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CC - Item 4A - Minutes 12-11-07• • Minutes of the Regular Meeting ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL December 11, 2007 The regular meeting of the Rosemead City Council was called to order by Mayor Tran at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, at 8838 E. Valley Boulevard, Rosemead, California. The pledge to the flag was led by Mayor Pro Tern John Nunez and the invocation was delivered by Mayor John Tran. ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS: Present: Councilmembers Clark, Low, Taylor, Mayor Pro Tern Nunez and Mayor Tran Absent: None 1. PRESENTATION A. Almont League Football Champions - San Gabriel High School Mayor Pro Tern Nunez introduced the San Gabriel High School Matadors football team. He reminded everyone that a lot of kids that live in the City of Rosemead go to San Gabriel High School and that it is important that we pay attention to both Rosemead High School, as well as, San Gabriel High School. He announced that the football team has had a great season this year and he introduced San Gabriel's Principal Jim Schofield to the podium. Mr. Schofield thanked the Council for recognizing San Gabriel High School and the number of students that come from the Rosemead community. He stated that he and his faculty felt honored that Mr. Nunez had invited these young men and young woman to be recognized by the city. Mr. Schofield introduced Mr. Jones as the Almont League Coach of the year and stated that Mr. Jones not only is an outstanding coach but that he also teaches these young people to be quality individuals and to advance and be better people in life. Coach Jones thanked Mayor Tran for his support; he thanked the parents and supporters of the team. He also thanked the High School seniors for giving their heart and soul through out the season. He mentioned that one thing the team had strived for this season was to change a banner in their gym that hadn't been changed since 1975, which was when the last championship had been won. He announced a new banner will be put up and he thanked the council once again for their support. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez also recognized Steve Perry and his staff for their support and mentioned that these individuals have not missed a football game in 9 % years. He also urged the community to lend their support by volunteering during the football games. Rosemead City Council Meeting of December 11, 2007 Page 1 o 38 Mayor Tran congratulated Coach Jones for having a successful year and thanked him, as well as, Mr. Schofield for being role models to the kids and making them successful. Mayor Tran thanked them for doing a great job and with that he introduced a certificate of recognition to the San Gabriel High School Football Team. Councilmember Clark congratulated Coach Jones and his team for making the city proud and putting Rosemead on the map. Coach Jones also wanted to recognize Captain Javier Miranda and Captain Matthew Mensura for winning the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) award. Matthew Mensura stated that he had been working with Coach Jones since his freshmen year and that because of the coach they had a great season. Councilmember Low congratulated the players and the coach and asked the team to remember all their hard work and how great it feels to be champions. Councilmember Taylor addressed the team and the coach and told the team to enjoy it while they can given that the next step for most of them will be going to college. He said that being in sports gives them opportunity to work with, play with and get along with each other. He congratulated the team for a fantastic season. City Manager Chi asked the council to take a picture with the whole San Gabriel High School football team. 2. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. General Plan Amendment 07.02, Zone Change 07.225, Planned Development Review 07-01, Conditional Use Permit 07.1090 and Tentative Tract Map 70044 Located at 7419.7459 Garvey Avenue Mr. Patrick Yang has submitted entitlement applications requesting approval to develop a new four-story mixed use development consisting of 127 residential condominium units above 59,180 square feet of commercial/retail/restaurant space. The subject site is located north of Garvey Avenue between New Avenue and Prospect Avenue on the City's west side. The project site consists of seven contiguous parcels totaling approximately 5.35 acres. The project will be developed in two phases; Phase 1 will consist of the Garvey Avenue frontage totaling approximately 3.68 acres, which will be developed with commercial and residentially mixed land uses along with 2 levels of subterranean parking and a significant outdoor courtyard/food court pedestrian amenity. The remaining 1.67 acres to the north, which consists of an existing mobile home park, could be developed as part of a subsequent phase. The existing General Plan designation for all affected parcels is Commercial. The existing zoning designations consist of C-3 (Medium Commercial) and P (Automobile Parking). However, at this time, only the parcels located within Phase 1 are proposed to be rezoned Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 2 of 38 • • to (PD) Planned Development and have the General Plan land use designation changed from Commercial to Mixed Use Residential/Commercial. Any future development proposals for the 1.67 acre site will require the review and approval of separate entitlement applications together with a separate environmental analysis, a mobile home park relocation plan, and separate public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council. Recommendation: That the City Council ADOPT Ordinance No. 860, thereby APPROVING General Plan Amendment 07-02, Zone Change 07-225, Planned Development Review 07-01, Conditional Use Permit 07-1090, and Tentative Tract Map 70044, subject to the attached conditions. Staff also recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Program as recommended by the Planning Commission on November 05, 2007. Councilmember Clark removed herself and sat in the audience because she lived to close to the project. City Manager Chi reviewed staff report for Public Hearing regarding project located at 7419-7459 Garvey Avenue. Mayor Tran opened public hearing at 7:24 p.m. James Flournoy, 8655 Landis View, expressed his concerns to council regarding the Negative Declaration that was included in the report submitted by city staff. Also expressed concern with earthquake faults that are over in the area of this project. Howard Mattern, 3114 Jackson Avenue, expressed that he was very opposed to the changes that are occurring in the city. He said that the changes are inconsistent with the City of Rosemead's neighborhood. Mr. Mattern also expressed that he felt Valley Boulevard was a parking lot and that the same would be done with Garvey Avenue if this project was approved. James Carlson, Monterey Park Mobile Home Park, addressed council with his concerns about the livelihood and safety of the people who live at the mobile homes. He asked council if they would protect the mobile homes if Phase 1 of this project passed and how they would be protected. Councilmember Taylor asked Mr. Carlson if anyone had informed them on how residents will get back in to Mobile Park after excavation began. Mr. Carlson responded no and stated that they had only been informed about a wall being built to protect their privacy. Councilmember Taylor asked if they would still have to drive out over the construction site. Mr. Carlson responded yes. Councilmember Taylor stated that there was nothing in the report. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December Il, 2007 Page 3 o f 38 • • Mr. Carlson said that the entrance was adjacent to the park but that he was concerned about the change in the zoning and what would happen after Phase 1. Mayor Tran explained to Mr. Carlson that the project is broken up in two phases and that Phase 2 will not move forward unless Phase 1 is complete. Councilmember Taylor stated that Phase 2 is across the entire back of Phase 1 and asked how residents were going to have access to exit the mobile park during construction. Mayor Tran asked staff to answer that question. Assistant City Manager Saeki asked council to refer to the 2nd basement floor plan A20.06 and explained that twenty nine feet would remain on the easterly side of the property while the rest of the excavation was taking place. Mayor Tran explained that safety was obviously an issue Mr. Carlson asked what impact the families of the park would have because once the excavation was finished the owner would begin to building up. Mr. Saeki explained that the city and the building department will ensure that the safest access route will be provided to the residents of the mobile park and anyone else who has access to such route. Mr. Saeki explained that if the project moves forward and any safety issues arise that these issues should be brought to the council's attention and that staff will go out to the site and work with the developers so that the issues are resolved. Mr. Carlson asked if the change to the zoning would be for Phase 1. Mr. Saeki answered that it was and that Phase 2 is a complete separate project. Alyssa Carlson, 7431 Garvey Avenue, asked what the difference between this meeting and the last meeting was and what changes would be affecting the residence of the mobile park. Councilmember Taylor asked if she was referring to the Planning Commission Meeting. Mr. Chi explained that in order for the project to move forward it was necessary for certain steps to be taken. He explained that the Planning Commission needed to review and approve the project before bringing it to council for consideration. Ms. Carlson asked if the project would be a go if it was approved in tonight's meeting. Mr. Chi explained that tonight was the official public hearing and that it would be back for a second reading on the next council meeting and that if the project was approved then 30 days after that it would be a go. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11. 2007 Page 4 of 38 Mayor Pro Tem Nunez questioned whether Councilmember Clark could speak although she had stepped out of her dieses. City Attorney Bonny Garcia explained that she had a right to address the issue as a member of the public because she is within the zone that is being affected by the project. Margaret Clark objected to the staff report where it says "the building would be substantially set away from any R-2 zoned properties and explained that in reality the zone is p for parking but residential homes have been there for years. Ms. Clark explained that the residential property homes are single stories homes and that they are not going to know what hit them when they look out and see a 4 story building right behind them. She also expressed her concern with the impact on the privacy of the neighbors and she asked that this project be sent back for review so that it is not such a large scale project. She explained that this project will impact the neighborhood and that the safety of the kids from the 3 surrounding elementary schools, Garvey, Bitely, and Emerson is in jeopardy. She stated that she had read the draft of the general plan and even it states that we don't want to impact neighborhoods or change the residential character of the city. She stated it even talks about if the parking is impacted we might have to go to fees which she opposes and is opposed to the potential that people on her street might have to pay to park on their own street. Mayor Tran asked where that was stated. Ms. Clark explained that it was in the general plan. Mayor Tran asked if council had taken action on this issue. Ms. Clark responded no. Mayor Tran stated that she was speculating. Ms. Clark explained that it was on the draft general plan and that the plan acknowledges these problems and tries to resolve them. She explained that the fact the problem might require such resolution proves that these projects do have an impact on traffic and that it will get worse. She spoke about these mixed use developments sometimes called the "San Diego Plan" or transit oriented development that fits in Glendora and Claremont which have projects adjacent to the proposed site of the Metro Gold line but not in Rosemead because we do not have a transit station. Ms. Clark explained that there is another trailer park site that is empty across from McDonalds with a for sale sign and that the accumulative impact of all this development will be huge. She also expressed her concerns with the 2 levels of subterranean parking that people might not want to use and how that traffic might spill over to our streets. Marcelina Hernandez, Guess Street, asked if there was going to be 84 parking spaces underground, if this was going to be dug under her house. Mayor Tran asked where she lived. Ms. Hernandez stated that she lived in 9020 Guess Street. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11. 2007 Page 5 o/'38 • Councilmember Taylor asked Ms. Hernandez if she had said Guess Street. Ms. Hernandez responded yes. Councilmember Taylor explained to her that the Guess Street project was the next item on the agenda and she would have to wait to speak on that item. Gilbert, 7433 Garvey Avenue, expressed his concerns and stated that there will be many people affected by this project such as senior citizens and children with special needs. He explained that in the past they have complained about the mobile park and that in return they have been approached with intimidation tactics by the owners of the property. Mayor Tran asked if he had said intimidation. Gilbert answered yes and explained that in the past when they have complained they have been intimidated by the owners. Gilbert reported an incident when an elderly woman in the mobile park had a stroke and was forced to sell her home, he also addressed an incident where a gentleman in the mobile home park had also had a stroke and is now unable to speak or walk. He stated that there was no way to recover from these damages and that he was asking council to help. He explained that these events had been reported to Councilmember Nunez but that he felt he didn't care and that Mr. Nunez stated he would call him back and after 9 weeks he hadn't called. Councilmember Nunez stated that he had directed Gilbert to another person and that he had asked Gilbert if that person had resolved his problems. Gilbert responded that they had not. Councilmember Nunez stated that he had asked Gilbert if they had cut off the power to those electrical wires and that he had responded that he didn't know. Gilbert stated that those wires are still there and Mr. Nunez had said he would stop by his house and give the pictures back and that he hadn't. Councilmember Nunez told Gilbert that he had talked to him about his issues and he had referred him to the appropriate person and that is the procedure he needed to take. Gilbert stated that those were his concerns and that he was very worried about them. James Carlson returned to the podium and explained to council that what Gilbert was trying to explain was that the owners have been approaching the residents and intimidating them by telling them that they need to sell their property now or else they won't get much for them later. He explained that Gilbert had brought this and other issues to Councilmember Nunez's attention and asked Mr. Nunez if he had brought this up to the other council members. Rosemead City Council Minules of December 11. 2007 Page 6 q08 City Manager Chi stated that Councilmember Nunez had brought the potential violations to his attention and that he had staff refer to it. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that he did receive those pictures and stated that he spoke to Gilbert during the scoping meeting. He explained that he had spoken to the owner about those issues and that the owner had promised to rectify those problems. Mr. Saeki stated that it was important to the city that those problems were taken care of. Mr. Carlson stated that he just wanted to make sure that council was aware of what was going on and that they, as residence of Rosemead, would be protected. Kenneth Pike, 8400 Grand Avenue, stated that he had been looking at the proposed changes to the zoning codes and that he wanted to specifically speak on the parking situation. He expressed that the city did not specify what property would be commercial and that he objected to any parking downgrade. Maria, Park Monterey Mobile Home Park, stated that she and other residences from the mobile park had received letters stating that their laundry room would be closed. She handed the letter to Mr. Saeki for record. Alyssa Carlson returned to the podium and asked council why they are not being relocated instead of having them sit through construction of this project. She asked who governs the owners of the property and how it is possible for the owners to build while they are still on the property. She asked if there were any laws that protected them. City Manager Chi answered that as a city we do not govern the mobile park. Ms. Carlson stated that she had been misunderstood. City Manager Chi stated that the State of California is who governs the owners of the mobile parks. Ms. Carlson asked if they would have to go straight to the ombudsmen to get properly relocated. City Manager Chi explained that if the property owner would like to change the number of units being relocated, very specific state guide lines would have to be followed. Ms. Carlson asked why they were not considered prior to Phase 1 and asked Council to please speak to the property owners regarding relocating them prior to having Phase 1 go through. City Manager Chi stated that the City has been working with the property owners to encourage them to relocate the mobile home residents but that ultimately the city does not have the ability to force them to do so. Mr. Chi also stated that the city has been working on a mobile home relocation ordinance to clarify what those steps should be. Jay Imperial stated that these issues are all run by the state and that on a prior separate issue nothing had been done to get anything resolved. He stated that he had given the city 30 years of service and that if it Rosemead Cily Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 7 of '38 • • were up to him this project would not be going through. He asked the city find another way to do this project. James Carlson addressed the council and asked if they were aware of the pamphlet that was put out and given to them regarding the relocation process. He also asked if they knew how long the waiting list was for the State of California. City Manager Chi responded that the city was aware of the waiting list, which was the reason why the city had taken the initiative to adopt an ordinance and that this should eliminate Rosemead from having to go through the state's process in the future. Anna Torres, 7433 Garvey Avenue, stated that all the residence of the mobile homes are very upset that they have to go through all the construction of this project during Phase 1 and through the intimidation that they are being put through. There being no other speakers, public hearing for item 2A closed at 8:04 p.m. Councilmember Taylor stated that no one had mentioned that 650 parking stalls were required for Phase 1 of this project and he felt that a lot of traffic will be coming out of that area. He stated that our current code requires 2 parking spaces per condominium and for every 2 condos they have to have a visitor parking space and that this project doesn't have to meet that requirement. He asked for a brief explanation on why the developer did not have to meet that requirement. City Manager Chi explained that under state density the developer can receive an additional density of 35% of what is allowed in the site in exchange for providing affordable housing. In the entitlement process if the developers request the bonus the city is mandated to work with that developer to up the concessions to three, which was the case that was presented with this developer. Councilmember Taylor added that the item regarding the adjoining residents to the east of the project was not clear if they were one story residence or two story residence. City Planner Everting responded that one single family home on the northeast corner that is approximately 75 feet from building to building and the other home to the north is approximately 45 feet from building to building. Councilmember Taylor asked if they were legal non-conforming units. Mr. Everling responded that that was correct because it is not residential zoned property. Councilmember Taylor asked if the 20 degree rule did not apply in this. Mr. Everting stated that was correct. Councilmember Taylor expressed his concerns with the condominiums being too high and the liability the city might be responsible for due to invasion of privacy issues. Some condos have balconies 45 feet up. Rosemead Citv Council Minutes of December 11. 2007 Page 8 gi'38 0 • He was very reluctant to have these balconies 45 feet up above these houses. He referred to a lawsuit the city went through with condos on Wells street. He asked what rights the residents had regarding this matter. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that if there were problems that the residents can bring that up to the council's attention. Councilmember Taylor stated that he didn't think the residents were aware of what was being built around them. Mr. Taylor added that this was only part of a slippery slope because the general plan read that there will be a new project that is 5 stories, called a block long. City Planner Everling stated that some portions of the building were four and others were five. Councilmember Taylor stated that there will be another project coming in that is 7 stories. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that was correct. Mayor Tran said that project was from 10 years ago. Councilmember Taylor stated that it was not 10 years ago. The developer bought up that mobile home park and is still working on that project. Mr. Taylor said that once these projects get started there is no return and that once the zones are changed council will not be able to pick and choose the developers that come into the city. He added that once the changes are made they would have to give everyone the concessions that the state allows. He concluded by saying that if this project was approved this would wipe out our local city control. Councilmember Low asked if this had the required parking. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that the required parking had succeeded as it relates to the commercial and restaurant parking but that for the residential units, one of there concessions were to utilize the parking concessions in SB1818. Councilmember Low asked if parking was okay. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated we were okay under SB1818 for the residential and under our code for the regular parking. Councilmember Low said she wanted to be clear and that based on the report there would be no major impact in traffic. Assistant City Manager Saeki explained that was what the report concluded. Councilmember Low stated that if they approved the project it would not result in opening the door to all projects. She stated that when they received a report that showed traffic impact the project would not be approved. Ms. Low asked Mr. Saeki to clarify what is on that lot. She stated that if another 2 projects are Rosemead Ciiv Council Minutes of December I1. 