and adopting the negative declaration. .450 OLD BUSINESS The Deputy City Clerk presented from the meeting of September Huscroft House 16, 2002, disposal of, the Huscroft House: recommendation from staff to consider the submitted proposals, or reject the proposals and direct staff to ;proceed with obtaining proposals for the demolition and disposal of the structure. The Public Services Director summarized the Agenda Report, commenting that both of the proposals received request that the City fund a certain portion of the relocation costs. Beth Refakes, 320 Magnolia Street, Costa Mesa, opposed any proposal that would require taxpayer monies for relocation. She mentioned that one of the proposals asked for an additional six months, in which time the house would further deteriorate, and thought that the lot on Bernard Street was too small to permit the relocation. She suggested that the City "cut their losses." Robert Graham, 3260 Dakota Avenue, Costa Mesa, asked what went wrong, and inquired as to why the proposal had not been pursued. Doug Sutton, 2739 Canary Drive, Costa Mesa, answered Mr. Graham by stating that the community did not support the Huscroft House. MOTION/Continued A motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Monahan, seconded by to December 2, 2002 Council Member Steel, and carried 3-1, Council Member Robinson voting no, to continue this item to the meeting of December 2, 2002, to provide staff;the opportunity to negotiate with the owners of 126 Properties LLC to discern the best deal, realizing that it will cost $35,000.00 to demolish the structure, working that sum into mitigation or transfer of the property. Mayor Pro Tem Monahan replied to Council Member Steel by stating that the proposal from Steiner Investments did not include a site which would take approximately six months to locate, purchase, and prepare, and the Huscroft House would suffer further deterioration. Mayor Dixon asked that the following be added to the motion: direct staff to discuss a relocation permit within four months, and indemnification of hazardous materials in the structure be provided. The maker of the motion concurred with the addition. Council Member Robinson opposed the motion and the expenditure of additional City funds for relocation, etc., pointing out that the bid clearly states that the bidder needs to handle these issues. She indicated that the 126 Properties LLC proposal required conversion of their property from its current multi -tenant resident status to a common interest development, and after viewing the plans, noted that the site will be crowded. She disagreed with prolonging the matter by continuation. OLD BUSINESS The Deputy City Clerk presented from the meeting of October 7, Segerstrom Education 2002, Home Ranch Development Agreement-Segerstrom Grant/Home Ranch Education Grant. Mayor Pro Tem Monahan reported on behalf of the ad hoc committee, stating that the intent is to receive public comment this evening, continue the item to the study session of November 12, 2002, and bring it back to the Council meeting of November 18, 2002. He reviewed the committee's recommendations as contained in the Agenda Report, and invited the Segerstrom family and principals from Costa Mesa High 1 1 1 451 School, Estancia High School, and attend the aforementioned study nonvoting ex -officio members of stressed the importance of having the grant funds. TeWinkle Middle School, to session, asking them to be the ad hoc committee. He E single foundation administer Council Member Robinson concurred that a single foundation is essential, clarified that the school representatives will be nominated by the principal of each school, and emphasized recommendation No. 8, that "No more than 15 percent of each year's expenditures may be used for administrative or fundraising purposes, addresses only foundation activities." Council Member Steel complimented Mayor Pro Tem Monahan and Council Member Robinson for their efforts in this matter. He suggested that fundraising issues be addressed in closed session because of requirements of the Brown Act. Mayor Dixon suggested discussing the Brown Act issue at the study session. Robert Graham, 3260 Dakota Avenue, Costa Mesa, thought that forming one foundation for all three schools missed the opportunity to give each school something that is outside the bounds of government control. Mayor Pro Tem Monahan replied that school fundraising would still occur but that the three schools need to be brought together in this instance for overall City benefit. Robin Leffler, 3025 Samoa Place, Costa Mesa, objected to the waste of paper in the Agenda Report. Bonnie Saryan, 751 Olympic Avenue, Costa Mesa, supported formation of two foundations, one each for Costa