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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Min 1999-05-24 5-17-99 / 5-24-99 I as well, therefore an equal amount of money needs to be found in the budget. Councilmember Campbell said from her calculations there needs to be $577,273 to cover a one percent reduction of the Utility Tax and fund the Cash Basis Reserve. Councilman Snow said he is as interested in reducing the Utility Tax as anyone however this should not be hurried especially since the people in Leisure World are paying it and they know it is going to be reduced. Mayor Yost summarized this workshop as discussion of reducing the Utility Tax and an increase of spending by placing it in reserves. Councilman Boyd countered that this would be a decrease of spending, he was not saying that the Utility Tax should be decreased, but if this is a policy issue then it needs to be said that it is or isn't, the same thing is going to be heard every year, that nothing can be cut because everything is essential City services, that is said in every City, until the belt is tightened how is a way going to be found to save money, there is a half million increase in revenue that is being spent. The response was that the reserves have gone from zero to $800,000, the City is getting there gradually, and the increased revenue has been placed in reserve. ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, to adjourn the meeting at 9:01 with consent of the Council, p.m. I clerk Attest: tt::: ~".,'{){ t City Clerk Approved: Seal Beach, California May 24, 1999 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular session at 7:02 p.m. with Mayor Yost calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. I ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Yost Councilmembers Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow Absent: None Also present: Mr. Till, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mr. Badum, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Captain Schaefer, Police Department 5-24-99 Officer Paap, Police Department Ms. Beard, Director of Recreation and Parks Mr. Dorsey, Assistant to the City Manager Mr. Danes, Assistant City Engineer Mrs. Yeo, City Clerk COUNCIL REORGANIZATION I SELECTION OF MAYOR Councilman Boyd nominated Councilmember Campbell for the position of Mayor. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell Doane, Snow, Yost Motion failed Councilman Doane nominated Mayor Yost to retain the position of Mayor for the upcoming year. AYES: NOES: Doane, Snow, Yost Boyd, Campbell Motion carried SELECTION OF MAYOR PRO TEM Councilman Boyd nominated Councilmember Campbell for the position of Mayor ProTem. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell Doane, Snow, Yost Motion failed Mayor Yost nominated Councilman Doane for the position of Mayor ProTem. AYES: NOES: Doane, Snow, Yost Boyd, Campbell I Motion carried PRESENTATIONS SANE ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS Police Officer Rick paap expressed his good fortune to have the opportunity to instruct the SANE, Substance Abuse and Narcotics Education, program weekly to 4th and 5th graders at McGaugh School, and where each year the 5th grade students write essays on what the SANE program means to them. He described SANE as many different issues, refusal skills, self esteem, making better Choices, understanding the consequences. He explained that after the students write their essays, they are turned in to the teachers, then the top three from each class are turned over to administration who have the difficult task of selecting the winners. Officer Paap introduced Emily Bozentka and Jake Encinas who read their essays aloud for the Council and the public. Officer Paap expressed appreciation to the Womens Club for their donation of one day passes to Disneyland which Captain Schaefer presented to Emily and Jake for their winning essays. The Captain extended appreciation to all of the other students who too wrote outstanding papers and the Council for their support. Officer Paap noted that the Police Officers Association will be providing a pizza party for all of the 5th grade students in June. I STORM DRAIN MASTER PLAN The Director of Public Works noted that the Storm Drain Master Plan is one of two, the Sewer Master Plan to be forthcoming, the Master Plan of Drainage presented now for review of the Council and information of the public. The 5-24-99 Assistant City Engineer acknowledged and introduced the consultant on this project, Mr. Zeki, AKM Consulting Engineers. I I I * What is a Master Plan - a guide for establishing logical and cost effective funding levels for future drainage improvements to protect the public safety and property - in essence to protect streets and homes from floodingl * What is the Plan going to cover - the scope of work is to cover all of the drainage areas for which the City is responsible, its benefits enables the Council, as decision makers, to understand the long range big picture for future infrastructure improvements and comparison with other competing budgetary issuesl * The Plan allows for citywide fair and logical priority ranking based upon unbiased engineering practicesl * This allows the City to compare all of its Plans, Pavement and Water Master Plans have been done, the Sewer Master Plan is being completed, this allows the City to see how all of the plans fit together so, as an example, streets are not being paved followed by cutting up a street for a sewer or water purpose, which will allow a logical method for the coordination of projects; * Diagram was shown of a hydrologic cycle showing the flow of rainwater from the mountains down into the urban area and if the water does not percolate into the ground it becomes runoff back into the ocean through the storm drain system, each of the areas where the water collects is called a drainage areal * Flow to drainage basins - the water from College Park East drains into either the Bolsa Chica Channel or onto the golf course, water from College Park West goes into the County channel; from the hill and downtown area there is the West End Pump Station that flows into the San Gabriel, a portion flows back onto the Hellman property, some drainage facilities belong to and are maintained by the County; * Identification of existing drainage facilities - of primary importance are the pump stations, the west end pump station is maintained by the City, the Seal Beach pump station at Electric and Seal Beach Boulevard maintained by the County, storm drains are both City and County, those lines range from two feet 5-24-99 wide to over seventy-eight inches in diameter, there are box drains, channels maintained by the County, federal storm drains, there are no storm drains in the College Park East tract, the majority of water from the area is sheetflow which drains onto the golf course, sheetflow basically means that the water drains, from a structure as an example, into the street and runs along the gutter because it has no where else to go, also, many people over-irrigate; I In response to questions from College Park East with regard to repair of curbs and gutters, what has been found is that in an area that is flat and without drains the water is basically pushed along to someone else; * It was confirmed that as a result of the Bixby project the outlets will be upgraded in conjunction with the golf course regrading and the golf course itself will have from ten to fifteen percent additional capacity, the golf course drains under the freeway and into the federal storm channel which is maintained by the County, improvement is anticipated, yet the real problem is the surface flow in College Park East, the outlets can be upgraded as much as possible but if the water does not get there or takes too long to get there it will still pond in the street, it is hoped that ideas will be forthcoming to resolve that problem; I * Reference was made to the mention of improving drainage on the golf course, and pointed out that there are