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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Min 2002-01-28 1-14-02 / 1-28-02 Boyd moved, second by Yost, to adopt Resolution Number 4976 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH AMENDING SEAL BEACH BOULEVARD UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICT 99-1 ON SEAL BEACH BOULEVARD TO BE FROM A POINT 1931.92 FEET SOUTHERLY OF THE CENTERLINE OF ADOLFO LOPEZ DRIVE TO ELECTRIC AVENUE." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 4976 was waived. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried I C~TY ATTORNEY REPORT No report was presented. CITY MANAGER REPORT No report was presented. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilman Yost spoke in support of reinstituting the Seal Beach Homeowners Association and the hosting of a candidates forum that CATV 3 will cover. He asked also to place on a future agenda the additional residential homes at the Bixby development for consideration as low to moderate income units. Staff advised that those lots are being sold. Councilman Boyd noted the upcoming election of March 5th and thanked those supporting his re-election. ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn the meeting until January 28th at 6:15 p.m. By unanimous consent, the meeting was adjourned at 10:14 p.m. I Attest: Approved: Seal Beach, California January 28, 2002 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular adjourned session at 6:15 p.m. with Mayor Doane calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. I ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Doane Councilmembers Boyd, Campbell, Larson, Yost Absent: None 1-28-02 Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Ms. Yeo, City Clerk I The City Attorney noted that this would be the time for anyone wishing to speak to an item identified on the agenda to do so. No one spoke. CLOSED SESSION The City Attorney announced that the Council would meet in Closed Session to discuss the items identified on the agenda, to confer with legal counsel with regard to anticipated litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(b), and confer with the City's real property negotiator pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8 relating to Ruby's Restaurant and River's End Cafe. By unanimous consent the Council adjourned to Closed Session at 6:17 p.m. and reconvened at 6:48 p.m. with Mayor Doane calling the meeting to order. The City Attorney reported that the Council had discussed.the items identified on the agenda, no reportable action was taken. ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn the meeting at 6:48 p.m. I Approved: Attest: Seal Beach, California January 28, 2002 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular session at 7:02 p.m. with Mayor Doane calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. I ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Doane Councilmernbers Boyd, Campbell, Larson, Yost Absent: None Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mr. Whittenberg, Director of Development Services 1-28-02 Mr. Dancs, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Chief Sellers, Police Department Ms. Pam Arends-King, Director of Administrative Services Mr. Eagle, Public Works Assistant Ms. Yeo, City Clerk I APPROVAL OF AGENDA Councilman Yost requested that Items "E, F, and I" be removed from the Consent Calendar for separate consideration, and councilmember Campbell requested Items "G and J" removed. upon a show of hands by the audience, Councilman Boyd suggested that the public be allowed to speak to Item "F" directly, the Building Department services contract, and so moved. Mayor Doane disagreed, stating that is the purpose of Public Comments. There was no second to the motion. By unanimous consent, the order of the agenda was approved as revised. ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilman Yost said he believed that the surfing championship will likely be delayed a week as there is no surf and the beach remains closed due to runoff from the rains. Councilmember Campbell made reference to the concerns of College Park East residents with the CalTrans proposal to widen the 22 Freeway and the taking of six homes as well as a thirty foot high fly-over for transitioning fr'om the 22 to the 405, however through conversation with a member of Supervisor Silva's staff on this date she was informed that the funding for the two fly-overs, from the n: to the 405 and the 405 to the 605, has been cut, OCTA will not pursue funding, and that portion of the project no longer exists, that is good news. I PRESENTATION - RESOLUTION NUMBER 4977 - HONORING LEONARD WILSON - RETIREMENT Mayor Doane read Resolution Number 4977 in full honoring and commending Mr. Wilson for his efforts over the years in support of the Rossmoor Shopping Center and the community. Mayor Doane also presented Mr. Wilson with a "Friends Helping Friends Succeed' pin. Mr. Wilson accepted wit:h appreciation, mentioned a number of persons that have been significant to the success of the Center and its annual event:s, and introduced his family. PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Doane declared Public Comments to be OpE!n. Mr. Bill Ayres, Seal Beach, expressed concern that the Building Department is being contracted out, he has been a resident of the community for a number of years however it: is likely that of the citizens do not understanding the impact that this could cause, the building permit issue in Old Town is rather complicated, there are old homes, some conforming, some nonconforming, there are bootlegged areas, and it takes considerable history and expertise to have knowledge of these over the years. Mr. Ayres claimed that if a contractor is brought in they will use the knowledge of present employees for a period of time then let them go for economic reasons, there will then be people that will let the s1:andards decline, the long time residents have an investment in this community, they have abided by the Planning Commission rules I . . 1-28-02 I and building personnel, with a contractor that could mean building standards could be much lower, if there is more contracting out there will no longer be a family type affair in Seal Beach, although not completely aware of the economics, some have said the City will not save money, in fact lose money. As Chair of the 10K Run, Mr. Ayres reminded that the race will be held April 6th, the course will be more difficult because the run can not be held on the Naval Base, it takes more permitting to run on Pacific Coast Highway, a permit for the River edge segment, there will need to be a course for the 10K and the 5K race and walk within the confines of the City, however volunteers are stepping forward. He thanked Captain Schaefer of the Police Department for his assistance, noted the need to pursue donations, and provided contact names for those who may wish to volunteer. Ms. Mina Fox, a 'realtor, resident of 7th Street, stated that those who move to Seal Beach do so because of the quality of life, many customers buy properties that require upgrading, in recent months they have inquired as to what is going on at City Hall, expressing concern with time, lack of service, and costs, the Recreation Department has gone and now consideration is to contract out the Building Department, this important service is part of the reason people move to Seal Beach. Her understanding is that the City is planning to automate, that is good, and contract out jobs to find a way to better serve the community, yet she would ask that in that eagerness the City not forget nor compromise the human factor, the experience, knowledge and City background that local people of City Hall have provided and can continue to provide which of is utmost importance to the community. In many instances people performing City jobs on an outside contract basis do not have the stability, interest, concern for this community, this can impact greatly what is being sought for Seal Beach, and asked that the needs of the community be