CC - 10-22-96CITY OF ROSEMEAD
DATE-~'~ ad~
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING -
ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL
OCTOBER 22, 1996
The regular meeting of the Rosemead City Council was called to order by Mayor Clark
at 8:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the City Hall, 8838 E. Valley Boulevard, Rosemead,
California.
The Pledge to the Flag was led by Councilmember Taylor
Church
The Invocation was delivered by Pastor Charlie Corum of the Olive Branch Outreach
ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS:
Present: Councilmembers Bruesch, Taylor, Vasquez, Mayor Pro Tern Imperial, and
Mayor Clark
Absent: None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: None
PRESENTATIONS: - None
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE
Sean McWhorter, Municipal Representative from Congressman Matthew Martinez's
office introduced himself and stated that the Congressman's office is available to anyone that
needs assistance with the Federal government.
II. PUBLIC HEARINGS - None
III. LEGISLATIVE
A. RESOLUTION NO. 96-52 - CLAIMS & DEMANDS
The following resolution was presented to the Council for adoption:
RESOLUTION NO. 96-52
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD
ALLOWING CERTAIN CLAIMS AND DEMANDS IN THE SUM OF $699,677.87
NUMBERED 18059 THROUGH 18233
MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER BRUESCH, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER VASQUEZ
that Resolution No. 96-52 be adopted. Vote resulted:
Yes: Vasquez, Taylor, Clark, Bruesch, Imperial
No: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
The Mayor declared said motion duly carried and so ordered.
Councilmember Bruesch requested a memo on Check No. 18130 to Joe Gonsalves in
the amount of $2152.50.
Councilmember Taylor requested information on Check No. 18120 to Department of
Animal Control in the amount of $4020.96 for August Housing Service.
CC 10-22-96
Page 1
Frank Tripepi, City Manager, iespohded that a memo will be forthcoming.
B. ORDINANCE NO. 773 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF ROSEMEAD APPROVING ZONE CHANGE 96-202, AMENDING ROSEMEAD
ZONING MAP LAND USE DESIGNATION FROM R-3; MEDIUM MULTIPLE
RESIDENTIAL TO PO-D; PROFESSIONAL OFFICE-DESIGN OVERLAY FOR
PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3859 N. ROSEMEAD BOULEVARD - ADOPT
The following Ordinance was presented to the Council for adoption:
ORDINANCE NO. 773
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD
APPROVING ZONE CHANGE 96-202, AMENDING ROSEMEAD ZONING MAP
LAND USE DESIGNATION FROM R-3; MEDIUM MULTIPLE RESIDENTIAL TO
PO-D; PROFESSIONAL OFFICE-DESIGN OVERLAY FOR PROPERTY LOCATED
AT 3859 N. ROSEMEAD BOULEVARD - ADOPT
MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER BRUESCH, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER TAYLOR
that Ordinance No. 773 be adopted. Vote resulted:
Yes: Vasquez, Taylor, Clark, Bruesch, Imperial
No: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
The Mayor declared said motion duly carried and so ordered.
IV. CONSENT CALENDAR
CC-A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 84-291; LICENSE REVIEW OF ON-SALE BEER
(TYPE 40) LICENSE, 9544 E. VALLEY BOULEVARD, DBA CASA CARLOS
RESTAURANT
CC-B REQUEST FOR RED CURB ON MISSION DRIVE AT VALLEY BOULEVARD
CC-C REQUEST FOR "DO NOT BLOCK INTERSECTION" CONTROLS ALONG GARVEY
AVENUE
CC-D REQUEST FOR "NO LEFT TURN" SIGN AT CIRCLE 'K' STORE ON WALNUT
GROVE AVENUE
CC-E REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF PARK MONTEREY MOBILE HOME PARK ACCESS
ON GARVEY AVENUE
CC-F APPROVAL OF APPRAISALS FOR RIGHT-OF-WAY ACQUISITION OF
PROPERTIES LOCATED AT 7644 HIGHCLIFF STREET AND 7645 HIGHCLIFF
STREET
MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER BRUESCH, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER TAYLOR
that the Council approve the aforementioned items. Vote resulted:
Yes:
Vasquez, Taylor, Clark, Bruesch, Imperial
No:
None
Absent:
None
Abstain:
None
The Mayor declared said motion duly carried and so ordered.
CC 10-22-96
Page 2
5..
CC-G REQUEST FOR TWENTY=FOUR HOUR PER DAY DRILLING OPERATIONS
VERBATIM DIALOGUE FOLLOWS:
COUNCILMEMBER GARY TAYLOR: Madam Mayor. I don't know who pulled it off, but...