presently three drains that run under Lampson Avenue, one from Ironwood/Guava, Ironwood/Elder, and at Candleberry, inquiring if the intent is to go under Lampson and will the draining ability be increased in any way; the response was that the outlets will be upgraded so that they will be at the new elevation of the drainage basin, which is the golf course, they will then be ready should the City be able to fund a project to upgrade the storm drain system into the neighborhoods, the catch basins along Lampson will be upgraded for better capacity especially with the ability to deal with debris, the request is that the catch basin openings be widened so that there is more area in case there should be debris and clogging, but to reduce the capacity in the neighborhoods that can not be done until a new storm drain system is built; I I I I 5-24-99 * With regard to the Alamitos settling basin behind Island Village, it has been mentioned since 1995 that there is going to be additional pumps, the lack of is what created the flood in Leisure World in 1995, to which the question was posed if there is any recollection of thatl the response was that the consultant has information to share with regard to the federal channelsl * The consultant offered that there are several regional facilities that drain the City of Seal Beach, the San Gabriel River which is controlled by the Los Angeles Flood Control District, a parallel facility which is the Los Angeles Channel System, that drains into the Los Alamitos Retarding Basin and Pump Station, the Retarding Basin extends up to Cerritos with a large drainage area of over three thousand acreSl in 1995 there was flooding in Leisure World and portions of Seal Beach near the Seal Beach Pump Station, the County facilities were originally designed to handle runoff from a ten year storm, with the development of the watershed there is a lot more runoff into the Retarding Basin; the County has conducted studies and have come up with several projects, one currently under design is the Rossmoor Retarding Basin and Pump Station, that will intercept a good portion of runoff from the watershed near the intersection of the 405 and 605, the current in-line basin will be converted to a retarding basin with a pump station that will intercept the flow from the upper portion of the watershed and pump it directly into the San Gabriel River, therefore all of that flow will be prevented from coming down to the Los Angeles Retarding Basin, that will solve a lot of problems, the County study also says that they will upgrade the pump station and add more capacity so that they can maintain a low enough water level in the retarding basin and the contributory channels that will help with the drainage problems in Leisure World, Rossmoor, and the rest of the drainage areal other County channels that go into the Los Angeles channel system that impact Seal Beach are the Kempton Storm Channel, Montecito Storm Channel, Bixby Storm Channel, the Federal Storm Channel that originates at the golf course, under the freeway, through Leisure World into the Los Alamitos Channel before it goes into the Basinl the other channel into which Seal Beach drains is the Bolsa Chica Channel at the east end of College Park East, the rest of the City drains into either the San Gabriel River by gravity flow into the 5-24-99 ocean or the Seal Beach Pump Station and into the BaYl * Once information relating to where the water flow goes and where the drainage facilities are has been gathered, there is then a goal, using Orange County Flood Control guidelines, to keep the water at least one foot below finished floor elevations for a hundred year floodl other goals include the arterials, planning for a ten year flood to keep at least one traffic lane open for emergency vehicles, and for local streets the goal for a ten year flood is to maintain the water below the curbl I * The engineering definition of a hundred year flood is a flood that has a one percent chance of happening each year, over a hundred years it is a best guess that there will be at least one one hundred year flood yet that may never occur or it could occur several years in a rOWl the closest link to a hundred year flood, of short duration, was January 4th and 5th in 1995, a one hundred year event is basically determined as 2.37 inches of moisture in three hours, in 1995 the City had 2.5 inches for the three hour period, at that time there was flooding in Leisure World, Rossmoor, Seal Beach Boulevard, Electric Avenue, Pacific Coast Highway, local streets, some buildings and residents were required to be evacuatedl it was noted that Lampson Avenue was flooded and closed for a period of four hoursl the mean rainfall per year is 11 inches, in the 1995 month of January it was 11.3 inches 1 I * There are two basic tasks, one the Master Plan of Drainage with the major improvements, that was to address the Orange County Flood Control District goals, the other is a local plan of drainage to address those issues that do not meet the Orange County Flood Control requirements but are out there, the ponding, the potholes, street grades, etc. * As to protection goals, engineering offices use the term with regard to deficiencies within identified areas of the City, this is where the computer programs and engineering formulas are taken out in order to determine where the areas are deficient, deficiencies consist of inadequate existing facility size, example would be a two foot diameter storm drain that needs to be three feet, a storm drain extension is where it does not go far enough upstream to get the water to the desired destination, then I I I I 5-24-99 those deficiencies are priority ranked based upon flooding potentials to residents; * The local plan - one of the things that is done with Master Plans is identify the very large projects that are needed for protection at a level that is consistent with the rest of the County, one hundred, twenty-five, and ten year floods, yet there is also recognition of the need for a local plan, that is an area where there are nuisance problems that affect large numbers of people and the quality of life in Seal Beach, although they do not meet the criteria of the orange County Flood Control Manual they are important, the ponding in College Park East, the standing water near St. Anne's Church, Russell's, etc. these consistently ponded with bad water and odors, the records and complaints of those were reviewed to identify a list of potential projects, and it is certain there are many that have not been identified, yet the list consists of at least the top dozen of worst areas, these were prioritized as to whether they could be linked to other projects, could they be done cooperatively with a paving project, are there grant funds for a project where with a few more dollars this problem could also be resolved, safety issues were looked at, could a puddle in the middle of an intersection potentially cause a problem, pedestrian access was looked at, does the problem impede pedestrians, St. Anne's an example, impediments to vehicle access, water and/or mud tracks on the streets, algae, etc.; * One of the top projects would be the street along Boeing, there is a Measure M project that may be underway by next spring where some of the flooding problems in the driveway intersection area adjacent to can be resolved, being somewhat of a safety issue and with funding through another project are reasons for this to rank high; * Another project would be the Old Town alleys, the asphalt alleys are always ponding and puddling, the intent is to take care of that problem, along with the Water and Sewer Master Plans there will be replacement of many water and sewer lines, to do that requires digging up essentially the whole alley which means replacement with new paving as part of the sewer and water replacement project, that program will be relied on to upgrade the alleys; 5-24-99 * The next location considered was 10th Street from Electric to Pacific Coast Highway, particularly adjacent