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CC - Minutes - 01-10-2023MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 10, 2023 The regular meeting of the Rosemead City Council was called to order by Mayor Dang at 7:05 p.m., in the Rosemead City Council Chamber located at 8838 East Valley Boulevard, Rosemead, California. PRESENT: Mayor Dang, Mayor Pro Tem Ly, Council Members Armenia (teleconferenced), Clark, and Low ABSENT: None PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Mayor Pro Tem Ly INVOCATION was led by Council Member Clark STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Kim, City Attorney Richman, Interim Director of Finance Chamberlain, Interim Director of Community Development Wong, Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking, Director of Public Works Chung, and City Clerk Hernandez 1. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Low opened the Public Comment period. City Clerk Hernandez read the following Public Comment received via email by Marina Jimenez, Staff Member at Pasadena City College (PCC) Rosemead, which is located across the street from Rosemead City Hall. PCC Rosemead has been an increasingly vital part of this community since 2013. Our lease with El Monte Union High School District (EMUHSD) expires June 30, 2023. However, an opportunity has arisen which, with luck, has the potential to allow us to extend our lease by a few years. But it requires quick action. It was brought to our attention this morning that the Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet on January 18, 2023. The Rosemead facility — our campus — will be on the agenda. We would like to send a clear message to the Board that students, faculty, staff, and the community need PCC to remain so that we may continue to build on providing and satisfying the higher educational needs of students in Rosemead and surrounds, and the significant impact and contributions our students, staff, and faculty have made in the community. We have begun organizing and using every resource available to inform our campus community and impact the upcoming Board discussion and vote. As a staff member, a good portion of my salary is spent here in Rosemead. I use my breaks and lunch to eat at local eateries, buy my groceries at GW Supermarket and Grocery Outlet, shop at Rosemead Place Shopping Center, and have my vehicles serviced locally. This is typical of many of my coworkers and faculty. As there is no food service available on campus, our students regularly patron neighboring eating establishments during campus hours of 7 am to 10 pm. Since the return to in-person classes one and a half years ago following the COVID lockdown, our student enrollment has continued to steadily increase. And finally, we firmly believe that the upcoming Starlite Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page I of 40 residential development of 207 homes on the grounds of the former Starlite Drive -In on Rosemead Boulevard just south of the 10 freeway, has the potential to significantly increase our student enrollment. PCC Rosemead brings business, growth, and educational opportunities to the community. I believe it would be powerful for the Board to hear from you, our local community leaders, on the value PCC Rosemead brings to this community. It would be most appreciated if you would consider participating in the Board's public comments portion of the Board meeting on January 18, 2023, at 6:00 pm. Alternately, if attendance is problematic, please consider writing a letter of support to the Board of Trustees in care of Board President Ricardo Padilla at ricardo.oadillangemuhsd.ore. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. I sincerely appreciate your consideration of my request. Council Member Clark stated I know we cannot take action on this matter tonight since it is not agendized; pointed out that we have strongly supported PCC remaining in Rosemead in the past. Mayor Pro Tem Ly opined that it would be proper to direct the City Manager to have staff prepare a letter of support to keep PCC in Rosemead and have the Mayor sign it; noted this would fall within our legislative platform goals of supporting economic development and keeping businesses within the city. There being no further comments, Mayor Dang closed the Public Comment period. 2. PRESENTATIONS A. Introduction of Newly Hired Assistant Planner Lina Do Interim Director of Community Development Wong introduced Lina Do as newly hired Assistant Planner; indicated she could not be present tonight as she was attending class at USC. Lina received her bachelor's degree in urban studies and planning. At the University California, San Diego, 2021 and is currently completing her master's degree in urban planning at the University of Southern California. She expects to obtain her master's degree with an emphasis on design, built environment, and should be graduating this coming May. 3. PUBLIC HEARING A. Public Hearing on Planned Development 22-01, Zone Change 22-01, General Plan Amendment 22-01, and Tentative Tract Map 83705 - 8601 Mission Drive Mission Villas, LLC is proposing the development of 37 two-story dwelling units, eight of which will be developed utilizing the City's Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance. In addition, four out of the 37 units will be designated as affordable units. The dwellings will range in size from 1,546 to 2,553 square feet with four different floor plans. Of the 37 units, 29 would be four-bedroom single family dwelling units, four would be three-bedroom duplexes, and four would be four-bedroom duplexes. All units will include an enclosed two -car garage. The project also includes 25 guest parking spaces and access would be provided via one 40 -foot -wide driveway on Mission Drive. In addition, the project will include new landscaping, decorative Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes ofJanuary 10, 1023 Page 2 of 40 hardscape, exterior walls and lighting, and open space areas. The project site is located at 8601 Mission Drive (APNS: 5389-009-029, 030, and 031) in the Single Family Residential (R-1) zone. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following action: 1. Conduct and open the public hearing and receive public testimony; 2. Adopt Resolution No. 2023-02, entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING THE INITIAL STUDY/MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION AND MITIGATION MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM AS THE ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION FOR PLANNED DEVELOPMENT 22-01, ZONE CHANGE 22-01, GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT 22-01, AND TENTATIVE TRACT MAP 83705; 3. Adopt Resolution No. 2023-04, entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, APPROVING GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT 22-01 AND TENTATIVE TRACT MAP 83705 TO AMEND THE LAND USE DESIGNATION OF THE SUBJECT SITE FROM LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (0-6 UNITS PER ACRE) TO MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (0-12 UNITS PER ACRE) AND TO CREATE NINE LEGAL PARCELS FOR 37 RESIDENTIAL UNITS. THE SUBJECT SITE IS LOCATED AT 8601 MISSION DRIVE (APNS: 5389-009-029, 030, and 03 1) 4. Introduce for first reading, by title only, Ordinance No. 1013, entitled: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, FOR THE APPROVAL OF PLANNED DEVELOPMENT 22-01 AND ZONE CHANGE 22-01, AMENDING THE ZONING MAP OF THE SUBJECT SITE FROM SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (R-1) TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT (P -D) ZONE. THE SUBJECT SITE IS LOCATED AT 8601 MISSION DRIVE (APNS: 5389-009-029, 030, and 031): and 5. Authorize the City Manager to execute an Affordable Housing Agreement with Mission Villas, LLC for four affordable units. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 3 of 40 Associate Planner Lao summarized the Mission Villa's project proposed is for the development of 37 two-story dwelling units, eight of which will be developed utilizing the city's small lot subdivision ordinance. In addition, four out of the 37 units will be designated as affordable units. The project is located at 8601 Mission Drive and includes applications for planned development, a zone change to amend the zoning map of the subject site from RI to PD zone, a General Plan amendment to amend the land use designation of the subject site from low density residential to medium density residential, and a tentative tract map, a subdivision creating nine legal parcels for 37 units. Staff has verified that the proposed project would meet all of the minimum zoning requirements and all applicable sections of the Rosemead Municipal Code. Ms. Lao stated the applicant has also prepared a PowerPoint presentation for Council's consideration. Eric Fowler, Applicant, thanked the City Council for taking their project into consideration, as well as the Planning Commission for their unanimous approval of our project last December and city staff for their professionalism. Mr. Fowler provided background of Borstein Enterprises, gave an overview of the project via a PowerPoint presentation, including an aerial view of location at Walnut Grove Avenue and Mission Drive on the northeast corner; noted there's the Edison easement that runs along our west property line, then a single-family residential along the north, east, and south, and then across Mission Drive, we have a small church and some other residential. We presented our project proposal to a joint Planning Commission and City Council Workshop in November 2021 and received a lot of really helpful feedback from that Workshop. Asserted following the Workshop, we developed and defined our plan that we submitted after gathering input from the local community and the local neighbors. We finally submitted a plan and we've requested these entitlements that were listed earlier. The project will comply with all the mandatory findings; indicated we completed a CEQA, including mitigated negative DAC, resulting in no unmitigable impacts. We obviously got the Planning Commission approval in December and we're kind of excited about the project. When we went to the Workshop, you gave us a lot of really great feedback that we took quite seriously by conducting neighborhood outreach and meeting with many of the interested neighbors in the area; asserted that their feedback received was incorporated in our plans. You asked us to provide some affordable housing on the site, so four units are being provided, which are three- bedroom units set aside for low-income families and they're utilizing the city's down payment assistance program. Highlighted that we're also giving priority to veterans that live in the City of Rosemead. Mr. Fowler stated then you asked us to look at public transit, unfortunately there's no public transit on the site or adjacent to the site. You have to go to Valley Boulevard and Rosemead Boulevard to find that, but there is a Dial -A -Ride available for seniors. We looked at the safety of the intersection for the entrance for a project and had it reviewed and approved by the LA County Fire Department, as well as traffic engineers. As far as the request to look at enhancements along Mission Drive, we basically enhanced the landscaping, putting more mature landscaping in it. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 4 of 40 Noted we also looked at possibly extending the landscaping down to Walnut Grove Avenue through the Edison easement. We actually went to some lengths to try to get that done, but within three days after submitting the plans to Edison, they said no. Mr. Fowler shared that we've upgraded all the elevations and all the homes will be modern with open concept floor plans. We've added sustainable features including water efficiency, excuse me, water energy efficiency, drought tolerant landscaping, smart home features, whole house controls, solar systems, high efficiency insulation, high efficiency appliances and dual pane windows. These houses are going to be stacked with all the newest features and make them highly sustainable today. We look forward to working with staff and you and the community to get this beautiful project built. Mayor Dang opened the Public Hearing for Public Comments. Linda Kilpatrick, resident, shared I've been in my home for 15 years; indicated all that property used to be the Mormon Church lot. Stated the agenda has an item to discuss the development of the Edison corridor; opined why don't you make that a park for the housing development, otherwise it is just fallow land with weeds two feet tall; noted last year somebody lit it on fire. Suggested making it a park for all to enjoy, which would be a lot less expensive than doing the corridor down to Shuey School. Council Member Clark asked are you saying you would like to see the Edison property become a park? Ms. Kilpatrick confirmed yes. Referred to Agenda Item 5D. Indicated the Edison corridor runs right behind my house and through the former Mormon Church lot that is now going to be the development. City Attorney Richman advised the Council to keep the discussion to the current project at hand. You are welcome to make that pocket park comment for that project when it is being discussed. Mayor Dang clarified it would be more appropriate to hear this comment about the condition of the Edison right-of-way during that item's discussion. Ms. Kilpatrick commented as long as the park is attached to the housing development as I mentioned. Mayor Dang replied noted for the record. Council Member Clark inquired what the developer meant when he said that Edison turned them down. Mr. Fowler replied at the Workshop we were asked to go to Edison and see if we could make some enhancements to that land but not a park. Expressed Edison is so