MAYOR MARGARET CLARK: Juan wants to speak on this
TAYLOR: Okay. I had a couple of questions on this particular item. I believe they stated that
they estimate ten days to do these particular wells.
CLARK: It was for 24-hours, I believe.
TAYLOR: 24-hours, I'm really reluctant ...I know it's for their convenience to do it. But even
if the decibel level is not so much, maybe the loudness of the noise, but all night long to hear
the equipment, even if it's down at the lower decibel level. I'm concerned about, I'm just
concerned that the residents immediately next to this ...what are we going to be doing to
them?
COUNCILMEMBER ROBERT BRUESCH: Madam Mayor. Actually the decibel level is that of
running a refrigerator at 20'. If I'm not mistaken, at least the Brookline Avenue one is going
to be within half a block of the freeway and the freeway's noise at that point is way higher
than what is going to be from the diesel engines. The one on Valley Boulevard is...south of
Valley Boulevard, the street sound most of the time is way above 60 decibels. To me, if
they're willing to go and double wall those things and make that effort to making the sound
less and due to the fact that it would almost triple the time of constructing these wells, I can't
see if we have any choice.
CLARK: Juan, did you want to speak on this?
JUAN NUNEZ: Juan Nunez, 2702 Del Mar, and I don't live in the area in case one of the
members wants to ask me where I live. I just wonder, I also have a problem, as Bob says,
it's like a refrigerator running. But, you know on continuous 24-hour, that probably gets on
your nerves. Also, I don't know if there's any vibration on that for the people that are living
close to the drilling area. Those are some things that you, the Council people should probably
take into consideration. It's true that if they work 24-hours they can finish it faster in 10
days. The other way it might take them 15 days or a month. But, they could probably start
working at 7 o'clock in the morning and probably until 7 o'clock in the evening or 8 o'clock
in the evening to give them 12, 13 hours operation time. That would be a concern, like I say,
a lot of people may not be here speaking about it because maybe they figure that government
wants to do it and it's going to be done.
BRUESCH: Madam Mayor. One of the critical issues is not the time, the extra time it would
take. It's the caving in of the walls of the well. The walls of the well, according to the report
I've read here are the thing that is really worrisome to them, that if they should... they really
don't know what type of soil is down there, and if they should let it go overnight, the walls
of the well could collapse if it's shale or sand. And, it could ruin their equipment and also just
add extra time. In other words, they would almost have to start at ground zero again - start
all over again. That's what they're worried about.
NUNEZ: I did read the report, but are they encasing the well as they're going down.
BRUESCH: I don't know. All I'm responding to from what they said here and they repeated
about 5 times in this report that the main reason they do not like to stop in the middle of a
drilling session is because they're worried that the walls would collapse.
NUNEZ: As I say, what would collapse probably, if it was just a hole in the ground, no
shoring or anything like that, but if it's encased, there's a casing going down, I cannot see any
reason for that caving in since the casing is holding up the dirt, whatever is going to cave in.
BRUESCH: Maybe staff can answer... how big a hole are we talking about?
CC 10-22-96
Page 3
FRANK TRIPEPI, CITY MANAGER: Sharon Wallin is in the back. Sharon can you come up to
the microphone, please. Sharon Wallin is with Camp Dresser & McKee Incorporated. About
how big a hole are we talking about.
SHARON WALLIN: The hole is a 12' diameter hole and it is not encased. What holds up the
hole from collapsing is drilling mud that is inside the hole so it's a fluid. And, typically, when
we do these, we do drill them 24 hours-a-day because when you close down for the night,
the only thing that is holding that hole from collapsing is this fluid inside the hole. So, in the
morning when you go back in again, certain parts of it or all of it could collapse overnight.
From our point of view, we are going to be putting up soundproofing and doing all these
mitigating measures to keep noises, like he says, kind of like equivalent to a refrigerator hum
in the distance. There's a lot of inconvenience to having a street ...to have to have equipment
in the street for 30 days versus 10 days.
BRUESCH: Have you done one of these jobs in a residential area?
WALLIN: We just did one in the City of El Monte and we drilled a certain part of that for 24-
hours a day. However, because of the size of the site, we had soundproofing up. The site
was physically too small to get all of our equipment in that we needed at night, so that we
could not drill that one night.
BRUESCH: What about the one in Baldwin Park that you mentioned.
WALLIN: We also finished another one in El Monte that was in an industrial area so we didn't
have to put up soundproofing.
BRUESCH: My next question is, did you have complaints from the residents about the noise
level?
WALLIN: We did two... getting back to your first question. We did two wells in Baldwin Park
by an elementary school and one by a Catholic church and we did not have any complaints
from anybody about the noise.
TRIPEPI: And, those were 24-hours
WALLIN: Yes.
TAYLOR: How deep were those?
