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CC - Item 4B - Minutes 08-28-07• • MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL August 28, 2007 The regular meeting of the Rosemead City Council was called to order by Mayor Tran at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, at 8838 E. Valley Boulevard, Rosemead, California. The pledge to the flag was led by Councilmember Clark and the invocation was delivered by Councilmember Low. ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS: Present: Councilmembers Clark, Low, Taylor, Mayor Pro Tern Nunez and Mayor Tran Absent: None 1. PRESENTATION A. Public Safety Services Department Overview In December of 2006, the City began the process of coordinating the new Public Safety Service Department in an effort to consolidate vital City functions under the direction of one Department Head level position. That effort has resulted in the revamping of the public safety center which is now home to the City's code enforcement, parking enforcement, graffiti abatement, animal control, and law enforcement services. Over the past several months, the newly constituted department has made an extremely significant, noticeable, and positive impact on graffiti vandalism, dirty bus stops, discarded bulky items & shopping carts, and transients loitering on City sidewalks and bus benches. The department also identified and has begun addressing issues related to nuisance dog problems and underperforming law enforcement positions. Recommendation: That the City Council receive and file this report. Oral presentation was given by Don Anderson, in which he introduced the Public Safety Departments: Public Safety Service Supervisor: Ray Rodriquez, Code Enforcement: Wayne Co, Abel Rodriguez, Steve Torres; Community Services Department: David Hue; Parking Control Officer: Mike Salazar; Field Service Manager: Bill Ornelas; Field Service Specialist: Jimmy Limon and Thomas Mandela. Don Anderson gave an update on the significant changes that the Public Safety Center has accomplished. GAP program primarily for young people has been involved with the schools to help troubled teenagers. The Sheriffs Department has been very Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 1 of 18 • 0 pro-active in the City. The Public Safety Center will set up a more active communication with the School District. The Center will focus strongly on the Crossing Guard program. Overall, The Public Safety Center has been working very hard to improve the safety of the City. Councilmember Low commented that she was very proud of the Public Safety Center accomplishments. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez hopes to get the Public Safety Center information more known to Rosemead residents. Councilmember Taylor asked about the Bulky item pick up. Don Anderson responded that The Safety center wants to respond to the residents when they call, but the center will be working better with the contracted company, who is to pick up bulky items. Mayor Tran thanked the staff of the center for the great job on removing graffiti in the City. B. Sexual Offender Report - Oral presentation from Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Lieutenant Coronne Jacobs introduces Parole Administrator for the State of California Maria Franco, Oral presentation given/no report. Jessica's Law overview: Prop. 83 Nov 7, 2006 in effect next day Nov. S. All sex offenders (retroactive offenders included.) 150,000 current offenders. Tied up in court due to retro status, however, a portion was passed and addresses inmates and parolees. The department of Correction had an Infrastructure that could enforce such a law. High risk is monitored at 20 to 1 and low to moderate risk are checked on a 40 to 1 basis. 40 current Rosemead transient parolees (all encompassing). 90,000 go unregistered. 13% are on parole and remain as such for 5 years. Compliant registration is required within 45 days post August 17, 2007 or register transient. GPS is a supplement to this program. Phyllis Tury, residing at 3143 Sullivan Ave, asked about the effectiveness and how it is monitor for offenders to wear. Is concerned that children congregate in many social places. Maria Franco responded that the offenders that wear the, ankle bracelet are high risk offenders and are allowed in certain places. Celia Camacho residing at 3351 Earlwood Dr, is a Day care operator is concerned that there are offenders living in a small radius, there are eight registered. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 2 of 18 • C' Jackie Thimons, Joan Kyle and Gloria Sanchez forfeited speaking turn due to questions answered already 2. PUBLIC COMMENT FROM THE AUDIENCE Connie Morales who works at Monterey Vista School expressed concern about a nearby half-way house. The City Council meeting recessed for about 5 minutes after Connie Morales spoke. Rosemead resident Holly Knapp and representative of People for People invited golfers to participate in a golf tournament fundraiser on September 13t`'. She also introduced the idea of a water park in the City and commented such a park might cost $50,000. Rosemead resident Jim Flournoy spoke in opposition to a Mini-storage facility under power lines. After speaking with the Fire Marshall, Mr. Flournoy learned the Marshall had reviewed the project, but did not approve it. He suggested a City policy be implemented to address such situations. Mr. Flournoy also felt the Closed Session item should be conducted in open session if staff is only seeking Council direction but conceded that acts of hiring and firing should be conducted in Closed Session. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR B. Minutes May 8, 2007 - Regular Meeting May 14, 2007 - Special (Planning Commission Selections) June 12, 2007 - Special Meeting D. Authority to Issue Citations The City Council must reference and authorize the staff members who are able to issue parking and notice to appear citations per Rosemead Municipal Code section 1.04.050. In an effort to enhance the effectiveness of the City's public safety services department staff, it is being recommended that the City Council acknowledge and authorize the Public Safety Services Director, Supervisor, Community Service Officers, Parking Control Officers, and Code Enforcement Officers to issue parking and notice to appear citations. Prior to issuing any Parking or Notice to Appear citations, all employees would be properly trained and certified with respect to all applicable state laws. This authority to issue citations is a valuable tool for the Public Safety Department. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 3 of 18 • • Recommendation: That the City Council approve Resolution 2007-35 granting Public Safety Services Department staff members the authority to issue citations. E. Release of Bond- Parcel Map 27012; 9512 Valley Boulevard A Faithful Performance Bond and a Labor and Material Bond were required to guarantee construction of new curb and gutter, sidewalk, driveways, parkway drains and survey monuments for Parcel Map 27012. In lieu of bonds, a Certificate of Deposit was issued to the City in the amount of $32,700. Recommendation: That the City Council accept the public improvements and release the Certificate of Deposit. F. Release of Bond - Parcel Map 62810; 3209 Burton Avenue A Faithful Performance Bond and a Labor and Material Bond was required to guarantee construction of new driveways, curb and gutter, sidewalk, and sewer laterals, catch basin relocation, and installation of survey monuments for Parcel Map 62810. In lieu of bonds, a Cash Deposit was issued to the City in the amount of $60,000. Recommendation: That the City Council accept the public improvements and survey monuments and refund the Cash Deposit including interest. G. Resolution No. 2007-33 - Approval of Supplement Agreement No. 006-M1 to Administering Agency-State Master Agreement No. 07- 5358 Caltrans has obligated Federal Highway Bridge Rehabilitation and Replacement (HBRR) Program funds that are being utilized for the reconstruction of Garvey Bridge over the Rio Hondo Channel. The City Engineer's office, in working with Caltrans, was able to secure an additional $2,997,376 in HBRR funds. This raises the total amount of the Federal grant for the project to $10,581,216, thereby reducing the City's share of the construction costs to approximately $1,500,000. Caltrans requires that Program Supplement Agreement No. 006-M1 be approved and executed prior to payment of the Federal funds to the City. Recommendation: That the City Council adopt Resolution No. 2007-33 approving Supplement Agreement No. 006-M1, and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the agreement. H. Ratify Appointment of Traffic Commissioners and Planning Commissioners Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 4 of 18 E • The City Council interviewed candidates for the Traffic Commission on May 8, 2007. Following the interviews, the Council announced the appointment of three commissioners: Holly Knapp, Ronald Gay, and Janet Chin. Interviews for new Planning Commissioners were held on May 14, 2007. The City Council appointed five commissioners as a result of those interviews: Allan K. Vuu, Larry Bevington, Daniel Lopez, Todd Kunioka, and Truong Cam. Based on the City's Municipal Code, Section 2.28.020 Members- Terms-Vacancies (Planning Commission), members of the Planning Commission shall have a term of office of two years, from the date of appointment. Section 2.32.040 Term - (Traffic Commission), voting members of the Traffic Commission shall serve for terms of two years. These appointments need to be ratified in an open meeting of the City Council. Recommendation: That the City Council appoint the following three individuals to the Traffic Commission for two year terms effective May 8, 2007: Holly Knapp, Ronald Gay, and Janet Chin, and the following five individuals to the Planning Commission for two year terms effective May 14, 2007: Allan K. Vuu, Larry Bevington, Daniel Lopez, Todd Kunioka, and Truong Cam. Senate Bill 964 On April 24, 2007, the City Council voted to oppose Senate Bill 