difficult to work with; explained we submitted a plan to Edison to install a landscape Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 5 of 40 strip along Mission Drive to beautify the intersection, but Edison said no quickly despite our efforts of preparing working plans through irrigation, very low drought tolerant and maintenance. Council Member Clark responded thank you, that answers my question. There being no additional speakers, Mayor Dang closed the Public Comment period Council Member Clark inquired about the utilizing the City Down Payment Assistance Program through CDBG. City Manager Kim responded that is actually using our HOME funds, so annually we get two pool of money — one is HOME and the second is CDBG. Council Member Clark asked what is the cost of these homes, the selling price? City Manager Kim responded I'm not sure if that's set, but if I can defer that to the developer. Council Member Clark stated when we were talking about CDBG earlier last year, we had a threshold of $500,000 that you could apply for this down payment assistant. I said there aren't any, so we got them to raise it to the maximum that the CDBG would allow us $650,000. City Manager Kim responded I think what you're remembering is the maximum sales price of the home. Explained with the HOME funding, there's a whole bunch of criteria, but the sales price differs between a townhome and a single-family home. The current level or current maximum for a single-family home is a little over $800,000, that's the maximum sales price. Indicated what we're doing with our city's Home Buyer Assistance Program is using HOME funds in the amount of around $288,000 to reduce the purchase price so the low-income family can purchase the home. Council Member Clark asked if we run out of those HOME funds, can we use CDBG funds on this? City Manager Kim confirmed with Council's approval, yes. Council Member Low opined this is a beautiful project and I'm glad to see that particular lot get developed because it's been empty for a very long time. Opined this project will definitely improve the whole area. Referred to the map here, asked if there is only one way in and no other outlet. City Manager Kim replied that issue came up at the Workshop, so my recollection is that the Council requested the developer work with Edison to provide a secondary exit. Stated that the developer approached Edison about putting an access way Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 6 of40 going to Walnut Grove Avenue so there will be an entrance on Mission Drive and on Walnut Grove Avenue. Mr. Fowler added Edison is not cooperative allowing people across their property. Council Member Low inquired what about in the case of an emergency. Mr. Fowler responded we had the project fully reviewed by LA County Fire Department and met all the standards for necessary places for equipment to go in and turn around and come back out. Council Member Low stated she is good with that. Council Member Armenta stated that I truly appreciate you having these community meetings and being able to gather information from our community. For those that don't know I'm in Sacramento for the Legislative Tour right now with the League of California Cities; one thing that is high on the docket here is affordable housing and housing prices. I'm extremely grateful to see that there's going to be four out of the 37 units designated for affordable units. I appreciate you taking into consideration all the Council comments. If you recall, my concern was the traffic flow going east on Mission Drive. I'm sure your engineer surveyed came up with reasonable data for that, but I'm still concerned because it's going to be a double yellow line. And unfortunately, many of the drivers do not follow the rules of the road. Again, not to say that this is not a beautiful project. Dealing with the housing crisis, especially affordable housing, this is going to be something that's going to help us with our Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) numbers. I just have to put on record that I am a little concerned because we are going to have people turning left from eastbound on Mission Drive. Suggested having our engineering staff look into putting delineators there to make sure that we protect people that are going westbound on Mission Drive. I feel that it's going to be congested because if somebody waits for traffic flow to pass so that they could turn into the entrance it's going to back up traffic and cause potential accidents. Other than that, I know that you've done everything you can to see how you can mitigate that. Mayor Pro Tem Ly said I want to first preface this that I probably need a little bit more time on this item. Referring to slide 7 of the presentation, stated I'm not seeing where the pocket park is on the map. Asked roughly how many square feet the park is and what else makes it an HOA besides this pocket park? Mr. Fowler pointed out where the pocket park can be seen on the map. Answered the pocket park is approximately 2,000 square feet. It is an HOA because the property is a private street, a private driveway that they have to maintain. Utilities are all going to be individually owned. Part of it is also because of the sewer line, private water line, and the parking spots. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 7 of 40 Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked if either staff or the developer can explain exactly how the affordable housing programs can work? How are we maintaining this as affordable? City Manager Kim answered it will come with the 30 -year covenant that's recorded on the property and they can sell with the max value they're going to sell this at. It's kind of a hybrid for this particular project — we use HOME funds with the 30 -year covenant. There is an affordability clause recorded on title to ensure that the initial buyer has to qualify. Mr. Ly inquired if you are going off of the County's assessment of what is affordable. Mr. Kim responded it is according to HUD's assessment. Mr. Ly asked what are we using low, moderate? Mr. Fowler responded $95,000 for a family of four for low-income per County of Los Angeles. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked how priority to resident veterans is judged. City Manager Kim answered for any affordable housing project or any type of program, there's a vetting process for the family and quite a bit of documentation provided to determine if they qualify. Mayor Pro Tem Ly responded that I understand that part. My question is more, how do you determine order? City Manager Kim replied it's first come first serve. So there's a waiting list for any of our program. Mr. Fowler asserted within the agreement, we have an obligation to pre -market the affordable units solely to, within the limits of the law, to market these affordable units to residents of Rosemead that are veterans. And there's a period of time, 90 days I think, following our getting our yellow report, that we have to pre -market the affordable units. City Manager Kim stated they would have to qualify as an affordable family, but there's a certain period that we could give preference. So that would be the 90 -day period. Realistically, it would be longer than 90 days. If the project is approved, the developer can start marketing the program, but the 90 -day period kicks in when the developer receives the DRE (the yellow slip). Mayor Pro Tem Ly expressed my perspective is I don't want to give priority to just Rosemead resident veterans, but to all veterans. Stated as Council we're all elected to serve the residents of Rosemead first, but I'm looking from the perspective as a veteran. I look at all the soldiers that I've led over the last eight years and have seen Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 8 of 40 a lot of them struggle to buy their first home. Emphasized if we can remove one veteran off the street that is a great thing. City Manager Kim stated I believe with the Council's direction we can make that adjustment. Mayor Dang opined this is a very challenging project, it's a gore shaped lot and very deep. You have Edison on the left, a very challenging agency. You have a lot of things going against you but at the end of the day you're able to provide an inventory of 37 homes. I really appreciate that you were able to do a Workshop and the fact that you're able to incorporate a lot of these asks into your project. Mr. Fowler asserted that we worked with the city on the affordable housing agreement and the staff was great to work with. Council Member Armenta stated there is not state law or a housing bill that has affordable housing component embedded in those bills and they give out incentives. That's one thing that I'm urging the legislators to look into bills that maybe have a percentage of affordable housing if they're coming into our cities but as of right now there is none. I am very grateful that we have at least four for this project. Mr. Fowler asserted that we're not asking for any incentives. Traditionally when you do affordable housing there are a suite of incentives you can get that are basically changes to the city's zoning code to increase density or density bonuses; reiterated we're not doing any of that here. So our plan when we presented it at the Workshop was very similar to this and we were asked at that time to provide this affordable housing which is in excess of 10% of the total units and we obliged. Council Member Clark concurred with Council Member Armenta; stated I'm glad she's lobbying up there because developers would respond more if they have the financial incentive. Mayor Dang acknowledged that four units out of 37 is a little bit more than 10% and this is a voluntary 10% and you're not taking any zoning incentives. In other words, you're not asking for a three-story building, reduced yards, or for more density. Mr. Dang stated he supports Mayor Pro Tem Ly's suggestion to opening the housing to all veterans and not just those that are Rosemead residents; opined they all served their country, protected us and stood in harm's way. Council Member Armenta expressed support if the Council feels fit to move forward with opening to all veterans. Echoed Mayor Dang's thoughts that we should honor them for serving our country. City Attorney Richman summarized it sounds like the Council is in favor of the matter as presented provided that the outreach obligation under the agreement be altered that the outreach includes veterans in general. Asserted we would remove Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 9 of 40 "the first come -first serve tern since the outreach requirement will not be specific to a Rosemead veteran. Mayor Dang thanked City Attorney Richman. Council Member Armenia asked say that we do not receive any applicants that are veterans. Would it now be also Rosemead residents that will be priority? That's after if we don't receive any applications from any veterans. Mr. Fowler responded it's actually surprisingly challenging to find these families that qualify and it takes a lot of work. We have a limited amount of time before these houses have to sell. So, to have one restriction on top of another restriction on top of another restriction I think would be very challenging. By doing the 90 days after the DRE yellow report, the first time we can enter into signed agreement, which means it is about another five or six months from now. And then another 90 days. Mayor Pro Tem Ly commented to Council Member Armenta's point, what happens to the program if you can't find veterans? Also, if you look at Appendix J on page three of the affordable housing agreement — Number three talks about the marketing of designated homes. Mr. Fowler responded we haven't had a limitation on veterans before, but it is challenging just to find these families because what happens is they not only have to have their qualifying income, but they also have to meet certain ratios. Mr. Borstein asserted that we found from other projects, that most cities don't end up limiting it geographically because it presents a problem with trying to find qualified buyers within that geographic region. We understand that there's money that's coming from the City of Rosemead for down payment assistance and that would be the preference. But it could hamper the ability to close the homes when there's a bank loan obviously needing to be paid off by the time the home's finished. Mayor Dang ascertained from what I gathered earlier I understood that there is no geographical restriction. City Manager Kim stated from our current discussion there would not be, it would just be veterans. Council Member Clark added I agree that it can be any veteran because they've served our country, but I really think that if we can't get veterans that qualify, then we should be reaching out to Rosemead residents first. This is money that the government has given to us, And I've seen this in the past people come in from other countries even and qualify without our residents getting first. Mayor Pro Tem Ly recommended approving the first four items separately and bringing back the affordable housing agreement to work out language and a timeline Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 10 of 40 that makes sense to see if we create a win-win where we reach out to veterans first and if by chance that doesn't get filled then we focus on Rosemead residents and then we go from there. Asked the City Attorney if that is something that procedurally we can do? City Attorney Richman responded the ordinance is only for first reading tonight and will have to come back for second reading at the next meeting in January. I don't think that'll be a problem and then we can work on wordsmithing based on what we've heard here from the Council. Council Member Low stated sure but I think we as a Council need to agree on the direction. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated the direction would be we prefer the priority to be veterans in general, then Rosemead residents, then others that qualify. Mr. Fowler said it is more of where the outside date is before we can open it up to more families. Certainly, we can agree to focus on veterans for sure and if we narrow that pool where there are only so many of them that are potential candidates, but at what point do you open it up to the next residents of Rosemead? Mayor Pro Tem Ly responded I don't think we should figure it out right now because we don't have all the data. Mr. Fowler reiterated what Mr. Borstein stated that the more geographic or other constraints you put on it, the more it narrows the pool to potential people that qualify. Council Member Low opined I just want to make sure that we don't have those units just sitting there. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated that's why we have staff work with developer on that language; opined if we can create the win-win, let's create the win-win. ACTION: Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Ly and seconded by Council Member Armenta to adopt Resolution No. 2023-02, entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING THE INITIAL STUDY/ MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION AND MITIGATION MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM AS THE ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION FOR PLANNED DEVELOPMENT 22-01, ZONE CHANGE 22-01, GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT 22-01, AND TENTATIVE TRACT MAP 83705 Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 11 of40 The motion was carried out by the following vote AYES: Armenta, Clark, Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: None ACTION: Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Ly and seconded by Council Member Low to adopt Resolution No. 2023-04, entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, APPROVING GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT 22-01 AND TENTATIVE TRACT MAP 83705 TO AMEND THE LAND USE DESIGNATION OF THE SUBJECT SITE FROM LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (0-6 UNITS PER ACRE) TO MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (0-12 UNITS PER ACRE) AND TO CREATE NINE LEGAL PARCELS FOR 37 RESIDENTIAL UNITS. THE SUBJECT SITE IS LOCATED AT 8601 MISSION DRIVE (APNS: 5389-009-029, 030, and 031) The motion was carried out by the following vote AYES: Armenta, Clark, Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: None ACTION: Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Ly and seconded by Council Member Armenta to introduce for first reading, by title only, Ordinance No. 1013, entitled: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, FOR THE APPROVAL OF PLANNED DEVELOPMENT 22-01 AND ZONE CHANGE 22-01, AMENDING THE ZONING MAP OF THE SUBJECT SITE FROM SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (R-1) TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT (P -D) ZONE. THE SUBJECT SITE IS LOCATED AT 8601 MISSION DRIVE (APNS: 5389-009-029, 030, and 031) The motion was carried out by the following vote AYES: Armenta, Clark, Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: None City Attorney Richman read the title of the ordinance for the record. Stated she has one suggestion, perhaps we have staffs recommended action five approved subject to that language because in theory we've now approved the project and they are not required to now enter into that agreement. Mayor Pro Tem Ly replied except for the fact that it has come back for second reading of the ordinance. City Attorney Richman stated but you approved the first reading of the ordinance. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 12 of 40 Mayor Pro Tem Ly said correct, but without second reading of the zoning code it's not going to warrant anything. At the end of the day, it still needs to be in a planned development zone otherwise it's a no-go on the project. Council Member Clark asked if we change it in two weeks, then do we have to bring it back again? City Attorney Richman replied no. I suggested that it's approved subject to staff working on that language for the agreement for the affordable housing agreement. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated the problem is we don't know exactly how that agreement will look. Opined its better if staff can work out the exact language first that would be my recommendation. Mayor Dang thanked Mr. Fowler for bringing their project 4. CONSENT CALENDAR ACTION: Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Ly and seconded by Council Member Low to approve Consent Calendar Items A through I. The motion was carried out by the following vote AYES: Armenta, Clark, Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: None Council Member Armenta stated she is not pulling any items, rather she wanted to note all the great Public Works projects that are on the Consent Calendar; gave kudos to Director of Public Works Chung and his Department for making sure that these items that had fallen through the cracks prior to him are now being implemented. A. Claims and Demands • Resolution No. 2023-03 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, CALIFORNIA, ALLOWING CERTAIN CLAIMS AND DEMANDS IN THE SUM OF $1,495,003.14 CHECKS NUMBERED 112930 THROUGH NUMBER 113009, DRAFTS NUMBERED 6094 THROUGH NUMBER 6127 AND EFT NUMBERED 51402 THROUGH NUMBER 51415 INCLUSIVELY CEOA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2023-03. • Resolution No. 2023-05 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, CALIFORNIA, ALLOWING CERTAIN CLAIMS AND DEMANDS IN THE SUM OF $1,173,664.64 Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 13 of 40 CHECKS NUMBERED 113010 THROUGH NUMBER 113115, DRAFTS NUMBERED 6128 THROUGH NUMBER 6175 AND EFT NUMBERED 51416 THROUGH NUMBER 51453 INCLUSIVELY CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2023-05. B. National League of Cities 2023 Congressional City Conference — March 26th — 28th — Washington, DC The City Council will consider authorizing the attendance of any Council Member and City staff who wishes to attend the 2023 National League of Cities Congressional City Conference in Washington, DC from March 26 — March 28, 2023. CE A: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: That the City Council authorize the attendance and finance of any Council Member and City staff that attends the 2023 National League of Cities Congressional City Conference in Washington, DC from March 26 — 28, 2023. C. Adoption of Resolution No. 2023-01, Amending the Fiscal Year 2022-23 Budget and Professional Services Agreement with Revize, LLC for Website Design and Content Management System Services in an Amount Not -To -Exceed $89,500 The City of Rosemead website (www.cityofrosemead.org) is the primary communication tool for residents, businesses, and visitors to access information regarding City services, community events, and much more. The current City website was launched in 2017 and while it continues to be a functional site, the website's functionality is limited in terms of design, navigation, search engine optimization, and generally how information is presented to the public. Current trends in website design have necessitated a rethinking of the City's current format to connect citizens to services in a more streamlined manner. On September 29, 2022, the City Manager's Office published RFP No. 2022-20 requesting proposals from qualified vendors for website design and content management system services. The City received twenty-two (22) proposals by the submittal deadline and after comprehensive review, Revize, LLC ("Revize") was determined to be the most responsive and qualified vendor. The current Fiscal Year 2022-23 does not include a line item for this expenditure, and, therefore, it is recommended that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 2023-01 to amend the Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget. CEO A:Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 14 of 40 Recommendation: That the City Council authorize and direct the City Manager to execute a Professional Services Agreement with Revize, LLC in an amount not -to -exceed $89,500, and adopt Resolution No. 2023, entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 2022-23 BUDGET AND AUTHORIZING A SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION FROM THE STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY FUND RESERVE IN THE AMOUNT OF $53,900 TO FUND THE WEBSITE DESIGN AND CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PROJECT D. Garvey Park Office Building & Gymnasium Reroofing Project— Project No. 39006 — Award of Construction Contract As part of the City's Fiscal Year 2021-22 Capital Improvement Program, the City Council approved the Garvey Park Office Building & Gymnasium Reroofing Project. The Project scope involves removing the existing deteriorated roof systems to the structural decks, installing new flashings, drains assemblies, and roofing at the Garvey Park office building & gymnasium. On December 13, 2022, the City received eight (8) sealed bids. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following actions: 1. Authorize the City Manager to execute a construction contract with Western States Roofing, Inc. in the amount of $334,880. In addition, authorize an amount of $33,488 (10%) as a contingency to cover the cost of unforeseen construction expenses, for a total construction budget of $368,368; and 2. Find the proposed work involves the rehabilitation of an existing public facility; therefore, the project is Class 1 Categorically Exempt pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). E. Approval of Traffic Improvements along Brookline Avenue Between Guess Street and Loftus Drive At the October 6, 2022, Traffic Commission Meeting, staff presented recommendations and options for traffic improvements along Brookline Avenue between Guess Street and Loftus Drive. After discussion and presentation of the item, the Traffic Commission approved the staff's traffic improvement recommendations for Brookline Avenue. Public Works Field Services staff will complete all the recommended items. Additional materials and supplies that may be required to complete the work will be purchased and funded by the approved Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Traffic Signs and Markers budget. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 15 oj40 Recommendation: That the City Council approve the Traffic Commission recommended items including: 1. NEW SPEED LIMIT SIGNAGE AND PAVEMENT LEGENDS: Install two (2) 25 MPH speed limit (R2-1) signs (30"06") for both directions of travel (north/south) along Brookline Avenue as vehicles enter the segment from Guess Street and Loftus Drive as shown in Figure 4 and as follows: a. Speed Limit sign and Pavement Legend should be installed on the west side of Brookline Avenue, just south of Guess Street for SB travel along Brookline Avenue. b. Speed Limit sign and Pavement Legend should be installed on the eastside of Brookline Avenue, just north of Loftus Drive for NB travel along Brookline Avenue. 2. REMOVE FADED "STOP" BAR AND PAVEMENT LEGEND. REPAINT "STOP" BAR AND PAVEMENT LEGEND ON MARSHALL STREET: a. Remove existing "STOP" Bar and Pavement Legend at the intersection of Marshall Street and Brookline Avenue. Repaint the STOP bar and pavement legend for EB/WB travel along Marshall Street at Brookline Avenue. 3. EXISTING STOP LOCATION UPGRADE ON MARSHALL STREET: Install the following items at the Marshall Street intersection along Brookline Avenue. a. Red Reflective Strip: Install red reflective strips on the stop sign posts. b. Plaque: Install "Cross Traffic Does Not Stop" plaques (W44P) underneath each of the Stop Signs as shown in Attachment C. 4. ADD RED CURB ON THE NW, NE, SW AND SE CORNERS ON BROOKLINE AVENUE AT MARSHALL STREET TO INCREASE VISIBILITY TO APPROACHING VEHICLES. a. Add 18' of red curb on the NW, NE and SE corners as shown in Attachment A, Figure 4. b. Add 15' of red curb on the south side and 5' on the north side to the curb return on either side of the fire hydrant on the SW comer (CVC 22514) as shown in Attachment C. 5. TARGETED SHERRIF'S ENFORCEMENT: The Sheriffs Department will be notified of speeding concerns along this segment and officers should conduct monitoring and targeted enforcement for this area; and 6. Find the proposed work involves the maintenance and minor alteration of existing public infrastructure; therefore, the project is Class 1 Categorically Exempt pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 16 of 40 F. Approval of Traffic Improvements at the Intersection of Hart Avenue and Steele Street At the October 6, 2022, Traffic Commission Meeting, staff presented recommendations and options for traffic improvements at the intersection of Hart Avenue and Steele Street. After discussion and presentation of the item, the Traffic Commission approved the staffs traffic improvement recommendations for the intersection. Public Works Field Services staff will complete all the recommended items. Additional materials and supplies that may be required to complete the work will be purchased and funded by the approved Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Traffic Signs and Markers budget. Recommendation: That the City Council approve the Traffic Commission recommended items including: 1. Install 25 MPH speed limit sign and Pavement Legend for NB and SB travel along Hart Avenue. Install 25MPH speed limit sign (R2-1) (30"06") and Pavement Legend on the northeast corner of Hart Avenue and Guess Street, approx. 