City Council Meeting

CITY OF LOS BANOS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MARCH 16, 2016 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: Acting Police Chief Reyna 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; Absent: None. STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: City Attorney Vaughn, Assistant City Clerk/Human Resources Technician Sousa, Interim City Manager Brizzee, Finance Director Williams, City Treasurer/Accountant I Brazil, Fire Chief Marrison, Senior Planner Elms, Public Works Director/City Engineer Fachin and Information Technology Director Spalding. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Lewis seconded by Faria to approve the City Council Meeting agenda as submitted. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. 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. DONALDA SOUSA, Los Banos, thanked Mayor Villalta for getting the weeds around town cleaned up, believes the corner across from the courthouse should be cleaned up as well, how lawns are not being kept up with regards to vacant homes for sale and particularly a vacant home for sale in her neighborhood and she wants to know what can be done about it, the property manager is not being responsive to her, City Code Enforcement has been awesome to help out in this situation, there is a broken window at a house in her neighborhood, how the City has an Ordinance in place and she believes it should be followed, City Code Enforcement is getting the same answer that she is from the property management company and something needs to be done. MARJIE KIRN, Merced County Association of Governments, wanted to address some of the issues that were discussed by several of the Council Members at the last City Council meeting regarding a proposed transportation measure and the Los Banos Bypass, Council Member Lewis is correct in stating that there will be opportunities in the coming weeks to speak on the proposed transportation plan, currently working with Interim City Manager Brizzee to schedule a community workshop in mid April, offered to have a study session regarding the expenditure plan to address any questions or concerns the Council may have regarding the administration and implementation of the plan, in regards to the Los Banos Bypass Project she wanted to clarify that the Los Banos Bypass is still on MCAG’s project list and has been in MCAG’s Regional Transportation Plan for the last 20 years, the project remains a priority of the MCAG Governing Board and is a Tier 1 priority which means it’s the highest priority it can be, the Los Banos Bypass is one of four projects which includes Los Banos Bypass Phase 1 and 2, the Livingston Freeway Project, and Campus Parkway, there was also some discussion at the last City Council meeting regarding the possibility of polling residents to see how they feel about the Los Banos Bypass, Council Member Lewis suggested this is a regional project and she is correct that it is under the purview of MCAG and Caltrans, MCAG can look at surveying the public if that’s the desire of the Council, public outreach and gathering public information is part of the outreach and the job of MCAG and she wanted to offer that to the Council, looks forward to meeting with the Council with regards to the expenditure plan at a future meeting. BERTHA FARIA, Los Banos Chamber of Commerce, welcomed Michael Sanders and Golden State LED, the Country Duck and Joe Gutierrez State Farm Insurance to membership with the Los Banos Chamber of Commerce, tomorrow evening the Los Banos Golden Agers are having their monthly dinner and they will be serving corned beef and cabbage at the Community Center, Los Banos Rotary Crab Feed is being held on Friday at the Los Banos Fairgrounds, OLF Spring Gala will be held on Saturday at the Los Banos Fairgrounds, the NAACP Branch 12AA of Los Banos will present the stage play 7 Women 7 Stools at the Ted Falasco Art Center, the March Mixer will be held with The Office City celebrating their anniversary on Thursday, March 24th, the deadline for vendor entries for the Spring Street Faire is Friday, March 25th, the Chamber Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday, March 23rd at Country Waffles; MIKE BONILLAS, Los Banos, thanked the City for replacing the sign at his grandfather’s field, spoke about how he recently started a drone aerial photography and data analysis company, would like to have an open conversation regarding bringing drones to Los Banos and believes it would benefit the City, how he just got back from Los Angeles and his pilot was hired by two media companies and will be on set with a movie there, can bring in the people and equipment, how the industry is getting