to St. Anne's Church, the standing water problem affects a large number of people with regard to pedestrian access, some costs have been identified for thatl I * Another location was 12th Street at PCH adjacent to the former Zoeter School site where there is consistent water ponding; * There are other areas on 10th, 11th, Central Way, Ocean Avenue, College Park East, Marina Drive, correction of the problems of College Park East and Marina Drive are essentially through the Master Plan, in other words to fix one drainage problem in CPE would essentially be chasing it through the tract as it would simply travel, the best thing to do would be to pursue a Master Plan of the storm drain system in those areas, do it right, and resolve the problem once and for all, Marina Drive too has extensive flooding near the Radisson and further down near Bridgeport, First Street, that too should be a Master Plan improvementl * This would be looking at a total cost of about $900,000 for local improvements, those can not be funded in one year and even multi-years may be difficultl I * What will be done on an interim basis, as is already being done at St. Anne's, the vacuum truck from the sweeper is going to be used through a regular program to check the sump areas for standing water, as has been done in CPE for some time now, the intent is to get some new equipment hopefully in this years budget and step up the program somewhat, also work with the property and business owners with regard to the over watering problems 1 * It was mentioned that at a CPE property the parkway tree has raised the curb and gutter, water gets trapped in front of the adjacent property and that owner is willing to contribute to the repair of that curb and gutter, to that question was posed if there is a time frame when this repair can be looked to being done; the response was that if somewhere between ten to forty feet of curb can be taken out to resolve the problem without pushing it to another property it can be looked at, unfortunately it often pushes the problem further down, the problem is that in CPE the grades are so flat that a handful of dirt in the gutter or a small displacement can cause a substantial puddle, and in that case end up chasing I I I I 5-24-99 puddles down the block, more extensive review needs to be done in those cases; mention was made that in the case of a raised curb and gutter it would seem to be correctable within a reasonable time frame; * There is a problem with irrigation on the AFRC, within a week of the flooding in January of 1995 they were watering the farming fields on Lampson, that is because they are allotted a certain amount of water and if not used they lose the allocation, yet the residents along Lampson had standing water in their backyards, to that question was posed if something could be worked out with the AFRC so that such problem does not happen again; response was that discussions could be held with AFRC, taking the farmers into consideration; * In reference back to the Master Plan, improvement types - again, pump station improvements, storm drain extensions, capacity improvements, facility needs because of flows from other jurisdictions, there is need to upgrade one of the storm drains with a parallel line which basically flows outside the City, there are also capacity improvements that are pending other County improvements, the City line can not be improved until they first improve the County line; * The top five recommended improvements are the rebuilding of the Old Town west end pump station, College Park East storm drain extensions, Old Town north Electric Avenue, the Seal Beach Boulevard/Rossmoor drainage area from Los Alamitos, that being another jurisdiction, and Bridgeport capacity improvements; * The Old Town west end pump station was built in 1959 and is nearing its useful life, that is proposed for repair and replacement; * The overall recommended improvements that came from the Master Plan - as noted there are no storm drains in College Park East, the consultant has proposed building lines through the tract to move the water, the easterly area proposed for capacity improvements will most likely not be done until the County (Bolsa Chica) Channel is improved; the North Seal Beach Boulevard line, only a small percentage of the flow is from the City, eighty-six percent of the drainage is from outside the City's jurisdiction, is under capacity and will be improved by building a parallel line; there are 5-24-99 capacity improvements proposed for Marina Drive as well as for the flow to the west end pump station; the major improvements were the alleys, Seal Beach Boulevard at Boeing, and St. Anne's Church; again the cost for the local drainage plan is about $900,000; I * The cost for all of the upgrades that have been outlined will be about $8 million of improvements; * There are various funding methods, the City could go after outside jurisdictions for a contribution, an example would be Los Alamitos who is a major contributor of that particular water, General Fund money is competitive, Assessment Districts however not very popular, and bonding; * Cost summary - the Pavement Master Plan is about $12 million, the Drainage Master Plan about $8 million, the forthcoming Sewer Master Plan will be about $12 million, the Water Master Plan is about $7 million, the Concrete Plan about $2.5 million, and the Building Plan about $1 million, this is an overview of what needs to be done to rebuild the infrastructure; I * Mention made that the west end pump station flows directly into the River, question posed if anything is proposed to deal with related environmental concerns; . response was that currently everything flows directly in, there is a debris rack to capture some of the larger debris, during storms the station is personnel manned to remove as much debris as possible, there is a lot of small debris that flows through that affects water quality, there have been some discussions on a regional level about the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System which is a federal mandate to upgrade stormwater quality, there has been some thought of routing the low flows into the sewer system although that is not always popular with the Sanitation District; there are some ideas relating to this that are being discussed, this is going to be a big issue that will need to be addressed, the funding will be considerable; the upgrade of the pump station really does not address building a facility that could retain and filter water before flowing into the San Gabriel River, in order to do that the City would need to buy a substantial amount of land to essentially build a basin similar to the Los Alamitos Retention Basin; I I I 5-24-99 * It was stated that the intention is to not just let the plan sit on a shelf, rather, that it be a tool, the funding is not available yet however this does suggest a number of funding sources, including other agencies, grant monies, the General Fund a category as well, at some point in the future monies need to be designated to deal with these problems, at a modest level some funds have been set aside in the Capital Improvement Program for local drainage problems however those identified are quite monumental, $8 million of projects will not come with the current revenue stream, yet as identified in the Financial Plan, with the anticipated increase of sales tax revenue in about a year and a half the intent is earmark some of those funds for the Stormdrain Master plan problems, the west end pump station as an example is a critical project because if that were to fail a large portion of Old Town could be under water I * Question was posed if some of these improvements are not already included in the Capital Improvement Program I the response was that there are some funds designated for the local drainage plan problems, there has not been enough money set aside to address the million dollar plus projects, there is a need to start doing that for the long term and look for outside funding opportunities, however there are other cities in Orange County in the same situation as Seal Beach I response too that there are some monies in the upcoming budget for minor improvements to the west end pump station, to just keep it goingl * To construct a storm drain system in College Park East, as an example, will take substantial new revenue sources, noted too that it was anticipated that the increased sales tax in a couple years would be designated for capital improvement needs. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Councilman Boyd requested that Item "0" be removed from the Consent Calendar for separate consideration. Boyd moved, second by Yost, to approve the order of the agenda as revised. I AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow, Yost None Motion carried PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Yost declared Public Comments to be open. Ms. Seretta Fielding, Seal Beach Boulevard, expressed appreciation to the City and the Weapons Station for the planting of grass on the Base in the 200 block of Seal Beach Boulevard, that makes the 5-24-99 Base property look much better and it will help with potential flooding on the Boulevard. To the issue of flooding, Ms. Fielding reported that Seal Beach Boulevard and 14th through 17th Street have been flooded four times in the past fifteen years, last year there was water in the homes but it was not flooded, that because the County made improvements to the east end pump, Seal Beach Boulevard and Electric are the lowest points in the City, and requested that it not be forgotten that improvements are still needed at this area of the Boulevard given the traditional flooding problem. Dr. Rosenman, Seal Beach, said he was fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend a ground water conference recently, suggested that the City may want to designate a limited amount of money to retain a consultant in the field of ground water management, it is understood that grant money may be available particularly when looking at things relating to recycled water, given the City's lack of money this may be worth looking at. To the issue of Charter amendments, Dr. Rosenman was informed that that item may be opened to public comments. Mr. Gordon Shanks, Surf Place, said he too wished to requested that that item be opened to provide for public comments, also inquired as to the current policy to remove items from the Consent Calendar, to which he was informed that the opportunity to remove items does include the public. Mr. Shanks said he has heard the upcoming budget proposes to cut animal control to one and a half people to which he questioned how that could cover their services, from his experience they are very much needed on the Hill. There being no further comments, Mayor Yost declared the Public Comment segment to be closed. I CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEMS "c" thru "L" Boyd moved, second by Yost, to approve the recommended action for items on the Consent Calendar as presented, except Item "0", removed for separate consideration. I 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 reading of the title unless specific request is made at that time for the reading of such ordinance or resolution. E. Bids were received until May 19th, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. for Project Number 803, 4th Street and Central Avenue Improvement Plan (Roundabout), at which time they were publicly opened by the City Clerk as follows: Nobest, Inc. Excel Paving Company $ 98,498.20 $127,850.00 I Awarded the contract for Project Number 803 to the lowest responsible bidder, NObest, Inc. in the amount of $98,498.20, and authorized the city Manager to execute the contract on behalf of the City. F. Approved the plans and specifications for the Supply and Installation of Hypochlorite Generating systems, Project Number 819, and authorized staff to initiate the bidding 5-24-99 process for same. I G. Approved the plans and specifications for Fiscal Year 1998/99 Citywide Street Sealing, Project Number 674, and authorized staff to initiate the bidding process for same. Approved the plans and specifications for Harvard Lane Overlay, Project Number 673, and authorized staff to initiate the bidding process for same. H. I. Adopted Resolution Number 4708 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, INITIATING PROCEEDINGS FOR ANNUAL LEVY OF ASSESSMENTS AND ORDERING THE PREPARATION OF AN ENGINEER'S "REPORT" FOR A STREET LIGHTING ASSESSMENT DISTRICT" and Adopted Resolution Number 4709 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING THE ENGINEER'S "REPORT" FOR PROCEEDINGS FOR THE ANNUAL LEVY OF ASSESSMENTS IN A STREET LIGHTING ASSESSMENT DISTRICT" and I Adopted Resolution Number 4710 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, DECLARING ITS INTENTION TO PROVIDE FOR AN ANNUAL LEVY AND COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENTS IN A STREET LIGHTING ASSESSMENT DISTRICT, AND SETTING A TIME AND PLACE FOR PUBLIC HEARING." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolutions Numbered 4708, 4709, and 4710 was waived. J. Approved the minutes of the regular City Council meeting of May 10th, 1999. K. Approved Amendment Number Three to Orange County Transportation Authority Agreement No. C-8-0197, said Agreement for the purpose of providing transportation to the senior nutritional program, and authorized the City Manager to execute same on behalf of the City. L. Received and filed the Monthly Investment Report for the month of April, 1999. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow, Yost None Motion carried I ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM "D" - DEMANDS ON THE TREASURY Councilman Boyd inquired why the checks on the warrant list are predated prior to approval. The City Manager responded that there are prepaid checks where necessity requires that they can not be held until the following Council meeting, however are listed for Council ratification, the majority of the payments listed are regular warrants that are written but not released until after approval. It was suggested that Councilman Boyd meet with the Director of Finance to discuss the procedure. To the inquiry of Councilmember Campbell 5-24-99 relating to two payments to Robert Bein/William Frost, response was that they relate to the Seal Beach Boulevard bridge widening project. Boyd moved, second by Yost, to approve regular demands numbered 23339 through 23555 in the amount of $505,900.35, payroll demands numbered 3590 through 3735 and 27645 and 27646 in the amount of $147,885.62, and authorized warrants to be drawn on the Treasury for same. I AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow, Yost None Motion carried PUBLIC HEARING - OPERATION OF TAXICABS - REGULATIONS/RATES / ORANGE COUNTY TAXI ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM - ORDINANCE NUMBER 1447 / RESOLUTION NUMBER 4711 Mayor Yost declared the public hearing open to consider the Orange County Taxi Administration Program regulations and rates of fare. The City Clerk certified that notice of the public hearing had been advertised as required by law, and reported no communications received relating to this item. The Assistant to the City Manager reported that the Orange County Taxi Administration Program began operation last year with a primary goal to increase public safety by establishing a uniform system of taxicab regulations. For taxi drivers it imposes drug testing, criminal background checks, and DMV driving record checks, for taxi companies it imposes vehicle inspections, assures that minimum insurances are maintained by the taxi company, and verifies the accuracy of meters, once approved by OCTAP the taxi drivers and companies will receive standardized permits and licenses, a collateral benefit from this Program is that administrative costs and staff time will be modestly reduced for the City at such time as OCTAP assumes the responsibility of administration, funding for the Program is provided from the administrative