30 feet north of Guess Street, for NB travel along Hart Avenue, per CAMUTCD 2B.13. • Install 25MPH speed limit sign (R2-1) (30"06") and Pavement Legend on the southwest corner of Hart Avenue and Valley Boulevard, approx. 30 feet south of Valley Boulevard, for SB travel along Hart Avenue, per CAMUTCD 2B.13. 2. Repaint "STOP" pavement legend and stop bar at the intersection of Steele Street and Hart Avenue. • Repaint existing "STOP" pavement legend and stop bar located at the intersection of Steele Street and Hart Avenue, per CAMUTCD Section 313.20. 3. Install CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP plaque beneath the existing STOP signs located at the intersection of Steele Street and Hart Avenue. • Install CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP PLAQUE (W4 -4P) on the existing Stop signposts located at the intersection of Steele Street and Hart Avenue, for WB & EB travel along Steele Street, per CAMUTCD Section 2C.59; and 4. Find the proposed work involves the maintenance and minor alteration of existing public infrastructure; therefore, the project is Class I Categorically Exempt pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 17 of 40 G. Approval of Traffic Calming Measures on Temple City Boulevard Between South of Valley Boulevard to Loftus Drive At the October 6, 2022, Traffic Commission Meeting, staff presented recommendations and options for traffic improvements along the segment of City Boulevard between just south of Valley Boulevard to Loftus Drive. After discussion and presentation of the item, the Traffic Commission approved the staff s traffic improvement recommendations for Temple City Blvd. Public Works Field Services staff will complete all the recommended items. Additional materials and supplies that may be required to complete the work will be purchased and funded by the approved Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Traffic Signs and Markers fund. Recommendation: That the City Council approve the Traffic Commission recommended items including: 1. INSTALL CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP PLAQUE below the existing stop sign. Per Section 2C.59 cross traffic does not stop plaque (W44P). The CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP (W44P) plaque (see Figure 2C-9) may be used in combination with a stop sign when engineering judgment indicates that conditions are present that are causing or could cause drivers to misinterpret the intersection as an all -way stop. 2. INSTALL RADAR SPEED FEEDBACK SIGN midblock on Temple City Boulevard north of Marshall Street above existing 40 MPH speed sign on existing street light pole for northbound traveling vehicles, per CAMUTCD Section 2B.13.19. 3. INSTALL SOLAR POWERED RADAR SPEED FEEDBACK SIGN with oversized (3006) 40 MPH speed limit sign (R2-1) midblock on Temple City Boulevard south of Ellis Lane for southbound traveling vehicles, per CAMUTCD Section 2b.13.19. 4. REPAINT ALL EXISTING CROSSWALKS AT SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS within the segment of Temple City Boulevard from Ellis Lane to Loftus Drive. Marshall street at Temple City Boulevard and Loftus Drive at Temple City Boulevard. 5. TARGETED SHERIFF'S ENFORCEMENT: The Sheriffs Department will be notified of speeding concerns along this segment and officers should conduct monitoring and targeted enforcement for this area; and Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 18 of 40 6. Find the proposed work involves the maintenance and minor alteration of existing public infrastructure; therefore, the project is Class 1 Categorically Exempt pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). H. Sidewalk ADA Master Plan - Award of Professional Services Agreement for Engineering Services As part of the City's Fiscal Year 2019-20 Capital Improvement Program, the City Council approved the Sidewalk ADA Master Plan. The Plan will identify street segments that have missing sidewalk and curb ramps or not compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. The Plan will serve as a guiding document to assist staff in developing future capital improvement projects to improve pedestrian mobility and safety throughout the City. On November 8, 2022, staff advertised the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Engineering Services for the Project and received four (4) proposals. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following actions: Authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with Bucknam Infrastructure Group, Inc. for Engineering Services for the preparation of the Sidewalk ADA Master Plan in a not -to -exceed amount of $54,985; and 2. Find the proposed plan is not defined as a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); therefore, the proposed plan is not subject to CEQA. I. Garvey Park Tennis Courts Resurfacing Project - Project No. 39007 — Award of Construction Contract and Adopt Resolution No. 2023-06 to Appropriate Street Lighting District Funds to Support Project Funding As part of the City's Fiscal Year 2021-22 Capital Improvement Program, the City Council approved the Garvey Park Tennis Courts Resurfacing Project. The Project includes removal of existing paint and resurfacing the existing five (5) tennis courts at Garvey Park with acrylic color coating, and installation of new striping for five (5) tennis courts and four (4) pickleball courts. On November 16, 2022, staff published a Notice of Inviting bids for construction of the Project. On December 8, 2022, the City received one (1) sealed bid. Based on staffs bid analysis, the bid submitted by Trueline Construction & Surfacing, Inc. in the amount of $76,440 is determined to be the lowest responsive bid. The Project is funded with Street Lighting District funds in the total project amount of $50,000. Staff is requesting the approval to appropriate an additional $40,000 in Street Lighting District funds to increase the total project budget to $90,000. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following actions: Authorize the City Manager to execute a construction contract with Trueline Construction & Surfacing, Inc. in the amount of $76,440. In addition, Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 19 of 40 authorize an amount of $7,644 (10%) as a contingency to cover the cost of unforeseen construction expenses, for a total construction budget of $84,084; and 2. Adopt Resolution No. 2023-06, entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, CALIFORNIA, TO AMEND THE FISCAL YEAR 2022-23 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM BUDGET AND APPROPRIATE ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE GARVEY PARK TENNIS COURTS RESURFACING PROJECT - PROJECT NO. 39007; and Find the proposed work involves the rehabilitation of an existing public facility; therefore, the project is Class 1 Categorically Exempt pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 5. MATTERS FROM CITY MANAGER & STAFF A. Report and Discussion Regarding the Finance Department Fiscal Year 2023 Work Plan The Finance Department is responsible for the day-to-day financial administration of the City, including oversight over the following areas: cash and investments, financial reporting and accounting, accounts payable, revenue collections, and payroll. Finance is committed to serving our City Council, City departments, and residents by providing quality financial management of taxpayer resources and also to provide exceptional customer service. This update is intended to serve as a summary of those efforts for the current fiscal year. Recommendation: That the City Council receive and file this report. Director of Finance Chua provided a presentation of the Finance Department's activities and work plan for Fiscal Year 2022-23. The Finance Department's purpose is to safeguard the City's financial assets, including and establishing internal controls, and to provide financial information to the City Council, City Manager, Executives and City staff. Finance is actively making sure that all legal and regulatory compliances are followed. The Finance Department is in charge of general accounting, which tracks everything, budgeting, ensuring a fiscal plan is in place, accounts receivable, collecting various revenues, payroll, making sure employees are paid timely, accurately, and that taxes and benefits are deducted according to policies and law. Cash management, reviewing the way cash flows in and out of the city. Investing in interest-earning financial securities, such as CDs, treasuries, bonds, and leave, as allowed by the city's investment policy. Financial reporting, like the annual comprehensive financial report. Local audits like the Metro Audit that looks at Prop A, Prop C, Measure R, Measure M, Transportation Development Act plans, State Controller's Report, and others. The Finance Department comprises of six employees — myself, one finance manager, one accountant, two senior accounting Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 20 of 40 specialists, and an analyst. The discussion investments managed for FY 2021-22 amounted to $78 million. For FY 2021-22 finance processed over 3500 payroll checks. Over 11,000 accounts payable invoice transactions. Over 5,800 accounting journal record entries were made to keep the accounting records up to standards. Along with the help of all departments, over 8900 cash checks and credit card payment transactions were received and processed. For the following slide, the ones listed here are the policies and guidelines the Finance Department adheres to when it comes to all things finance. To name a few, there are generally accepted accounting principles, which consist of a common set of accounting rules, requirements, and practices. California Government Code, which provides rules for investments, among other things. Rosemead Municipal Code provides purchasing rules and indicates the duties and responsibilities of certain city staff, discusses revenue and finance. City Council adopted policies, procedures and resolutions, provide rules and requirements when it comes to investments, travel, contract award, salary and benefits MOU agreements. The finance department is overlooked by the city manager, the city council, local, state, and federal agencies, and auditors. Two of the major documents the finance department produces are the annual comprehensive financial report, which I will bring to the council in upcoming weeks, and the annual city budget. The annual financial report looks at historical financial information, what happened in the past, and the budget document is forward-looking and discusses what is the financial plan and projects of the future. The City of Rosemead's Finance Department has a history of producing outstanding financial reports and budgets, and we look to continue that tradition of excellence going forward. We believe that the current annual financial report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2022 will also meet the expectations of excellence in financial reporting. In the next six months, the finance department will be involved in the following projects: Obtaining a contracts module to better manage contracts, provide the tracking of contract terms, explorations, obligations, and conditions. Reviewing the purchasing policy Reviewing the purchasing policy, we will be looking into streamlining purchasing processes and comparing against best practices. Looking to bring forward recommendations to Council for improvement. Start labor negotiations with Rosemead Employee Association. Current contract expires June Look to bring an agreement to the Council before the current contract expiration. We will also be working on the budget for the next five months, the budget of the City's financial planning document for the next fiscal year's activities, as well as updating the City's five-year capital improvement program. I would like to conclude this presentation by saying that the City's current financial condition is strong, and this is a testament to the work of the City Council, City Management and staff. Mayor Dang thanked Director of Finance Chua and his team for all their hard work. Stated these are really very impressive numbers for staff of six while managing 78 million dollars and all the other payroll processes and invoices. Council Member Clark commended staff for this because as I've said many times we're very proud when they did an audit of the 470 some cities in California, we came out 15 or so from the top and that is something to be very proud of and thankful for and we appreciate all that you guys do. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 21 of40 Council Member Low thanked Mr. Chua for the report. Asked if there is anything that your department can kind of do better in terms of processing wise? Is it something that the department needs that might be able to help you and your staff to be more efficient? Director of Finance Chua responded we're always trying to look to make improvements to processes and you know I work with them and other city staff they're very accommodating to any of the recommendations that we might have on improving processes. One of the things we're going to be taking a look at is the purchasing policy. That's going to be a review in coordination with the City Manager's Office, the Assistant City Manager, improving that process to kind of get more streamlined into the processing, making sure that we're following best practices, that the thresholds are kind of in line with We are always thinking about ways to improve. Council Member Armenta thanked Mr. Chua for explaining to the public what it entails to run the finance department and also City Manager Kim for giving every department a platform to highlight what they do for our city. My question was that the governor just released the 2023-24 I wanted to see if Mr. Chua was going to foresee any complications with our budget because of the state's deficit. Director of Finance Chua responded we do have some third -party consultants, HDL, that we discuss sales tax and forecasting. They're looking at a slowdown for the next fiscal year, but it's not going to be something where it's going to feel like a recession. But it's more of a slowdown. We shouldn't see any deficit impacts based on what they're forecasting, but you know, only time will tell. The feds have really tried to destroy, I guess, consumer demand by raising the federal funds rate, the rate of borrowing. So we'll see what that impact has on unemployment. The majority of our revenues are coming from property taxes. The sales tax is a smaller portion. And property taxes, usually they have a two to three year delay or lag when it comes to any corrections. So I'm not projecting any deficits for the upcoming fiscal year. And even if we did have a deficit, an actual deficit, the City of Rosemead has done a really good job And building reserve balances. You'll see the trend in reserve balances kind of go up. So I think we'll be able to weather any financial storm that comes our way. Council Member Armenia stated I really truly appreciate that. It is kind of concerning hearing what's going up here in Sacramento. Regarding the budget and the projected deficit. So thank you, I'm glad that we're in good hands and that we're doing all that we can to make sure that we're not going to be in the same situation as a state. Mayor Pro Tem Ly thanked Mr. Chua for what him and his team has been doing in terms of ensuring that the fiscal foundation of our city is strong. My only real question to kind of piggyback off what Council Member Low asked earlier about concern for the slow processing of payments, especially with our vendors and the public, for example, returning fees from classes, etc. Is that something you're looking at in terms Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 22 of 40 of how to improve processing of these payments so that residents, customers, and consultants are not waiting two to three months before they get their payment? Director of Finance Chua responded that's a fair question. We do only have one Accounts Payable employee managing over 11,000 invoices. If we were to improve upon that, we would need another body in there to help process all the transactions. Mayor Dang thanked Mr. Chua for the wonderful presentation. B. Proposed 2023 State and Federal Legislative Platform In recent years, a State and Federal Legislative Platform ("Platform") was developed to provide a streamlined process for responding to legislative proposals that may impact the City of Rosemead. The proposed Platform identifies the fundamental legislative issues deemed critical to the City, and upon City Council approval, would allow staff to proactively respond to legislative items as they arise. The Platform serves as a guideline for requests in support, against, or neutral positions on proposed legislation; however, legislative support requiring resolutions or important and unique issues will continue to be taken to the City Council for formal consideration and adoption. The positions in the Platform have remained relatively unchanged with minor revisions from previous years and uses the City's Strategic Plan for guidance; however, for tracking purposes, staff has adjusted the naming conventions to better track issues and legislation. The City Council may add, remove, or modify items within the adopted Platform throughout the year. CE A: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: That the City Council provide direction and adopt the proposed 2023 State and Federal Legislative Platform. Assistant City Manager Bruckner provided a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the 2023 State and Federal Legislative Platform. The purpose of the City's legislative platform is to represent the official city position on proposed regional state and federal legislation and by doing this we have a streamlined process so that staff is aware of the City Council's preferences on various pieces of legislation and we can react accordingly as legislative issues arise. There are a couple of goals and strategies that we use in order to effectuate that process. The goal of the platform is to advocate the city's legislative interests and inform the city council about key issues and legislations that could impact the city. We serve as an active participant with other agencies and organizations on issues that are affecting the city and we use this process to seek grant funds and assistance for city projects and other programs. The strategies that we use to communicate legislation by sending letters to various legislators and other agencies in order to promote the city's position on any piece of legislation. Mr. Bruckner stated the platform is broken up into seven distinct areas. The first one being general administration. Each one of these slides will have a brief summary of the policy positions where we are supporting or opposing various pieces of legislation Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 23 of 40 that are working their way through. On the support side we support legislation that enhances local control and the city's ability to dictate its own future and we oppose any legislation that would preempt local control or diminish the city's ability on the fiscal responsibility side we support legislation that's timely and full cost recovery for reimbursement for state mandated programs and anything that supports or enhances the city's ability to expand revenue opportunities as they arrive. We oppose any opportunities for legislation that would impact our fiscal sustainability, that would impose state mandated costs, any changes to revenue allocations that would negatively impact city's finances or anything that undermines or preempts our local control over taxes and other fees. On the economic development front, the City supports legislation that increases funding for CDBG and HOME programs, expands eligibility and allowable uses for those funds, enhances efforts to retain existing businesses and attract new businesses, provide tangible and productive tools and incentives to support job creation and retention, and consolidate and streamline administrative processes and reporting for those various funds. Conversely, we oppose legislation that would reduce CDBG and HOME programs, add additional restrictions and reporting requirements, adding additional burdens that would impact the city's ability to spend those monies in the community. On planning, housing and land use, which is a major topic in Sacramento, we support legislation that would increase input from the cities on developing regional housing needs assessments, providing flexibility for jurisdictions to work together to create affordable housing opportunities, allow cities to maintain local control over things like medical marijuana dispensaries and uphold city bans. This is an opportunity the city to regulate those uses. More additional funding for affordable housing opportunities and projects. The city would oppose any legislation that would impede those efforts including state efforts to override the city's adopting zoning ordinances or reduce our local land use. On the public safety front, the city supports legislation that increases funding for law enforcement, fire suppression, prevention, emergency preparedness and hazardous materials mitigation, provides funding for training, disaster preparedness and emergency planning. The city will oppose any legislation that would impede local law enforcement's ability from addressing crime problems and recovering costs from crimes that result in the city and anything that would weaken local government's ability to regulate massage establishments. On beautification and infrastructure, the city supports legislation that supports local and regional transportation programs and improvements to alternative modes of transportation. New and innovative revenue options or continuous appropriations to preserve and maintain the city's transportation network including roads, local streets, provide revenue options for funding for the city's water supply and wastewater, stormwater and other critical infrastructure systems, enhance the city's streets for car, bicycle and pedestrian traffic and reduce congestion and long-term transportation bill that provides continuous appropriations to maintain those transportation networks. Conversely, the City would oppose any legislation that would try to impede those efforts. Lastly on the Parks and Recreation front, the city supports opportunities for funding for new parks and community facilities, funding for ADA improvements, funding for state resources for local libraries, recreation, arts and culture programs, things that support early education, after school summer programs for youth, services for vulnerable populations. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 24 of 40 Assistant City Manager Bruckner included in your packet was a summary of key legislative dates for Congress and the state. As you know, the state legislature returned January 4th and Council Member Arrnenta is up there right now doing some advocacy work on behalf of the city. We included the summary of the 2022 legislative session so you can get a sense of the legislation and ideas that were percolating through the legislature during the last legislative cycle. Staff is seeking direction on those topics, whether you would support or oppose those efforts as they arise. Mayor Dang thanked Assistant City Manager Bruckner for the presentation. Council Member Clark stated one of the things that I did want to clarify on the taxes and fees, because I did see in here is the California Business Roundtable ballot measure that the League of California Cities is against it. I want more information on that because I was at the COG Water Committee meeting today, and we were talking about Senator Hertzberg's bill and unfortunately it passed because people weren't really paying attention; indicated this bill undermined Prop 218 where the voters said you have to go to the voters for any raising taxes except water, sewer, and trash. Mrs. Clark pointed out that the Senator put in the bill that he wanted to be able to raise taxes easier. It was deceptive because it said people were thinking when referring to the sewer that it meant the toilet, so they didn't want to be bothered with that. I want to be sure that we're not going along with some of these deceptive ways of raising taxes when they shouldn't be raised. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked Council Member Clark if there is a specific item in the platform that you're seeing is raising that concern. Council Member Clark responded yes, its fiscal responsibility undermines and preempts local authority over local taxes and fees that could be interpreted by the League of CA Cities. They're totally against the Business Roundtable. I need more information on it. But it looks like they want more to be able to just raise taxes. Mayor Pro Tem Ly clarified the Legislative Platform is supposed to be how we decide to take a stance as a city, specifically for whenever we need a letter sent up. Council Member emphasized I want to make sure that in passing the Legislative Platform that we're not automatically saying we're going to go along with the League's position, referring to page five of the Legislative Report. Mayor Pro Tem Ly affirmed that is correct. Council Member Low stated looking at the Public Safety section, suggested we should look at supporting any legislation that affect our residents and businesses safety, not necessarily related to getting funding. I am thinking more so in terms of sentencing because our sentences are so light that these criminals are just going out and doing whatever they want. We need to look for any type of legislations that Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 25 of 40 strengthen our sentences to stop these criminals from continuing to attack our residents and businesses. Council Member Armenta shared as I mentioned, I'm up here in Sacramento and it's the start of the two-year cycle. They're going to have so many different bills. Speaker Rendon actually stated that he's projecting 2,000 bills to come through not only this year but in the whole of the two-year cycle. Thanked Assistant City Manager Bruckner for providing this report as it gives us an idea of what we have in front of us, what we need to change, what we want to add and remove. Reminded Council that if at any time you do not agree with a letter of support or opposition that the Council as a whole is wanting, you can ask to withdraw your name on the letter; noted you also have that opportunity to write your own letter and sign your name. Shared that one of the legislators said we need to rely on our lobbyists and that's where we have Gonzalves and Sons. Indicated we need to do a better job in letting them know what types of bills we're looking for to help our city, our residents and businesses so that they can flag those bills going down the pipeline. Emphasized we need to make sure that we have that open communication with Gonzalves and Sons to make sure that our legislative platform is very clear to them. Mayor Pro Tem Ly thanked staff for engaging on this item and presenting it in a very streamlined process. Stated in general, I'm not against anything in the platform. I think the platform makes sense and it's consistent. Opined we are already behind the curve. I would suggest moving forward that this item come before the Council before the start of the legislative year so that we can have more talking points going to Sacramento and DC. We need to make sure that our lobbyists are part of that discussion as we're developing this platform so they can give guidance on