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CC - Item 2C - Minutes with Errata 07-11-06• 0 Minutes of the Regular Meeting Rosemead City Council July 11, 2006 Mayor Taylor called the meeting to order at 8:00 PM. Councilman Imperial led the pledge to the flag. The Invocation was led by Reverend Miguel De Guzman, from Mission Community United Methodist Church. Roll Call: Present: Clark, Imperial, Tran, Mayor Pro Tern Nunez, Mayor Taylor Absent: None 1. PUBLIC COMMENT Elsa Higareda, residing at 9111 Newby Avenue, expressed dissatisfaction about how her son and family were treated by a local Sheriff Deputy regarding a robbery that took place in her neighborhood. Mayor Taylor indicated staff would look into the matter and requested Ms. Higareda bring the Assistant City Manager a copy of the complaint filed with the Sheriffs station. Marlene Shinen, residing at 8447 Drayer Lane, South San Gabriel, spoke about Condition 35 from the revised EIR which states that two handicap access ramps to the sidewalk will be provided during Wal-Mart construction. Ms. Shinen presented pictures and indicated a complaint was filed with U.S. Department of Justice because handicap ramps providing access to the sidewalk are blocked. Cynthia Melendrez, 7433 Garvey Avenue, Space 3A, discussed electricity issues at the Rosemead Trailer Park. Mayor Taylor requested electrical inspectors go out, do an inspection and provide a copy to Ms. Melendrez. Mayor Taylor reminded the resident that the state has official jurisdiction over the matter. Councilmember Imperial offered to intervene on behalf of park residents and also asked that James Donovan inspect the property. Jim Flournoy, residing at 8655 Landisview Lane, discussed the lack of handicap accessibility and tardiness of sidewalk construction at the Wal-Mart site. Mr. Flournoy also discussed the portion of Condition 35 of the Wal-Mart permit which requires utilities be placed underground; to date, this process has not taken place. In addition, he indicated that one of the permit conditions mandates that during the grading period, not more than 20% of the site can be worked on at once; however, the entire site is being worked on and this is a violation of the conditional permit. Councilmember Tran asked if the city would be liable if an accident occurred on the handicap ramp. City Attorney Wallin responded that a permit condition requires that Wal-Mart hold the City harmless; as a result there is no city liability exposure. CC Minutes -July 11, 2006 Page 1 of 7 • • Mayor Pro Tern Nunez asked if the contractor is controlling traffic and requested staff go out to the site and check. Paul Saito, residing at 8361 Sierra Bonita, indicated that pedestrians are being adversely affected by Wal-Mart construction and expressed concern about the current condition of walkways in the construction area. Yuki Fukumoto, residing at 1807 Delta Avenue, spoke about mitigation measures and apparent violations. Ms. Fukumoto indicated that as the lead agency, the City is required to ensure full compliance of permit conditions and read excerpts from a letter from the City Clerk regarding the lack of logs monitoring permit condition compliance. Ms. Fukumoto indicated that mitigation measures and conditions of approval were put in for the safety of the residents and staff needs to monitor progress. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez asked City Attorney Wallin about proper monitoring procedures. Mr. Wallin indicated that staff is required to monitor construction progress but not required to a keep a log. Mayor Taylor indicated that AQMD inspectors are required to keep logs which the city will inspect. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez asked the City Attorney if the City, as the lead agency, is also required to keep logs and keep track of condition violations. Councilmember Tran directed staff to create a daily written log and indicate past violations to date. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez, Mayor Taylor and Councilmember Tran asked that copies of AQMD logs be requested and included in the City log. Brian Lewin, residing at 9442 E. Ralph Street, thanked staff for assistance in putting together a July 4 Parade booth at the July 4 event at the park; Mr. Lewin indicated more than 200 people expressed interest in the parade and 30 - 40 indicated they would help facilitate the 2007 parade. 