WALLIN: They were much deeper - they were probably 1000 feet. It took a significantly
longer period of time to put those wells in than these wells.
TAYLOR: How deep were they in El Monte?
WALLIN: Now we're talking about the El Monte wells, about 400' deep. The Baldwin Park
wells by the elementary school and by the church were about 1000 to 1200'.
TAYLOR: They were 400' deep in El Monte.
WALLIN: Correct.
TAYLOR: Did you have any complaints in El Monte?'
WALLIN: We did not.
COUNCILMEMBER JOE VASQUEZ: Madam Mayor. How high were the decibels... 60 in El
Monte.
WALLIN: We took measurements in the El Monte site and residential area with just the first
layer of soundproofing up and decibels were in the mid 60's. After we got those readings,
we realized that to do this in Rosemead, in a residential area at night, we would then have to
put up a double wall of blankets - these are the acoustical panels that deaden the noise and
CC 10-22-96
Page 4
•
•
also they are going to be building acoustical panel enclosures around their engines.
TAYLOR: You said in El Monte that you did not drill 24-hours a day.
WALLIN: On one site we did not, the second site we did. The second site was in an
industrial area.
TAYLOR: What was the purpose for not drilling 24-hours.
WALLIN: On the residential site?
TAYLOR: Right.
WALLIN: The site was a lot, 50' by 75'. We physically could not get soundproofing built up
around the equipment and...
TAYLOR: 50' by 75'...
WALLIN: About 75' or smaller.
TAYLOR: Are you blocking the entire street off then because they're only 36' wide in
Rosemead.
WALLIN: This was a lot. It was a lot where there was a water well.
TAYLOR: How are you going to block off the street then? How much area do you take for
the drilling rig?
WALLIN: We need a minimum of about 25'.
TAYLOR: And, how long?
WALLIN: 100', something like that.
TAYLOR: And, what were your hours of drilling on that lot?
WALLIN: Again, this lot was the one where we put soundproofing around it. We intended
to go at night, but we could not. We drilled probably from about 7:00 a.m. until about 8 or
9.
TAYLOR: That sounds very practical from my standpoint. That well was also 400' deep?
WALLIN: Right.
BRUESCH: Madam Mayor. Why were these particular points of drilling chosen?
WALLIN: EPA and the Regional Water Quality Control Board had put together these
things they call plume maps. It shows the groundwater contamination in the El Monte area
and the City of Rosemead area and the wells. The first two wells we did in El Monte, the
locations were defined by EPA. They said they want wells kind of in the interior of the
groundwater contamination area. The wells that are going in the City of Rosemead are kind
of exterior wells to find the fringes of the plume - the groundwater contamination.
CLARK: Would you like to come forward. Do you have something.
NUNEZ: I'd like to ask a question again. The vibration, is there any vibration?
WALLIN: No noticeable vibration.
NUNEZ: Once you said that, the people in the area will not be able to say it's too much noise.
You won't be able to stop.
CC 10-22-96
Page 5
• •
WALLIN: I was at the other locations and I was standing right next to it, I didn't notice it.
NUNEZ: Did you have a crew at night there.
WALLIN: I was there at four in the morning several times
NUNEZ: But, what I mean, working, not somebody that is sleeping at their home and getting
that call.
WALLIN: Again, we did this at by an elementary school and by a catholic church in Baldwin
Park, a much deeper well. Again, we were as close.
CLARK: Juan, let's let this gentleman speak.
ROBERT BOYER: My name is Robert Boyer and I live at 3502 N. Brookline. This well on
Brookline is right in front of my house. And I was wondering how I was going to get in and
out of my driveway. How much dirt and sediment and whatever is going to be traipsed up
and down my driveways and onto my house possibly. And, also, am I going to be able to
sleep at night with this drilling going on 24-hours.
CLARK: Sharon, would you like to answer that.
WALLIN: The question was, the location on Brookline is...we probably have to close the
entirety of the street between the freeway and Olney Street because when they put up their
soundproofing, they have to allow themselves room inside to work. We are going to have
conversations with the people who live in those properties and just see what kind of
combinations we can make in terms of...I've looked at the parking on the street and it does
look like we'll have to block up three whole driveways. Again, pardon me...
BOYER: At least three.
WALLIN: Yes. At least three. Again, I was just going to have individual conversations with
the people to see one-on-one what we can do to accommodate you for that period of time.
One of my things was, if you need to move groceries to your car, I can have one of the drillers
help you do that. I recognize it's an inconvenience, but there's absolutely no where in that
area, any place else where we can put these wells.
BRUESCH: Excuse me. I'm just looking at the map and knowing that area, this one MW 2-2.
If that was moved a block west, it would be on the parking lot of the shopping center. It
wouldn't impact residents at all.