whether or not what we're proposing is doable or not doable. This way we as a council can determine if we should pursue that item. Council Member Clark concurred with Council Member Low about supporting stricter punishment, but maybe we want consequences for crimes against our residents and businesses. Assistant City Manager Bruckner said we can include wording that states we oppose legislation that reduces sentencing standards for all crimes. Council Member Armenta asked for more of a clarification question, is it really necessary to say for Rosemead residents and businesses because a crime is a crime regardless if it happens in Rosemead or outside crime and we all know that crime doesn't see boundaries. Assistant City Manager Bruckner indicated we can update that. ACTION: Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Ly and seconded by Council Member Low to adopt the 2023 Legislative Platform with the amendment on public safety to reflect an opposition to lessening of the sentencing standards on crime as well as the support on increasing sentencing or having tougher sentencing standards on crime. The Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 26 q(40 motion was carred out by the following vote AYES: Armenta, Clark, Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: None Mayor Dang stated we will take a five-minute recess and return to Agenda Item 5C. Mayor Dang reconvened the meeting at 9:15 p.m. C. Approval of the FiberCity License Agreement At the March 8, 2022, City Council meeting, SiFi Networks (SiFi) provided a presentation on their FiberCity brand. FiberCity is a privately owned fiber optic network that provides infrastructure to support gigabit speed internet service to every property within a city including residences, businesses, commercial, and City facilities. At the October 25, 2022, City Council meeting, staff presented an overview of FiberCity including benefits and costs, comparison of internet service provider (ISP) rates, and results of staff s outreach to cities currently implementing FiberCity. After City Council consideration and discussion of the item, the City Council directed staff to develop a license agreement with SiFi for the implementation of FiberCity in Rosemead. In response, staff from the Public Works Department and City Attorney's Office collaborated with SiFi to develop a draft Agreement. Staff is requesting that the City Council authorize the City Manager or his designee to execute the Agreement and proceed with the process to add staffing to support the implementation of FiberCity. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following actions: 1. Authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with SiFi Networks for the installation of a city-wide fiber optic network. 2. Authorize the City Manager or his designee to proceed with the process to add the positions of Associate Engineer and Public Works Inspector for City Council consideration at the FY 22-23 Mid -year Budget Review; and 3. Find that the proposed action involves the minor alteration of existing public infrastructure; therefore, the project is Class 1 Categorically Exempt pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Director of Public Works Chung gave a PowerPoint presentation that comprised of a background of the City Council's direction on FiberCity, key points of the license agreement, and results of the staffs evaluation of staffing levels needed to support the implementation of FiberCity. At the March 8, 2022 City Council meeting, SiFi Networks provided a presentation on their FiberCity brand. FiberCity is a privately owned fiber optic network that provides infrastructure to support gigabit speed intemet service. Through FiberCity, SiFi constructs and maintains fiber optic infrastructure and leases the infrastructure to Internet Service Providers or ISPs; in turn, the ISPs deliver broadband Internet service to the community at a competitive Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 27 of 40 fee. At the October 25, 2022 City Council meeting, staff presented the benefits and costs of implementing FiberCity, the approximate internet service rates provided by ISPs currently serving roles meet versus potential ISP rates utilizing the FiberCity network, and results of staffs outreach to cities currently implementing FiberCity. After discussion, the City Council directed staff to: 1. Minimize the destruction to the community and City operations and services during the implementation of FiberCity; 2. Minimize impacts to City infrastructure as much as practicable; 3. Establish a timeframe for completion of FiberCity; 4. Ensure that all costs incurred by the City and the support of the delivered FiberCity is reimbursed by SiFi; 5. To ensure that Public Works Department has adequate staffing levels to support the delivery of Fiber City; and 6. Develop a license agreement with SiFi for the implementation of Fiber City. Public Works staff and the City Attorney's Office collaborated with SiFi to develop the final draft agreement; the requirements of the agreement was to conform to the City Council's directions, ensure that the implementation of FiberCity is in the city's best interest, and will minimize impacts to city operations, services, infrastructure, and the community as much as practical. The key points of the agreement include a 30 -year initial term with a subsequent 30 -year renewal term as permissible with City Council approval. The construction of FiberCity infrastructure will be reviewed, approved, and inspected by staff through the City's Public Works and encroachment permitting process. Director of Public Works Chung stated SiFi will use commercially reasonable efforts to commence construction on or before a date that is 24 months after the effective date of the agreement and complete construction on or before 48 months after the commencement of construction. Construction work hours will be Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m, with the final hour reserved for site cleanup and demobilization. The implementation of FiberCity requires significant staff resources to review and approve construction plans and permits, and perform construction inspections and coordination. Staffs assessment is that current staffing levels could not support the delivery of FiberCity without significantly impacting current engineering operations and services. Furthermore, SiFi will reimburse the cost for the city to retain two full-time positions in the annual amount of $175,000 per position for a total annual not -to -exceed amount of $350,000. Noted during the implementation of FiberCity, there may be periods when these positions are not providing FiberCity support, rather these positions may provide engineering and construction management and inspection services to support delivery of the City's Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and funded by the approved CIP budget. Currently, the Public Works Department primarily utilizes consultants to provide engineering services, including preparing plans, specifications, estimates, and CMCI services. The addition of the proposed positions will allow Public Works to perform engineering services in-house and will result in cost savings by decreasing the city's reliance on consultant services, which generally have a higher cost compared to city staff salaries. To confirm the cost savings, staff performed a cost evaluation that included a salary survey of full-time staff from surrounding cities and a market value survey of consultant hourly rates for the Associate Engineer and Public Works Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 28 of 40 Inspector positions. Both positions will be hired at the start of the Fiber City project. Upon approval, the request to add these positions will be presented for City Council consideration at the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 mid -year budget review that is tentatively scheduled in February or March 2023. Mayor Dang opened the Public Comment period. City Clerk Hernandez read the following Public Comment received via phone from Barbara Williams, resident. Good evening Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and City Council. As a resident of the City of Rosemead since May 1959, I respectfully request that you postpone your vote for the FiberCity item. Due to the weather and heavy rain many residents including myself were not able to attend tonight's meeting to express our concerns. I think that residents really need to understand what the project is going to entail and timeframe it's going to take and the involvement of breaking their parkways to lay the fiber. Many residents already have services with other providers like AT&T and Spectrum that provide fiber internet access. In fact, there are people who may not want fiber and prefer cable. I think people need to be better informed and be able to attend the City Council meetings to express their concerns. That is why I'm requesting you to please postpone the FiberCity item vote to allow residents to be present in person. Thank you. Council Member Clark stated I think that the residents need to be notified and made aware of what is going on and asked if they really need it, if they want it, if they know how it's going to impact them. For those reasons and it's already 9:30 p.m., I would like to request that we postpone this item so we can get more information from the residents, as well as the SiFi people. My questions have not been answered, and I was not allowed to give my full questions at the last meeting so I really think that this is a huge undertaking and that it should not be rushed into. Nairi Bagdasarian, Director of Public Policy, San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, expressed concerns regarding this item and recommended that the Council not vote in favor of it or at least postpone until you can bring more of your residents to the City Council. Stated just based off of reading the presentation from the October meeting and the contract, raised I have a few points I want to raise. One, Rosemead already has multiple broadband providers serving in this competitive market and so installing their systems would be duplicative and redundant for the city and it also according to their contract it conflicts with future city utility agency infrastructure projects which would result in potential schedule delays and additional costs for the city down the line. The city will incur additional costs to protect FiberCity infrastructure during pavement rehab and roadway projects. Pointed out with the contract term being for 30 years, it would really prevent anyone with more advanced technology to come in within that time period, which would limit the future accessibility or better technology for the residents. Additionally, according to the contract after 30 years, if the contract is not renewed, then FiberCity has every right Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 29 of 40 to abandon their systems, which would become a burden and liability for the city. We recommend you do not vote in favor of this contract or at least postpone the vote. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked Ms. Bagdasarian if Charter and AT&T are members of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership. If so, what is their membership price that they join at? Ms. Bagdasarian confirmed yes, they are both members and the Board of Directors. In regard to their membership price, I'm not sure off the top of my head right now, but it is available online if anyone wants to check. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated I get that you're saying that it's a redundant service; posed the question — if I had to pick between AT&T and Charter, who provide exactly the same type of service, which one should I pick? Ms. Bagdasarian answered that's up to you as the customer. You have the choice to pick from one or the other. Emphasized according to what I understand, with FiberCity, you would limit the city to only FiberCity, taking away the customers' choice. Mayor Pro Tem Ly responded, "interesting". Ray Jan, CEO, Chamber of Commerce, stated we want to recognize the Council's leadership and staff for working on this project. We understand that the new broadband internet service could be helpful to the post-COVID lifestyle as more workforces are moving to work from home and home-based businesses are changing the entrepreneurship style. We also understand, by bringing a new service like this, there could be disruptions to delaying daily business operation and be a inconvenience to a resident in their lifestyle. As a voice for the local business, we would like to provide some feedback on this project. First, we are requesting the vendor to provide multi -language outreach materials as half of our local businesses are owned or operated by immigrants. We are hoping the community outreach materials can be offered in the City's four designated languages of English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish to help businesses understand this two-year citywide project. Second, we're hoping the construction period is on schedule and closely monitored, as well as keeping the disruption to the community minimized. Noted businesses on Valley Boulevard and Garvey Avenue depend on a clear street view, smooth traffic, and easy access to street parking to operate their business. Stated the Chamber is always willing to work with the city and the vendors to help educate and inform the local businesses. There being no further comments, Mayor Dang closed the Public Comment period. Mayor Dang opened the floor to the Council for discussion. Mayor Pro Tem Ly interjected, recommended that if we're going to table this item, then we should probably wait until the next meeting to have our comments. I just want to make sure that we're not going to say our comments tonight only to table the Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 30 of 40 item and then rehash everything again at the next meeting. However, if we're not going to table this item, then let's continue the conversation. Mayor Dang opined I'd rather have the conversation tonight because this item was already tabled back in November, then it was pushed again in December to give staff additional time to bring it back in January. I think I gave enough time for the public and staff to react. Council Member Armenta stated I think whatever is going to be discussed today is going to be discussed in two weeks regardless of whether we table it or not so I'm okay going forward with the discussion, but I do have some concerns. Council Member Low indicated she was the one that asked to table the item the last time, so to be fair, she is ready to discuss it tonight. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated generally I think it's important that we reserve each Council Member's right to table an item one time. However, at some point, I got to ask the question of are we tabling an item for the genuine and true meaning of trying to figure out and resolve any issues that might be outstanding versus tabling it for the sake of grandstanding. Expressed I'm concerned that the tabling request tonight is about grandstanding and I'm just not necessarily in favor of that. Mayor Dang stated so I hear consensus that we're going to discuss this item tonight. Council Member Amenta stated I have great concerns with going into an agreement with a private company for 30 years. On paper it looks great we're getting much reimbursements for staff which you know it's a plus but to go into an agreement for 30 years just does not sit right with me. Also, we all know that technology is ever ending, always changing. Pointed out who's to say that in five years something greater doesn't come our way as far as technology is concerned. Now, one thing that we have heard up here in Sacramento is many legislators, their legislative package or their platforms is to increase broadband bills. During this pandemic, many school districts and people working from home, suffered with the digital divide. So that is something they said they were going to tackle during this two-year cycle of the new legislation. Reiterated going into a private company for 30 years is a deal breaker for me — why not five or ten years? Added my understanding is only four cities are listed; inquired what happened to the other cities that SiFi is working with. Opined there is not enough data for me to justify a 30 -year agreement with a private company. Scott Bradshaw, SiFi Network addressed Council Member Armenta's concern of the 30 -year license agreement term; stated we're guaranteeing the entire city to remove the digital divide — if you look at public domain data, only 19% of your entire city of homes has fiber accessibility and the rest is cable. Charter spectrum is cable. Asserted that the entire country is moving towards a fiber environment. SiFi is a private organization and uses 100% private investment, noting our partner is the fifth largest pension fund in the world that's backing us; we pre -allocated the money, Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 31 of40 so we guarantee the entire project capital before we even put a spade in the ground. Since we're not using any taxpayer dollars, like many other organizations, we have to amortize that investment over a long period of time; ultimately we need to get the cost that we charge ISPs to use the network at such a low cost that they can come in, offer a low cost service for the most premium; pointed out that cost is a retail low cost to the community and it takes a long time to actually create a financially sustainable structure. Mr. Bradshaw stated SiFi is not classified as a utility, so we are not afforded the many benefits that the actual state provides to the likes of Charter, Spectrum, AT&T, who can actually just come into your public rights-of-way as long as they conform to the construction code. Explained the reason we are working for a 30 -year term is amortization of the actual project to keep it sustainable. Whereas, AT&T and Charter are also private entities and can be in your right-of-way for as long as they want and the city will have no governance over that. Responded to Ms. Bagdasarian's points raised — this is a non-exclusive, this is a non-exclusive offering to your entire city, which means if somebody else wants to knock on the door tomorrow and say we will offer the same thing, you can absolutely go ahead because our agreement with you is non-exclusive. Council Member Armenta stated Mr. Bradshaw touched upon this the last time. Reiterated I am not in agreement with a contract with any, not just SiFi, but with any private company for 30 years. That's something that we always speak on as a Council here. Emphasized, I do not agree with working for 30 years with a private company because this will be a monopoly and that's why we have the bidding process. Mr. Bradshaw responded I hear you. Mayor Dang asked Mr. Bradshaw if he was understanding this correctly — once you embed the fiber optics into the street creating the infrastructure, all these internet companies whether it's Spectrum, AT&T, Time Warner, do is lease your infrastructure and bring it into the home of the residents. Stating so it's not necessarily a monopoly because you don't control these companies that's going to provide the intemet service. Mr. Bradshaw affirmed, you're absolutely correct. Indicated SiFi chooses not to be an ISP; stated this is a wholesale model environment where SiFi fully funds the infrastructure from outside of the city with the connectivity to the fiber infrastructure to the inside of the person's home because it removes that monopolistic environment of allowing any ISP using our infrastructure to control that environment. Indicated our infrastructure is true open access and any number of ISPs can use it — AT&T, Charter Spectrum, etc., they are more than welcome to use it to provide their own services over that infrastructure. And that's what we are doing for all of the other cities right now. Addressed the comment of only four cities being listed, stated right now we have 35 cities across nine different states. Reiterated that it is 100% open access meaning the customers, people in the community, residents, constituents, and the businesses can choose any of the ISPs on that infrastructure. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 32 of 40 Mayor Dang asked if you could elaborate on the technology side of this feature? Is it going to be obsolete in five or six years? Mr. Bradshaw responded if you look at the industry today, more than ever, the scale of fiber optic cable being installed throughout the country is on a scale not seen before in the US, in the history of the US. If you look at wireless technology, the capacity needed through wireless technology to get throughput to people's mobile phones to fix wireless technology, those small cell sites, the antennas you see, all of that needs fiber connectivity to connect those infrastructure to really maximize the high capacity available because wireless cannot do it by itself. Emphasized SiFi has taken a long-term view on this, which is why we're using institutional investors. Pointed out that the fiber has been around in the US and installed for decades and is still going strong today. Added we are making sure you have the right medium in the infrastructure completely underground to risk mitigate it from aboveground environment. That's why the industry and certainly SiFi also agrees with the industry that fiber optic cable is the way forward. Mayor Dang inquired with a typical cable internet, what is a normal download speed that's considered fast? Mr. Bradshaw answered it really depends on where you are located in the country. It's a grey answer because Rosemead as a community has a very slow speed. Yes, you have 19% of the community that has AT&T fiber, but the rest of it, you have copper cables, which is a very slow down speed. I've seen locations in your cities, 18 megabits on the copper side up to like 75 megabits, but when you do have fiber, really the standard today is one gigabit. So, a thousand megabits download, and a thousand megabits upload just to be very clear, SiFi's network is 10 gigabits ready. So, it's 10,000 megabits download, 10,000 megabits load. Mayor Dang responded great; that's the apple to orange comparison I'm looking for. So, in a copper setting, one gig is considered premium and fiber is 10 gig. Council Member Low asked if you could give a different comparison not in terms of gigabits because if you're not familiar with the gigabit, then it doesn't really mean that much. For example, a lot of people shoot videos these days — how long does it take in terms of seconds to upload a certain size of video if you have fiber versus cable? Mr. Bradshaw stated I wish I had the statistics, but I don't. If you have copper in your home, which public information tells us 81% of your city does and you only have 50 megabits, then it will be some substantial time for download of that movie. Opined the download is one thing, but it's really about the ability to have a symmetrical, so the same speed down, same speed up, to support remote working and other things alike. In response to Council Member Low, City Manager Kim said we have an example for you. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 33 of 40 Director of Public Works Chung said for example, if you have a one gigabyte download speed, it will take eight seconds to download a two-hour movie. Whereas if you had a hundred megabytes, it would take one and a half minutes. So, from a hundred megabytes, it's one and a half minutes, and if you had a thousand megabytes, which is one gigabyte, it is eight seconds. Mayor Pro Tem Ly opined if we're looking at in terms of downloading a video, which honestly eight seconds versus ninety seconds is something we can probably accept and live with. The thing is we don't necessarily download movies anymore because we're streaming everything. When it comes to work, we're streaming ourselves. For instance, Council Member Armenta is teleconferencing for tonight's meeting, the moment she turned on her video, the bandwidth capability, the ability for us to stream her both talking as well as showing the video at the exact same time was poor. I don't know if it was the internet here at City Hall or the internet that Ms. Armenta is using in her room. Council Member Clark reiterated one of the reasons that I wanted to postpone this item is because we need more information for the public. Expressed concern that all the cities listed, Fullerton, Placentia, Simi Valley, and Rancho Cordova are all "under construction" and then other cities listed as "register your interest", which we don't know what that means either. Have you completed the construction of fiber optics in any of these cities in California, if so, which ones? Also, without violating their privacy, how many people have subscribed. I am very skeptical because when I did a lot of research, I was shut down and not allowed to ask all my questions at the previous meeting. Opined this is premature to make this decision when we don't have the data that we need. Mayor Dang asked if SiFi is the only fiber company, or do you have competitors? Mr. Bradshaw responded there are many fiber companies out there but the offer that's on the table in front of you regards to the FiberCity, the digital divide, the low-income discounted services under the FiberCity aid, the disadvantaged families, where we let you choose and SiFi subsidizes that discounted cost. This is the only offering in the country of this magnitude. Council Member Low opined Council Member Clark's question is fair and that SiFi should be able to say which cities have completed the project. Mr. Bradshaw stated it's a fair question that should be answered. SiFi started constructing our first cities a few months pre -pandemic, so the projects were slowed down due to the scale of resource impact to city staff and the industry's availability. Right now, we do not have any city that's been complete, as it takes time to build an entire city, especially a larger one. We do not disclose how many subscribers we actually have on our network as that's sensitive information just like everybody else doesn't disclose that from ISPs within the country. So, I cannot actually give that information. What I can say is that we surpass all expectations on the amount of people that are transferring from the other incumbents in the markets. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 34 of 40 Council Member Clark asked if a resident initially declines to participate in the fiber optics, but later changes their mind — can they come back and request to participate, if so, do they have to pay more or is there a penalty of any kind? Also, the permission from the resident to come on private property is required, correct? Mr. Bradshaw replied residents are welcome to change their mind and there is zero penalty if they do not initially choose to participate later. Acknowledged the way it works is we have a relationship with the city for access to the public right-of-way. Access to someone's home or business is covered under private easements to which that particular occupier has to grant when they subscribe to service. Council Member Clark stated again I think it's premature for us to go into this when they haven't finished any city, we have no information for whatever reason to know whether people subscribed and whether they're happy with it. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked what does cybersecurity look like for fiber optic? Mr. Bradshaw stated we have our own cyber security division ourselves; in regards to how we actually manage the environment and the infrastructure itself is based on a net neutrality environment where we ourselves as SiFi, though it's our infrastructure and there's a neutral operator, SiFi is not operating the network. Asserted to be very clear, SiFi is funding, building, maintaining, and ensuring it's always up and running. But we actually appoint a neutral operator that's independent of everybody and also have the ISPs on top providing service. The purpose of that neutral operator is to ensure a secure environment of the nature of the fiber optics from point A and point B on the electronics and those electronics are actually the services controlled by the ISP and they are the only ones that have the ability to actually pass that data from point A to the actual customer itself. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked if this is governed by the CPUC or is it governed by us? Director of Public Works Chung replied it's governed by us. Mayor Pro Tem Ly pointed out that Charter and AT&T are governed by the CPUC, so any changes to how that contract is looked at either has to be done by the CPUC or has to be done by Sacramento. In fact, If I'm understanding correctly, one of the reasons why, if say tomorrow, the City of Rosemead is not happy with Charter or AT&T, we couldn't end a contract and go out to bid for a different provider, instead we have to go through the state legislature to make that change, correct? City Attorney Richman responded Charter and AT&T basically have the right to be in our right -of -way. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked if there's an abandonment of the system or termination of the contract, is FiberCity allowed to pull out the lines. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 35 of 40 Director of Public Works Chung stated the agreement does not allow them to pull out the lines because it would be too invasive and impact the city. So we basically take ownership of the line. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated I totally understand Council Member Armenta's concern of a 30 -year contract; provided the example of a Public Works project, when we built a pool, we advertise that we expect our pool to last over a 30 -year period, give or take. I remember when we were approving the construction of the pool, on of our arguments was that both pools were beyond the lifespan of 40 or 50 years plus. Mr. Ly provided another analogy, when we buy a home, we generally go with a 30 -year mortgage, right? Because that's the only way that we can amortize the cost of a home, the monthly payment. My next point is we just approved our Legislative Platform where we argued and talked about local control. Instead of supporting an item where we want local control and can regulate this directly, instead we want to not approve this and keep with two companies that we have no control over and only Sacramento has control over. I know that people are doing their jobs here such as the SGV Economic Partnership supporting their members by opposing this because they stand to lose financially if FiberCity comes in. Stated ironically enough, if we bring Fiber -City in, we would reduce the amount of monopoly in the overall environment. Opined if we don't create these opportunities, then we're simply limiting our residents; so, by moving forward with fiber, we're supporting the residents of Rosemead here by giving them another option. Council Member Clark brought up the major pushback from Fullerton that she read about in the articles. Mr. Bradshaw stated we've learned as we've gone along this journey. We no longer use a particular contractor and now take a very different approach where we introduce the contractors to the city before construction even commences as a relationship building exercise. Council Member Clark expressed I still think we should wait until more data is provided and we know how it's actually going to affect our residents. Council Member Low opined I don't think it's fair that Council Member Clark is stating that we are hiding this item from the residents as this item was brought in March 2022, so it has been made public for almost a year. Council Member Clark interjected; I did not use the word "hiding". Council Member Low replied that's how I interpreted it. Commented this is a very open item where anyone from the public can speak on it. I do understand there's a little concern that we haven't seen a city complete the project. If we look at the pros, by having this infrastructure, the city will have much faster internet speed. Indicated when she mentioned the possibility of having fiber to her son, his response was, "Mom what took you so long! You guys really need to do this." We are giving people Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 36 of 40 options. Stated I only have charter in my area, so I'm stuck and have to put up with whatever services that I get. If we have fiber infrastructure, you will have businesses that want to come do business here to support them as well as encourage young people to move Rosemead. Acknowledged we haven't seen the proven product yet, however I'm not sure waiting forever is the right answer either. Council Member Armenta stated I'm sure that what you're planning to provide to the city is wonderful, but that's not the concern that I have. My concerns are that we're pretty much investing in SiFi network without data of any completed cities. Maybe if there were more completed cities and we were able to gather information from them, then I would be more comfortable. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked if the two personnel we are brining on board are coming as employees or contracted to help manage this? Director of Public Works Chung replied they will be coming on as employees. Mayor Pro Tem Ly inquired if the cost calculated was including the over it cost? Mr. Chung affirmed yes, so these are burden hourly rates. Council Member Armenta asked regarding the salary, does the amount that we're being reimbursed also include benefits? Mr. Chung answered yes, it does. Mayor Pro Tem Ly reiterated the importance of cyber security, especially depending on your career, oftentimes people have to use a VPN for work as different industries require additional security. Noted I, myself in the Army, Council Member Armenia for the state, and possibly Council Member Low with Raytheon, require a safe network that's provided directly by those entities. Emphasized the goal is to make sure that those networks are secure and running at a speed where Rosemead residents can work from home if they need to for whatever reason. Mayor Dang asked if Council is ready to vote. Council Member Armenta commented before we vote, I want to include for the record, my stand is not to say that this is not a great opportunity for the City of Rosemead. Simply that there is just not enough data for me to support a 30 -year investment. ACTION: Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Ly and seconded by Mayor Dang to take the following actions: 1. Authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with SiFi Networks for the installation of a city-wide fiber optic network. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 37 of 40 2. Authorize the City Manager or his designee to proceed with the process to add the positions of Associate Engineer and Public Works Inspector for City Council consideration at the FY 22-23 Mid -year Budget Review; and 3. Find that the proposed action involves the minor alteration of existing public infrastructure; therefore, the project is Class 1 Categorically Exempt pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The motion was carried out by the following vote AYES: Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: Armenta, and Clark D. Proposed Founder's Park Discussion The City Council will discuss and give direction to staff regarding the licensed Southern California Edison Corridor property that is located between Mission Drive and Wells Street just west of Walnut Grove. Currently, the City has a five year license agreement with SCE which is set to expire on August 31, 2026. Staff has been unable to secure a funding source to build the proposed Founder's Park at this SCE location. Staff recommends that the City Council provide direction relative to this matter. Recommendation: That the City Council provide direction relative to this matter. By consensus, this item was tabled to the next City Council meeting. 6. MATTERS FROM MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL A. Rosemead Boulevard Relinquishment Discussion Mayor Pro Tem Ly requested the City Council discuss the Caltrans relinquishment of Rosemead Boulevard to the City of Rosemead. Recommendation: That the City Council discuss and provide further direction to City staff and find the proposed action is not defined as a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). By consensus, this item was tabled to the next City Council meeting. B. Council Comments Council Member Clark requested to adjourn tonight's Council meeting in memory of Margaret Holt, who was a longtime supporter of Rosemead and very passionate about helping the homeless. Indicated she attended the regional Water Committee meeting; noted cities were asked to post on their social media to encourage residents not to water their lawn for about a month because we are still in a drought. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes ofJanuaty 10, 2023 Page 38 of 40 Council Member Armenta wished everyone a Happy 2023! Expressed she is very sad to hear about Ms. Margaret Holt's passing. Mrs. Armenta stated she is in Sacramento trying her very best to make sure that affordable housing is going to be included in these housing bills; shared that we met with about 10 senators today and each of them acknowledged the importance of contract cities having local control, so we're really pushing our agenda to the legislators. Indicated we have many new members and I am looking forward to working with these new members. Mayor Pro Tem Ly echoed his colleagues' sentiment that he is very sad to hear about Ms. Holt's passing, who was a very dear and engaged resident; expressed let's celebrate her life and accomplishments she's done for the community to make Rosemead better as a city. Mr. Ly requested the following items be placed on a future agenda: 1) Schedule a Study Session that is a joint meeting with the Public Safety Commission to provide an update from the Captain of the Temple Station on the -current levels of part one crimes in the city and the current progress of that. -- - 'T'hig way the Commission understands that they have a very important role and - tleit engagement is critical for our success. 2) Ensure that we're eliminating graffiti 'and blight as quickly as possible so that it breeds a culture of no tolerance when it -`_ comes to these types of situations. 3) Ask the Edison representative to come to our next meeting as Edison's absence and their inability to work with developers, residents, etc., were brought up several times tonight. Mayor Pro Tem Ly commented that he would like to have a conversation at a Council meeting about that with Edison to see if we can break through yet again. 4) Using one of Edison's lots to for the Founders Park, which I know was agendized for tonight but tabled due to the discussions going late. 5) Creating a subcommittee on affordable housing to see how we can best address that issue. 6) Creating a subcommittee on homelessness and how to also address that as an issue in Rosemead. 7) Review Sacramento's, as well as DC's lobbying contracts to make sure that the City of Rosemead is comfortable with the service we're getting and if we need to make changes to their scope of work or even go out to bid for lobbying services. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated there is nothing too urgent on any of these items but would like to see them on the agenda at some point when possible. Mayor Dang welcomed Mayor Pro Tem Ly back from his military leave, stating your remarkable skiliset was missed during your absence. Wished everyone a Happy New Year and a Happy Chinese Lunar New Year! Mayor Dang invited Ms. Dolores Weiderman to say a few words about Ms. Margaret Holt before adjourning in her memory. Dolores Weiderman, resident, stated she wanted to bring this matter to the Council's and Sheriff's attention. Ms. Weiderman shared that Margaret Holt was supposed to meet with her at Garvey Park to provide food for the homeless, but she never showed up. She did not hear from Ms. Holt for 24 hours, so she was worried as it was not like her to not show up without at least a call; indicated another 24 hours passed before the Sheriff's Department reached out to Ms. Holt to check on her. Ms. Weiderman opined I think waiting 48 hours is far too long if someone is asking Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 39 of40 the Sheriffs for help in finding someone or even checking on their wellbeing. Expressed that Margaret enjoyed the city and loved Garvey Park; said I can't tell you how much she did for the homeless. Ms. Weiderman stated she will be there Thursday by herself to continue to help the homeless. Mayor Dang thanked Ms. Weiderman for those kind remarks. Stated Ms. Holt was a remarkable individual and a dear resident that will be greatly missed. G�:71�fI1111T7�1u1 �1►1I1 Mayor Dang adjourned the meeting at 11:05 p.m., in memory of Margaret Holt. The next City Council meeting will take place on January 24, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the Rosemead City Hall Council Chamber. -_ Ericka Hemanez, Mty Oeik APPROVED: Margaret Clark, Mayor Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2023 Page 40 of 40