considered. Mr. Gordon Shanks, Surf Place, mentioned the efforts to reactivate the Seal Beach Homeowners Group, the first meeting to be January 30th at the Senior Center, it is hoped the turnout will be good and of interest to the people, the following meeting to be February 27th. Mr. Shanks recalled looking down the Electric Avenue greenbelt over the weekend, thinking how nice it looks, and how difficult it was to keep that area free of condominiums, new, young residents think what exists now has always been here, they need to know that there were two attempts to put Main Street in the Redevelopment Agency, that the 1964 General Plan called for eighty thousand people down the Gold Coast through Seal Way, that was the development image of the late 1950's and 1960's. He would encourage some .younger residents to become active, attend the Homeowners meetings, the only requirement is that they live somewhere in Seal Beach, he would particularly encourage residents of Leisure World and Surfside to participate. Mr. Shanks reported that the Womens Club declined hosting a candidates night therefore the Homeowners Group will host on February 12th. Mr. Rex Ricks, Huntington Beach, spoke to the potential of the expansion of Long Beach and Los Alamitos airports, he lives under the Long Beach flight path, the jets are loud, they must be lower and louder over Seal Beach, Leisure World in particular impacted by both airports, those against an El Toro airport say it would impact their communities, in turn they have called for airports located 'anywhere but El Toro', in 1985 it was Irvine that sued to have John Wayne Airport expanded, now they are asking the cities to build them a Great Park, before voting on Measure W people should find out how Irvine feels about the quality of life in their city. He I I 1-28-02 offered that it has been said that Long Beach and Ontario airports are operating below capacity yet it is little known that Long Beach is the second busiest general aviation facility in the country, a letter of an Irvin€: councilperson claims there are better ,alternatives to El Toro in Orange County, citing the building of a commercial airport at the Armed Forces Reserve Center as the answer to future passenger and cargo needs, ideally situated geographically, near the ocean, no mountains, long enough runways to accommodate larger aircraft for international flights without costly reconstruction, where flight operations could be optimized, takeoffs over the open space of the Seal Beach Weapons Station, minimizing noise and pollution, to those comments Mr. Ricks countered in jest that is great and environmentally friendly for the proponents of a Great Central Park and Nature Preserve to route jets over the National wildlife Refuge at the Naval Weapons Station. Mr. Ricks urged all to vote no on Measure W on March 5th. Mr. Douglas Wright, Leisure World, said he was present with regard to the Boeing project and the proposed review committee, reminded the Council that one-third of Seal Beach voters are from Leisure World, his suggestion would be that one or two of the committee members be Leisure World residents. Councilman Yost concurred with the suggestion. Ms. Jane McCloud, Balboa Drive, said she would hope that future significant changes such as the Parks and Recreation Department iEisue will be brought about through an opportunitive process with public comments prior to a final decision, and that each member of the Council accept their responsibility to inform the public when such decisions are forthcoming and call for public comments. Ms. McCloud said she was unable to attend a recent Parks and Recreation Committee meeting however she had submitted a letter, as co-chair of the Gum Grove Nature Park Group there is an upcoming meeting and she nee!ds to know who will be the representative to that' Group from the Recreation Department. Ms. McCloud also spoke favorably of the proposed support of the agenda item relating to Proposition 40. Ms. Mitzi Morton, Seal Beach, stated that the residents feel that if the City is going to become a contract city, which it appears, or even if not, when there is a decision to contract out a department such as Building it is felt t:here should have been more citizen input, it is also felt that there should be a citizens committee of qualified residents that understand finance and contracts to review proposals before a decision such as this is made, there are consequences when such things are done, Seal Beach will no longer be the small town where one can visit City Hall and know who the employees are, the contract people will not be employees yet will-be representing the City. Ms. Morton expressed her opinion that the contract for building services should have had a public hearing, noticed in the newspapers, said she has had very little time to review the contract however the calculations indicate that if the Department had been left as is the City would make $66,000 more than by contracting out, that should be questioned, and asked what will happen two years from now. Ms. Beverly Pearce, candidate for District One, stated she has had a number of calls regarding the Building Department services contract, she would suggest this issue be tabled until the next meeting, people have made suggestions for alternative ways to save money, examples were do away with the lobbyist, competitively bid all contracts that are let, rather than a City newsletter combine it with the Parks and Recreation brochure or do the newsletter by eo-mail or free telephone trees, possibly a nonprofit organization could be looked into to take over the pool or Parks and Recreation I I I 1-28-02 I Department, more fund raising committees could be looked into, let the voters decide what services could be contracted. Ms. Pearce said calls she received were basically related to losing local control, agreed that there are times when contracting can save money, other times it can cause problems, there was concern with someone not overseeing that a person may be getting a permit and special treatment. She mentioned that there is a surge of interest in whether or not the Building Department should be contracted, suggested that it be tabled for now, and if this is in fact a wise thing to do the public needs to be educated as to why it is being done. Ms. Sue Corbin, Seal Beach, offered that she did not have a specific opinion on outsourcing however it appears the service contractor has already moved into the Department. She claimed that for a couple of years a building inspector frequently left early and drove the Department vehicle to two other jobs, therefore in this instance the City Manager may not have had options, agreed that competitive bids need to be looked at, the trash contract, Leisure World does not contract for services except for landscaping, is there an intent to outsource the lifeguards, said even though she did not have an opinion it seems as if there should be more information and before the fact. Ms. Corbin offered that the Manager made a wise decision regarding the Recreation Department, when the City is better off financially possibly it can be moved back to City Hall, the Recreation Department is for signing children up for classes yet it was being used for political reasons, the Manager is bringing City Hall back to the purpose of City government and has few options. Mr. Mario Voce, Seal Beach, spoke in support of the Proposition 40 ballot measure, $200,000 could be realized by this City in just one category, that is worth pursuing, the money goes for parks and it is believed the City is eligible in two or more categories for funding. With regard to contracting of Building Department services, Mr. Voce asked what the affect would be on the price of permits, would a $100 permit then be $600, that could stymie improvements, the cost factor should be taken into consideration. Ms. Carla Watson, Catalina Avenue, expressed her opinion that there are many people in this City that could give input to the decisions being made yet they have been precluded, just like the Parks and Recreation Commission that is