fees collected by the Orange County Transportation Authority, thus, there will be no fiscal impact for the City to participate in the Program, also, the City will retain the authority to limit the number of taxi companies allowed to operate within the City's jurisdiction. Councilmember Campbell made reference to the Regulations and inquired as to charging a flat rate for long distance transport. Mr. Greenwood, administrator for the orange County Taxicab Program, explained that under this Program the plan was to standardize rates of fare, that is a meter charge, a flat rate would allow various rates to be charged and the public would never know what the proper rate of charge is, the metered rate is a standard on which everyone can rely upon. To a question of Councilmember Campbell he confirmed that if a flat rate were desired that would then be with another provider, an airport shuttle used as an example, to which Mr. Greenwood noted that shuttle companies are regulated by the Public Utilities Commission and are separate from taxicab transportation. Councilman Boyd said he found the criteria for taxi drivers and taxi companies of interest in that it was nearly a year ago that the City lost A. J. Summers as a result of a non-licensed, non-permitted taxi driver. To a question as to Orange County cities participating in this program, Mr. Greenwood stated that Seal Beach is the thirtieth to join, after Seal Beach Placentia and Laguna Woods would be the only cities not yet in the program. There being no further comments, Mayor Yost declared the public hearing closed. I I 5-24-99 I Councilman Boyd moved to app~ove the int~oduction of O~dinance 1447 entitled "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH REPEALING CHAPTER 23 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, ADDING A NEW CHAPTER 23 THERETO, AND REVISING REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO THE OPERATION OF TAXICABS" and that it be passed to second ~eading, and adopt Resolution Numbe~ 4711 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH ADOPTING ORANGE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY RATES OF FARE AND REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE ORANGE COUNTY TAXI ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM." Councilmembe~ Campbell seconded the motion. By unanimous consent, full ~eading of O~dinance Numbe~ 1447 and Resolution Numbe~ 4711 was waived. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow, Yost None Motion ca~~ied I PUBLIC HEARING I RESOLUTION NUMBER 4712 - UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICT - SEAL BEACH BOULEVARD - ELECTRIC AVENUE to ADOLFO LOPEZ DRIVE Mayor Yost declared the public hearing open to consider establishing an Underground Utility District on Seal Beach Boulevard between Adolfo Lopez Drive and Electric Avenue. The City Clerk certified that notice of the public hearing had been advertised and mailed as required by law, reported no written communications received, however one notice was returned as undeliverable, and two telephone messages were received from residents of the area in support of the Underground District. The Director of Public Works presented the staff report and explained that adoption of the proposed Resolution will commence the process for undergrounding of utility lines on Seal Beach Boulevard from Electric to Lopez Drive, this is under a program called 20A which is administered by Edison and allows the undergrounding of overhead utilities in situations where the undergrounding will eliminate an unusually high concentration of overhead lines on streets, arterial highways, that are highly traveled or adjoin a civic area or area of scenic interest to the general public. He noted this Program is fully funded within the public rights of way with Edison money that has been collected over the years, one of the reasons for going forward with this project is the potential of two developments, the Hellman and Musso projects, both developments conditioned to do undergrounding, also the area adjacent to the school which has been of some concern to the community, and pointed out that the two developments will be paying their share. The Director noted that adoption of the Resolution will establish Seal Beach on the Edison list of underground projects, more will be known when Edison completes the engineering and determines the costs, should there be minor hook up costs the City is prepared to assume those costs. Councilman Boyd inquired if the 20A Program money could be used for non-arterial undergrounding, in the alleys and Seal Way would be examples. Mr. Jerry Dominguez, Edison representative, responded that the funds are restricted for use on arterials, large highways, recreation or heavily traveled arterials, residential and alleyways do not qualify under this Public Utility regulation. The City Manager noted the substantial cost involved in undergrounding, staff looked closely at the availability of funds for a project, it is believed there will be about $900,000. Mr. Dominguez confirmed that by the first of the year there will be $867,000 and expected that by the time the project is started and completed in 2001 there should be I 5-24-99 about $1 million available, the desire is to match a project to the funds available, and in this case with the proposed Hellman project and former Shore Shop site development this seems to fit best. Councilman Snow inquired as to what governed the determination that this project commence at Lopez Drive. Mr. Dominguez said that Lopez Drive seemed to be a logical point to start, in order to go beyond Lopez Drive the project would go down in front of the Police Station, also it is believed that is where the overhead system terminates, with the funds available the project can go all the way to Electric, noted too that this is a fairly clean job, there are some telephone and cable facilities on the poles but there are not many cut-overs for the individual services, there are some residential and a couple of commercial below Pacific Coast Highway, probably less than a dozen facilities that would require a cut-over. I Mayor Yost invited members of the public wishing to speak to this item to come to the microphone and state their name and address for the record. Ms. Seretta Fielding, Seal Beach Boulevard, reported she had poled the people on the Boulevard and they are all in favor of the undergrounding, also reminded that there are two schools, hers and McGaugh Elementary, and urged that this project receive Council support. Mr. Roger Cunningham, 1641 Ocean Avenue, the corner of Electric and Ocean, noted reference to the term cut-over, imagined to be something like a drop line, and asked if it would be undergrounded, the response of staff was that any connection to the main line will be undergrounded. Mr. Cunningham inquired as to the boundaries of the project, referred to as down Seal Beach Boulevard to Electric, will the project include the entire intersection at the Boulevard and Electric or half, at Electric there are three poles located on the south side of the street at the intersection, those poles service only cable, the remainder of lines are underground, there is a loop from the alley behind his home to the alley at Seal Way, if the project is not extended to remove this one set of lines it will impact the whole of the intersection. He noted that at the time of the renewal of the cable franchise he had brought to attention that there was provision for under grounding in the old agreement, the Council noted his comments, it is not certain whether that language was continued into the new agreement, it was indicated it would be, there are areas in town where the cable system is looped from one alley to the next, the pole near his home is riddled with termites, it is a cable line only yet they have done nothing, the situation has gone on for about five years, this seems to be a opportune time to solve the problem. Mr. Reg Clewley, Catalina Avenue, stated his opposition, it is presented without