WALLIN: It is my understanding that on the agenda tonight we're talking about 2-6 and 2-8
and those are the deep wells where we'll be drilling 24-hours a day. 2-1 and 2-2, we're only
talking daylight hours and at that location across the street from the shopping mall, the street
is plenty wide to accommodate a small drilling at the curb.
BRUESCH: Okay. Isn't there ...I know that north of there along Temple City Boulevard there
are a couple of vacant lots. Is that too far north. It's only two blocks.
WALLIN: The area is quite small and the EPA has pretty much locked us into a lot of these
locations. I searched Temple City Boulevard trying to look on that street to see if we could
use this location, the one that's on Brookline and Olney, and the street is just too busy with
highway traffic.
BRUESCH: There is an empty lot by Valley.
WALLIN: Offhand, I'm not familiar with the empty lot. I know that we've scouted the area
and we've searched the area. A lot of times empty lots are owned by someone and if they're
empty sometimes they have environmental problems, and I don't know if that's the case here.
But, usually, we cannot put a well on a lot that has environmental problems. And then, there
is also the access, private property access issues.
CC 10-22-96
Page 6
BRUESCH: Again, the one by Valley Boulevard, if you went down east on Valley just about
half a mile there's an empty lot.
CLARK: But, the one on Valley is not 24-hour and that's because of the depth of the well.
BRUESCH: So, the only one that is going to impact the homeowners is Brookline.
WALLIN: The one on Brookline and Olney, and the one on Rosemead and Valley.
TAYLOR: Rosemead and Steele Street.
WALLIN: I'm sorry... yes, south of Valley.
CLARK: Are you residents from Steele or Brookline, both of you from Brookline?
AUDIENCE: Olney and Brookline.
CLARK: Okay. So, you're both the same well.
TAYLOR: What about the comment you made, the EPA directed you where to drill them in
El Monte?
WALLIN: Pretty much all the locations that we have picked, EPA picks them on a map based
on where the plume is. We then go out and scout around for a couple a block radius and try
to see if there are some other sites to drill on.
TAYLOR: What about the vacant industrial lots two blocks east of Baldwin in the same direct
line of the freeway wall.
WALLIN: We have just put in a well east of Baldwin.
TAYLOR: Where was that at.
WALLIN: That was this Cal-Am Water Company location.
TAYLOR: I'm not familiar with where they are located.
WALLIN: Valley and Gibson.
TAYLOR: Okay. Well, this down at the end of Gibson right next to the freeway.
WALLIN: That's too far to the east. We need to be a little further to the west because the
plume is moving in a southwest direction.
TAYLOR: These are going to monitoring wells?
WALLIN: That's correct.
TAYLOR: So, there will be permanent piping placed into them.
WALLIN: There is a permanent 4" diameter steel casing, that is flush mounted so that cars
won't be running over it. It looks like a manhole cover and then there's going to be 400' long
section of casing, stainless steel casing that extends below the ground.
CLARK: So, once the well is in there is no impact on the residents at all.
WALLIN: Once the well is in there is no impact whatsoever. Three times a year, four times
a year, for the first year we'll go out and sample it and it'll take a day to do that.
TAYLOR: Do you do the sampling for them.
CC 10-22-96
Page 7
WALLIN: Yes, we do. We take the samples and turn them into a laboratory and we give all
the results to the EPA and a report. From these results, EPA figures out where the
contamination is and how to clean it up.
TAYLOR: What is the best procedure to work it out with the residents. I noticed you had a
meeting and only one person showed up.
WALLIN: That's correct, and I've had several conversations with her since then.
TAYLOR: What about the other residents. Because they didn't show up I don't think they
really understand the magnitude that is going to happen to them. We go through that when
we do have our public hearings and such, they don't understand until it happens.
WALLIN: Right. Well, in any case, when we're there, we have someone on site at all times
and if there is any problem with anything, people feel free to come up to us.
TAYLOR: There is something else that has crossed my mind. On the end of Brookline, the
concrete walls, they don't absorb all the sound and I don't recall... Mr. Boyer, on the end of
the street down there, is the ivy covering that brick, it's exposed concrete.
BOYER: No. The tall one, they tore a lot of it off.
TAYLOR: And that's what, about 30 to 35' high. So, you have the potential of that sound
ricocheting, echoing back off of that wall.
WALLIN: We'll have soundproofing up around the work area.
TAYLOR: And, that's what, 16' tall.
WALLIN: It's about 16' tall.
TAYLOR: And that wall is 35' tall. Any drilling noise is going to tend to ricochet back to the
homes.
WALLIN: Again, I'm not an acoustical person, but I would think we would have that sound
decibel meter out there and we can take readings.
TAYLOR: What happens if the noise is...a what decibel, what's the cutoff level.