meant to encourage children, events and support things. Ms. Watson mentioned that one of the people who recently came to the Commission meeting was the Recreation Director for Long Beach State who had no idea of this change, lived here for years as have many others, there have been issues of condos on the Greenbelt, an offshore island, highrise along the River, sixteen hundred homes on Hellman, etc., without public input Seal Beach would not be what it is today, this community is being treated like a generic City, the Recreation and Building decisions were made because it was done in one other city, it is like moving puzzles around instead of thinking about the heart of the City or the people who might have good ideas. Ms. Watson claimed that the State of the City in Seal Beach is rather funny, years ago the State of the City in Long Beach was a workshop where many people came to share their ideas, that was a real State of the City, and she overheard a comment relating to the upcoming budget hearings where it was said the same twelve people would attend, her answer was that that is because the Council is expected to do its job, at present the Council is not doing its job, is not reaching out to its constituency. She mentioned that years ago there was the opportunity to vote on paramedic services, it was felt that Old Town would not necessarily have a great need for such I I 1-28-02 service but the people did not want to deny Leisure World so it was approved, that is called looking out for the City and the various areas of the community, at this point she does not feel looked out for. Ms. Watson said the height limitation issue, the smaller city, was not easily won, to go to contract services where people do not have a real concern or interest in the City, it is a scary thing. Mr. Jim Klisanin, 7th Street, stated he was not in support of contracting for building services, prices have been going up, many of the properties need some rehabilitation which is more cost, contracting out actually costs more money, there are very knowledgeable people in the Building Department, have been in town a long time, it is said that even if contracted the Senior Inspector will remain, maybe that means for three to six months. Mr. Klisanin again expressed h.is opposition to contracting building services, offered that this is a great little community and he would like to see it stay that way. Mr. Brent Lowe Little, Bixby Ranch Company, stated he is the project manager for the three lot subdivision before the Council as Item "J", it is believed that the conditions of the tentative map have been satisfied, and requested approval of Item "J". There being no further comments, Mayor Doane declared Public Comments to be closed. I COUNCIL ITEMS APPOINTMENT - ARCHAEOLOGICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE - DISTRICT ONE Councilman Boyd moved to appoint Mr. Douglas Wright as the District One appointee to the Archaeological }l.dvisory Committee for the unexpired one year term ending July, 2002. Mayor Doane seconded the motion. I AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEMS "C" thru "J" Boyd moved, second by Larson, to approve the recommended action for items on the Consent Calendar as presented, except Items "E, F, G, I, and J", removed for separat:e consideration. C. Approved the waiver of reading in full of all ordinances and resolutions and that consent to the waiver of reading shall be deemed to be given by all Councilmembers after the reading of the title unless specific request is made at that time for the reading of such ordinance or resolution. D. Approved regular demands numbered 3~i972 through 36240 in the amount of $1,325,204.84, payroll demands numbered 14670 through 14957 in the amount of $344,621.69, and authorized warrants to be drawn on the Treasury for same. H. Approved the professional services agreement with Hogle-Ireland, Inc. for project: management services for a period of approximately two years for the Boeing Property, Seal Beach, and Rossmoor Center, Seal Beach development proposals, and authorized the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City of Seal Beach. I l-28-02 AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR I ITEM "E" - RESOLUTION NUMBER 4978 - SUPPORTING PROPOSITION 40 Councilman Yost spoke for support of Proposition 40, a park and clean water bond, at the March 5th election, within this Proposition is $40 million for the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy as well as numerous grants for parks around Orange County, and presented Council with information packets. ' Yost moved, second by Doane, to approve Resolution Number 4978 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH IN SUPPORT OF PROPOSITION 40, THE CLEAN WATER, CLEAN AIR, SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS PARKS & COASTAL PROTECTION BOND ACT OF 2002." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 4978 was waived. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried I AGREEMENT CONTRACT BUILDING DEPARTMENT SERVICES The City Manager noted that representatives of Charles Abbott Associates were present in the audience should the Council wish to address concerns raised directly to them. In response to comments from the public, the Manager stated he wished to make it clear that fees are not going up as a result of this contract, the contract is a percentage of the fees, fees only rise when valuation tables go up, with regard to the delay or lack of services comment the Manager assured that under this contract there will be enhancements to the current services, there will be a full time building inspector, things that have not been provided in the past such as a combination planning tech/public works front counter person to answer questions rather" than seeking out planning and public works/engineering separately, that will be an increase in the quality of service, there will be permit applications on-line, inspections can be done earlier, there are performance measures that the contractor will have to fulfill, explaining that at present the City does not have performance measures, there is a thirty day escape clause if the contractor does not perform appropriately. The Manager stated he understands the concern with continuity and he would like to make it clear to the public that one building inspector as well as the department secretary retired therefore this is an opportunity to use the Senior Building Inspector for as long as he chooses to be employed, that has been expressed to him and to the contractor, that will aide the service level, the issue of local control is understood, the intent was to look for a firm that had experience with coastal communities and it is believed they will fit in with Seal Beach well. The Manager explained that this is the last component of the reorganization as was described at the last meeting. I The Director of Development Services presented the staff report, explained that this matter was before the Council on the recommendation of the Development Services Department to consider contract services for Building Department functions, the primary reason being that the second building inspector and the permit technician retired within a month of each other, that gave an opportunity to look at how it made the l-28-02 most sense to refill those positions and whether or not it made sense to do that with full time City penionnel or to look at an alternative. He noted that staff t:hen prepared a Request for proposals, the Council was informe,d of that in November, circulated the Request, proposals were received in December from four different firms, all four of which were interviewed, the interview panel was the City Manager, the City Engineer and himself, based on results of the interviews and follow up reference checks there was a focus on two of the firms, one is now before the Council for consideration, the other firm was Berryman and Henegar, those two firms provide contract services to about eighty-five percent of the cities in the Southern California region that contract for some type of building