City Council Meeting

CITY OF LOS BANOS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JUNE 3, 2015 ACTION MINUTES – These minutes are prepared to depict action taken for agenda items presented to the City Council. For greater detail of this meeting refer to the electronic media (CD and/or audio) kept as a permanent record. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Villalta called the City Council Meeting to order at the hour of 7:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Police Chief Brizzee led the pledge of allegiance. ROLL CALL – MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Council Members Tom Faria, Deborah Lewis, Scott Silveira, Elizabeth Stonegrove, Mayor Michael Villalta. STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: City Attorney Vaughn, Assistant City Clerk/Human Resources Technician Sousa, Police Chief Brizzee, Acting City Manager Williams, City Treasurer/Accountant I Brazil, Fire Chief Marrison, Assistant Planner II Elms, Public Works Director/City Engineer Fachin and Information Technology Director Spalding. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Lewis, seconded by Stonegrove to approve the City Council Meeting agenda as submitted. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING FLAG DAY: Mayor Villalta presented the proclamation to Allan Cotta representing Los Banos Elks, Lodge #2510. CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION TO MR. BUSSE’S FIFTH GRADE CLASS AT VOLTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Mayor Villalta presented the Certificate of Recognition to Mr. Busse and his class. PUBLIC FORUM: MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MAY ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ON ANY ITEM OF PUBLIC INTEREST THAT IS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE CITY; INCLUDES AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS. NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS. SPEAKERS ARE LIMITED TO A FIVE (5) MINUTE PRESENTATION. DETAILED GUIDELINES ARE POSTED ON THE COUNCIL CHAMBER INFORMATIONAL TABLE. Rick Toscano, Chairman of the American Legion Post 166, spoke about the American Legion Auxiliary program that sends young men to attend a State leadership conference and how he and other members had the privilege of interviewing ten students from Pacheco High School and Los Banos High School, this year we had incredible kids and it is not fun picking only one of them, they all do such a great job; ALLAN COTTA, American Legion Post 166, introduced the top three students: Matthew Murphy from Pacheco High School who thanked his parents for the opportunity to learn about government, Tyler Kern from Pacheco High School who thanked his mother for her support and his History teacher for recommending him, John Strakowski from Los Banos High School who thanked his parents for all their love and support; MARY ANN PARADISO, local American Legion Unit 166, spoke about the State leadership conference and how it teaches young ladies about the operations of government, the top three students were introduced as Peyton Brazil of Los Banos High School who spoke about the various clubs she participates in, she is currently the 2015 May Day Queen, and she thanked her parents for their support, Ashton Tomas of Los Banos High School, 2014-2015 Los Banos FFA President, spoke about the various clubs she is involved in and thanked her parents for always supporting her, Stephanie Selen from Pacheco High School, spoke about the various clubs she’s involved in, thanked her mother, and spoke about how her grandmother attended Girl’s State in 1959 as a Delegate; CURTIS FOURNIER, volunteer for the American Cancer Society, spoke about how he is a cancer patient and a survivor, spoke about Relay for Life and how they raised $77,217 which will be donated to the American Cancer Society, he currently takes chemotherapy everyday of the year, in 2010 he was given only 2 years to live and he’s still here, encouraged everyone to come out and join Relay for Life next year, we celebrate life and have fun and it’s all for a good cause; TIM MARRISON, Los Banos Fire Chief, introduced fire department employees who recently moved up due to Fire Chief Guintini’s recent retirement and thanked the Human Resources Department for their time and effort in the promotional and hiring processes, the newest Firefighter introduced was Jacob Sawyer who came to the department from CalFire, also introduced were newly promoted Fire Engineer Fernando Garcia, newly promoted Fire Captain Roger Hughes, and Mason Hurley who was promoted to Assistant Fire Chief, Marrison spoke highly of all the employees and how combined they have many years of experience to offer the department; RHONDA LOWE, spoke