WALLIN: Like I said, I think I would leave that up to the individual property owners. If
something is too noisy, we'll fix it.
CLARK: I'd like to interject here. If we approve this and then there is a problem, can we
modify our position. In other words, if it's just not going to work, we can say one night and
that's it, or stop it - 7 or 9 o'clock at night or whatever.
WALLIN: Yes. If it doesn't work and people are mad...
CLARK: We're not signing our lives away by saying this is forever, this is it.
WALLIN: We want to get the wells in and get them out of the way and get them sampled
before the holiday kicks in and then we've got the street closed and we're well into
Thanksgiving.
CLARK: Things being equal, I would think that unless it didn't work right, as a resident, I
would rather get them out of there in 10 days rather than 30 days. Just the whole
inconvenience of the whole thing. If, as you say, we can mitigate the sound.
TAYLOR: I think we are in agreement to get it done as quick as we can. But, the flip side
of the coin is the unknown circumstances.
CC 10-22-96
Page 8
CLARK: Well, that's what I'm saying. If we have this caveat that if it's not working out we
can jump in there and say...
TAYLOR: That's fine. Mr. Kress, do you interpret it that way?
ROBERT KRESS, CITY ATTORNEY: Yes, when you're ready for a motion, I suggest that if
it would be the will of the Council to approve this, let the directive be to staff to work with
the engineering firm to make all the necessary mitigations as promised and that staff be
empowered to withdraw the approval of the 24-hour operations if the City's ordinance is not
observed by the mitigation measures.
TAYLOR: That sounds reasonable.
BRUESCH: Madam Mayor. I just want to be absolutely sure that the access to the residents
property will not be obstructed or at least if it is, it will not keep them from any access to
their homes. Is there going to be an instance where there be whatever cuttings, whatever
it is, or something in front of the persons home that they will have no access to their own
driveway.
WALLIN: What we intend to do with the soil cuttings is keep them in bins, you know, the
bins you typically see in front of a construction site, in covered roll-off bins. And, because
that site on Brookline is so small, we're planning on putting some of the bins on the Olney
Street.
BRUESCH: My question is, again, is there going to be a time during the construction, the 10
day construction time, when access to any property going to be totally no access.
WALLIN: The one Brookline is tight, I don't really know the answer to that. It depends on
once we go there and put up the soundproofing and see how much room we have. There's
two driveways on the east side of Brookline and there's one driveway on the west side.
BRUESCH: If there is no access, how long would that last - ten days?
WALLIN: No, probably five or six.
BRUESCH: Five or six.
WALLIN: It would be the short period because when we're drilling and reaming and putting
in the well, it should take about six days, that's without having any problems.
TAYLOR: Madam Mayor. On Steele Street, how much of an area of the street are you going
to block off?
WALLIN: The driller right now is instructed to prepare a traffic plan and that's part of their
access route with the City and they are in the process of doing that.
TAYLOR: Are you going to block the entire street off or half of it.
WALLIN: It seems to me, actually, it would be safer to block off the whole street because
at the end of Steele where it intersects with Rosemead, we probably allow one lane, then that
would kind of set up a dangerous situation, the cars trying to get by. There is an exit down
on Hart Street, Hart Street is to the east, I believe.
TAYLOR: So, in realistic terms, you're going to maybe block off four driveways each side of
Steele Street.
WALLIN: The only driveways on Steele Street that would be blocked are the Sanwa Bank
driveway on the south side. We wouldn't block the employee parking lot. We would end
right there.
TAYLOR: Okay. So, you're not going to be blocking any of the residents, it's all going to be
from the parking lot to Rosemead.
CC 10-22-96
Page 9
•
WALLIN: That's correct.
TAYLOR: That's feasible.
CLARK: Okay. Did you want to speak again, Juan?
BOYER: (from the audience) At the end of Brookline where they are going to be drilling there,
I don't know how much water there is going to be in the drilling or on the street.
WALLIN: Since it's environmental drilling, we contain everything on site in either bins for the
soil or tanks for the water.
BOYER: There's no drains at the end of that street at all. If it starts raining, that water is
going to back up clear to your well.
WALLIN: We would be fined big time if we discharged anything to the ground.
BOYER: There's three cars in my household, there's three next door, and I think there's two
across the street - that's eight cars. Are we supposed to just park on the street?
WALLIN: I'm sorry, I wasn't really quite prepared. I was going to have conversations with
you folks during the week. The bottom line is I think at that location we're just going to have
to block some of those driveways.
BRUESCH: Madam Mayor. We're going to have to do something with the street sweeping
down there.
TRIPEPI: We always do, Bob. That's not a problem, that's the least of our worries.
