Loading...
CC MINS 19980420 ADJMINUTES RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING APRIL 20, 1998 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 9:15 a.m. by Mayor Ferraro in the Community Room at City Hall, 30940 Hawthorne Boulevard. Roll call was answered as follows: PRESENT: Hollingsworth, Ferraro, McTaggart ABSENT: Byrd LATE ARRIVAL: Lyon at 9:30 A.M. Also present were City Manager Paul Bussey, Assistant City Manager Carolynn Petru, Director of Finance Dennis McLean, Director of Public Works Les Evans, Director of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Joel Rojas, Senior Planner David Snow and Administrative Analyst Phyllis Butts. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA The agenda was approved by acclamation. BUDGET POLICY ISSUES FOR 1998 -99 FISCAL YEAR (602) 1. Twenty -fifth Anniversary Celebration It was the consensus of Council to include $25,000 in the draft budget to fund the City's twenty -fifth anniversary celebration. 2. Continuing Assistance for Eastview "Open Enrollment" It was the consensus of Council not to include a specific amount in the draft budget, but to make adjustments to the budget as deemed appropriate in the coming fiscal year to support "open enrollment" efforts. 3. City all Renovation Councilman McTaggart asked staff about the cost of installing an air conditioning system at City Hall. Director of Public Works Evans replied that it would cost approximately $100,000 to install such a system in the two -story Administration building. Councilman Hollingsworth stated that he was not in favor of making any substantial improvements to City Hall for a 3 to 4 year period, until the City's Utility Users Tax had been eliminated. Both Mayor Ferraro and Councilman McTaggart felt that the City Hall needed to be properly maintained in order to provide a healthy working environment for the employees. City Manager Bussey clarified that the improvements requested by staff were necessary maintenance items. Councilman McTaggart suggested that the Council include $50,000 in the draft budget to replace the worn -out carpet and leaking windows. Lois Larue, 3136 Barkentine Road, pointed out several typographical errors in the staff report and indicated that she was opposed to providing additional community outreach; having a merit compensation pool; and, funding the Army Corps of Engineers Shoreline Protection Study. She also felt that Charles Abbott and Associates should be held accountable for the need to update the City's Source Reduction and Recycling Element (SRRE). It was the consensus of Council to include $50,000 in the draft budget for City Hall renovations. (At 9:30 A.M. Councilwoman Lyon arrived and was present for the remainder of the meeting.) 4. Additional Community Outreach Councilman McTaggart felt that more than $10,000 (staff s recommendation) would be necessary to make the community outreach effort successful. Councilman Hollingsworth thought that the program would save staff time in the long run in answering questions from the public and correcting misinformation. Councilwoman Lyon agreed with her fellow Councilmembers and felt that more creative and innovative ways to disseminate information to the public were necessary. City Council Minutes April 20, 1993 Page 2 The Council briefly discussed the pros and cons of hiring a temporary part time employee instead of a consultant, but decided that this decision will be made at a later date. It was the consensus of Council to include $30,000 in the draft budget to provide additional community outreach programs. 5. Merit Compensation Pool, Incentive Pool and Salary Range Adjustment It was the consensus of Council to include the following in the draft budget: 1) $90,000 for the merit pool; 2) a 1.5% adjustment to the salary ranges; and 3) $28,000 for the incentive pool. 6. Sidewalk Maintenance Program After a brief explanation of the new sidewalk grinding option, the Council felt that there should be a newsletter article to inform the public about how this option will help residents save money while still providing sidewalk safety. It was the consensus of Council to include $10,000 in the draft budget for the inclusion of sidewalk grinding as part of the annual sidewalk replacement program. 7. Armvv Corps of Engineers Shoreline Protection Project Mayor Ferraro asked if the planning phase of this project had been completed. Director of Public Works Evans answered that the planning. phase was complete. The funding being requested for the 1998 -99 Fiscal Year was for the preliminary design work, provided that the Corps determined the project to be feasible based on the planning effort. Councilman Hollingsworth asked when the City might know if the Corps had determined that the project was feasible. Director Evans replied that an answer was expected by Summer 1998. Councilman McTaggart indicated that the Port of Long Beach had expressed recent interest in this project as mitigation for its expansion projects. City Council Minutes April 20, 1998 Page 3 City Manager Bussey indicated that both the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles have expressed some interest about the mitigation potential of the City's shoreline protection project. Councilwoman Lyon indicated that it should be made very clear in the draft budget that the $83,300 was only a placeholder and that the money cannot be spent without prior City Council approval. It was the consensus of Council to include $83,300- in the draft budget to fund the next phase of the Shoreline Protection Project, should the Army Corps of Engineers determine that the project is feasible. 