2007 Page 9 of 38 on this street there will definitely be traffic impacts. If we get to the point where there are traffic impacts, those are the projects that we are not going to approve. Assistant City Manager Saeki explained that currently the majority is vacant, with the exception of a travel agency and a couple of miscellaneous shops. Councilmember Low expressed her concerns about the mobile homes. And asked if for Phase 2 staff could work closely with the owners about creating a relocation plan. City Manager Chi agreed with Ms. Low. Councilmember Low asked the audience that if there is any type of intimidation to please let council know. Councilmember Nunez stated he wanted to make a motion to approve the project with the revision of having 12 moderate income residents rather than 12 low income residents. He stated that if you keep it to low income you might exclude moderate income people, such as, first year teachers and firemen that can apply and qualify. Low income people can also apply. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to approve Ordinance No. 860 on first reading. Vote resulted in: (Councilmember Clark did not vote) Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None B. General Plan Amendment 07.06, Zone Change 05-222, Planned Development Review 06-04, Conditional Use Permit 06.1064, and Tentative Tract Map 069079 for Property Located at 3862 Rosemead Boulevard and 9016 Guess Street Long Bach Trinh has submitted applications for a new four-story mixed-use project consisting of 32 residential condominium units (totaling 38,065 square feet) above 10,845 square feet of commercial/retail/restaurant space on 1.04 acres located at the southeast corner of Rosemead Boulevard and Guess Street. The site consists of three parcels with one and two-story multifamily residential buildings. All existing structures will be demolished to accommodate the proposed development, which includes approximately 4,160 square feet of restaurant uses and approximately 6,685 square feet of retail space. All commercial tenant spaces will have storefronts facing Rosemead Boulevard and Guess Street. Primary access to the commercial suites will be provided via the parking lot in the rear of the site. The condominiums located on the second, third, and fourth floors will be oriented towards the Rosemead Boulevard and Guess Street frontages. The site will include 59 parking spaces at grade, along with a subterranean parking garage with 84 parking spaces, for a total of 143 off-street parking spaces. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11. 2007 Page 10 of 38 This project was considered by the Planning Commission at its public hearing on October 15, 2007. After hearing all testimonies from the applicant's representative and the public, the Commission continued the item to the November 5th hearing and directed staff to work with the applicant regarding solutions to vehicular access onto Guess Street and the issues of privacy with the adjacent neighbors. In an effort to restrict traffic on Guess Street, the applicant has altered the entry drive, added "no right turn" signs adjacent to the Guess Street driveway, and will construct an 8-foot tall decorative CMU block wall along the south and east property lines for added neighbor privacy. The revised project was presented to the Planning Commission on November 5m and was unanimously recommended for approval. Recommendation: That the City Council ADOPT Ordinance No. 861, thereby APPROVING General Plan Amendment 07-06, Zone Change 05-222, Planned Development Review 06-04, Conditional Use Permit 06-1064, and Tentative Tract Map 069079, subject to the attached conditions. Staff also recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Program as recommended by the Planning Commission on November 5, 2007. City Manager Chi reviewed staff report for Public Hearing regarding project located at Rosemead Boulevard and 9016 Guess Street. Mayor Tran opened public hearing at 8:20 p.m Howard Mattern, 3114 Jackson Avenue, stated that he objected to the project for the same reasons as the previous project and believes that there should be something in place that developers need to pay into so that the next time the city needs to expand or update the sewers those funds can be withdrawn rather than putting the burden on city's tax payers. He concluded by saying that if this project was approved then it will become easier for high story project to be approved in the future. James Flournoy, 8655 Landis View, stated he felt this project is a little different from the previous project because it does not have an earthquake fault near by but that however it did have a fault underneath the site. He referred to a Bank of the West report and asked that the city's reports be more like that. Councilmember Taylor asked Mr. Flournoy if he was aware that this project did have subterranean parking. Mr. Flournoy responded he was aware and that he felt this project was a go with proper mitigation on the site. Roberto Tsai, 9271 Steele Street, his first concern to council was the fact that he saw a posting of the public hearing on Guess Street rather than on Rosemead Boulevard where it would have been more visible. His second concern with this project was the "no right turn" sign and how it was going to affect traffic negatively because Guess Street is one of the narrowest streets in Rosemead. He said he travels on Rosemead Boulevard everyday and from Garvey to Valley it is already a parking lot. He stated that the city should find other ways to try and achieve more revenue. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11. 2007 Page l l of 38 • 0 Steve Cantrell, 9109 Guess Street, stated he has lived in the city for over 30 years and asked council why there is a need for more restaurants and condominiums. He stated that the city did not need more people and that during the weekends there already wasn't enough parking for the residents. He stated that he thought Wal-Mart was brought into the city to bring in more revenue and he felt this project was not needed. He cited the old Nissan project on Mission with more restaurants. Also the people down the street from the former Farrels can't park on their own street. He affirmed the stop go traffic on Rosemead and the narrow Guess street. There being no other speakers, public hearing for item 2B closed at 8:31 p.m Councilmember Clark, asked staff why the signs for these projects had the names of all council members and she objected to that because she said she was not in favor of these projects and stated these projects had not been approved. She stated that the signs should not say the City of Rosemead is bringing these projects to the city because the developers are who are bringing it not council. She said she felt that this was an implication to the people that live around the project that these projects were a done deal and wondered how many people did not attend the public hearing in results of this. She stated that she was tempted to take this matter to the district attorney if these projects were approved. She asked staff to take the signs down and stated that she was very offended by all of this. Councilmember Taylor told Mayor Tran that he agreed with Councilmember Clark because it implies that the city council approved this before any meeting, but that however, he did not feel that signs needed to be brought down; he asked that their names just be painted over. Councilmember Clark stated the signs should not even say "City Council". Councilmember Taylor agreed but said that the sighs should not be brought down to get them redone. Councilmember Clark stated she did not think they should be redone but that they should be brought down. Councilmember Taylor stated the signs could be put back by the developers. Councilmember Clark responded that was fine as long as their names and "City Council" were not on the signs. She then proceeded to ask staff to clarify the parking requirements under the current code for this project City Planner Everting responded that the parking requirement under the current code is one parking space per 200 square feet. Mr. Everting asked if Ms. Clark was referring to the 143 parking spaces for the project. Councilmember Clark said no that she was referring to the 157 spaces that are required and that she was referring to the chart in the staff report. Councilmember Low asked if there are enough parking spaces for this project. Councilmember Clark responded no. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 2007 Page 12 ol'38 • 0 City Planner Everting stated this project is also subject to the state law and that even without the affordable housing component the applicant can still request for a parking reduction. Whereas, the table in the staff report calls out 196 parking spaces, they're actually proposing 143. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that the project did have enough parking spaces. Councilmember Clark said she wanted to speak about the state law and stated this is not slice bread. She stated that she had been to Sacramento and had seen how the laws are made. She added that if the developer was asking for a zone change that council did not have to grant it or the project. Councilmember Low stated to Ms. Clark that she did not understand what she was saying about state law and if she was implying that council did not have to follow it. Councilmember Clark stated that was not what she meant and that she was trying to explain the way Sacramento passes these laws and that they are not always thought out. She stated this is not good law and that we have to obey it only if we grant the 2 actions of zone change and general plan amendment. Those 2 actions were in the Council's court and that she felt that in result of granting this developer less parking spaces there will be spill over traffic. Councilmember Low asked staff to repeat the parking space numbers. City Planner Everting stated the parking requirements under current code are 196 parking spaces and under state law it is only 143 parking spaces. Councilmember Taylor stated he wanted to make it really clear that when Ms. Low asked if this project met the parking requirements, staff responded "yes it does but only under the state mandated laws". He continued by saying that the developer met the parking requirements only if Council granted them the zone change and that there were other options to this project. City Manager Oliver Chi responded that Council was absolutely correct and that there are options for this project under SB1818 and as this project was processed it required concessions but those did not include the general plan or zone change and that authority for those two items lied with this City Council. Mr. Chi added that the project met the specs and code in terms of number of parking spaces allowed under SB1818; however, the council ultimately retains authority for the zone change and general plan amendment and that in order for the project to move forward Council would need to approver those two items. Councilmember Low asked if there was two different issues that Council was looking to approve; first, the approval of the zone change and general plan amendment and second, the number of parking spots for this project that is required. City Manager Chi stated if this particular project was located in an area in which the city's general code allowed for that zone requirement then the project would fall into code and could move forward but because it does not then the general plan and zone change need to come before Council for approval. Councilmember Clark asked if this project would not ft at this time in any of our mix used terms. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 1/, 2007 Page 13 o 38 • 9 City Manager Chi stated that was correct. Councilmember Clark stated if they wanted to require the amount of parking that would normally be required under the city's code that they could deny the general plan amendment and zone change and that if the developer wanted to continue with this project that he would have to come back to council with the amount of parking spaces that Council wants. City Manager Chi stated that was correct Councilmember Clark stated she had a real problem with the parking ratios because it allows for example a two bedroom home two spaces were required and that it was possible to easily have four drivers or more in each home. She added that she did not think it was realistic to allow the developer to request for less amounts of parking spaces. The state may think it's a great law, but they are not living in Rosemead. City Manager Chi responded that the intent of that law was to increase densities and that is why this law exists but that with these particular projects other issues come into play and those issues ultimately belongs to City Council to approve. Mr. Chi asked Mr. Saeki what the parking requirements for condo units were. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated it was four spaces per unit; two spaces for residence and two for their guests. Councilmember Clark asked if that was currently in our code. City Manager Chi answered yes and stated that is the law and we need to follow it. He added that for many communities the number of parking spaces per condominium was high but that was the policy decision for every council and every community to make. He concluded by saying that was the policy decision for this council to make. Councilmember Clark addressed her concerns with the way the state addresses their housing issues and stated that she thought they were very unfair by requiring cities such as Rosemead with higher density codes to build more housing, and allowing cities that mandate 2 acres per house to not have to build any more housing. She stated that is why she wanted Mr. Nunez on the SCAG Housing Committee. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez agreed with Ms. Clark on the formula that the state uses but stated that the fact is we have a housing problem in the State of California. He said the state is going to continue growing and we need to find housing for these people instead of having 4 to 5 families living in one house. He said that during his campaigning the public approached him with this issue and that this was the way to resolve that issue. He said the state wants us to give people housing. Councilmember Clark stated they need to put them in those communities that don't have the densities. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez stated people are going to continue coming into the city and that this project was intended to find housing for teachers so that they don't have to drive so far and to add housing so our children did not have to move to other counties and unfortunately this is the way to do it. Mr. Nunez stated Rosemead City Council Min[aes December 11, 2007 Page 14 o08 • 9 that if they didn't do it this way it would be like hurting our own people. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion to accept the recommendation and second by Councilmember Low. Councilmember Low agreed with Mr. Nunez and stated that after seeing all the high school students earlier it concerned her not to know where they would go after they finished high school and college; and if they would be able to afford a house in San Gabriel Valley. She agreed that traffic is a problem on Rosemead Boulevard and stated council will be working on how to alleviate the problem. Councilmember Clark stated she also did not agree with the roof garden issue and that she had gathered from other cities that roof gardens did not work. She stated her main problem with this was that a normal requirement to provide space for children to play was taken out and changed to have children play on the roof so that the developer doesn't have to take space on the ground level. She said she found it unlikely that the parents would take their children four stories up to play on the roof. Councilmember Low responded that it is the parents' decision to take the kids up to the roof and that if it were her in that situation she would take them to the park. She stated that just because the roof garden is there she was not obligated to take the children to play there. Councilmember Clark said the parents shouldn't have to take the children to the park that the children should be able to run out and play. Ms. Clark objected to the project and made a substitute motion to deny it and have it come back with a solution to the parking issue and privacy issues because the project didn't have to meet the line of site at 20 degree angle. Councilmember Taylor seconds the motion and asked what the traffic rating for Rosemead Boulevard is Mr. Saeki stated that he did not have the answer to that question. Councilmember Taylor stated that there are approximately sixty thousand cars passing this building and that while this project is in progress traffic will increase. Mr. Taylor objected to other comments that were made by staff, such as, the requirements of concessions and the comment made "when the law demands we have to do this". He stated Council did have to do what the State asked them to but that they had options with the general plans and zoning changes to try and moderate not stop. He addressed the comment about Wal-Mart and stated that the sale tax for that is gone. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to approve Ordinance No. 861 on first reading. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None C. Adoption of Urgency Ordinance No. 862 Related to the Adoption of the California Building Standards Code (Title 26 Los Angeles County Building Code), The Rosemead City Council Minutes of December- 11, 2007 Page 15 38 California Electrical Code (Title 27 Los Angeles County Electrical Code), The California Plumbing Code (Title 28 Los Angeles County Plumbing Code), The California Mechanical Code (Title 29 Los Angeles County Mechanical Code) The new 2007 California Building, Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical Codes become effective statewide on January 1, 2008. The City of Rosemead has traditionally adopted the Los Angeles County amendments to the State Building Laws as its own amendments to these State Laws. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted the new California Building Law as amended by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works at its November 27, 2007 meeting. The State Building Laws are based on the 2006 International Building Code, the 2006 Uniform Plumbing and Mechanical Codes and 2005 National Electrical Code. The Building Standards Commission has amended the model codes to apply to specific California needs such as seismic, energy and disabled access requirements. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works further amends the code to account for the unique requirements of the County of Los Angeles. The County amendments would also apply to similar conditions in the City of Rosemead. Recommendation: That the City Council approve Urgency Ordinance 862 on first reading. City Manager Chi reviewed staff report for Public Hearing regarding project Urgency Ordinance 862. Mayor Tran opened public hearing at 8:55 p.m. James Flournoy, 8655 Landis View, asked if L.A. County had adopted these amendments and if the city was adopting the same. City Manager Chi responded yes. There being no other speakers, public hearing for item 2C closed at 9:56 p.m. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to approve Ordinance No. 862 on first reading. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Absent: None 3. PUBLIC COMMENT FROM THE AUDIENCE Marisa Castro-Salvati, Southern California Edison, addressed Council to review some of the things Edison is doing in the State of their system. She encouraged the City to do a lot of things that pertains to energy efficiency. She wanted to ensure the city was in partnership with San Gabriel Valley Energy Wise Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 16 q/ 38 • • Project/Partnership and that the City is getting all rebates allowed. She stated Southern California Edison is making sure that they are making improvements to their distribution system. Councilmember Taylor asked if all that information was in her presentation packet. Ms. Castro-Salvati responded yes. Jean Hall, 3655 Muscatel Avenue, addressed council on various issues, such as, the first project public hearing. She stated she thought the whole situation that is changing the zone and changing everything is being done backwards and that it all starts with the outside developers. She stated the developers are getting away with everything and are getting their way with Rosemead with the newly elected majority. She stated that she has a problem with the signs the developers post on projects as Mrs. Clark spoke about. She stated that it is horrifying to see some of the new construction appearing in the City and that she can't believe that the new leaders have a clear conscience as to how they are going to put these projects in their bedroom single home neighborhood. She said if she had wanted a high rise metropolis she wouldn't have left Los Angeles. She stated she is not opposed to progress but that she has a problem with being exposed to a different environment from what she moved into 50 years ago. She stated it is not good business for Council to accept payment from the developers so that they can have easy access to the permits in our city, which in turn is dividing the Council rather than having them work together. She stated the developers leave town happy and richer and the City is stuck with the traffic and housing problems. She added that the City should not be involved in producing housing for everyone in California and in closing she stated that she and other Rosemead residents are seeing to it to monitor these meetings to bring to the attention of the public. She stated that the Rosemead Partners are a none profit city group and that they publish a mailer called "The Guardian" that is mailed out to everyone especially those close to these projects and they do not do this to scare anyone but rather to help people know what is going on during Council's changes. She concluded by stating she would like to see a more detail summary on the agendas and urged Council to see what mess the City is in now. Barbara Murphy, 9125 Bentel Street, wanted to thank City Council for approving the OKTOBERFEST and staff for doing a tremendous job during this event. She stated that if it wasn't for the Mayor, the City Manager, and Assistant City Manager, funds would have not been raised. She also spoke regarding the increase in fees for Consolidated Disposal and stated she was not in agreement with that because they are not doing a great job. She addressed Councilmember Taylor and asked if he remembered back in 1991 when he voted for Consolidated Disposal and the Council at the time ruled out BFI because they wanted a company that was small to mid size. She stated Consolidated was no longer a small company. She asked how Consolidated justified the rate increase and suggested to Council to stop bringing in Consolidated Disposal and that the City bid out for new contract and company. Barbara Murphy said Taylor voted for it and Bob Breusch and Joe Vazquez voted against it. Councilman Taylor stated he voted against it and asked that the minutes be produced for that meeting. James Flournoy, 8655 Landis View, addressed Council regarding various projects and the seismic reports and asked Council to stop these projects and have staff change some of their reports to make them accurate. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December- 11, 2007 Page 17 0/'38 • • Councilmember Clark asked what was being done regarding these issues. City Manager Chi stated that staff has been working with James regarding these issues. 6. MATTERS FROM MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL A. Rosemead Youth Association Funding Discussion Recently, Mayor John Tran was contacted by members of the Rosemead Youth Association (RYA) regarding their financial situation. It appears that the RYA was recently hit with the IRS tax levy that has left their organization with a severe monetary hardship. Based on that initial contact, Mayor Tran has requested that the Council discuss the potential for the City to assist the RYA during this period of time. Recommendation: That the City Council provide direction regarding assistance for the RYA. Mayor Tran moved item 6B up from agenda for discussion. Sergio Nava, Rosemead Youth Association (RYA), thanked Council for their support last year and informed them that an additional 100 kids were registered in the program since. He stated last year he had informed Council that $50,000.00 was needed for the program but rather $89,000.00 had been used and the program is expected to continue growing and reach a budget of $126,000.00. Mr. Nava asked Council for a donation of $5,000.00 to get the program started for the new season and informed them these funds were needed because the last board of the program had not filed taxes for five years and the IRS cleaned out their funds. He stated they are doing all they can by fling there late taxes and that they had ordered copies of checks from the bank that had not been given to the program. Mayor Tran asked what the charges were for the copies of the checks. Mr. Nava stated that it was $2 per check. Councilmember Taylor stated he was not opposed to the donation but asked if any,of those previous board members were still active in the program. Mr. Nava responded no. Councilmember Taylor asked what the IRS was doing if the RYA was a non profit organization. Mr. Nava responded that he wasn't sure if taxes needed to be paid but that paperwork should have been filed. Councilmember asked how they had gotten to $8,000.00. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 18 of 38 • 0 Mr. Nava said he did not know and informed Council they could not have a firework stand this year because the previous board had not paid them for last year. He stated that when they are able to have a firework stand the program takes 50% of that revenue. Councilmember Low asked if it was known who the old members were. Mr. Nava stated that they did know. Councilmember Low asked if it was known who had taken the money. Mr. Nava stated that without the copies of the checks it was unknown. Ron Gay, 4106 Encenita Avenue, addressed Council and stated how upset he was with this whole situation. He told Council that Mr. Nava and his crew are hard working people that are working to resolve these problems and they cannot say anything until they get hard proof. Councilmember Low stated she was concerned about how a group of people could take from kids. Mr. Gay stated that they knew who the parties were but that they would like hard proof. He stated this is the only program the city has, that the program needed some help, and that any assistance from Council would be greatly appreciated. Councilmember Nunez stated he would like to look at what Council can do to help them with this problem and how they can be helped legally. City Attorney Bonny Garcia stated the City is an affected donor to the organization and has a relationship with the organization. He stated the organization clearly needs to conduct an investigation and that it was appropriate for city to have an oversight on the investigation. Mr. Garcia asked Mr. Nava to go to his office to attain forensic account of what was going to be done. Mr. Nava stated that the board used to have an accountant and that at this time they are looking for a new accountant to hire. Councilmember Nunez stated it was important to fix this problem if council will continue to support this program and put money in it. Mr. Nunez asked Council to allow for a review of this matter and have it come back with a solution. Councilmember Taylor stated he would like to check RYA records before the City starts paying for expensive accountants and attorney fees. Mr. Taylor motion to donate $15,000.00 instead of the $5,000.00 to get the organization started. Mayor Tran stated his concern was that the organization had failed to produce any tax returns for years and that a lot of the money that had been donated had not been given to the program. He asked if the organization was strapped for money how they would be able to attain legal representation. Rosemead City Council Minules of December 11, 2007 Page 19 of 38 • 0 Councilmember Taylor responded that it sounded to him that they had already started to research this. Mayor Tran stated they had only paid for the copies of the checks. Mr. Nava stated yes and that they could not afford legal representation. Councilmember Taylor stated that something had to be done with 450 kids who are registered in the program. Mayor Tran stated that a motion had been made to donate $15,000.00 but that he would like council to also make a motion to have our legal council help the organization figure out how to recuperate some of the money that they have lost. Mr. Garcia stated he would meet with the organization pro bono. Councilmember Taylor made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to approve the donation of $15,000.00 to the Rosemead Youth Association and have the City's Legal Council assist the organization during investigation. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Absent: None 4. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Minutes September 25, 2007 - Regular Meeting October 9, 2007 - Regular Meeting B. Resolution No. 2007.46 Claims and Demands Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2007- 46, for payment of City expenditures in the amount of $544,079.68 numbered 58793 through 58839 and 60995 through 61056. C. Resolution No. 2007.47 Claims and Demands Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2007- 47, for payment of City expenditures in the amount of $751,733.57 numbered 58840 through 58877 and 61057 through 61179. D. League of California Cities - 2008 Mayors and Council Members Academy January 16-18, 2007, Sacramento Rosemead Citv Council Minutes of December- 11, 2007 Page 20 of 38 • 0 Conference sessions at the League of California Cities 2008 New Mayors and Council Members in Training will include: Policy Role in Land Use Planning; Relationship between City Council and City Manager/Staff; Practical Ethics and the Law; Dealing and Succeeding with the Media; and Financial Responsibilities. Recommendation: That the City Council authorize the attendance of any Council Member, the City Manager, and staff designee. E. League of California Cities - 2008 City Managers Department Meeting February 6-8, 2008, La Jolla Conference sessions at the League of California Cities 2008 City Managers Department Meeting will include: Sexual Harassment and Ethics Issues; Innovative in Managing Public Safety Costs; Federal Cap on Retirement Benefits; Media Relations; CalPers; and Impact of Technology. Recommendation: That the City Council authorize the attendance of the City Manager and staff designee. California Contract Cities Association - 415' Annual Sacramento Legislative Orientation Tour - January 14.16, 2008, Sacramento The program of events will include sessions with Senate and Assembly, legislative and executive branch leadership. Issues that will be address will include: Home owner Protection Act, Water, Universal Health Care, Transportation and the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2007 (AB 2987-Levin). Recommendation: That the City Council authorize the attendance of any Council Member, the City Manager, and staff designee. G. Property Maintenance Ordinance No. 854 - Second Reading On November 20, 2008 City Council meeting, the City Council introduced Property Maintenance Ordinance No 854 for the first reading. Recommendation: That the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 854 on second reading. Residency Restrictions for Registered Sex Offenders - Second Reading On November 20, 2007, the City Council approved Ordinance 859 on first reading to amend Chapter 9 of the Rosemead Municipal Code to include Residency Restrictions for registered sex offenders. Recommendation: That the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 859 on second reading. Rosemead City Council Minutes of' December 11. 2007 Page 21 of 38 K. Utilized City Facility Until Midnight An applicant has requested the use of the Garvey Center for a private function until midnight on December 22, 2007. The rules and regulations for the facility usage indicates that all activities must cease by 11:00 p.m, and amplified music or sound that can be heard by the general public must cease by 10:00 p.m. Recommendation: That the City Council approve the extended usage until midnight with all music ceased by 11:00 p.m. L. Release of Bonds - Tract Map 60158 8470 Mission Drive A Faithful Performance Bond of $192,000 and a Labor and Material Bond of $96,000 were required to guarantee construction of a new drive approach, a private driveway, a storm drain, an 8-inch water and monuments for Tract Map 60158. Recommendation: That the City Council accept the public improvements and release the bonds. M. Asphalt Concrete Overlay FY 2007.08 The reference project has been constructed in conformance with the approved plans and specifications and is ready for acceptance of work. Recommendation: That the City Council accept the above referenced project, authorize the recordation of the Notice of Completion by the City Clerk; and authorize the release of the 10 percent retention payment 35 days after the recorded date of the Notice of Completion. 0. Los Angeles County Public Library Requesting Letters of Support The City received a letter from the County of Los Angeles Public Library asking the City to support their letter writing campaign asking Governor Schwarzenegger to restore the $14 million in public library funding in the 2008-2009 State budget that he cut from the final FY 2007-2008 budget. Recommendation: That the City Council authorize staff to issue a letter of support for the County Library's efforts to restore funding for library services in 2008 - 2009 State budget. Tom Bradley Commemorative Stamp Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 22 of 38 • 0 The City received a letter from the League of California Cities asking the City Council to consider supporting of the issuance of a commemorative postal stamp for Tom Bradley. The late Tom Bradley contributed to the cities of California as he served as Mayor of Los Angeles for 20 years from 1973 to 1993 and as he served as the President of the League of California Cities in 1979 to 1980. The effort to urge the United States Postal Service to issue this commemorative stamp is supported by the Board of Directors for the League. Recommendation: That the City Council support the issuance of a commemorative stamp of Tom Bradley. Q. Red Curb at 8533 Grand Avenue Staff received a request from Marissa Castro-Salvati, Local Public Affairs Region Manager of Southern California Edison, to consider installing red curbs at 8533 Grand Avenue. Ms. Castro-Salvati has received concerns from employees accessing the SCE site on Grand Avenue indicating that vehicles park on either side of their driveway at 8533 Grand Avenue obstruct visibility for vehicles exiting the site. Ms. Castro-Salvati has asked for red curbs to be installed on both sides of this driveway. Recommendation: That the City Council approve Traffic Commission's recommendation to install 40 feet of red curb on the east side of the driveway of 8533 Grand Avenue easterly and 20 feet of red curb on the west side of the driveway westerly. R. Removal of Parking Restriction on Walnut Grove Avenue in the Vicinity of 3342 Walnut Grove Avenue Mr. Pat Chiechi, 3342 Walnut Grove Avenue, is requesting the removal of parking restrictions in the vicinity of his property. Mr. Chiechi indicates that there is no parking in the vicinity of his property and the travel lane is wide enough to provide on-street parking. He also believes that additional parking should be accommodated across the street (west side of Walnut Grove Avenue). Recommendation: That the City Council approve Traffic Commission's recommendation to modify the parking restrictions on Walnut Grove Avenue by relocating the existing R30 (CA) sign approximately 30 feet to the north of 3342 Walnut Grove Avenue and removing 55 feet of red curb in front of 3343 Walnut Grove Avenue. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to approve consent calendar items A (with exemption of November 20, 2007 minutes), B, C, D, E, F, G, J, K, L, M, 0, P, Q, and R. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Absent: None Rosemead City Council Minutes of December ll, 2007 Page 23 0/38 • 0 A. Minutes - November 20, 2007 - Special Meeting Councilmember Taylor asked City Attorney for a legal definition of what personal space is defined as for an employee. City Attorney Bonny Garcia stated that he had checked case law and that there was not "quote on quote" personal space definition. What really is used is the discussion of company space and what company is in title to. Basically there are very few areas of privacy for employees provided there is a policy. Councilmember Taylor responded that Mr. Garcia had made a comment very specifically that an individual's personal space is 12 inches in the front and 6 inches in the back. City Attorney Garcia stated that he did not recall what they were talking about. Councilmember Taylor stated that was discussed in close session. City Attorney Garcia responded that he was disclosing close session matters. Councilmember Taylor asked if Mr. Garcia had filed his papers with the grand jury. City Attorney Garcia responded that he had. H. General Plan Amendment 07-04 General Plan Amendment 07-04, Zone Change 07- 227, Design Review 07.146 and Conditional Use Permit 07-1101 Located at 9800- 9804 Valley Boulevard - Second Reading On November 20, 2007, the City Council reviewed the proposed retail/office project at the first required public hearing, which resulted in a motion for approval. The project is now before the Council at the required second reading. Recommendation: That the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 857, thereby approving General Plan Amendment 07-04, Zone Change 07-227, Conditional Use Permit 07-1101, and Design Review 07-146, subject to the attached conditions. James Flournoy, 8655 Landis View, addressed his concerns with staff's report and asked that staff take it back and consult with attorney for corrections. Councilmember Taylor made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to approve Ordinance No. 857 on second reading. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 24 of 38 • 0 Absent: None General Plan Amendment 05-01, Zone Change 05-221, Conditional Use Permit 05- 960, Zone Variance 04.325, Planned Development Review 05.02, and Tentative Tract Map 061336 Located at 3212.3232 Del Mar Avenue - Second Reading On November 20, 2007, the City Council reviewed the proposed mixed use project at the first required public hearing, which resulted in a motion for approval. The project is now before the Council at the required second reading. Recommendation: That the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 858, thereby approving General Plan Amendment 05-01, Zone Change 05-221, Conditional Use Permit 05-960, Zone Variance 04-325, Planned Development Review 05-02, and Tentative Tract Map 061336, subject to the attached conditions. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to accept the recommendation. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None N. Removal of Stop Sign on Jackson Avenue at Whitmore Street Mr. Andy Loi, who resides at 3120 Jackson Avenue, expressed his concerns that the new stop sign installed immediately north of his driveway had created an unsafe condition for his family. At the November 20, 2007 City Council meeting staff was directed to remove the stop sign and re-design the intersection for City Council approval. Recommendation: That the City Council approve the removal of the stop sign on Jackson Avenue at Whitmore Street and the installation of advanced warning signs, rumble strips, "Slow School Xing" markings, and a wheel chair ramp and ladder striping to the crosswalk per the engineering plan. Howard Mattern, 3114 Jackson Avenue, addressed his concerns on having the wheel chair ramp and not having anyone use it. He also stated that the rumble strips that had been place will make a lot of noise. Mr. Saeki stated the rumble strips are there to basically warn the drivers that they are coming to a crosswalk since the stop sign was removed and that it is a safety measure. He stated the wheel chair ramp was also placed there as a safety measure. Councilmember Clark also expressed her concerns regarding the rumble strips being very noisy and maybe taking other safety measures, such as, placing a flash light. Rosemead City Council Minutes 2f December 11, 2007 Page 25 of 38 • • City Manager Chi stated that placing flash lights would be cost prohibitive and that it would be a very intensive project. Councilmember Nunez stated that if light bulbs were not working that would make the City more liable. Mayor Tran asked if there was a real need for such strips. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that in staff's opinion there was a need for the strips for safety reasons. Councilmember Taylor asked why the stop sign was not moved from the north side driveway to the south side of the driveway. City Manager Chi responded that if the sign was moved further south it would be creating a greater hazard. Councilmember Clark asked if there is any kind of flashing sign that could be placed on the sidewalk. City Manager Chi stated that there is a possibility but that he did not know how much that would cost. Councilmember Nunez stated if that was done that residents would come to Council meetings to complaining about the flashing and stated that staff's has recommendation on the rumble strips should be approved. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to accept the recommendation. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Council Taylor clarified his no vote is because he believes the stop sign should be there, but moved south of the drive way. Councilmember Clark clarified that her no vote was because she believes that the stop sign should be there for the safety of the children. S. Approval of Master Agreement and Project/Construction Management Services Agreement with the Del Terra Group for the Garvey Bridge Reconstruction On August 9, 2007, the City Council approved the Del Terra Group as the City's construction manager for general capital projects and the Garvey Bridge Reconstruction Project. In doing so, the Council directed the City Attorney to negotiate terms and conditions for performing project management services. The attached contract agreements were negotiated by Garcia, Calderon, and Ruiz (GCR) and will authorize the Del Terra Group ("Del Terra") as the City's primary construction project manager for capital Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 26 o 38 • • projects and the reconstruction of Garvey Bridge. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following actions: 1. Adopt the attached resolution approving the Master Agreement for Program and Construction Management Services with Del Terra Group. 2. Approve the attached Mater Agreement for Program Management Services with Del Terra ("Master Agreement') 3. Approve the attached Project and Construction Management Services Agreement for Garvey Bridge at a not to exceed cost of $149,820 ("Bridge Project Agreement') from unappropriated General Fund reserves. 4. Authorize the City Manager to take the necessary steps to execute the aforementioned agreements. Councilmember Clark said she read an article just two weeks ago about a bridge that Del Terra is working on, where the bridge that the subcontractor is building does not meet in the middle and that it was three feet off, and even though it is a subcontractor, the responsibility still falls on the contractor. She made motion, second by Taylor to deny the recommendation. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a substituted motion, second by Councilmember Low to accept the recommendation. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Councilmember Clark said she wanted to point out that this was a very heavily traveled bridge. 5. MATTERS FROM CITY MANAGER & STAFF A. Consolidated Disposal Application for Rate Increase On Tuesday, December 4, 2007, Consolidated Disposal Services (Consolidated) submitted a letter requesting a rate increase for 2007-2008. The proposed rate increase of 5.62% for residential customers and 5.79% for commercial customers are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2008. In addition to details regarding the proposed rate increase, Consolidated also forwarded a copy of the Rosemead City Council Agenda from November 14, 2006. The agenda indicates that the City Council granted the City Manger the authority to implement any annual rate increase without holding a public hearing provided that the rate increase does not exceed the formula in the Consolidated contract agreement. For reference, staff went back and pulled the minutes for the meeting where the action was Rosemead City Council Minutes of December l1, 2007 Page 27 of 38 • • taken, and it does appear that the City Council granted the City Manager such authority. This means that unless there is any objection from the City Council, the staff will move forward and authorize the rate increase proposed by Consolidation. Recommendation: That the City Council receive and file this report. City Manager Chi reviewed staff report and stated that staff wanted to notify council and the public for any potential discussion. Brian Lewin, 9501 Ralph Street, stated he seconded Barbara Murphy's comments on this issue and added that very often employees from Consolidated do not do a good job recovering residential waste that has spilled. Councilmember Low asked if this contract was the Evergreen contract. City Manager Chi stated that was correct and that the agreement renews itself every year until the end of its perpetual 5 year agreement. Councilmember Low asked if as a resident there was anything she could do about the rate increase. City Manager Chi explained that under the contract they were allowed a CPI increase without having it brought to Council for approval. Mr. Chi stated Council could deny increase and have staff discuss with Consolidation but that however the contract did allow for said increase. Councilmember Clark stated the only reason why she plans to vote in favor was simply because there are increases in the Sanitation District landfill fees and usually there needs to be increase on a sliding scale. She added that the increase was under contract but recommended staff to go back and speak to Consolidated regarding the quality of their services. Councilmember Nunez stated staff should come back to Council and informed them of the particular date when this contract can go out to bid again. Councilmember Low stated she did not agree with Evergreen contract. Councilmember Taylor asked if the total increase was contracted. He stated that the 5.62 increase is not all contracted but that it is mandatory by the County. Councilmember Low stated she did not want to justify the increase for this contract. Councilman Taylor responded he was simply trying to explain some of the percentage increase. Mayor Tran stated he agreed with his colleagues and that this contract should be reviewed to end the Evergreen contract and go out to bid for better services. Rosemead City Council Minutes of, December- 11, 2007 Page 28 o 38 • • Councilmember Clark made a motion that council allow the percentage increase, second by Councilmember Taylor to accept the recommendation. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Nunez, Taylor No: Low, Tran Abstain: None Absent: None 6. MATTERS FROM MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL A. Traffic Commissioner Appointment On November 20, 2007, the City Council directed staff to initiate discussions with Brian Lewin regarding his interest in serving as a member of the Rosemead Traffic Commission. A vacancy currently exists on the Traffic Commission due to the resignation of Commissioner Janet Chin, who was recently elected as a member of the Garvey School District Board of Trustees. Based on City Council direction, staff contacted Mr. Lewin to discuss the possibility of his serving as a member of the Traffic Commission. Those conversations were positive and Mr. Lewin expressed enthusiasm and interest as it relates to his being appointed to the Traffic Commission. Recommendation: That the City Council appoint Brian Lewin to the Rosemead Traffic Commission. Councilmember Low made a motion, second by Mayor Pro Tem Nunez to accept the recommendation. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Tran No: Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Councilmember Taylor stated his vote was not against Mr. Lewin but that he believed the open occupancy should have been open for others to apply. C. City Hall Holiday Schedule Currently, City Hall is scheduled to be closed on Tuesday, December 25th, and Tuesday, January 15t, in recognition of Christmas and the New Year. In addition, City Hall is currently scheduled to close at 12:00 p.m. on Monday, December 24th and Monday, December 31St, in recognition of Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Recently, members of the City Council have asked staff about the possibility of closing City Rosemead City Council Minutes of December Il, 2007 Page 29 o 38 • • Hall between Monday, December 24th and Tuesday, January ls~. Under such scenario, City Hall would reopen on Wednesday, January 2ne Historically, the week between Christmas and the New Year is a slow period of time for the City and it would be possible to close City Hall and non-essential City services during the holiday week. If employees would like to take that week off, they would be required to use personal leave hours (i.e., vacation, floating holiday, etc.) during that time. For those employees who would prefer to come to work during that time, they would be able to come into the office despite City Hall being closed. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following actions: 1. Approve the closure of City Hall between December 24, 2007 and January 1, 2008, excluding essential City services. 2. Those employees choosing to take time off will be required to use their own accumulated leave time. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to accept the recommendation. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Tran No: Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Councilmember Taylor stated he had voted no because he believed it was a precursor to close down City Hall for future years. D. Discussion Regarding Bids for Engineering Services Recently, members of the City Council discussed with staff the possibility of re-bidding our existing contract for engineering services. Currently, the City of Rosemead contracts with the Willdan Group, Inc., for our engineering related needs. The contract, which was approved on July 14, 1981, provides the City with part-time staffing for our engineering operation and also allows Willdan the opportunity to provide design and engineering services for City capital improvement projects. For the operations portion of the engineering function, Willdan provides three different positions, including a part-time City Engineer, a part-time support engineer, and a part-time public works inspector. In addition, the City has a traffic engineer on retainer from the Willdan Group, Inc., who is used on an as needed basis. In total, the operations portion of the engineering contract will cost the City around $500,000 during the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Furthermore, the 2007-2008 CIP budget includes funds allocated to pay Willdan for design and engineering services in the amount of approximately $425,000. This results in a total cost of around $925,000 for our engineering services. Rosemead City Council Minutes of December l 1. 2007 Page 30 of'38 • More recently, the City has experienced the departure of two long-time members from our engineering team. With this loss of institutional knowledge, it would be prudent for the City Council to consider issuing a request-for-proposal (RFP) to re-bid the entire engineering contract to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of this vital City function. Recommendation: That the City Council provide direction regarding the issuance of an RFP for Engineering Services. Mr. Chi reviewed staff report regarding issuance of an RFP for Engineering Services. Councilmember Nunez agreed with concept of recommendation however requested that RFQ be requested instead of RFP and that the City submit an RFQ as well. Councilmember Low asked what he meant. Mr. Chi explained that Mr. Nunez had requested that the City also submit a bid. Councilmember Taylor asked that staff also check back with the County and have a comparison between the two of them. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to issue a RFQ for Engineering Services. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Absent: None Mr. Chi stated that on the matter of the RFQ the City was not qualified to submit one because they did not have the qualifications; however they could submit a RFP on the engineering operations. Councilmember Nunez stated the difference of an RFQ was that you submit a bid with your qualifications on whether you can do the job or not and if you submit a RFP that means you can consolidate the proposal and submit what you can do and at that point even though you might not have the assistance you can go out and acquire them. Mr. Chi stated that was correct and at this point the City did not have any engineering qualifications. Councilmember Nunez asked if it was possible for staff to bring something back that stated that these services would be acquired by someone that is qualified. He stated he did not like the idea of an RFP because decisions were made on the lowest commend denominator and that he was not looking the cheapest but for the best. Councilmember Low asked if it was mandated to choose the lowest bidder. Rosemead City Council Minutes q( December 11. 2007 Page 31 of 38 • 0 Mr. Chi responded no and that other factors could be taken into consideration. City Attorney Bonny Garcia stated that RFQ provides more flexibility and that with the RFP process you receive the proposal and the price and then you lock in the price. He continued to explain that with the RFQ's you receive the qualifications and then negotiate the price and that what Mr. Chi was trying to explain was that since they don't have qualification they can't summit them. Councilmember Nunez said he did not like to go with the cheapest. Assistant City Manager Matt Hawkesworth addressed Council and explained that the City could request for an RFP and specifically list the qualifications the companies will be rated upon and that Council can ask for a separate sealed bid with the price quotes so that the amount won't be the determining issue. Councilmember Nunez asked if that could be done with an RFP. Mr. Hawkesworth stated that could be done for an RFP. City Attorney Garcia explained Council would consider the qualifications as part one and the pricing as part two. Councilmember Taylor asked when those reports are brought back if they could include if these companies had law suits outstanding and what other jobs they have. Mayor Tran asked if this should be brought back for a formal motion or if Council should vote on it now. Mr. Chi asked that Council vote on a motion to prepare RFP. James Flournoy, 8655 Landis View, stated that San Gabriel had in house engineers and that for what they couldn't do they would contract out and stated that the City should consider something like this. Mayor Tran asked that Council revote on the recommendation given by staff. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to issue a RFP for Engineering Services. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Absent: None E. Rosemead Boulevard Relinquishment Recently, members from the City Council have asked staff to research the possibility of relinquishing Rosemead Boulevard from the State of California. A similar request was Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 1/, 2007 Page 32 q/'38 L 0 made of staff in February 2002 after Caltrans approached the City to discuss the possible relinquishment of Rosemead Boulevard to the City. As part of that request, Willdan and Associates prepared a relinquishment study that analyzed the current condition of the road including any corrective measures that must be reconciled prior to the City's acceptance of relinquishment of the roadway. The June 22, 2005 staff report to the City Council provides a brief summary of the relinquishment study and a detailed analysis of the overall relinquishment process. If it is the City Council's desire to proceed with the relinquishment process, a formal resolution acknowledging the City's interest must be brought back for City Council approval at a future meeting. Recommendation: That the City Council provide direction regarding the relinquishment of Rosemead Boulevard. Brian Lewin, 9501 Ralph Street, thanked council for giving him the honor to serve as future traffic commissioner and expressed his strong support on this matter. He stated that getting Rosemead Boulevard from Caltrans will help alleviate traffic flow. Mayor Tran stated he had requested this be done about 2 years ago and during that time South El Monte and Temple City joined in to the relinquishment; however, our council voted it down. Since then South El Monte has began the process and Temple City finished the process and are now fully relinquished. This relinquishment will provide more local control, we can synchronize our lights, and we will have better understanding of the traffic; therefore, he asked that the Council support this project. Councilmember Clark stated that she strongly disagreed on this matter read over the Relinquishment Study report. Among the items she read are: the cost is 12.5 million. In 2002 Caltrans approached the city to relinquish. She said the only reason Caltrans would want to downsize itself is that they know the cost that are coming down on stormwater issues etc. and they don't want to pay for them. Councilmember Low stated she wanted to clarify that at