applicant as underground utility district 99-1, the hearing notice stated that the removal and undergrounding relocation of the overhead facilities shall be at the expense of the rate payers, to which he said if anyone thinks that Edison is going to do this undergrounding with their money they have another thought coming, it will be paid by the Edison customers, in fact all of the utilities have taken from their customers under the Public utility Commission Rule 20A which provides for discretionary distribution to favorite property owners along major thoroughfares or arterials at an average cost of $10,000 from pole to pole, all without consideration by the Planning Commission and whose recommendations are routinely disregarded by the Council. He claimed this to be a privilege for a few, also, Hellman is expected to provide funds to underground utilities fronting its land of I I 5-24-99 I undetermined future use, mineral production pending court decisions to the contrary, which is unlikely, Hellman would need a 404 permit, they have not even made application for one, and which could not be granted because of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, stating that the Hellmans are not going to fund that undergrounding. Mr. Clewley claimed that there will be greater exposure for students to radiation by undergrounding the high voltage wires near McGaugh School, and while unproven may be a risk, being overhead is much further away. The Musso family had to agree to undergrounding, they will have to pay, but the businesses will be the victims of the undergrounding. Mr. Clewley demanded that this matter be remanded to the Planning Commission for consideration and recommendation of the usage of the underground funds for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Mr. Dave Bartlett, representing the Hellman family, stated they are in favor of the undergrounding, the Hellman family has an obligation to underground the lines abutting their property, and look forward to working with the City and Edison to accomplish same in a timely manner. Mr. Jeff MCMorrow, attorney and resident of the Trailer Park, stated that after listening to the presentation on the Drainage Master Plan, he felt that this funding is available and the priority is appropriate given the other issues the City faces. Mr. Dominguez was invited to address the comments if desired. Mr. Dominguez said he would address what is termed the electric and magnetic fields, stated there have been a number of studies on the electric utility industries, some in Europe some in the United States, the California Department of Health and several other agencies recently provided information that there is no evidence one way or another with regard to alleged dangers of electric and magnetic fields, in fact if measurements were taken in the Chambers right now there would most likely be a higher reading than from facilities buried underground or from standing underneath overhead facilities. Also, a study was done of electric utility employees who work in substations and power plants, are around these facilities routinely as part of their employment and there was no evidence to indicate that those people suffer from any greater degree of health problems as compared to people who do not work in those facilities. Mr. Dominguez stated that the project combines electric, telephone, and cable, and once the project begins Edison will meet with those utility companies for the purpose of coordination. In response to comments of Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Dominguez explained that this project is designed to end at the northwest corner of Electric and Seal Beach Boulevard, the location referred to is thought to be on the other side of the Boulevard and is specifically a cable television issue that Comcast Cable would be involved with. With regard to the allegation of a potential increase of costs as a result of the project, the response of Mr. Dominguez was no, explaining that there has not been a rate increase for any type of service from Edison since July, 1996, and in December of last year there was a ten percent reduction, which was mandated as part of the deregulation for residential and small businesses, the rates are set by the Public Utilities Commission based upon presentations of the cost of doing business and service, as part of the profit and the cost of doing business a portion is paid back to the cities in the form of the 20A funds, it is not separate, it is part of doing business, it is taken from Edison profit and paid back to the cities on an allocation based upon the number of overhead meters on a ratio to the service territory. Mayor Yost declared the I I 5-24-99 public hearing closed. Mayor Yost noted the comment that a 404 permit is required for this project, asked if that were so, to which the Director of Public Works responded that it is not, this project has nothing to do with the approval process for Hellman. I Councilman Yost moved to adopt Resolution Number 4712 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH ESTABLISHING UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICT ON SEAL BEACH BOULEVARD BETWEEN ADOLFO LOPEZ DRIVE AND ELECTRIC AVENUE." Councilman Doane seconded the motion. By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 4712 was waived. In terms of the fields, Mayor Yost mentioned having considerable knowledge with regard to power lines, confirmed that there is not a lot of evidence, there are a couple of studies from Scandinavia that report an increased incidence of certain diseases in children that lived next to extremely high power lines, 512,000 volts as an example, but what they did not show is the dosage/response relationship, in other words the children who lived closer to have a higher incidence than those that lived close but not as close, thus far no one has been able to show that. He noted that the line being undergrounded is only 12K, would generate a very small amount of EMF, in fact a greater public safety hazard is having the line overhead and chancing it falling or being hit, the lines that were more recently taken down were higher, 66KV, and that was the result of a car actually hitting a pole and nearly killing someone, and the risk is even greater along busy arterials. Mayor Yost expressed his support for this undergrounding project, it does not increase the electric utility bill, increases public safety as well as aesthetics. I Motion to adopt Resolution Number 4712: AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow, Yost None Motion carried CHARTER AMENDMENTS Councilman Boyd mentioned that amendments to certain Charter sections were brought forth for discussion some months back by then Councilman Brown as well as the City Attorney, some housekeeping amendments, some at the will or desire of the Council, said amendments were initially intended to be submitted to the voters at the November, 1998 election, now for the March, 2000 ballot, again some amendments are housekeeping, not in compliance with current State law, others are policy issues relating to how tax dollars are dealt with also how the Council governs the City. He pointed out that the Charter is the Constitution of the City, is not taken lightly, and there is penalty for violation thereof. I Councilman Boyd stated his intent to make a motion to consider the items proposed and that an ad hoc committee be appointed consisting of two members of the Council and five public members to review and consider them, then refer back to the Council for a final vote. As to a time frame for consideration and submittal for the ballot, the City Clerk stated she did not have specific dates at this time, the County has yet to prepare an election calendar, however suggested consideration until at least September at minimum, and offered to calculate the deadlines more specifically. Suggestion was made that the amendments proposed by 5-24-99 Councilman Boyd and any others be referred directly to an ad hoc committee, that was countered