department services. The Director offered that upon review of references it was felt that the Charles Abbott firm was the most appropriate, it is felt that there can be greater flexibility in the way st:aff can be allocated to different job functions, the permit technician is also a certified plan examiner which will allow plan checks in-house for minor projects without having to send them out, the code enforcement person that will be provided for twenty hours per week will provide a funct:ion that the City does not have, that is currently a function of job responsibilities of other personnel therefore it is felt that by concentrating that function in one person a number of long outstanding Code enforcement issues can be resolved and then stay ahead of those enforcement problems, the Code enforcement person is also a building inspector so should there be an illness or some other factor with the building inspectors there would be an additional person that could also provide Code enforcement services. The Director confirmed that building fees do not change wit:h the implementation of the contract, they change on a three year cycle when the City adopts new uniform codes, that cycle is expected to take place sometime later this year, that is dependent on State adoption of new building codes. He mentioned that the primary reason for bringinCj this matter to the Council is that' as building functions charlge over the next two to three years a need is foreseen for two full time inspectors at this point in time, that is the reason for suggesting that one be a contract person along with the Senior Building Inspector, once the Bixby pro:iect is complete, the Hellman project will commence construction in possibly Mayor June of this year and be on-going for about nine months, Rossmoor is in the process for a project on their property that if approved they hope to start construction in the fall of this year to be completed by about the winter of 2003, then the Boeing pro:iect that will corne forth sometime in the future would have some yet unknown construction dates, once those projects are complete there is nothing remaining to build upon other than thE! Department of Water and Power site and rebuilds, additions, remodels, and tear downs of existing single family homes, when that stage is reached the need for two full time buildin,r inspectors is not seen, the contract for services allows the City to fluctuate the inspection load based upon the ~,orkload at that time, as an example, if Boeing, Rossmoor Center, and Hellman were all under construction at the same time E!Ven two building inspectors'may not be enough, contract services allows the City to bring in a contract person and once the project is done the service level can then be reduced, if full time City personnel are hired to do that work that on- going cost is incurred into the future without: the ability to reduce the level down once the service demand decreases. As to continuity in the department, as indicated" the Senior I I I 1-28-02 I Building Inspector will remain until such time as he desires to retire, there is no intent for him to leave his City employment, stated he and the Inspector have worked together for twelve years, with the two providing overall direction to the contract personnel it can be assured that they understand what the local concerns of this community are and what the demands are in dealing with the public in this community. The Director mentioned that this firm provides services to nine other cities in Orange County, approximately sixty cities within the Southern California region, Seal Beach and other cities have their own specific needs to be responded to, staff is comfortable that this firm can respond to the concerns and demands otherwise the recommendation would not have been brought to the Council, this is not an effort to cut personnel rather to provide an increased level of service and it is felt that can be accomplished by the multiple job functions that the building personnel provide as well as the additional part time Code enforcement person as part of this contract where that currently does not exist, and noted that the City has looked into hiring a part time Code enforcement officer on City payroll, it was found that one can not find people who want to work part time Code enforcement, the City would either need to hire a full time forty hour per week person to do Code enforcement then provide other tasks or contract for those services. To questions posed by Councilman Boyd, the Director confirmed that the City currently contracts for plan check services, that has been done since before his employment with the City, about a third of the services proposed to be contracted are already being contracted out, contracting for the services was initially looked at when there were two retirements in the Department, the question was long term does it make sense to keep a second full time City building inspector on payroll or does it make more sense to contract for that position realizing that in the future when some of the major development sites in the community are built that the inspection load is going to decrease, it was determined that contracting was the most appropriate means. Councilman Boyd offered that if the Council chose to not approve the contract would the staff then be requesting to hire a full time building inspector, permit technician, and Code enforcement, to that the Director responded that at present there are budgeted positions for a full time building inspector and a permit technician, therefore if the Council did not approve the contract staff would commence an employment process to fill those existing budgeted positions with full time City personnel, and then seek some means through the budget considerations to provide Code enforcement services, yet with the current budget situation it is not known how that could be accomplished. To the understanding that under State law the City can collect fees for services yet is not allowed to make money for providing those services, the City Manager explained that fees are not taxes therefore fees should reasonably reflect the cost of providing the service, a profit should not be made from providing building, recreation, etc. services. To the comment that if that is the case then it is likely that fees should be lowered to accurately reflect the cost of living service, the response was affirmative if the fees exceed the cost of living service. The Development Services cautioned however that the costs reflected in a budget do not accurately reflect all of the costs of providing the services by the department, there are a number of cost items that are reflected in general City accounts, retirement as an example is not allocated to a specific departmental budget, there is just the cost of providing an office space, counter space, I I 1-28-02 and equipment that is not separated out for th.e department, therefore there needs to be some flexibility in the fees. As set forth in the cost analysis, it is found th.at in an ,average year the City will take in between $400,000 to $500,000 in permit fees, this past year was quite busy with the Bixby development and Centex homes which :z:'esulted in additional revenues over actual expenditures, as those projects are completed and activity returns to normal with remodels, additions, possibly six or seven tear downs and new homes the fees decrease so there is a need to assure that there is adequate money to pay for the existing personnel, by going to a contract basis where the firm is paid a percentage of the permit fees there is a guarantee that t,here is some extra revenue to cover the support items that is necessary for the department, if fees are reduced that creates a situation where in a lean year as far as building permit activity it is not self-funding the department. In doing some calculations and weighing the option, Councilman Boyd said if one takes the number of hours that two building inspectors work divided by the number of permits issued by I the City last year, they are spending in excess of five hours