WALLIN: The drillers clean the streets when they are done. That's our responsibility. Like
I said, if we can only block half or two-thirds of the street, that would be great, but I just
don't know until we start putting up the soundproofing and see what's going to happen.
TAYLOR: Okay. Worst scenario - you block the whole street off, what are you going to do
with those eight cars?
WALLIN: Whatever they want to me do. The cars will probably have to park on the street.
But, but if they need groceries carried back and forth...
AUDIENCE: It won't be safe parking on the street.
WALLIN: We're going to be there 24-hours a day. If you want us to look at the cars...
BOYER: Are you going to protect our cars?
AUDIENCE: Are you going to protect vehicles?
TAYLOR: I live three blocks from them and I've had three vehicles stolen from the street right
in front of my house.
WALLIN: Like I said, we're there 24-hours a day and we have our own cars there and I'm not
going to be there with a shot-gun guarding cars, but we are there.
BRUESCH: Madam Mayor. Could I ask for hourly patrols during that time by our Sheriffs, so
that they go by that area.
CLARK: Or would it better to provide for the cars to be parked in a secure area.
TRIPEPI: How about a security guard.
CLARK: Could we ask you to hire a security guard for that period?
CC 10-22-96
Page 10
0 •
WALLIN: I would have to talk to my client about that. I don't think they would object to that.
I can't speak for them though - the group of businesses that are putting in these wells.
BRUESCH: That would alleviate a problem.
JONNIE MATSDORF: Just for a point of the noise, I don't know if it's your outfit that did it,
but across the street from the California Christian Home at the San Gabriel Water Company,
they drilled a well, probably a weekish, 24-hours a day. It was soundproofed. You can hear
a slight droning off in the distance, that was about it. It was absolutely , and we
live a block away. It also butts up to a wash, I would imagine it would resonate through the
wash, there was none, nothing uncomfortable, nothing more than a car going by.
TAYLOR: Madam Mayor. The client has to decide on the security. How do we cover that
issue. We defer this or approve this, or...
WALLIN: EPA has given us a pretty strict schedule. It looks like we would like to start drilling
something around the middle of November. That way at that first location, the one on Steele
Street, we can be in and out before the Thanksgiving holiday hits.
TAYLOR: I think it's reasonable that some security must be provided where necessary.
TRIPEPI: Mr. Taylor. Staff would suggest if you grant the permit tonight, subject to the
decibel readings of the City ordinance, that you also include, it's subject to the company
providing security for those vehicles, at least at night time hours.
WALLIN: It sounds very reasonable to me. I don't see where they would balk against that.
TRIPEPI: Would the neighbors feel better about that, if they hired a security service to watch
the cars, say from 8 o'clock at night until 6 o'clock in the morning. Is that reasonable.
BOYER: I'd like them to stop drilling about 9 o'clock.
TRIPEPI: How about if it's a problem, if it's a problem as they drill, then we'll certainly talk
to the folks and I think they've agreed that they would take a look at that. Is that fair.
CLARK: In the staff report, I believe we've had phone numbers that they can call. They have
your phone number during the day, but what do we do at night?
WALLIN: There is someone at the site constantly.
CLARK: Okay. So you're to feel free to go out and talk to the workers because they are
instructed that they will take your complaints and work on them, and then we can get in
touch with our City staff here and handle the problems. So, please feel free.
TRIPEPI: Mr. Taylor. We would suggest then that security service be from 8:00 p.m. until
6:00 a.m.
AUDIENCE: We don't have to worry about getting tickets on our cars.
TRIPEPI: No, that will be taken care of.
TAYLOR: If you get one, Loretta, just bring it up here, to the meeting. No, you shouldn't
have any problem with that.
NUNEZ: You say you are going to encase the well after it's drilled, the casing cannot be
installed as you're drilling.
WALLIN: No, no. You drill the wall and you complete it and then you design the well and
then you install the casing. You can't do it while your ...that's the old way.
NUNEZ: The old-fashioned would be better, then you would have no caving
CC 10-22-96
Page 11
•
0
WALLIN: To do it the old way, we'd be there for two months.
TAYLOR: How is it that you drill the 12' hole 400' deep, pull that drill rig out and then drop
in 400' of 4' pipe.
WALLIN: How is it what?
TAYLOR: How is that done?
WALLIN: It's kind of a two-step process. First we drill a pilot hole, like a 6" diameter hole
and then we throw those tools down there that sense where sand and gravel is and clay is.
Based on that we pick permeable zones to put the perforations for the well. The
contamination is going to be in the most permeable zones. And then they ream the hole to
12" diameter, pull their drill bit out...
TAYLOR: 400' deep, they pull the drill bit out.