964. At the time, the measure proposed to make changes to the Brown Act to prohibit any staff member-including the City Manager and City Attorney- from having serial communications with any member of the City Council. Since that time, the League of California Cities (League) has worked with the author of the legislation to make significant modifications and enhancements to the proposed bill. After a series of amendments, the bill now seeks to prohibit a majority of the members of a legislative body from using a series of communications of any kind, directly or through intermediaries, to discuss, deliberate or take action on any item of business that is required by the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act) to be conducted in public. Based on these modifications, the League withdrew their "oppose" position to the measure and instead offered an official position of neutral. Recommendation: That the City Council vote to reverse its initial Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 5 of 18 0 0 position on SB 964 and taken an official position of "support" for the measure. J. California Contract Cities Association - 27th Annual Fall Seminar September 28-30, 2007 - Riverside Recommendation: That the City Council authorize the attendance at City expense, any Councilmember, the City Attorney, the City Manager and staff designee. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion with a second by Councilmember Clark to approve the following Consent Calendar items: B (May 8, 2007, May 14, 2007, June 12, 2007), D, E, F, G, H, I, J. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Absent: None A. Resolution No. 2007-31 Claims and Demands Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2007-31, for payment of City expenditures in the amount of $375,136.59 demands 60201 through 60239. Resolution No. 2007-32 Claims and Demands Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2007-32, for payment of City expenditures in the amount of $1,538,767.51 demands 58528 through 58596, 60240 through 60401. Councilmember Taylor inquired about the payment of PERS and CIGNA health care charges; he asked why the City was paying for both providers. Interim City Manger Chi explained that effective September 1, the City will transition out of CIGNA and go back to PIERS; in order to do this, pre-payments were made to PERS. Mr. Chi reported health care coverage for the month of July and August was provided by CIGNA and documentation for PERS reimbursement was received last week. Councilmember Clark asked why the City prepaid money to PERS. Mayo Tran asked Mr. Chi to provide the Council with a clarification memo. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 6 of 18 • 0 Mayor Pro Tem Nunez made a motion with a second by Councilmember Low to approve Resolution 31 and 32. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Absent: None B. Minutes August 14, 2007 - Special Meeting Councilmember Clark deferred the minutes of August 14, 2007. July 17, 2007 - Special Meeting Prior to discussion about this item, Councilmember Taylor requested staff contact other cities with Sexual Predator Ordinances with to avoid the higher hourly rate charged by the City Attorney. Mayor Tran suggested staff contact Baldwin Park and Pomona to gather their Ordinances for attorney review. Councilmember Taylor asked that two sections of the minutes from July 17, 2007 be amended. He made a motion to approve the minutes with the two corrections. Both Councilmember Clark and Mayor Tran deferred the minutes and asked the minutes be brought back after audio review. Resident Juan Nunez corrected his comment from page 6 of the May 8, 2007 minutes to reflect a recommendation for a fee for containers, not trucks. C. Property Maintenance Ordinance Currently, the City enforces property maintenance related issues with the use of Title 17 of the Zoning Code. However, that code section does not fully define and effectively provide the tools necessary to properly enforce property maintenance violations. With the aging of properties and the apparent increase in absentee property owners, there is now a need for a comprehensive property maintenance ordinance. Recommendation: Thy receive public comment, Ordinance No. 854. t the City Council hold the noticed public hearing, receive City Council input, and introduce Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting. August 28, 2007 Page 7 of 18 • • Rosemead resident Jim Flournoy reported Title 17 will change with the new Code coming out next year; he suggested department collaboration or a sunset to this Ordinance once new codes come out. Brian Lewin, residing at 9501 Ralph Street, asked if the ordinance will also apply to vacant lots. Staff replied it would apply to all properties across the board. Councilmember Taylor discussed two sections that specifically address residential property and suggested commercial property also is included. Staff agreed to include commercial properties in the sections referenced by Councilmember Taylor. Interim City Manager Chi indicated the proposed Ordinance will be posted on the city website, page numbers will be added to the document and a public hearing will take place on September 11. Councilmember Clark inquired about a section concerning overgrown vegetation and diminution of property values. She requested staff re-word it so it is not as vague and subjective to staff interpretation. Don Anderson stated staff would rework this section to clarify the issue. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez asked if the new code will address overgrown vegetation into neighboring properties. Interim Public Safety Director Anderson replied yes, if it presented a fire hazard. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez asked how the City deals with people that don't have the means to pay or the mental capability to deal with issues. Councilmember Low asked what happens if homeowners refuse to make changes. Mr. Anderson reported the different options available to staff. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion with a second by Councilmember Low to approve the staff recommendation. Vote resulted Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Absent: None Abstain: None 4. MATTERS FROM MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL A. Construction Management Firm On June 26, 2007, the City Council directed the City Attorney to prepare and distribute an RFQ in search of a new construction management firm. Based on that direction, the City Attorney drafted and sent out such a Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 8 of 18 0 0 document and the City received responses from the following two firms: (ACS Group and Del Terra.) On August 14, 2007, the City Council requested that interviews and possible selection of a firm be placed on the agenda of our August 28, 2007 meeting. Recommendation: That the City Council interview both firms and provide additional direction. Rosemead resident Jim Flournoy advocated a separate firm should be hired to do construction management for the city, but expressed concern about the description of the RFQ and making a change half-way through the bridge project. ACS Group and Del Terra were asked 4 questions: 1) Introduce yourself and your firm. 2) Share a project that you have worked on that is an example of your success. 3) What do you want the City to know that you did not put in response to the RFQ? 4) What makes your firm a better choice than your competitor? 5) What types of bridges have you worked on? Councilmember Taylor requested that a letter submitted by the current construction management firm be included for the record. Councilmember Low made a motion to go with Del Terra. Councilmember Clark stated that based on potential delays and loss of funding if firms are switched she made a substitute motion, with a second by Councilmember Taylor to stay with the current construction management company for the Garvey Bridge only. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Taylor No: Low, Nunez, Tran Abstain: None Absent: None Councilmember Low made a motion with a second by Councilmember Nunez to award the contract to Del Terra. Vote resulted: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Councilmember Taylor commended Planning Services Administrator Johnson for his service to the City and wished him future success in his new job. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 9 of 18 • • Mayor Pro Tem Nunez, Councilmember Clark, Councilmember Low, Mayor Tran and Interim City Manager Chi also congratulated and thanked Mr. Johnson. Councilmember Taylor asked City Attorney Garcia for clarification on how to go about releasing a report discussed in closed session. City Attorney Garcia replied he would have to request the issue be put on the agenda. Councilmember Taylor requested that the item be put on the next City Council agenda. Mayor Tran asked the City Manager to explore options to use the space beneath power lines to possibly create a nature trail, water park, or dog park. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez suggested the City Manager explore the use of bond money for the ideas suggested by Mayor Tran. 5. MATTERS FROM CITY MANAGER & STAFF A. Procedures for Preparation of Agendas On several occasions, City Council members and staff have made inquiries and/or questioned the current procedure for constructing agendas in advance of a City Council meeting. The proposed ordinance is meant to address these concerns. Recommendation: That the City Council hold the noticed public hearing, receive public comment, receive City Council input, and introduce Ordinance No. 855. Jim Flournoy residing at 8665 Landis view Lane, spoke against the Ordinance and advocated that the current procedures in place foster openness and work if utilized. Councilmember Clark felt provisions of the proposed Ordinance might result in Brown Act violations if a majority of the Council needs to be consulted in order to ensure an item is placed on the agenda. City Attorney Garcia explained that the City Manager might serve as the conduit to determine support. Mayor Tran recalled that Councilmembers had to sign-off to hold a special meeting for the recall election. Resident Brian Lewin declined the opportunity to address the Council because he felt Mr. Flournoy adequately covered the points he wanted to bring up. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 10 of 18 Nancy Eng, residing at 3146 Jackson Avenue, suggested the Council should refer to the section of the City's Municipal Code which references placing items on the agenda. Councilmember Clark agreed that staff needs additional time to prepare items for the agenda and expressed support for the eight calendar day recommendation. She expressed concern about giving any member of Council holding the position of Mayor the authority to censor agenda items. Mayor Tran explained that current agenda placement procedures are vague which prompted the new proposed procedures and asked the City Attorney to further explain. City Attorney Garcia explained that the current ordinance leaves the decision up to the interpretation of the City Manager or the Mayor. He indicated the proposed ordinance clarifies who has the final say. Additionally, he indicated the verbiage used is standard to what other cities use. Councilmember Clark inquired who asked the Ordinance be drafted City Attorney Garcia replied that the Mayor did. Councilmember Clark read the current code and cautioned that issues might not get brought up if the Mayor does not want it on the agenda. Councilmember Low asked if this type of ordinance exists in other cities. City Attorney Garcia replied yes, to his knowledge it does and certainly exists in school districts. He added that he was unsure of where his staff pulled the Ordinance from. Councilmember Low asked how other Councilmember's views could be gauged if the Mayor did not approve an item she wanted on the agenda. City Attorney Garcia replied Councilmember Low could call other Councilmembers or ask the City Manager to call them. He added she could not deliberate, nor express her opinion but could call. Councilmember Clark stated that that could violate the Brown Act because in asking for an item to be on the agenda an opinion was being expressed. Councilmember Low commented the Council should rely on the City Attorney's expertise and knowledge of the Brown Act. City Attorney Garcia conceded a better practice would be to have the City Manager ask but confirmed both methods were acceptable. Councilmember Low felt it was important to have an ordinance that spells out options incase the next City Manager is not as accommodating. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting. August 28, 2007 Page 11 of 18 • • Councilmember Taylor spoke against the proposed Ordinance, asked when Councilmembers would find out if an item they requested was not going to be put on, felt the Ordinance might cross the fine line of censorship and stated Rosemead doesn't have to adopt this type of Ordinance just because other cities are. Mayor Tran disagreed with Mr. Taylor's sentiments and reminded him about his donation of bicycles discussed at a previous meeting at the request of Councilmember Clark. Councilmember Clark felt it was a misuse of public funds and asked the City Manager to put it on the agenda. She felt Mayor Tran wanted this ordinance in order to censure such items. Mayor Tran felt it was a double standard. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez pointed out agenda item request procedures similar to ones proposed worked out well at Garvey and Alhambra School District. Mayor Tran reiterated that three signatures were required to get a special meeting about the recall election in the past. Resident Jim Flournoy stated he felt Councilmembers should make their agenda requests out in public to ensure openness. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez made a motion with a second by Councilmember Low to hold the noticed public hearing, receive public comment, receive City Council input, and introduce Ordinance No. 855. Vote resulted: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None B. Approval of New Legal Counsel Agreements On April 3, 2007, the City Council hired "Bonny" Garcia of Garcia, Calderon, and Ruiz (GCR) to serve as Rosemead's official legal counsel. Later, on May 8, 2007, the City Council approved a contract agreement with GCR to perform legal counsel services for the City. At the August 14, 2007 Community Development Commission (CDC) meeting, Burke, Williams, & Sorensen (BWS) was hired to serve as both General Counsel to the Commission and also to provide legal services with respect to matters concerning land use, housing, and economic Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 12 of 18 • • development. Furthermore, the Commission directed staff to negotiate a retainer agreement for BWS to provide such services. In addition, at the August 14, 2007 City Council meeting, staff was directed to negotiate a new retainer agreement with GCR to provide legal counsel services for the City. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following action: • Terminate the existing agreement for City Attorney services with GCR and approve the new proposed agreement for City Attorney services with GCR. • Approve the agreement for Special Legal Services with BWS. Interim City Manager Chi referenced a new proposal that was distributed to Council on Monday night. With the new agreement, the firm would receive $15,000 per month for the first 70 hours of legal work. Work beyond the 70 hours, would be billed at an hourly rate, not to exceed an additional $15,000 per month. Monthly fees will not exceed $30,000 a month, unless extraordinary circumstances exist. Councilmember Low made a motion, with a second by Mayor Pro Tern Nunez to approve the revised contract as described above. Councilmember Taylor reported that by his calculations, the City paid about $179,000 on average for City and CDC legal services provided by Wallin, Kress, which is different from the figure of $343,000 that Interim City Manager Chi provided. Interim City Manager Chi pointed out that Mr. Taylor's figures did not include travel expenses, medical insurance costs and pension contributions. Councilmember Taylor reported pension, medical, and other additional costs resulted in additional $84,000 in fees, bringing the total costs to $234,000. He pointed out that pension and medical costs were reduced from Mr. Kress's retainer. Mayo Tran stood by his numbers and indicated his figures were from the approved budgets, which are public documents. Councilmember Taylor asked Mayor Tran if he used estimated budgeted amounts or amounts actually spent. Mayor Tran replied he used the figures that were actually spent, not estimated. Councilmember Low pointed out that even if the amount was $234,000 it would mean Mr. Kress's fees averaged to about $19,000 a month. Given that, Ms. Low surmised that a month retainer fee of $15,000 is reasonable and suggested that if the City Attorney only focuses on high priority legal items, cost can be contained. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 13 of 18 Councilmember Taylor called for the question. Councilmember Low made a motion, with a second by Mayor Pro Tern Nunez to approve the revised contract as described by Interim City Manager Chi. Vote resulted: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None C. Transition to CalPERS Health Insurance On June 12, 2007, the City Council voted to direct staff to begin the process of transitioning away from CalPERS as the City's health benefits provider to Cigna. Later, on August 14, 2007, the City Council deferred taking action on the authorizing resolution needed to finalize the City's transition out of CalPERS health. Based on that deferral, the City was unable to meet the August 20, 2007 deadline to submit an authorizing resolution to CalPERS to formalize the transition to a private health insurance provider. This means that the City will have to stay with CalPERS as the City's health benefit provider. Staff also met with the Rosemead Employee Association (REA) to discuss this matter and have drafted a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to reflect the update and changes that have been made to employee benefits. Recommendation: That the City Council authorize a transition back to CaIPERS as the City's health insurance provider and approve the new MOU between the City of Rosemead and the REA. Interim City Manager Chi apologized for not bringing the Resolution to move away from PERS healthcare sooner to allow the Council enough time to ask questions. Mayor Tran clarified that it was the Council that deferred the item. Interim City Manager Chi reported that with the current situation the city has to transition back to PERS, a new agreement with the Employee Association had been reached to increase the cafeteria amount to $1,600 so that employees will not be penalized for this year. Mr. Chi added that next year, the cafeteria amount can be changed per Council's direction. Mayor Tran asked who came up with $1,600 amount. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 14 of 18 • • Interim City Manager Chi indicated it came out of a meeting with himself, Councilmember Clark and the employees. Councilmember Taylor asked for a clarification on the state code if the City were to pull out of PERS. Interim City Manager Chi stated that PEMCHA law states that the City should stay with PERS until the Council opts out of PERS and adopts a resolution to that effect. Councilmember Taylor asked what the timeframe was. Interim City Manager Chi replied that there is no particular date set in stone but added that agencies had until August 20 to send in the resolution after PERS announced their new health care rates on June 20. Mayor Tran surmised that if the City raised the cafeteria plan amount to $1,600, the increase from $1,350 times 40 employees would result in an additional cost to the city of $10,000 a month. For the next 10 months, this would result in a total extra cost of $100,000. Councilmember Low asked to refresh her memory as to why the Council deferred the item. Interim City Manager Chi