per inspection, asked if that is typical, or is it not using the employees to the fullest extent, that is t:he reason for the expansion and contraction with the service,s and perhaps should be by contract. Councilmember Campbell mentioned that travel time and paper work needs to be taken into consideration, the time spent is much more than the actual on-site inspection. Councilman Yost said he YlOuld like to see the basis for the calculations. The Manager explained that in the CAFR there are eight hundred forty building permits basically issued per year, that includes everything from a water heater to the Boeing clean room, in rough calculations the inspectors hours of two thousand eighty times two inspectors, divided by eight hundred forty, that equals about five hours per inspection. It was confirmed that the salary and f~inge benefits of the Senior Inspector is about $82,000, the salary and fringe benefits of the second inspector is around $75,000, but not the vehicle use, cell phone, etc., a survey showed that the salary levels for both the Inspector and Senior Inspector is about five percent below the County median for those positions, t:o hire new inspectors at this point it is likely the salciry levels would need to be raised to attract qualified people particularly with the current economy in Orange County and amount of building construction thus the demand for those positions is high. To a question of Councilman Boyd the Director confirmed that the last recruitment in the Development Services Department was for Assistant Planner about three years ago, at that time there was about forty applicants, ten interviewed initially until the selection was made. Councilmember Campbell noted that the contrac1: calls for an Inspector, Permit Technician, and a Code enfOl~cer, that is two and a half persons for the prior two, and asked if they could do plan check as well, the response was that the Permit Technician can do certain types of plan checks in-house without having to send all plans out to their plan check, by this contract plan check too would be provided by the firm, a consolidation of services. It was pointed oUlt also that this will allow over the counter permit issuance which should help the service delivery. Councilmember Campbell 'made reference to certain language wi thin the contract, 'tha1t records shall be maintained for three years after receipt of final payment,' yet it does not specify that the Ci,ty maintains ownership of the documents, just that the consultant shall maintain records and for how long, her prefer'~nce would be I I I l-28-02 I that the City be the custodian of the records. The Director of Development Services explained that whatever permits may be issued, whether by the firm or City personnel, are by law to be on file in the City in a certain format and kept forever. Councilmember Campbell clarified that her concern was with any data that the firm would be required to keep for three years, the City should have that data, the response was that the contractor has agreed to such provision. She mentioned too a concern expressed that the people would not be familiar with the City. At the request of the City Manager, Mr. Ron Hamilton, President of Charles Abbott and Associates, introduced Mr. Buster Scholl who will be the project manager and is the manager of the southern region of California, Mr. Rusty Reid, Senior vice President and technical manager to all of their projects as well as City Engineer and Building Official in Apple Valley, Mr. Derek Doggett will be the on-site Inspector for Seal Beach, former twenty-five year Seal Beach resident. Councilman Yost asked if the current Senior Building Inspector will be sent to the Police Department as well, to that the response was no. With regard to the process, Councilman Yost noted that a Request for Proposal was distributed for these services, there were four proposals submitted, yet the staff report provides information with regard to only one firm, none of the other firms, this is a $400,000 per year contract, requested to be informed as to who was the interview team, what the pros and cons were of the various entities so that a reasonable, rational decision can be made, he would not be able to make a decision on what was provided in the packet, on this date he was only provided with the proposal of one other company that bid on the project, therefore he would make the recommendation that ~his be tabled. He made a comparison to the selection of an EIR consultant where members of the Council interviewed each firm, in this case the building and plan check services are essential to the people, the Council has heard many speak to this, the personnel are those with whom the people in the community interact, he has concerns about contracting out those services, people who live in town and work in town are familiar with the residents, are observant and care for the community, the City loses that when it becomes a nameless, faceless community, his concerns are with process and contracting these services, and recommended this be tabled until a complete staff report is submitted with all of the information that he would need to make a decision, a concern too is where this group is going to work out of, hopefully not the former recreation area. The Development Services Director explained that they will work in the existing Building Department area where the retirees had worked and are now vacant desks, with regard to hiring employees they would not necessarily be City residents, the City was in an unusual position to have had both building inspectors live in town, in most cities the majority of those types of positions are not people who reside in the community they work in, it can not be denied that this City did realize a benefit from both inspectors being residents, anyone that this City would bring in to service the community would be persons who care about the City and make certain that things get done properly in accordance with the laws that must be enforced within the community and understand the concerns that the Senior Building Inspector and himself would impart upon them to make sure that they understand the concerns and issues. Councilman Yost expressed his feeling that when they work for someone else it is believed control is lost, if they work for a large firm rather than the community who has the vested I I 1-28-02 interest in the community, the response was that those persons are under the direction of the City, they will not go out and do things on their own volition, they will do things under the guidance and direction of both himself and the Senior Inspector. Comment was made that when one is a City employee they can basically not be fired, that is evidenced by the cost to the City in the past two years when two persons were removed from City employment. Councilman Yost said he did not believe that was a comparison, it has been heard from the community that they value their workers and those that function as their building inspectors, not to mention the many building laws and codes, there are a number of legal non-conforming structures, he heard from one person that the building inspector was their advocat€: with the contractor as a result of his knowledge of th€: soil conditions, the history of the site, etc. and that made their job easier, his concern is with losing that. To the mention that that was lost with the retirement, Councilman Yost claimed that that could be recreated or the City could go in the direction of contracting out, it was then mentioned that the Abbott employee had lived in Seal Beach for twenty-five years, the question then posed by Councilman Yost was how long would that person stay. While weighing the discussion and options, Councilman Boyd said he would support continuation of this item but not to table it, pointed out that this is not a situation where there is a full staff and an attempt to get rid of them, there is still a department, the decision is whether to fill the vacant positions or use contract services, a comparison could be made with the 1982 choice of continuing with