about the new 2015 visitor’s guide will showcase what Los Banos has to offer; BERTHA FARIA, Los Banos Chamber of Commerce, spoke about how tomorrow the Tea Party will host a question and answer session regarding the drought and how it affects us all, on Tuesday, June 9th there is a ribbon cutting planned for Head on Tours at the Chamber office, last Tuesday the Chamber welcomed Carpet’s Plus, and New Frontier Consulting Investments LLC that happens to be the company working on the new family entertainment center, Father’s Day in the Park will be held on Saturday, June 20th and the Chamber is still accepting applications for vendors of all kinds; GARY BRIZZEE, Los Banos Police Chief, spoke about recent hires and promotions in the Police Department and introduced the employees stating they have a lot of experience and are transitioning from one position to another, Brizzee introduced new Code Enforcement Officer Brittany Rogers who has been with the department as a Dispatcher for over a year and spoke of four employees who will attend the Police Academy together for the next six months and three of which most recently held the position of Community Services Officer, Brian Butler, Omar Mondragon who began as a Police Explorer with the department and Anthony Veloz who is a new employee with the City but was a Police Explorer with the department for over five years until he aged out, spoke about how excited he is to have them attending the Police Academy and how physically demanding it is, we are filling in some holes in our department, thanked the Human Resources Department for all their assistance over the years. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA. Motion by Faria, seconded by Silveira to approve the consent agenda as follows: Check register for #153392 – #153605 in the Amount of $2,402,679.28; minutes for the adjourned City Council Meeting of May 26, 2015. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. PUBLIC HEARING – TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDERATION OF THE LEVY OF THE PROPOSED ANNUAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE 2015-2016 FISCAL YEAR FOR LANDSCAPING AND LIGHTING DISTRICT NOS. 1 – 7 AND 9 – 19. Public Works Director/City Engineer Fachin presented the report. Mayor Villalta opened the public hearing. No one came forward to speak and the public hearing was closed. Motion by Silveira, seconded by Lewis to adopt City Council Resolution No. 5663 – Confirming Diagram and Assessment and Levying Assessments for Assessment District Nos. 1–7 and 9–19 for the 2015-2016 Fiscal Year. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. PUBLIC HEARING – TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDER ADOPTION OF A NEW UPDATE TO THE MOBILE VENDOR ORDINANCE LOCATED IN TITLE 9, CHAPTER 3, ARTICLE 26 OF THE LOS BANOS MUNICIPAL CODE. Assistant Planner II Elms presented the report which included a detailed PowerPoint and provided Council with alternatives for six different issues being addressed within the updated Ordinance. There was Council Member discussion regarding health inspections being completed by the Merced County Health Department and if it was necessary to have our Fire department duplicate those services, if the vendors were required to have reflectors because it is dark early at certain times of the year and they are in the public right-of- way, concerned for the safety and welfare of the public, how many vendors would be allowed along Pacheco Boulevard and Henry Miller Plaza and if it’s a good idea to have those venues used every day or just for special events and occasions, raising the bar regarding how businesses look and how they conduct themselves, concern regarding setting precedent and how the Council needs to protect the existing businesses, making sure there is sufficient parking including handicap accessible parking with regards to mobile vendors on private property, maybe designate specific zones throughout the City for mobile vendors to operate in, if there is any urgency to adopt this Ordinance that will affect current vendors and if there had been any discussion regarding the cost of a one day permit, how more information would have been nice to have in the packet in order to make a clear decision on the item, and how it is imperative for Council Members to make phone calls to staff and have discussion regarding items in the packet so they can have some answers to their questions prior to the meeting, a Google map scenario including traffic flow was requested. City Attorney Vaughn addressed the comments stating that in the public right of way it is a statewide concern as well as a local concern and restrictions have to be in place for the public safety and welfare, he could not find any cases with the 180 day limitation that related to public safety so that is one reason why staff is suggesting to remove the 180 restriction; as far as brick and mortar buildings go and where a vendor can be located, the Ordinance is broken into vending on public property and vending on private property, the 500 foot rule is restricted to commercial zones and we’re talking about a permanent location in a commercial area, the only criteria used to develop this is that we aren’t going to allow a vendor to be next to a brick and mortar business, there are a number of cases in Southern California discussing the issue, the 500 foot restriction in this Ordinance only deals with private property in a commercial zone; Assistant Planner II Elms addressed some of the comments stating that from the public mobile vendor point of view there is an urgency to adopt this Ordinance, there are 2 Ordinance readings and then it takes 30 days for the Ordinance to go into effect, if the Council introduced the Ordinance tonight the Ordinance wouldn’t go into effect until July 17, 2015; she has had twenty or so vendors that she’s had to turn away because the vendor is within the 500 foot restriction in the current Ordinance; the cost of a one day permit would be brought to Council in a separate resolution and the cost would only be to cover the staff time. Assistant Planner II Elms stated the Google map scenario with traffic flow is not a problem for staff. Mayor Villalta opened the public hearing. ISRAEL HERNANDEZ, Rainbow Ice Cream, stated he attended the Planning Commission meeting where the issue was discussed and how he wants to get another 180 days to extend the permit; MARIA TELLEZ, Dos Palos, spoke about how she plans on opening her business in Los Banos and is having a difficult time finding a location, she’s been waiting for 2 months for an owner to give her permission to vend on their property, has been looking around for other locations and it’s difficult to get someone to let them operate their business; BOB REISTER, Los Banos, spoke about a vendor that has their megaphone blaring and how he has approached the person and asked them to turn it down, he understands there is a code that requires the vendor to turn the megaphone down, when he has contacted the authorities he has been asked to take a picture of the truck, suggested the vendors be required to post their license where the public can view it so they can report the information to the authorities. No one else came forward to speak and the public hearing was closed. Motion by Faria, seconded by Lewis to continue the public hearing to June 17, 2015. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. ADVISEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICES (No Report). CITY MANAGER REPORT. Acting City Manager Williams offered condolences to the Mayor for the loss of his father; congratulated both Sidney Carrigan, City Manager Carrigan’s daughter and Trent Mallonee, City Clerk/Human Resources Director Mallonee’s son on their graduation from the 8th grade. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS. ELIZABETH STONEGROVE: Congratulated both the Pacheco High School and Los Banos High School graduating class of 2015. TOM FARIA: Offered heartfelt sympathies to the Mayor for the loss of his father and how the mass was beautiful with proper honors; the Flag Day ceremony will be held on June 10, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall; Father’s Day in the park is Saturday, June 20, 2015 and will feature many graduates of the High School music program. DEBORAH LEWIS: Gave her condolences to Mayor Villalta for his father’s passing, he was a sweet and kind and gentle man, she understands what it is like to lose your last parent especially after you’ve cared for them for so long; invited the public to attend the Merced Fair, there is much to see including the local FFA and 4-H students participate; Go Warriors! SCOTT SILVEIRA: Offered Condolences to Mayor; congratulated the new firemen on their promotions and the new Police Trainees who will be attending the academy, looks forward to seeing the new Officer’s on the streets; really likes the new Fire Department patches and asked Chief Marrison if he could get those on the City’s website. MAYOR MICHAEL VILLALTA: Congratulated all the graduates of 2015; thank you to the Police and Fire Chiefs for the presentation of their employees, thank you for the great job you do; please attend the Merced County Fair, it’s a great place to be and we’re lucky we have 2 fairs within 2 months of each other. ADJOURNMENT. The meeting was adjourned at the hour of 9:13 p.m. APPROVED: /s/ Michael Villalta__________ Michael Villalta, Mayor ATTEST: /s/ Jana R. Sousa ____________ Jana R. Sousa, Assistant City Clerk