2. CONSENT CALENDAR: A. Resolution No. 2006-17 Claims and Demands Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2006-17, for payment of City expenditures in the amount of $759,861.11 demands 53525 through 53631. B. Approval of Minutes June 14, 2005 - Regular Meeting CC Minutes - July 11, 2006 Page 2 of 7 • • E. Renewal of Lighting Agreement with QRS Lighting Services, Inc. QRS Lighting Services, Inc. has been maintaining the sports lights at the Sports Complex, Garvey and Rosemead Parks and the parking lot lights at the Garvey Center, since 1998. Per the specifications, the fixed monthly fee covers all labor, tools and equipment necessary to maintain the lighting fixtures. QRS would like to renew the agreement for another year without an increase in their monthly fee. Recommendation: That the City Council approve the Extension of Agreement and authorize its execution by the City Manager or his designee. F. Agreement with Republic Electric Republic Electric provides the City's traffic signal maintenance services. The agreement is extended annually along with a cost-of-living adjustment. It is proposed that the extension to the original agreement be executed thereby extending the contract through June 30, 2007, and granting a 5.4% cost-of-living adjustment. Recommendation: That the City Council approve the extension to the Agreement between Republic Electric and the City, authorizing a one- year contract extension and a 5.4% cost-of-living adjustment, effective June 1, 2006, and authorize the City Manager or his designee to sign the agreement on behalf of the City. Councilmember Tran made a motion to approve the consent calendar items listed above, with a second by Mayor Pro Tern Nunez. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Imperial, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Absent: None The following Consent Calendar items were pulled for separate consideration: Item B - December 14, 2004 minutes and Items C, D, G, and H. B. Approval of Minutes December 14, 2004 - Regular Meeting Mayor Taylor made a motion to approve the December 14, 2004 minutes with a second from Councilmember Clark. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Imperial, Taylor No: None Abstain: Nunez, Tran (not on the council when meeting took place) Absent: None CC Minutes -July 11, 2006 Page 3 of 7 ~J E C. Approval of Changes to City's Mortgage Assistance Program Real estate prices in the City have escalated dramatically since the City's adoption of the Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP) in 2001. Based on current prices, staff proposes to increase the amount of funds available for down payment assistance, lengthen the period of affordability and impose an equity share provision in the case of property appreciation. Recommendation: That the City Council approve and adopt proposed changes to the City's Mortgage Assistance Program Guidelines. Mayor Taylor indicated he did not support the item because of the conditions and regulations imposed on recipients. Councilmember Tran made a motion, with a second from Councilmember Clark to approve the changes to the City's Mortgage Assistance Program. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Imperial, Nunez, Tran No: Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Councilmember Clark requested staff also look at changing guidelines for the Homebuyer's Assistance/Purchase Program. D. Review and Approval of Home-Funded Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program (TBRA) The City has received HOME funds since 1996-1997 for use in providing affordable housing to the City. Currently, there exists a need within the community for affordable rental housing, especially for residents who may be displaced through government action or through private development of existing affordable mobile home parks. In addition, the City has $511,719 in HOME funds, which it must commit to a project prior to July 31, 2006. Recommendations: That the City Council take the following actions: • Approve and adopt the City's Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Program; • Approve a contract with the Rosemead Housing Development Corporation for TBRA operation; and • Authorize the City Attorney to finalize the contract and all program agreements. Mayor Taylor stated he did not support the item because no maximum amount of aid is specified; rather a percentage of household income is used to determine the amount of aid a renter is eligible to receive. Councilmember Imperial expressed his support for the program. CC Minutes - July 11, 2006 Page 4 of 7 0 0 Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, with a second from Councilmember Tran and support from Councilmember Imperial to approve the TBRA program described above. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Imperial, Nunez, Tran No: Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None G. Award of Street Sweeping Contract The City's contract with CleanStreet to provide street sweeping services expired on June 30, 2006. Bid proposals have been received from four street sweeping providers. Staff has reviewed the bid proposals. Recommendation: That the City Council award the street sweeping contract to CleanStreet and authorize the City Manager or his designee to sign the contract on behalf of the City. Mr. Lazzaretto indicated he met with Mayor Pro Tern Nunez to answer contract questions. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez asked for a deferral as he had additional questions. Mayor Taylor granted a deferral to the next council meeting and directed Councilmember Tran and Mayor Pro Tern Nunez to submit their contract questions in writing. H. Second Reading: Smoke Free Parks Ordinance At the June 13, 2006 City Council Meeting, staff was directed to prepare an ordinance that would ban smoking in all public parks. At the June 27, 2006 meeting, the ordinance was introduced and approved by the council. The measure would make it unlawful to use and dispose of any tobacco-related product in any City park. A first violation of the proposed ordinance would result in a fine of no more than $100, a second violation would result in a fine of no more than $200, and a third violation and every violation thereafter would be punishable by a fine of no more than $500. Recommendation: That the City Council adopt section 12.44.050 to the Rosemead Municipal Code banning smoking in all City Parks. Nisha Varghese, representing the Coalition for Smoke-Free Rosemead Parks, thanked the City Council for the initial ordinance passing at the previous meeting. She felt designated smoking areas do not protect non-smokers from second hand smoke. She indicated that none of the other cities in the San Gabriel Valley that have passed a park smoking ban, have included a designated smoking area stipulation. Councilmember Clark asked what the cost of enforcement would be. CC Minutes - July 11, 2006 Page 5 of 7 0 Ms. Varghese responded that the City of Monterey Park, which passed a similar ordinance last April, has incurred a cost of about $1,000 per posted sign. Councilmember Clark also discussed other law enforcement issues such as the diversion of personnel from addressing serious crimes. Mayor Taylor commented that the ordinance, as written (without designated smoking areas), is a good faith effort to support smoke-free parks. Mayor Taylor made a motion to approve the ordinance with a second by Councilmember Tran. Vote resulted: Yes: Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: Clark, Imperial Abstain: None Absent: None Councilmember Imperial expressed support for aims of the ordinance but urged caution in implementation. 3. MATTERS FROM MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL Mayor's Committee Appointments for 2006-2007 Councilmember Tran made a motion to approve appointments as indicated on the attachment filed with July 11 agenda items with a second by Mayor Pro Tern Nunez. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Imperial, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Absent: None Abstain: None 4. MATTERS FROM CITY MANAGER AND STAFF A. Eminent Domain and Redevelopment Related Legislation Senate Bill 1206 (Kehoe) is a measure that is currently awaiting hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and seeks to redefine blight and the documentation of blighting conditions for the purpose of utilizing redevelopment authority. If approved, the measure would restrict Rosemead's economic development efforts by imposing new regulations governing redevelopment activities. Proposition 90 is an initiative constitutional amendment that will appear on the November 2006 ballot and is titled the Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property. The measure has been dubbed the "Anderson Initiative" and if approved, would impact a variety of public projects and economic development programs by limiting a government's ability to adopt certain land use, housing, consumer, environmental and workplace laws and regulations. CC Minutes -July 11, 2006 Page 6 of 7 11 0 Recommendation: That the City Council take the following action: 1. Vote to opposed Proposition 90 and SB 1206. 2. Direct the City Manager to send correspondences to the appropriate agencies and individuals regarding the City's opposition to Proposition 90 and SIB 1206. Juan Nunez, residing at 2702 Del Mar Avenue, spoke against the process of eminent domain. He felt the City Council should not have the ability to take a person's property. Councilmember Tran made a motion to approve the recommendation to oppose the legislation listed above with a second by Mayor Pro Tern Nunez. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Imperial, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Absent: None Abstain: None Councilmember Tran made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 pm. The next regular meeting is scheduled for July 25, 2006 at 8:00 pm. CC Minutes -July 11, 2006 Page 7 of 7 0 • Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting 7-11-06 Minutes Errata Submitted by Mayor Gary Taylor Just before Mr. Fukumoto began to speak, Mayor Taylor was given 27 different 8"x10" color pictures from Mr. Blain Bachr. These pictures were showing the operations of the helicopter during the lifting of mechanical equipment onto the Wal- Mart building roof. The City Manager and Councilman Tran looked at the pictures during the meeting. 2. Mayor Taylor: Mr. Larry Aplanalp Mr. Aplanalp: My name is Larry Aplanalp and I live at 4766 Fendyke Ave. You were all here when I was here a couple of weeks ago to talk about graffiti. First of all, I would like to say this is not intended to a complaint here tonight. I am not complaining. It's an effort to help you, help the city and everybody that lives in the City. Secondly, here are just a few statistics that I have prepared if you would like to pass there out if any of the council people would like to have a copy of this. These are statistics that are derived from information provided by the city and by you. Just to summarize very quickly. You report a number of reports of graffiti per week. Between 600 and 800 a week. If you multiply that times three year, or a hundred and fifty six weeks, minimum you would have 93,600 reports in three years. Maximum you would have a 124,800 reports in three years. And if you use an average, you would have a least 109,000 reports. You take the minimum and divide that by the rewards that were granted and you have 46,800 reports per reward, the city reward of $1,500 dollars for reporting. That's a staggering statistic when you think about it. Look at it. Taylor: Would you go back to the beginning where your comment was how many do we get per week. Mr. Aplanalp: In the report that was given distributed in the city between 600 to 800 reports of graffiti per week. That was a written report put out by the city. Taylor: Have you seen, and I'm not being argumentative, but every week we get a list of the graffiti that the city has to go out and cover up. And there has never been, ever been a report that high. And now I'm trying to get the correlation. If we are going out and doing 80 to 120 per week. And you could check every single week and I hope that you do come in and ask to see those weekly reports. If they are doing 600 to 800 a week, take 10 weeks and now we are up to 6,000 to 8,000 in 10 weeks. That's a very large number and our staff, we have three full time employees out three getting rid of the graffiti. So somebody, the figures do not match and you are welcome to come in. City manager, I would like you to have staff put together the last two months of what we did each week. Because those are extremely high figures. We are frustrated with it, but I want to put it in a fair ball park. Taylor Errata: July 11, 2006 Page 1 of 5 • • Mr. Aplanalp: That's fine. They are not my figures; they are figures that come out. They are published and put out in print in the Rosemead Resource. Taylor: Good. Now that I've got that source, we will check that because those are astronomical figures. Mr. Aplanalp: Astronomical is an understatement. Taylor: I'm sorry of interrupted you, go ahead Mr. Aplanalp:That's okay, fine. The night, for your information is the vandals, I call them vandals or taggers only get a slap on the wrist when they are caught and punished. Specifically what does that mean. I didn't think about that at the time or had time to reflect. What is a slap on the wrist. What is the punishment for a first offense and conviction. Anybody can tell me. What is it. I'm sorry. Tran: Maybe the lieutenant can address this question. Imperial: I can help you Mr. Mayor. It depends on their age and where they send them to. Send them to Pasadena. They get a slap on the hand. Send them to El Monte, they are going to get a big slap. That's the way it works. Mr. Aplanalp: What is a slap. What does the mean. Imperial: That means that what is going to happen to them because of it and isn't as bad as in Audience: What does it mean? Is it two weeks. Imperial: Did you want to talk? Audience: I'm sorry. Imperial: Okay Mr. Aplanalp: I would like to know. Perhaps somebody on the council or the city attorney or somebody can tell me. What is a slap on the wrist, what does that mean, a three hundred dollar fine or a four dollar fine? Or two months in jail. What is it? Imperial: I'm pointing out the real problem with it because they don't take care of these people like they should and we have no control. That's what I'm saying. Mr. Aplanalp: I am trying to find out what is the punishment. What is ..what happens when you catch these people? Taylor Errata: July 11, 2006 Page 2 of 5 • 0 City attorney: Is