with a suggestion that the public at least be made aware of them by means of discussion at this meeting. I Councilman Boyd reviewed his proposals for Charter amendments or revisions: 1) Section 601 relating to the residency requirements for the City Manager, conform to State law1 2) Section 1010, Contracts on Public Works, increasing the requirement for formal bids from $5,000 to $15,0001 3) Sections 406, 604(b), 604(c), 701, and 707, Department Heads, would provide ratification authority to the City Council as to the appointment or termination of a department head1 4) Section 409, Acceptance of Other Office, would revise to read 'may hold no conflicting elective office' rather than prohibit same 1 and 5) create a new Section 1014, dependent upon revenues and adoption of the annual budget would allow City Council direction that a minimum of one percent of general fund revenues be held in "reserve, and that the Cash Basis reserve at no time fall below one million dollars. To Section 709, Councilman Doane asked if it was felt that membership on the Leisure World Golden Rain Board or Mutual President would pose a conflict of office, to that Councilman Boyd said he did not believe it would however was not that familiar with the government structure of Leisure World, his thought with regard to a conflict of office had been a member of Congress, State legislator, County Supervisor, possibly even School Board member. As to the opinion in the case of former Councilman Brown as a Community College District Trustee, the City Attorney said under State law the issue is not whether the offices are in conflict rather incompatible, an opinion of the Attorney General determined in each case it was incompatible, as an example, if a local school board owns property within the city the Attorney General deemed that would be a conflict because there would be issues that affect both, thus incompatible, in the case of Mr. Brown it was not believed that the College District owns property in Seal Beach yet it was a close call, their firm did not give a definitive opinion, however said that under State law it is not incompatible yet a court could decide it was based upon the different duties. Councilman Boyd mentioned as an example the elected mayor of Santa Ana is also a districtwide elected member of the Orange County Water District. Councilman Doane expressed his belief that it is Section 709 that will need some fine tuning for his support. Councilman Boyd again suggested appointment of an ad hoc committee consisting of five public members and two Council members, Councilmember Campbell said consideration should not be limited to the five amendments mentioned, the entire Charter needs review, and to that the Mayor offered that the sections that are in noncompliance with State law are not being enforced thus there is no rush. The City Attorney confirmed that only the City Manager residency requirement is unconstitutional. I I Ms. Carla Watson, Catalina Avenue, expressed concern with regard to some of the proposed amendments, specifically the City Manager form of government which she said is appropriate for this City, and adopted by most cities of this size in California, her concern is with politicizing appointments, the City Manager can be removed by the Council if that individual does not abide by the Council, it would further politicize the process by having others involved in hiring and firing of employees and would serve to weaken the government. Ms. Watson expressed concern also with the rush 5-24-99 to do this, one must be careful when dealing with personalities, a change of the form of government would not be the right tact, rather, one must work within the government system, it is felt this form of government has served the City well. Councilmember Campbell noted that this has been a matter for consideration since last November, if not done now there will be another two year wait. Mr. Gordon Shanks, Surf Place, said there is no problem with revisions made for the purpose of compliance with State law, in fact the entire Charter should probably be reviewed periodically but very carefully, once changed it would be most difficult to change back, and once the Council recommends placement on the ballot it is likely the voters will approve them. Mr. Shanks said he has the same disagreement with the Department Head amendment as did Ms. Watson, if a City Manager form of government, as there is now, it needs to be a City Manager form of government, if the Council does not agree with what the Manager is doing then that person is released from employment, stated his opinion that this proposal is dangerous and may result in many problems and impossible situations in the long run. As to the Cash Basis Fund, Mr. Shanks said if it is at the $1 million that is fine yet if there is a requirement that the Fund be maintained at that and there is an emergency, the way the proposed new Section 1014 is written the money could not be used because of the requirement to maintain the $1 million. Mr. Shanks cautioned about what is placed in the Charter because once there it is difficult to change. He agreed that an ad hoc committee to review the entire Charter, not just the proposed revisions presented, would be the best method. Dr. David Rosenman, Seal Beach, said he too would support an ad hoc group to look at the Charter, of concern would be doing something that could be a short term fix instead of resolving a problem, which in the long term creates difficulty. I I Councilman Doane requested clarification that the ad hoc committee would be comprised of one representative from each Council district and two Councilmembers, and that was confirmed to be the understanding. Councilman Boyd confirmed that this has been a matter for consideration for some time, there is nothing that says it must be done for the 2000 election although that would be preferred. He expressed belief that there was misunderstanding of the Department Head proposed amendment, to which he stated the Council is not going to politicize that, the Council does not want to appoint or terminate the department heads, rather, the Council would simply agree with the recommendation of the" City Manager, as currently written if there is disagreement there is a problem, this does not reflect a circumstance that exists today, it is simply an accountability issue that more and more cities are doing statewide, and these are things that the ad hoc committee will need to decide for either the 2000 or 2002 election. As to a question posed by the Mayor, Councilman Boyd clarified that the $1 million requirement for the Cash Basis is established by ordinance, the Charter reference is to the ordinance for fiduciary responsibility, again, a violation of the Municipal Code if that fund is not maintained as such. Mayor Yost said he would have no problem with considering the compliance amendments for the next election cycle however could see no great urgency for total Charter review, also, would have no problem with accepting Council appointments to an ad hoc committee. With regard to housekeeping amendments, the City Attorney confirmed that Section 601, City Manager residency would be, Section 1010, Public Works bidding would be an update, an amendment from I 5-24-99 I his August 6th memorandum dealt with the Brown Act which is housekeeping, and although the City has always complied with the Act there is differences in language. At the request of Mayor Yost, the City Attorney agreed to meet with the committee for the purpose of guidance. Mayor Yost moved to establish an ad hoc committee to be composed of one public member from each Council district and two members of the Council along with the City Manager and City Attorney, to consider housekeeping revisions first and policy issues as time permits. Councilman Doane seconded the motion. Councilman Boyd mentioned that his submittals have been things that have been brought up to him, the purpose of the committee is to review them, if their consensus is to delete any or all