8. Public Works Complaint Tracking Svstem Councilman McTaggart indicated that he was in favor of this budget item, but wanted to make sure that it was compatible with the existing ARCVIEW software that the City previously received from SCAG. It was the consensus of Council to include $18,000 in the draft public to provide complaint tracking software. 9. AB 939 Recycling Base Year Recalculation Councilwoman Lyon asked if the waste haulers could be required to pay the cost of the AB 939 recalculation. Director of Public Works Evans indicated that the initial miscalculation was not the waste haulers fault. In 1991, the commercial haulers were not franchised and there were numerous other haulers (such as construction and landscaping contractors) who's contributions to the landfill were not accounted for in the original estimates. It was the consensus of Council to include $10,000 in the draft budget for the preparation of a "limited scope" waste generation study to establish a new base year refuse disposal number for the purpose of calculating the City's AB 939 diversion rate. 10. Utility Users Tax and Utility Franchise Compliance Services Councilman Hollingsworth asked that the staff check the program after it had been in operation for one year to make sure that the City was saving at least as much or more than was being spent for the compliance review. City Council Minutes April 20, 1998 Page 4 It was the consensus of Council to include $12,500 in the draft budget to hire a consultant to provide professional /technical compliance review services to ensure proper collection of UUT and utility franchise fees. 11. Upgrade of Computer Network Councilman McTaggart indicated that the City needed a T1 connection to P.V. On The Net for a fast and reliable internet connection. However, the system would need a "firewall" in order to prevent security breaches. City Manager Bussey indicated that an internet connection may already be included in this year's budget. The Council then discussed the need to keep the City's computer network system up- to -date in order for the staff to function efficiently and provide the best service to the public. It was the consensus of Council to include $50,000 in the draft budget to upgrade the computer network system. 12. Planning Permit Tracking System Councilman Hollingsworth was in favor of including a user fee to recoup some of the cost of providing the permit tracking system. Councilman McTaggart noted that it would be very expensive to go back and- input historical data into such a system, but suggested that it may be a good project for a student intern. It was the consensus of Council to include $60,000 in the draft budget for a planning permit tracking system, with the stipulation that every effort should be made to combine this system with other software packages that the City currently considering, such as the accounting software package. Councilwoman Lyon moved to add an emergency item to the agenda regarding SB 1681 noting that the State legislature would be taking action on this within the two days and that Council testimony on the matter was necessary; additionally, that Council had become aware of this matter after the preparation and publication of the agenda for this meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilman McTaggart and carried. City Council Minutes April 20, 1998 Page 5 Councilwoman Lyon indicated that SB 168, the Eastview "open enrollment" bill sponsored by Betty Karnette, was scheduled to be heard by a Education Subcommittee in Sacramento on Wednesday, April 22, 1998. She felt that it was very important that the City provide input to the Subcommittee and that, if possible, a member of the Council should attend the hearing. It was the consensus of Council that each Councilmember should fax a letter supporting SB 1681 and that Councilman Hollingsworth would try to attend the Subcommittee meeting on April 22, 1998 in Sacramento. AUDIENCE COMMENTS There was no response call to the Mayor's call for audience comments. ADJOURNMENT At 10:35 a.m., Mayor Ferraro declared the meeting adjourned to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 1998 for a View Restoration Permit Appeal hearing prior to the next regular meeting. ATTEST' IN CLERK N: \GROUP\CITYCLRK \MINUTES \CCMINS\042098CC.MIN A &1 0;, A City Council Minutes April 20, 1998 Page 6