a misdemeanor it is punishable by a fine of up to a thousand dollars and imprisonment. Mr. Aplanalp: Does that increase or does the judge's discretion generally get worse if it's the second or third offense. City attorney: Probably. Mr. Aplanalp: Probably. City Manager: One of the problems we have here Mr. Mayor, may be Lieutenant Wallace would like to briefly address this. On of the problems is most of these folks are juveniles. And court records for juveniles by their nature are sealed. So a lot of the information that we have, exactly what happen to an individual is not always available to us. But, Wayne would you be able to tell us generally what happens to an offender, how they handle it. Lieutenant Wallace: Usually a juvenile on the first case will go to juvenile court over in Pasadena and they will get probation, likely probation that might last a year, or there might be restitution. A lot of vandalism charges are based o the dollar amount of the damage. And the individual you might catch might have tagged up 20 different building. But by the time you catch him, you catch him doing on building and you can't tie that back. Starting this year, legislature changed some of the laws and what we are doing with the laws now is a juvenile gets caught the driver license is taken away automatically for a year. At the judge's discretion if the juvenile can show that he needs to get back and forth to work can receive a restricted license that allows him to go back an forth to work. I'll give you an example. Last week at the graduation at Rosemead High School we arrested two young men that had been tagging around here, we caught them in the act and they were both 18 years old and they were on active probation for vandalism. By being adults they are going over to Rio Hondo (Court) and we're looking at jail time. They filed two felony counts and damage of over $400 dollars. I have been providing arrest reports to Mr. Wagner and we are arresting people, but this issue... Mr. Lazzarretto we talked about it a week an a half ago. I attended a meeting called the Multi Agency Graffiti Organization. And there were representatives from Cal-Trans various municipal county government agencies and it isn't only this city that is having a problem. It is virtually county wide. Cal- Trans graffiti clean up bill for the last year was $1.4 million dollars according to a representative that was there. I just give you that to show that we are not the only place in the world. I can't remember the lady's name. But she talked about the murals on the freeways and I happened to go downtown L.A. the other day. Last weekend and those murals that are painted down there and they did such a wonderful job on. I mean they were just tagged from one end to the other. It was almost sacra- religious to see what is going on. But it is happening county side. It is an issue I can certainly appreciate your frustration but it is everywhere. Taylor Errata: July 11, 2006 Page 3 of 5 • 0 Mr. Aplanalp: I think its worse in some areas than in other areas. You look at some cities that are really pretty clean. I don't know what they are doing that we are not doing. But we should be doing... Lt. Wallace: If you listen to the other agencies in this room and it's a substantial number of agencies. Everybody is having a problem and it isn't just here. It isn't that the Sheriff s department is not doing what they are supposed to e doing what they are supposed to be doing. The arrest reports tell a different story. The courts are coming out with.. I mean you go to one judge and you get one story. Go to another judge and they will do something else. So when you talk about the sap on the wrist. If you go in there as a first time offender and having been zapped for vandalism charges you. Mr. Aplanalp: Is this something, is this a state law, county law, city law, what? Lt. Wallace: It's a state law and state law, governs punishment. If it's a felony its punishment in state prison for 2, 4, and 6 years and a certain fine amount. And of course the judge has the discretion with that he can give them county jail time instead of the state prison time. There are a variety of things where the judge has the discretion to make a decision and you know they don't always give the harshest penalty in the world. Mr. Aplanalp: What can we do about that as a city. Lt. Wallace: Write letters to your legislators. Mr. Aplanalp: Do you have any power to enhance this or make it more... Imperial: Larry, this is not an isolated thing. I think I told you at one time, but I now thought that I would see the day when I was driving through Beverly Hills and see the graffiti all over the place. But this is just not an isolated thing and the laws have been too soft on this issue. Mr. Aplanalp: Something's