WALLIN: That's correct. It's in 20 foot segments and there's a bit at the end of it. They pull
that out as fast as they can and they start installing their steel casing, which is welded
together. It takes about a day to install it. It takes about two days to drill it and this is based
on the experience we had in El Monte. Two days to ream it, two days to install the casing.
An then the 24-hour part is over.
TAYLOR: In El Monte, though, what were your hours of drilling?
WALLIN: On the second location, we drilled around the clock, 24-hours a day.
TAYLOR: What was the first location in the residential area?
WALLIN: Again, we drilled from like 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., something like that, and it took
us three weeks.
CLARK: The one by the Baptist church, the Catholic church...
WALLIN: The one at the Catholic church and the one at the elementary school, they drilled
round the clock 24-hours.
CLARK: That area is, that is the church where East Valley's organization is very active in.
And, I can assure you that if that had been problems, they would have heard about it.
WALLIN: It was a very similar situation, it was very sensitive to noise and inconvenience.
It was done and there was absolutely no complaints about it.
BRUESCH: Madam Mayor. I would like to move the approval of the recommendation with
the addition of the requirement for the security guard.
CLARK: Do I hear a second?
VASQUEZ: Second.
COUNCILMEMBER JAY IMPERIAL: I keep thinking about possible damage when this happens
to somebody's property. What's going to happen in a case like that? If there is some
damage, will it be fixed? I keep going back to the co-generation plant and how when they
buried that shaft, it caused a lot of damage. My question is if this is done, will they be
responsible for any damages that might happen to that property, whether it be surface or
subsurface.
WALLIN: I don't know about what you talking about, but that shaft, I assume that is
something very large. This is a 12" diameter hole. Standing right next to it you don't feel any
vibrations to it.
CC 10-22-96
Page 12
IMPERIAL: I'm not talking about vibrations. I'm talking possible change of the soil to where
it might create a problem, maybe a foundation problem.
WALLIN: What the drilling method, and it's a standard drilling method, again, we drill 20'
from a home. Similar soils in El Monte and we haven't had any problems. This drilling mud
that you put in the liquid in the water coats the inside of the holes, it keep fluids from
travelling this way and it keeps the sand and gravel from coming in.
IMPERIAL: Going back to my original question. If there is some damage that is created
because of this, will these people be reimbursed for the damages.
WALLIN: We have certificates of insurance that we filed with the City. The driller is fully
insured, CDM has provided insurance.
IMPERIAL: So that means that if there is some damage that is credited to your job there,
these people will be reimbursed.
WALLIN: Drillers are responsible for whatever they do. We're responsible for whatever we
do.
IMPERIAL: Let that record show that, Madam Mayor
TAYLOR: How did you handle the situation in El Monte when you were drilling your 12" hole
with the driller's mud and preventing the slouching of the surrounding soils, and shutting it
down for the night hours, you drilling that 400' deep.
WALLIN: We experienced some, it's called sloughing, which it generally falls in. We didn't
experience any collapse. It's always kind of a...who knows when it's going to happen. We
didn't lose the bore hole, which is good - and we were able to complete the wells.
TAYLOR: Right. The actual drilling time that you had there in El Monte was how long?
WALLIN: I was on vacation when it happened. I think it took us two or three times longer
to drill.
TAYLOR: You're not sure then.
WALLIN: I would say the actual drilling time - a week.
TAYLOR: It sounds reasonable for 400' there. All right. Thank you
CLARK: We have a motion and a second to approve with a caveat of the security guard and
also, I believe that includes that ...with the option of withdrawal of approval if the noise
exceeds the decibels that is allowed, as our Attorney said.
IMPERIAL: Can we include, Madam Mayor, any subsurface damage that might be created
because of this.
KRESS: They are required as part of this permit process to submit insurance and they have,
in fact, submitted that. There is coverage in the event of any damage, so I don't think it's
really necessary for the Council to make that part of the motion.
CLARK: All right. We have a motion and a second. Please vote.
VOTE TAKEN FROM VOTING SLIP:
Yes: Vasquez, Clark, Bruesch, Imperial
No: Taylor
Absent: None
Abstain: None
CC 10-22-96
Page 13
0
TAYLOR: Madam Mayor. The reason for my No vote is the fact that they drilled a very
similar well in El Monte, 400' deep, same conditions basically, that we know of, and it was
drilled at approximately seven days, working days only until 9 or 10 p.m. 1 also ask that these
minutes be verbatim so that the Council, if we have to shut that down at night, there's no
misunderstanding of what was said.
CLARK: I'd like a clarification from Ms. Wallin. The six days, was that for the entire project
or was that the drilling portion.
WALLIN: The job that we just got done, that I was there for... witnessed, was two days for
drilling, two days for reaming, and a day and a half for installation, that was six days.