ready to take off and drones will be flying all over and he wants to be the one to help the City get involved, CalPoly Pomona is the lead educator in drones and his company is in contact with them, he can give a demonstration if the City is interested, how the drones can fly over and see if someone is watering when they shouldn’t be; ERIK LIMON, Republic Services, announced the Annual Spring Clean-up Day being held Saturday, April 16th between 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., please continue to recycle to help us reach our State mandated diversion goal, how as a Planning Commissioner he appreciates the Planning Commission Academy put on by City staff and has learned a lot, he is fortunate to be a part of the City; NAYELI GONZALEZ, Los Banos, Senior at Pacheco High School, invited everyone to the Shred-it fundraiser on Saturday, April 16th from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., $5 per paper copy box and all the money will go through Rotary toward Merced County’s foster children and to collect 500 backpacks for foster children in the community. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA. Motion by Faria, seconded by Lewis to approve the consent agenda as follows: Check Register for #158206 – #158401 in the Amount of $3,159,009.36; Minutes for the February 17, 2016 City Council Meeting; City Council Resolution No. 5731 – Authorizing the Release of Unclaimed Checks and Deposits Pursuant to California Government Code Section 50050 and 50053 to the City of Los Banos; City Council Resolution No. 5732 – Adopting a Revised Budget for the 2015-2016 Fiscal Year as it Pertains to Expenditures in the Fire Department’s Vehicle Repair & Maintenance Account; City Council Resoluion No. 5733 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of One (1) Full Size One-Half ton Truck to Bonander Buick GMC in the Amount of $29,281.55 and Authorizing the City Manager to Execute Documents Related to Purchase. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. PUBLIC HEARING – TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDERATION OF GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT #2016-01, ZONE CHANGE #2016-01, AND AMENDMENT OF THE STONECREEK SOUTH AREA PLAN FOR SPRIG HAVEN FARMS LLC FOR THE AMENDMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN DESIGNATIONS OF APROXIMATELY 21 ACRES CURRENTLY DESIGNATED AS NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL, PARK, AND MEDIUM DENSITY INTO COMMERCIAL, AND REZONE THE SAME PROPERTY FROM NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL (CN) TO HIGHWAY COMMERCIAL LOCATED ON WEST PACHECO BOULEVARD AND WEST OF BADGER FLAT ROAD, ASSESSOR’S PARCEL NUMBERS 430-010-004, 005 AND 430-010-040. Senior Planner Elms presented the report which included a PowerPoint. Mayor Villalta inquired as to if there is a possibility for expansion and Senior Planner Elms stated there is plenty of room for expansion and the City would welcome that. Mayor Villalta opened the public hearing, no one came forward to speak and the public hearing was closed. Motion by Faria, seconded by Lewis, to waive the second reading of Ordinance No. 1143 – Amending the Official Zoning Map by Rezoning Property Located on Assessor’s Parcel Numbers: 430-010-004, 005 and 040 from Neighborhood Commercial (C-N) to Highway Commercial (H-C). The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. Motion by Faria, seconded by Lewis, to adopt Ordinance No. 1143 – Amending the Official Zoning Map by Rezoning Property Located on Assessor’s Parcel Numbers: 430- 010-004, 005 and 040 from Neighborhood Commercial (C-N) to Highway Commercial (H-C). The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. PUBLIC HEARING – TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDERATION OF ADOPTING AN ORDINANCE TO REGULATE AND CREATE A PROCESS FOR TEMPORARY USES ON PRIVATE PROPERTY IN THE CITY OF LOS BANOS. Senior Planner Elms presented the report which included a PowerPoint. Council Member Silveira inquired as to how the City will enforce exempted uses such as yard sales, we’re asking our staff to enforce another rule and we don’t have the staff levels now to enforce these activities. City Attorney Vaughn spoke regarding yard sales and how it will be a simple registration process through City staff, if a resident decides to have a yard sale and the yard sale is unregistered the Code Enforcement Officer would have the ability to shut down the yard sale, the purpose is to track how many yard sales the property is having in a twelve month period, used an example of there being a number of temporary storage containers on properties but no way to regulate how long they’ve been there which poses a