too soft. It's too soft all... I was to summarize this because of don't want to stay here all night. Whatever we can do to make some kinds of an impact on the penalty, the punishment or whatever we can do. We certainly know where this graffiti is happening. The city has got to know.. You got three full time employees out there cleaning it up. And its happening in the same place over and over, and over and over. Night over over. Just one thing I would like to mention here. There was a case I don't remember where it happened, but it was very publicized case I saw it on television where some vandals had taken down some stop signs in the city. I think this was in the Midwest somewhere. And they were out vandalizing stop signs and they took a stop sign down and the result was there were two innocent teenagers young teenagers drove thru that intersection and were killed in an accident because there was no stop sign. So I hate to see a similar tragedy happen because some vandals had pointed out perhaps a one way only or no right turn sign or something like that in our city and we don't get it cleaned up in time. We can stop Taylor Errata: July 11, 2006 Page 4 of 5 • 0 this, we need to take some serious proactive kind of action here and do something some folks. It's getting worse and worse, its not getting better, its getting worse. And we can't just say well, that's the way it is. It is happening in other cities too. It's not good enough. It's not acceptable to me it should not be acceptable to the city. Taylor: I thank you for your comments. Mr. Aplanalp: Let me just close by saying there was a broken window theory. I think Chief Bratton started it, clean up the broken windows you clean up a lot of there problems in the city. Let's do what we can. I hope I have helpful. Thank you very much. I really appreciate your time. (Attached to these minutes is a copy of the Rosemead Resource article that Mr. Aplanalp was quoting from. He misquoted the word month and used the word week, thereby incorrectly making graffiti reports four times higher than the report stated.) Taylor Errata: July 11, 2006 Page 5 of 5 Graffiti Costs to Residents Rising Keeping : w Rosemead Citizens Safe It's difficult to believe, but the bill was more than $750,000 to remove and repair the surfaces of property damaged by graffiti in the City of Rosemead over the last three years. The City calls upon everyone to get involved to end this vandalism and to suggest projects on which they would prefer to spend the money. With anywhere from 600-800 reported cases of graffiti vandalism in the City of Rosemead each month, the three City employees whose job it is to clean up the graffiti put in a combined 140 hours per week in the effort. The removal of graf- fiti in residential areas is a priority. Depending upon the workload, it takes 24-48 hours to respond once the graffiti has been reported. The City of Rosemead continues to offer a $1500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of graffiti vandals. City informa- tion as close as a mouse-click! Visit the NEW City website www.cityofrosemead.org All over the country, police departments are struggling to find new officers. But here in Rosemead, the Sheriff's Department prides itself on the stability of their force and the quality of their service to the community. The City's contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is reviewed regular- ly. The department looks at the city's population, the number of calls for service, response times and many other factors to determine the num- ber of patrol officers, detectives, community liai- son and others needed to keep the city safe. After 29 years in Rosemead, Lt. Wayne Wallace says the relationship between the community and the Sheriff's Department "is the best I've seen anywhere." A strong neighborhood watch program, a youth team that has won state recognition, and active involvement in the City's schools helps keep crime under control. Three of Rosemead's officers have received Golden Apple Awards for their involvement in school safety programs. According to Lt. Wallace, Rosemead has one of the county's most pro-active traffic enforcement policies. The freeway brings a high volume of "transient" traffic-traffic from outside the city- and traffic officers work aggressively to keep the city's streets safe. Pool Facility Renovations Completed The buildings at both Rosemead and Garvey pools have under- gone a few recent renovations and ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) upgrades. Both facilities now boast handicapped accessible restrooms and heat- ed showers, new flooring and fresh paint jobs. New lighting has also been installed at the Garvey facility. Both pools will be opened for the summer sea- son on June 24th. Summer 2006