replied that it was based on Bob Kress's memorandum, but took responsibility and indicated he wasn't sure that August 20th was a firm deadline to leave PERS and indicated he thought the Resolution was just a formality. Councilmember Low asked if the basis of Mr. Kress's letter was valid. City Attorney Garcia replied that it was a hyper-technical point that did not apply to us because both Councilmembers started their service before 1994 and the law Mr. Kress referenced only applies to Councilmembers after 1994 and they would only be entitled to it after they had served a certain term of years and stepped down. Councilmember Low asked about previous Councilmembers. City Attorney Garcia replied that an advisory opinion by the Attorney General has been issued which PEMCHA is abiding by. Mr. Garcia added that with respect to employees, the law did not impact them. Councilmember Low asked if Mr. Kress's letter had not been received, and the City had transitioned to CIGNA healthcare, how much would the City have saved. Mayor Tran responded the City would have saved $100,000. Councilmember Clark stated that it was still unclear whether the Attorney General's opinion will continue to be upheld. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 15 of 18 City Attorney Garcia stated the statute specifies 1994 as a cut-off date. Councilmember Clark stated the issue is still unresolved and that making an uninformed decision could have cut off benefits forever for newer Councilmembers. City Attorney Garcia stated that currently PEMCO is following the Attorney General position but that there are no guarantees. Councilmember Low commented that PERS rates are always higher. Councilmember Clark clarified that once we get out we can't go back for five years. Councilmember Low replied we will save money going outside and indicated with PERS we have to pay whatever rate is indicated. City Attorney Garcia indicated the PERS health insurance issue is on-going with many agencies. He reported that Northern California has a loss rate higher than Southern California and because PERS is spreading out the additional costs, the City's rates are higher. Councilmember Clark made a motion with a second by Councilmember Nunez to authorize a transition back to CaIPERS as the City's health insurance provider and approve the new MOU between the City of Rosemead and the REA. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, No: Tran Abstain- Taylor Absent: None Councilmember Low stated for the record she felt she had no choice but to approve it. Rosemead resident Holly Knapp asked what happened with the Garvey Bridge. Interim City Manager Chi replied that Wildan is still our City Engineer and will continue to provide engineering services in regards to the bridge project but that Del Terra will handle construction management for the bridge and all future construction management projects. Ms. Knapp asked if the bridge was almost done. Interim City Manager Chi responded it is 65% complete and that a lot of administrative coordination will need to be done to facilitate the transition. Ms. Knapp inquired whether Willdan will still be engineers for the City or other assignments such as Planning and Traffic Commissions. Mayor Tran assured that they Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 16 of 18 0 0 still will be. She further inquired if the meeting will still take place and suggested some sort of explanation on what will happen next be reported in the newspaper. Mayor Tran asked the City Attorney to explain why the City wanted to hire a new firm. City Attorney Garcia responded it was a conflict of interest to have the same firms handle the design and construction management of a project. Councilmember Clark asked why the Council was going into Closed Session as they were not told they were evaluating the City Manager. She indicated no background information was provided to Councilmembers. Mayor Tran adjourned to Closed Session. 6. CLOSED SESSION The City Council will recess to a Closed Session pursuant to: 1) Government Code 54957: Public Employee Appointment Title: City Manager The Council recessed to closed session at 10:47 pm and reconvened at 11:00 pm. Mayor Tran reported the action that took place during the closed session: Mayor Tran made a motion with a second by Councilmember Low to appoint Oliver Chi as the permanent City Manager effectively immediately. Vote resulted: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Councilmember Taylor stated his vote was not against Mr. Chi and acknowledged he is a hard worker, but voted "no" because of his lack of experience. Mayor Tran also reported that a contract will be brought back for Council approval. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:02 pm. The next regular City Council meeting is scheduled to take place on September 11, 2007 at 7:00 pm. Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 17 of 18 0 • Respectfully submitted: APPROVED: Nina Castruita CITY CLERK John Tran MAYOR Rosemead City Council Minutes Regular Meeting: August 28, 2007 Page 18 of 18