the local fire department or to contract with Orange County, in that case there is now a large number of Seal Beach firefighters that are back working in this town, they had lived here, had worked for Seal Beach, but were Fire employees, the argument at the time was that those people could not be lost because they knew the community too well, however the City has utilized the services of the Orange County Fire Authority now for twenty years, the point being that there was no diminish in services, continuity or local control. He noted that on a contract basis the City can prescribe exactly what is wanted, there is a thirty day clause in the contract, if they do not perform then they will be gone and another firm could be sought, these firms responded to a Request for Proposals, the City does seek bids, contracts are not necessarily a competitive bid process, it is through a Request for Qualifications or a Request for Proposals, they go to the highest number of firms with a reputation for doing quality work, in this case four responded, the top two firms do more than fifty percent of the contract work in Southern California for building, plan check, and inspection services, those two firms are likely the biggest and best, in addition he personally spoke with two Orange County references of each firm, other than the City of Dana point, all were satisfied with their work and they are considered the same as City employees. Councilman Yost concurred that the Fire Authority is a good example however the costs have increased dramatically and there is little City control of that, as costs go up the increase will be passed on, contracting out has another layer of management on top that needs to be paid for, it can not be seen how one could realize a cost savings much less a wash, in the financial decisions, he also questioned how any member of the Council could make a decision without having reviewed any of the data from the other firms because that is not part of the packet. Councilman Larson stated that he has formed cities, some that I I I l-28-02 I were contract trying to become non-contract and some that were non-contract trying to become contract, it basically always came down to whether the city had the money" He agreed that possibly this should be continued so that all members of the Council are satisfied that the process is fair and equal, nothing will be accomplished as long as some continue to have concerns. He noted as an example that one of the issues with contracting for law enforcement is that all of the police personnel that lived in the city would be lost, yet the fact is that this Police Department does not have people that live here even though it would be preferred that they all live in the city in which they work, the feeling being that that makes for better law enforcement. Councilman Larson again stated he would support a motion to continue to a time certain to allow Councilman Yost the opportunity to verify that the other firms were fairly evaluated. To that Councilman Yost said he likes methodology, were there score cards when the firms were interviewed, how were they ranked, what was the basis upon which a decision was made, what were the other services or lack thereof that the other firms provided, again, this is a $400,000 per year contract, if the concern is with budgets he needs that kind of information. Councilman Larson pointed out that the City has to run through decisions by its appointed and elected officials, it can not turn every decision over to a town meeting as that does not work, the Council is here to make decisions based upon as many facts as possible. Councilman Yost said he agreed to some degree yet this is a small town and almost everyone that does a remodel interfaces with the Building Department, that is why the number of people are present, in this case he believed that the debate is healthy and the public needs to know about this, his belief is that the public discussion is good. Councilman Larson offered that government works best when people do not agree, if everyone agrees then there is no free and healthy thoughts. Councilmember Campbell reminded that the Building Department is presently short two people, there are people ready to start work, the work is there, so this should not be held over too long, a decision needs to be made, her understanding of the staff concern is that in three years when the community is built out there is then an extra employee, do you tell the person that is hired that the job is good for only three years. She recalled that at the end of a three day disaster plan exercise where all of the City Hall second floor employees had duties should a disaster occur, she had made the comment that the plan would work well if it occurred between 8:00 a.IIl. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, otherwise no one would be around to fill the positions because most of the employees do not live here. Councilman Boyd pointed out that the fire contract that was approved last year covers a period of ten years and saves this City significant money, with regard to the issue at hand the Council has had knowledge of this item since November, an item was approved in November to move forward and bring back options for 'consideration, the weekly report from the City Manager notified the Council that interviews were taking place, the RFP set forth the considerations, scope, work methodology, etc. I I Councilman Boyd moved to continue this item until the next meeting. Councilman Yost seconded the motion, noting again the need for options to consider. Mayor Doane noted that two of the prior speakers to this issue were present to hear the comments, explanations, and responses to questions, his hope was that the other speakers were watching from home, the l-28-02 speakers need to place themselves in the same position in which staff has been placed, the City needs money, there is need to find ways to do that, people want the Utility Tax reduced, they can help find ways to do that, and this item is exactly what the Council is trying to do. He mentioned the statement of the City Manager that if the firm does not perform the contract will be canceled within thirty days, yet what he sees is professionals, he personally favors this proposal, there are building problems in the community that he would like to see corrected, an expert has been hired in the City Manager, he deserves a chance to prove himself, if some of the proposals do not work they can be changed, the Abbott firm is proven professionals that are ready to work for Seal Beach, ,if the choice is to hire an employee who is to say they have equal professionalism. Mayor Doane stated he supports the Abbott contract however will support the motion to continue-this item until the next meeting. I AYES: NOES: Boyd, Doane, Larson, Yost Campbell Motion carried Councilmember Campbell explained that she felt the contract should be approved now. ITEM "G" - PROPOSAL - ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT - BOEING PROPERTY Councilmember Campbell stated she had discussed this item with the City Manager and her questions were answered. Councilman Yost said his understanding is that Boeing is IIloving forward quickly, they are seeking to bring in an EIR consultant, RBF Consulting is one of the three EIR consultants interviewed by Council, an excellent environmental group that works with wetlands, drainage, etc. that will be a major consideration. One of the other consulting firms is working on the Rossmoor project, the other had a conflict of interest. I Boyd moved, second by Yost, authorized the Director of Development Services to execute a Notice to Proceed to RBF Consulting for preparation of an Environmental Impact Report, subject to the scope of work, project schedule, and budget set forth in the Proposal to Prepare an Environmental Impact Report for the Boeing Headquarters Site, City of Seal Beach, as prepared by RBF Consulting and dated January 17, 2002. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ITEM "I" PLANS and SPECIFICATIONS - MARINA DRIVE BRIDGE REHABILITATION. PROJECT NUMBER 49676 Councilman Yost inquired about the cost overrun. The Public Works Director explained that the regulatory requirements from Coastal Commission and Fish and Game actually increased the cost of the project, it is now estimated at $6.6 million, there was need for a bat study, increased turbidity monitoring, and in accordance with CalTrans and federal agencies there is a requirement for a certain contingency amount for the project, that is where the unforeseen conditions occurred. Councilman Larson informed the Council that he would not vote in favor of this project when the contract comes forth, this was a simple project, exacerbated into a major project by the Coastal Commission, the bat study needed' to be done, then a requirement for a botanist or biologist on site at all times during the project at City expense, the bridge is being required to be built in a way I 1-28-02 I that was not the desired design, and then if it is determined to be a bad plan the City is required to hold the State harmless for a plan that the City did not want, it is known that the desire is to improve Marina Drive, yet his vote will be no on the contract as a matter of principal. Councilman Boyd said that begs the question again of just letting that bridge fall into the water, this is funded from turnback monies, Measure M and Gas Tax, a joint project with Long Beach, yet he would tend to agree with Councilman Larson. Councilmember Campbell mentioned her issue had been with doing one half of the bridge at a time rather than closing the bridge and doing the project all at once, the City nearly opted out of the project because of funding as a result of the increased cost of the design that was being required, however that was subsequently revised to some degree. Councilman Boyd pointed out again that the entire Council will receive criticism for approving a project that will benefit the community even though funded with outside money. Yost moved, second by Campbell, to approve the plans and specifications for the Marina Drive Bridge Rehabilitation, Project Number 49676, and authorize staff to commence the public contract bidding process. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Yost Larson Motion carried I ITEM "J" FINAL TRACT MAP NO, 16306 - CENTEX HOMES DEVELOPMENT Councilmember Campbell stated she would vote against this item in principal. Councilman Yost said he too would vote against this item as he did not feel the homes should be where they are proposed. Boyd moved, second by Larson, to find that Tract Map 16306 is in substantial compliance with the previously approved Tentative Tract Map, approve Tract Map 16306 as presented, and instruct the City Engineer and City Clerk to execute said Tract Map as required. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Doane, Larson Campbell, Yost Motion carried It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to declare a recess at 8:37 p.m. The Council reconvened at 8:47 p.m. with Mayor Doane calling the meeting to order. BOEING SPECIFIC PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE / PROPOSED RESOLUTION Councilman Boyd moved to approve the proposed Resolution entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, CREATING AN AD HOC CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGARDING THE BOEING SPECIFIC PLAN." I Mayor Doane stated his intent to vote in opposition to the proposed committee inasmuch as the elaborate plans that Boeing was going through have been curtailed for various reasons, they have reverted back to the original plan that has been discussed before, therefore his feeling is that an ad hoc committee is not necessary. Councilman Boyd agreed, and withdrew his motion. Councilman Yost disagreed, his feeling is that this site is at the entrance to the town, the arguments that the community should have input are still valid, and even though the plan has been scaled back he has not as yet seen what it is they intend to do, in fact it does not look as if it has been scaled back that much as they are talking about planning 1-28-02 areas that include the existing buildings. Councilman Boyd suggested holding over consideration a committee until it is seen what is proposed, then form a committee if felt necessary. Mayor Doane said the planting areas have to do with security, the way it is presently designed there are too many automobile accesses close to important buildings, his feeling is that now is not the time that a committee needs to be appointed, possibly if they propose an overlay or decide to release more land, at present the land proposed for use is only what was approved for light manufacturing, therefore an ad hoc committee is not needed at this time. Councilman Yost said the Council has heard the public request to be involved and he would like to give them the opportunity to be involved in what their community is going to look like in the future. The Mayor mentioned that it is understood that Boeing is planning some public meetings, in fact some have been held however not well attended. Councilman Yost argued that when that is done with a citizen advisory committee appointed from throughout the community it is not bad it is only positive, this would be a study session type of format that provides more input to the public. He questioned that the organization of a committee has already been approved, this is merely to identify their duties. The Development Services Director responded that the Council had just instructed staff to come back with a mechanism to create a citizens advisory committee to review the Specific Plan and provide comments on that document, the Resolution proposed in an attempt to respond to that direction. I Councilman Yost moved to approve the Resolution as proposed. There was no second to the motion. Councilmember Campbell stated that everything can not be done by committee, that is why the Council is elected, in fact Boeing has the zoning to do as they wish to do. I At the invitation of Councilman Boyd, Mr. Corwin, Stonecreek Company, representing Boeing, introduced himself. Councilman Boyd asked if Boeing would consider establishing a committee on its own and solicit members from the community. Mr. Corwin responded in the affirmative, the process as outlined in the staff report was felt to be a positive process. Councilman Boyd then suggested that Boeing establish the committee, expand membership from five to possibly ten or more, solicit input from the community, establish a meeting schedule as staff proposed. Mr. Corwin confirmed that Boeing already plans to hold community meetings and through that process what has been suggested could be considered, they embrace the public process, there is a series of public hearings, meetings were scheduled last fall under a plan that was proposed at that time, they were canceled because there had been changes to the plan to address operational issues such as security. Councilman Boyd reiterated his suggestion, and further that Boeing submit their willingness to do so in the form of a letter to the City. He also noted that a request had been made to the Fair Political Practices Commission as to the participation of himself, Councilman Larson, and Mayor Doane, they have been cleared to vote on all matters, he was cleared to participate in discussions and the appointment of a member of the citizens advisory committee only but not on the zoning actions. Mr, Corwin interjected that staff prepared a staff report that defined an appointment process, that process seems to make sense in terms of bringing some order to the scenario. No further action was taken. I I I I 1-28-02 STREET TREE INVENTORY PRESENTATION The Director of Public Works explained that when Public Works again assumed the responsibility of street trees, the first task was to do an inventory of assets. * With that there is a goal to proactively manage the urban forest, the Public Works philosophy is basically to inventory all aspects of the City's infrastructure for proper asset management, what the asset is, where it is located, and what the characteristics are; * Provide more