this time Council is just directing staff to give them information about the relinquishment. Councilmember Clark stated she was just giving input on the matter and read over page 3 and 21 of the relinquishment study report. Which said, "staff has also been told that Caltrans may not be willing to provide funding for upgrades such as ADA (wheelchair ramps) and NPDES (storm water)". In the same paragraph it states "the state may not pay the agencies the settlement amounts that were agreed upon." Ms. Clark stated she would like to know how much Caltrans paid South El Monte and Temple City, especially with the state coming into a budget deficit. She referenced pictures of the storm drain catch basins that we have to monitor and are liable for pollutants that someone dumps in the storm drain. She stated that she has studied storm water permits for years and that the requirements for this will come out to millions of dollars and that was why Caltrans wanted to get rid of it. She stated her concerns regarding the storm drains not meeting the County standards and why we would be taking this project on. Rosemead City Council Minuses of December- 11, 2007 Page 33 of 38 • 0 Mayor Tran stated he agreed and that he stated the same two years ago and his report at that time reflected that we would get State to fund this otherwise the relinquishment would not make sense. Mr. Tran stated he has had discussion with the Senator in the past and Assembly member and they are willing to help us fund this project. He stated this is to begin the process to see what Caltrans can provide us and how we can improve traffic flow. Councilmember Clark stated that even if we get Caltrans to pay a certain amount that we are taken on liabilities that they do not want. Councilmember Taylor stated that we were all going to be in for a surprise because the County threatens to withhold money from the City of Rosemead if we do not synchronize all our light signals with the County program and the satellite program. He asked if we still had that program in effect. City Manager Chi stated that he did not know. Councilmember Taylor reiterated about the County holding funds until we synchronized our lights. He stated that it will be the same with the storm drains. If we take them over, the county can withhold our funds until we upgrade them. Councilmember Nunez stated Caltrans does very little to nothing with highways and they don't take care of their off ramps. Mr. Nunez stated it did not matter whether we did it or County did it but that we were not going to make Caltrans fix those drain storms and that we need to be proactive and do something about our water. He stated it would be nice for someone else to take care of these problems but we should be able to have some say that we care enough about our water resources and not wait for the county to fix those problems. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to approve recommendation. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Councilmember Taylor stated everyone knows that the State and County are not doing it because its cost prohibitive and in fact there are about thirty chemicals that they want filtered out of the storm drain system and they are pushing that back to us as a City to do. Councilmember Clark confirmed there are 92 pollutants that have to be taken out. SGV Mosquito and Vector Control District Board Appointment On September 12, 2006 the City Council voted unanimously to appoint Council Member Margaret Clark as the Rosemead delegate to the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District (SGVMVCD) Board of Trustees. The appointment was for a four-year term Rosemead City Council Minutes of December l 1. 2007 Page 34 q 38 • 0 beginning in January 2008. Recently, Mayor Pro Tern Nunez requested that the City Council reconsider the appointment of the City representative to the SGVMVCD Board of Trustees. Recommendation: That the City Council provide direction as it relates to the appointment of Rosemead City delegate to the SGVMVCD Board of Trustees. Councilman Nunez stated that he motioned to rescind the appointment of Margaret Clark to the SGVMVCD and appoint Bob Bruesch as Rosemead's representative to SGVMVCD. He stated that there are two people who are doing a very good job in this board but no one had given proof that Mr. Bruesch had not done a good job himself. He also stated that Ms. Low was not able to vote on allowing Mr. Bruesch to continue serving on that board. He stated that the old Council should not have the vote on who should serve on this board. He stated that he did not think Mr. Bruesch had done a bad job and that he was not implying that Ms. Clark would not do a good job as Mr. Bruesch but that the.fact was that Mr. Bruesch has been a representative for a long time. Councilmember Taylor made a motion that Council do not rescind the appointment of Ms. Clark. Councilmember Clark read the minutes of September 12, 2006 and stated it was not required to have an elected official to this board but that Council at that time felt there should be someone from the Council on the board. She stated no one from Council wanted the job and the vote was unanimous to appoint her to this board. Councilmember Nunez stated it was a unanimous decision and that is why he can rescind that motion. Councilmember Clark stated she wanted the audience to know what had taken place then. Councilmember Nunez stated that basically what they needed to look at was that the new Council should be able to vote on this matter. Councilmember Clark stated that Mr. Nunez just wants to take her off the board. She added that when he first got on to council she felt someone should be on Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) committee on Housing and that although they were both on opposite sides of the Wal-Mart issue she was willing to put that behind her and still went to the Council of Governments (COG) which elects representatives to the SCAG committees and lobbied for him and he won by a landslide. She stated that it was ludicrous that they took her off the COG, the very body that she got to vote for Mr. Nunez and that in turn took her off the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy on which she could have lobbied for funds for the parks that Ms. Low supported earlier in the meeting. Councilmember Taylor made motion, second by Councilmember Clark not to rescind original appointment. Vote resulted: Yes: Clark, Taylor Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 35 of 38 • • No: Low, Nunez, Tran Abstain: None Absent: None Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to approve appointment of Bob Bruesch to the SGVMVCD. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Mayor Tran asked if there were any items from the Council. Councilmember Taylor stated that he had spoken to Mr. Saeki about Temple City Boulevard and Valley regarding the trash and debris and that he asked for an update. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that had been changed. Councilmember Taylor stated he had been told that it had changed hands last time. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that was correct. Councilmember Taylor asked who the new owner was. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated he was not sure but that Don Anderson who dealt with those issues on a daily basis and was from the Public Safety department was working on comprising a list of sequences for him. Councilmember Taylor asked why he couldn't get that list because they had gone out and cut that brush out and had piled it in the back. He stated they had spoken about the city looking bad and that there was trash still in the property, a wooden door and carpet dumped, and asked why the fence had been taken down for three weeks. Mr. Taylor stated he would like to find out what is going on with the property owner and that he had asked for this two weeks ago. Assistant City Manager Saeki responded that part of the reason why the list was not ready was because they are still trying to get a hold of the owner to get part of these problems resolve. Councilmember Taylor asked Mr. Chi to look into this. Mayor Tran asked when he had spoken to Mr. Saeki Councilmember Taylor stated it was in the Council minutes. Mayor Tran stated it had changed hands and that now Public Safety was handling it. Rosemead City Council Minutes (?f December 11, 2007 Page 36 q(38 • Mr. Chi responded that the information was included a couple months ago in the newsletter and additional information would be given to them. Councilmember Taylor stated the brush was cut down three months ago so that someone had to have found an owner. City Manager Chi responded that three months ago they had. Councilmember Taylor asked if the property had changed hands again since then. City Manager Chi responded three months ago they got a hold of the owner and the property was for sale. He stated he believed the property had changed hands, which is the reason why the City has had a hard time getting a hold of the new owner. Councilmember Taylor asked that someone please look into it because that site was an eye sore and we would not be cleaning it up. City Manager Chi responded that they would. Councilmember Taylor added on another issue that he had requested a copy of the contract for the City Hall remodel and had received it; however, he was missing addendums 1 and 2 and stated that he would like to receive them so that he'd understand better why bids were rejected. Mr. Taylor stated that in the last meeting he had asked for a shopping cart report and asked if anyone had gotten them yet. City Manager Chi responded he would get those reports for him. Councilmember Nunez asked if he had included a four year term when he motioned on the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District designee. Interim City Clerk Gloria Molleda stated that he had not. Mayor Tran made a motion, second by Councilmember Taylor to reconsider. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Councilmember Low to rescind the appointment of Margaret Clark to the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District as the designee and appoint Bob Breusch as a delegate of the same for a term of four years. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 37 of 38 Absent: None Mayor Tran stated that he had one item to discuss regarding various articles, flyer, and post cards. He stated that the flyer and a couple of the post cards stated that they had been paid by the political action committee Rosemead Partners. Mr. Tran read a few flyers and post cards and stated that Ms. Hall had stated a few times that this was a non-profit organization and that in fact on two occasions Ms. Clark stated that she had initiated these post cards to go out, he asked legal counsel to take those articles and post cards to the district attorney, the FPPC, the Attorney General, and the Grand Jury for their legal opinion on the false and misleading information. He stated that the City had spent a lot of money on retractions due to these mailings. Councilmember Taylor asked that the Mayor comments in the minutes be verbatim. Mayor Tran stated that his comments only be verbatim. Councilmember Taylor stated he had requested to go to the District Attorney and the Grand Jury with his incident. And asked why it had only gone to the Grand Jury. Mayor Tran and Attorney Bonnie Garcia stated that it had gone to both. Councilmember Taylor responded that it was not on the minutes. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:53 p.m. The next regular City Council meeting is scheduled to take place on January 8, 2007 at 7:00 pm. Respectfully submitted: APPROVED: CITY CLERK John Tran MAYOR Rosemead City Council Minutes of December 11, 2007 Page 38 of 38