TRIPEPI: Wasn't that the 24-hour job. Mr. Taylor is not referring to the 24-hour job. You had
a job in El Monte that you didn't drill for 24-hours. Our understanding was that job took three
weeks. Is that correct?
TAYLOR: You said seven drilling days.
WALLIN: I'm just talking about the drilling period.
CLARK: That's what I'm trying to clarify.
WALLIN: I know. I was on vacation when that one got drilled so I wasn't around to observe
it.
CLARK: But the point is that if we do not allow 24-hour drilling, the project takes possibly
three times as long as it would...
WALLIN: It very well could, yes.
CLARK: So, the El Monte project is not an example of a sort that you can get by without the
24-hours. That's what I believe Mr. Taylor is getting at.
TAYLOR: No. My point is that it was a very similar well, is it not.
WALLIN: Yes, it was.
TAYLOR: It must be the same well, 400' deep. The terrain in this valley is basically the
same. You may have some different stratalayers, but you going to have the clays, the silts,
and the sands. So, to me they're very ...in your opinion, you think they're similar?
WALLIN: Yes, I do think they're similar.
TAYLOR: Okay, that's all I wanted ...thank you.
CLARK: I'd like to ask the residents there, if you had your choice would you rather have them
there three times as long or would you rather get it over with?
AUDIENCE: Get it over with.
TAYLOR: I think you get it over with, but it may not be three times as long. It could be the
seven days and my gut reaction is when we've drilled a lot of piles and caissons and such,
you drill down through that soil and, your seven days, I'm betting on that.
CLARK: But, she didn't say that...
AUDIENCE: Seven days instead of three weeks?
TAYLOR: No, seven days drilling. They drilled in El Monte for, what she stated was seven
days working from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. That's the correlation I'm trying to make.
CC 10-22-96
Page 14
•
CLARK: That wasn't the entire project.
TAYLOR: No, no, no, not the entire... it's the drilling tower and the rigs that take the time.
BRUESCH: She just said that the drilling portion of this project would take two days if it was
24-hours instead of seven.
TAYLOR: No, no, no. Did you say two days or six to ten as the report states.
WALLIN: It gets a little complicated. On the first location we're going to, we are going to
be reaming, that's part of our sampling plan. So, it's two days to drill a pile hole, you know,
this was our last experience, two days to ream it and about two days to install it. On the
second location we would just be drilling in one place, so, we in theory could be done with
that one sooner.
TAYLOR: That's great, I hope it works out that way.
WALLIN: Again, these estimates that we put in there, you don't know what is going to
happen in the morning when you go to a location. I've drilled locations where some of them,
the well stands up and some of them it doesn't, you know. I don't know why it doesn't.
TAYLOR: I understand. I've seen the holes where water just boils out of them.
WALLIN: This ten days and then doubling the time or tripling the time, that's kind of a worse
case if everything goes wrong, and sometimes it does.
TAYLOR: I understand. I appreciate what you're telling us. I hope you're correct ...95% that
you are correct, that it will go that well.
CLARK: Thank you very much.
VERBATIM DIALOGUE ENDS.
V. MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION AND ACTION - None
VI. STATUS REPORTS - None
VII. MATTERS FROM OFFICIALS
A. MAYOR PRO TEM IMPERIAL
Asked that the Council reconsider his previous request to have signs posted on Valley
Boulevard and Garvey Avenue acknowledging and thanking the Key Club and Builder's Club
for their efforts in voluntarily cleaning those streets.
VIII. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE
Jonnie Matsdorf, 4833 N. Willard, Rosemead, displayed the fire engine card made for
the Fire Station from the Special Ed and 1st grade students of Shuey School thanking the
Firemen for their excellent presentation of fire equipment and uniforms at their school. Ms.
Matsdorf announced that this Saturday is the RuniWalk Against Drugs and the unveiling of
the Drug Free Zone signs, with the news media covering this event;
Frank Tripepi, City Manager, introduced Lt. Heller and explained that the Rosemead
Sheriff's Youth Team won the prestigious Grand Prize Award for Excellence sponsored by the
League of California Cities. Mr. Tripepi continued that the Governor will be presenting that
award in January.
CC 10-22-96
Page 15
Councilmembers Bruesch and Vasquez commented on the value of the "fast food"
cards for sale by the Rosemead Sheriff's Youth Team whose proceeds benefit that group.
Mayor Clark welcomed Sgt. Wayne Wallace back.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further action to be taken at this time, the meeting was adjourned at
8:55 p.m. to Tuesday, October 29, 1996 at 6:30 p.m. for a Study Session regarding the
Economic Development of Valley Boulevard.
Respectfully submitted:
City Clerk
APPROVED:
MAYOFJ7
CC 10-22-96
Page 16