of the amendments they shall then be dropped, also, if the committee can agree on placing certain items on the 2000 ballot that is fine, if not the matter will be delayed until 2002. AYES: NOES: Boyd, Campbell, Doane, Snow, Yost None Motion carried CITY ATTORNEY REPORT There was no report from the City Attorney. I CITY MANAGER REPORT The City Manager mentioned that the engineering staff and Public Works have been enforcing a policy for several years, most recently in College Park East with regard to utility cuts in repaved public streets, General Telephone requested to trench in one of the newly paved streets, Comcast had just previously requested to do so in virtually the same location, staff in turn asked that they go across the street at the cross gutter and place their line under the sidewalk rather than in the newly paved street, the intent is to let the Council know that the utilities are not necessarily pleased. This policy has been to request that they find some other means of doing utility replacement or that the utility company patch to the City's specifications and slurry over the entire street. The Manager noted also the receipt of some calls regarding Police Department enforcement of the City's prohibition of signs on public property, in this case real estate signs, this issue comes and goes and tends to be seasonal with the housing market, most recently the Police Department picked up several dozen signs, they are retrievable from the City, also, there has been written communication to the real estate brokers asking for their cooperation. Suggestion was made that the Department of Real Estate be notified and requested to forward notice to all local realtors, a suggestion also to notice the real estate associations. I PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Yost declared the Public Comment period to be open. Ms. Dorothy Whyte, College Park East, read excepts from Resolution Number 4001 setting forth City Council procedural rules, specifically with regard to addressing the Council, rules of decorum, permission to speak through the Chair, prohibition of a councilperson leaving their chair without permission, the discretion of the Mayor to allow a person to speak longer than five minutes, speaking limitations for councilmembers. Ms. Whyte criticized the demeanor of certain members of the Council. With regard to Charter amendments, Ms. Whyte agreed that the Charter is the constitution of the City, the proposed amendments should have been in the agenda 5-24-99 packet for the public to review, and the public should be included in any Charter amendment review. In response to Ms. Whyte, Mayor Yost said it is the Mayor who is responsible for enforcing the Council rules. Ms. Elizabeth Yost, Schooner Way, reported receiving a telephone call earlier this evening, the caller was unhappy about something, was yelling into the telephone, said that politics are rough in Seal Beach, to which Ms. Yost said this should not be, that is not what this town is like, and if politics are like that, it needs to change. Councilmember Campbell mentioned that she has received threats to the point of having to contact the Police Department. There being no further comments, Mayor Yost declared the Public Comment period closed. I COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilman Doane reported he was privileged to have been given a tour of the new Hennessey's restaurant, it will be opening in about two weeks, the facility is very nice. He mentioned also having visited Mr. K's, their renovation expected to be complete in about two months, and expressed his enthusiasm with having more restaurants. Councilmember Campbell reported continuing telephone calls regarding activities on the Bixby property, acknowledged that a great number of trees have been removed, to which she announced again that on the north side of Lampson Bixby is redoing the golf course, it is not relocation of the shopping center, that will be along Seal Beach Boulevard north of St. Cloud, and on the south side of Lampson that will be the senior care facility, a hotel, and two restaurants. Councilman Boyd suggested that the public utilize the City's web site, he and Mayor Yost are starting to use that means to disseminate information. He said he was encouraged by Mrs. Yost coming to the meeting, that points out what Councilmembers go though, families are harassed with phone calls, some of that can be expected and accepted, in fact one of the speakers this evening has been in contact with one of his professional clients which has nothing to do with City business, there are lines of acceptance that have to be drawn. Councilman Snow reported he was a guest of the Orange County Water District last week for the Santa Ana River tour, the most interesting trip he has had in the State, a two day tour starting at Seven Oaks Dam, that Dam is virtually completed, had the opportunity to view the construction, from there to the watershed of the Santa Ana, encountered several interesting points, listened to a number of expert commentaries, this basically for the ground water replenishment system that is now going on where millions of gallons of water are being cleaned, pumped underground for reuse in the Santa Ana basin, the wetlands behind Prado Dam was the most interesting of the operation, the trip ended up at what is called Station 21 on Ellis Avenue, there they stood on a pipe where during the course of the day fifteen million gallons of water was being pumped from the Sanitation District to the Orange County Water District where they are experimenting with water cleaning. He said he mentioned this because in the future he would suggest to the Council that the City have a representative come and address the Council, they have agreed to do so. Mayor Yost thanked the Council for his selection as Mayor and said he would do his best to allow everyone to express their views and run a businesslike meeting yet will be flexible at times with regard to public input. He announced that his meeting relating to San Gabriel River water quality was excellent with the presentation of the representative from the Health Department. with regard to the Charter amendments, expressed concern with some however I I 5-24-99 I 6-7-99 I spoke favorably of having an ad hoc committee to review them. As to the attendance of his wife at this meeting, he apologized for her having to do that, and noted that he is much more accepting of the public interest if given calm arguments and logic behind a position rather than irate behavior, by virtue of his profession he has found that the most successful people in dealing with life saving situations are those who think calmly rather than doing something quickly, rather, think about what can be done to make change and that is likely to be more successful. Councilman Boyd noted that there were press releases today with regard to the east beach grand reopening on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m., this after the replenishment of the beach, at that time some of the City's representatives will be thanked for their assistance in making the project happen. CLOSED SESSION The City Attorney announced that the Council would meet in Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957 to discuss the item identified on the agenda relating to personnel matters. The Council adjourned to Closed Session at 9:31 p.m. and reconvened at 9:59 p.m. The City Attorney reported the Council had discussed the item previously identified, no action was taken. I ADJOURNMENT By unanimous consent, the Council adjourned the meeting until Monday, June 7th at 7:30 p.m. for a budget workshop. It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn the meeting at 10:01 p.m. Approved: Jr Mayor Attest: Seal Beach, California June 7, 1999 I The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular adjourned session at 7:30 p.m. with Mayor Yost calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Yost Councilmembers Boyd, Campbell, Snow Absent: Councilman Doane