Mesa High School, Estancia High School, and TeWinkle Middle School, each school to receive $1 million to meet diverse educational needs. She agreed that if the foundations are covered by the Brown Act, the strategies of fundraising will be a problem. Brian Evans, Post Office Box 15070, Newport Beach, thought that that the Segerstrom family should be thanked for their contribution. He asked Council to investigate his allegations regarding the documentation relating to Sid Soffer. John Rule, 215 East 23rd Street, Costa Mesa, supported the formation of two separate foundations. Council Member Robinson clarified for Mr. Rule that the monies being discussed have been negotiated through the development agreement with C. J. Segerstrom and Sons. Doug Sutton, 2739 Canary Drive, Costa Mesa, affirmed that the $2 million is not a gift but a payment to the community. He challenged the need for continued City involvement, stating that the requirement is not written into the development agreement. He believed that the foundation board should be chosen based upon what the foundation is expected to do, such as disbursement of monies, lobbying, etc. Mr. Sutton observed that this is intended to be a perpetual endowment. Karl Ahlf, 157 East 23rd Street, No. A, Costa Mesa, thought that $1 million should be given to Costa Mesa, and $1 million to Estancia and TeWinkle schools. Dave Close, 3302 Florida Street, Costa Mesa, suggested removing from the language of the report any reference to fundraising because funds should not be added to this foundation. Council Member Cowan arrived at 8:00 p.m. Council Member Cowan supported referring this item to. a study session. The Finance Director confirmed that the monies are currently in an interest bearing account. Council Member Cowan did not believe that the Brown Act applied as mentioned above, suggested that perhaps a Council Member should become an ex - officio member of the foundation, and thought there may be an overall benefit from forming one foundation, suggesting the name, "Home Ranch Educational Opportunities Foundation". Council Member Cowan agreed with Mr. Close that the foundation should not be subject to fundraising, commenting that the foundation monies were designed for specific purposes. She asked that the study session discussion include those in the community who have expressed interest in working to develop bylaws and incorporation. Mayor Dixon stated that she would like to know the pros and cons of being governed by the Brown Act. MOTION/Referred A motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Monahan, seconded by to November 12, 2002, Council Member Robinson, and carried 5-0, to receive and file the Study Session report, referring this item to the study session of November 12, 2002. NEW BUSINESS The Deputy City Clerk presented the 2002-03 First Quarter 2002-03 First Quarter Community Objectives Update; and clarification if Community Community Objectives Objective 03-D4, "Develop policy for the adoption by City Council for the timely review and approval of efforts to improve the Westside", is still necessary given appointment and ongoing meetings with the Community Redevelopment Action Committee (CRAC). The Budget and Research Officer summarized the Agenda Report. Paul Wilbur, 312 Magnolia Street, Costa Mesa, referring to Objective 01-132 regarding the Newport Boulevard Specific Plan, asked why streets are being designed which have yet to be studied, specifically ; the proposed closure at Walnut Street. Council Member Cowan replied that the City does study a street prior to design, and these are taken on an individual basis. Regarding 03-D1, incentives for owner -occupied housing on the west side, Mr. Wilbur observed that improvement in the area had not come from private investment and accused the City of not being proactive. MOTION/Received On motion by Council Member Robinson, seconded by Mayor Pro and Filed Tem Monahan, and carried 5-0, the report was received and filed, clarifying that Community Objective 03-D4 is not necessary given the appointment and ongoing meetings with the Community Redevelopment Action Committee (CRAC). NEW BUSINESS Mayor Dixon announced that staff had submitted a withdrawal of Request for Closed the item to request a closed session pursuant to Section 54957 of Session the California Government Code regarding a public employee release. 1 1 1 COUNCIL Council Member Robinson stated that she has enjoyed working COMMENTS with Mayor Dixon and Mayor Pro Tem Monahan, and wished them, Election as well as all of the candidates, the best of luck in the upcoming election. ADJOURNMENT The Mayor declared the meeting ad' urned at 8:20 p.m Mayor of the City of Costa Mesa Deput- ity Clerk of he -City of .Costa Mesa 1 1