problem for Code Enforcement, these types of activities are the main complaints that Code Enforcement receives and there is currently no way of tracking or regulating activities like this, the philosophy and idea of the registration process is if you’re not registered then you’re out of compliance, staff visualizes the process as a simple form to register the activity. Council Member Lewis referred to Section 9-3.3803 5a where the language refers to the number of registered yard sales a resident may have per twelve month period and how there is nothing that connects it to a person, which means that a person can have yard sales on someone else’s property and have more than the allowed amount of sales. Interim City Manager Brizzee stated the complaints received from a Code Enforcement standpoint usually surround a particular property having multiple yard sales and abusing their privilege to have yard sales, how there are complaints received regarding the customers visiting these yard sales not obeying traffic laws and upsetting neighbors in the area, staff is trying to address the quality of life in our neighborhoods. Council Member Lewis referred to Section 9-3.3803 5e(ii) pertaining to sign placement and how she would like to see the word “similar“ changed to “any” so that it would cover any public right of way, she wants to ensure the public is well informed on these changes. Mayor Villalta inquired as to if there are any activities or designated uses the Council has control over such as a used car sale tent type of event and if those types of activities could be limited or eliminated. Senior Planner Elms stated the events being held would need to meet all the City requirements and obtain a permit, explained how City staff has distributed a Request for Proposals seeking a contracted Code Enforcement Officer and those services will be determined based on the type of proposal the City received, which may include weekend enforcement to help cover these types of activities being held. City Attorney Vaughn stated that even if the intent of the limitation is to protect the community, he is not sure any particular activity should be singled out because it can be a slippery slope when you start to limit activities. Council Member Silveira inquired as to the amount the City pays when information is sent out to residents in the utility bills. Finance Director Williams stated the cost will depend on the flyer being double-sided, black/white or color, but generally the cost is around $1,000. Mayor Villalta opened the public hearing. KATHY BALLARD, Los Banos, what you’ve put together is awesome, likes that if someone does violate the policy there is something to fall back on, concerned that some public events being held on private property may not be aware of this Ordinance and then advertise their events later to find out they should have obtained a permit, the Golden Ticket is an event every year that is put on at Christmas time, the Halloween event at Home Depot, not sure if the Chamber of Commerce has a list of events but she is aware of these events because she attends them. SENIOR PLANNER ELMS stated the City is repealing an existing section in the code right now regarding parking lot events and most of the events do check with the City to obtain the proper permits, the City will continue to publicly push the information out to the community. COUNCIL MEMBER STONEGROVE thanked City staff for working on this Ordinance, there is no possible way to catch every person that violates the Ordinance, having these guidelines laid out is better than being vague, we will have people who don’t follow the Ordinance and don’t get caught but that isn’t a reason to not do it. No one else came forward to speak and Mayor Villalta closed the public hearing. Motion by Stonegrove, seconded by Faria, to waive the first reading of Ordinance No. 1144 – Repealing Article 38 Chapter 3 to Title 9 of the Los Banos Municipal Code and Enacting a New Article 38 Chapter 3 to Title 9 of the Los Banos Municipal Code Entitled Temporary Uses and making the change to the wording of Section 9-3.3803 5e(ii) to replace the word “similar” with “any” in reference to public facilities. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. Motion by Stonegrove, seconded by Faria, to introduce Ordinance No. 1144 – Repealing Article 38 Chapter 3 to Title 9 of the Los Banos Municipal Code and Enacting a New Article 38 Chapter 3 to Title 9 of the Los Banos Municipal Code Entitled Temporary Uses and making the change to the wording of Section 9-3.3803 5e(ii) to replace the word “similar” with “any” in reference to public facilities. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all City Council Members present. LOS BANOS POLICE DEPARTMENT UPDATE – Acting Chief of Police Reyna presented the report, which included a PowerPoint. ADVISEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICES (No Report). CITY MANAGER REPORT. The City is planning to hold a public workshop in mid April to discuss the ½ Cent Sales Tax Plan that MCAG is proposing to bring forth to the voters in November; thanked Acting Chief of Police Reyna for his presentation and stated that Proposition 47 has definitely been a game changer for law enforcement; asked Public works Director/City Engineer Fachin to speak briefly regarding the progress made in regards to the City’s water quality. Public Works Director/City Engineer Fachin spoke about how he and another staff member have been to Merced several times to answer to the Grand Jury on the chromium issue, yesterday two Engineers from Höganäs flew in and got together with City staff, what is taking time is for the State to approve the protocol, the City is three years ahead on the issue but wants to get going as soon as possible, staff has chosen Well 14 located at 470 Birchwood Avenue and will put a trailer up on Friday, April 1st with a separate fencing enclosure for at least six months, would like to start the testing now and plans on talking to the State about that, would like to see some results on the City’s side so that we can work out any bugs that may be in the system, staff will start some testing of our own the first two weeks of April but the State protocol will not be ready to go, the City will put cameras up around the facility to protect the trailer, the State wants to test the Well that has the most challenges and staff believes Well 14 is the one. Council Member Silveira stated that when the trailer is set up he’d like to go out and check out the trailer. Public Works Director/City Engineer Fachin stated he will take anyone into the trailer who wants to see it, several radio and television stations want to come out and take pictures as well. Mayor Pro Tem Faria stated he is very pleased to see this, once the whole system gets up and running it would be a wonderful opportunity for local schools to get educated on the process. Public Works Director/City Engineer Fachin stated that thanks to a very close contact he has at UC Merced he’s been scheduled to talk to a group regarding the issue, if the public would like more information the white paper can be found on the City’s website in both English and Spanish. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS. TOM FARIA: Happy St. Patrick’s Day. DEBORAH LEWIS: Happy St. Patrick’s Day; thanked Acting Chief of Police Reyna for his presentation and the Police Department for all the service that they provide in the community, glad they’re here to protect us and that we have such a wonderful group of men and women in our department; wanted to clarify the statement made by Marjie Kirn of MCAG during the public forum regarding her comments about the public hearings coming up, stated the reason she made the comments was because the Council was debating on whether or not they wanted to spend City money to research whether or not our community wanted a Bypass and her statement was not related to anything that MCAG was doing, wanted to make sure the public was clear on why she made that statement. SCOTT SILVEIRA: Reminded everyone that the May Day Fair will be held Wednesday, April 27th through Sunday, May 1st, will provide an update on the events occurring in the grandstands at the next meeting. ELIZABETH STONEGROVE: Thanked Acting Chief of Police Chief Reyna for his report; reminded everyone about the Spring Clean-up Saturday, April 16th; Happy St. Patrick’s Day. MAYOR MICHAEL VILLALTA: Loves when young people get involved in the community such as the Shred-it event on Saturday, April 16th sponsored by the Pacheco High School Interact Club and Los Banos Rotary, thank you High School Students for getting involved in this; Happy St. Patrick’s Day; thank you to Acting Chief of Police Chief Reyna for the report tonight. CLOSED SESSION – PUBLIC EMPLOYEE EMPLOYMENT, CITY MANAGER, PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957. The Closed Session was not held. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Villalta, seconded by Stonegrove to adjourn the meeting at the hour of 9:04 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., Friday, March 25, 2016 in the Cesar Chavez Room, Martin Luther King Jr. Child Development Center, 1624 San Luis Street, Los Banos, California to Conduct a City Council Goals & Objectives Workshop. APPROVED: /s/ Michael Villalta__________ Michael Villalta, Mayor ATTEST: /s/ Jana R. Sousa __________ Jana R. Sousa, Assistant City Clerk