detailed information to the citizens and Council, break the inventory down by areas and neighborhoods; * Some of the goals are to evaluate what the urban forest is worth, what does it cost to maintain, do that also by location; * Provide up to date data for reports, analysis, and planning, integrate the asset information with other Public Works infrastructure including the sewer system and sidewalks, to identify conflicts and budget accordingly, track tree species to parkway width as well as sidewalks; * Under the previous tree management system there was somewhat of a duplication of effort, they were using an old DOS program to basically maintain and code the trees, the tree contractor also maintained a separate data base, the reports and output were limited, and they could not leverage or network the system; * To migrate the system to Public Works trees were put into the asset management system, the data from the tree contractor was obtained where they had performed a survey of all of the existing trees in addition to the tree vacancies and created some custom reports; * The advantages for staff is that the system is user friendly, it is networked for simultaneous use, enhances reporting statistics, will hopefully budget the true cost of maintaining the urban forest, and the goal is to link it to the GIS system; * In the future the thought is to take the assets and plot them on a map, be able to color code them by characteristics, by type of tree, where the trees are, show the vacancies for a tree, that can not be done now but is a goal that will be worked toward; * That will basically be the same for the tree trimming schedule to show where trees are being trimmed and what cycle is being done within money constraints; * By identifying and categorizing all of the trees Public Works will be able to see and notify in advance of conflicts with the sewer system and sidewalks; * Since taking over trees the Public Works Department has learned that preliminary data shows that most trees are between fifteen and thirty feet, diameters are between seven and twelve inches, that is about forty-seven percent of the local trees, the crown of young trees are between one to fifteen feet, the top tree types are 1-28-02 queen palm, Mexican fan palm, evergreen pear, ficus, a wide variety falls within forty percent; * There are approximately thirty-one hundred trees in the City's urban forest with about fourteen hundred available vacancies, this on public land, right-of-way and parks; I * Old town has the most trees with fifteen hundred yet with about five hundred twenty vacancies, a twenty-six percent rate, the Hill has about five hundred eighty-six trees with a forty-one percent vacancy rate, College Park East has two hundred sixteen trees with a fifty-two percent vacancy rate; * Old Town, the Hill, and College Park East respectively have the most tree vacancies, Old Town has about fifty percent of the trees citywide, the Hill follows, then the rest of the community; * This information will be presented to the Tree Committee, it will be used during the upcoming budget process to show where money is being spent on trees, staff is going to integrate volunteer help to develop a GIS system to locate trees on the map to show where they are to better represent the urban forest. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT No report was presented. CITY MANAGER REPORT No report was presented. I COUNCIL COMMENTS With regard to the upcoming election Councilmember Campbell suggested that ballot initiative 'W' be referred to as 'wrong', the Great Park Initiative is wrong for Seal Beach. She stated that south County is one of the fastest growing areas in the Country, in ten years it will double its population, they need an airport but they do not want it in their backyard yet in time they will have the votes to put an airport anywhere they desire in Orange County, the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station will look good to them as would Huntington Flats off the coast of Huntington Beach and as would Bolsa Bay off the coast of Bolsa Chic a or an off-shore airport at the end of Seal Beach Boulevard, either way Seal Beach would lose with either the Weapons Station or at the end of Seal Beach Boulevard because the Boulevard would become the freeway access from the 405 to the airport. Councilmember Campbell claimed that there will be an airport, will it be in their backyard or Seal Beach, the need is due to the growth in south County, one can assume that they may want both the Weapons Station and the Los Alamitos Air Station because they are looking for an international airport, however Los Alamitos by itself could not be an international airport because the takeoff from Los Alamitos intersects over Leisure World with the approach to Long Beach Airport, that is less than a mile from the runway at Los Alamitos, at most Los Alamitos could be a medium haul airport yet if it were combined with the Weapons Station there would be enough land to support the runways, a problem however is that there is no buffer as there is at El Toro with fourteen thousand acres of surrounding undeveloped land. Should there be a push for a Los Alamitos/Seal Beach airport, she questioned what would happen to the quality of life in this I l-28-02 I town, it will not matter to College Park East because it will no longer exist, that area will have been bought out, for the remainder of the City there will be decreased property values, a less than quality of life, a polluted beach, and water quality will be non-existent. Councilmember Campbell again urged a vote against Measure W, an airport is needed in south County not in Seal Beach, this City is built out, it is their growth that is causing the need, protect the quality of life for Seal Beach, it is wrong for Seal Beach. Councilman Yost expressed his surprise that there will not be a citizens committee for the development of one of the most important pieces of property in the community where there will be a General Plan amendment. Councilman Yost described his vision of City Hall, what used to be a civic center where there had been a Recreation Commission and Recreation Department where people could register their children for classes, that is now a vacant office soon to be filled by contract employees who have no allegiance to this town, that is what the town is becoming and said he will fight it. Councilman Boyd said he wanted to echo the comments of Councilmember Campbell relating to Measure W, he too would encourage a vote against that Measure, if Orange County needs a great park let it be at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station where there is five thousand two hundred acres of opportunity for a park, and north County needs parkland far greater than does south County. Councilman Larson requested that the Council adjourn this meeting in honor of forty year Leisure World resident Mable Miller who will shortly be celebrating her one hundredth birthday, and asked that he be authorized to present her with a certificate of recognition. Councilman Larson said to put her birthday in some context in the year of Ms. Miller's birth Cadillac sold its first car, Crayola introduced crayons, the Bureau of Census was created, the first gramophone recording was made, a first class stamp sold for two cents, Beatrix Potter wrote her first Peter Rabbit story, and Michigan defeated Stanford forty-nine to nothing in the first Rose Bowl call. A consensus of Council was indicated. Mayor Doane stated he too agreed with the stated stance on Measure W, what is not being said is that the Great Park is being sponsored by developers, the Park will be only a small portion of the airport area, the remainder will be homes, and for those who will reside there and plan to travel by air they will be taking the freeways. I ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn until February lith at 5:00 p.m. in the Conference Room to hold a workshop and a Closed Session. By unanimous consent, the meeting was adjourned at 9:13 p.m. I 't Clerk and the City of Approved: (J~ 9~~t~ Attest: