MINUTES

REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AND CITY COUNCIL

REGULAR MEETING

JULY 22, 2008 - 6:00 p.m.

 

 

CALL TO ORDER

 

            The regular meeting of the City Council and Redevelopment Agency of the City of     Highland was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by Mayor Lilburn at the Donahue Council       Chambers, 27215 Base Line, Highland, California.

 

The invocation was given by Pastor Wayne Reynolds of Immanuel Baptist Church and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Pro Tem Jones.

 

ROLL CALL

 

            Present:          Jones, McCallon, Timmer, Mayor Lilburn

            Absent:           Scott

 

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

 

Mayor Lilburn presented City Manager Hughes with a Community Spirit Award for his dedication and contribution to the community of Highland.  Police Chief Phillips thanked City Manager Hughes and Director of Administrative Services Dantuono for their contribution to the community. 

 

Todd Warden, Representative from South Coast Air Quality Management District, gave a brief update. 

 

COMMUNITY INPUT

 

Mr. Fred Yauger, Director of East Highlands Ranch Board, stated he has a concern regarding the foreclosure properties in the Ranch and the maintenance of the properties.  He believes Riverside has adopted an ordinance allowing penalties to incur for properties not being maintained and would like the city to look into this. 

 

Councilman Timmer stated the Ranch has the capability to ask residents to maintain their properties.  If Mr. Yauger is asking for Council to assist in the process, we would have to go through the process which would be very timely. 

 

Mr. Gene Quesada stated he purchased his property approximately 20 years ago.  He now has a street behind him which is a cul-de-sac that has a public drainage that runs underground and on the side of his home.  The drainage area is also overgrown with weeds.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated staff will contact Mr. Quesada.

 

CITY COUNCIL/REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY CONSENT CALENDAR

 

City Manager Hughes stated a request for a Closed Session item to be added to the agenda.

 

A MOTION was made by Councilman McCallon, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jones, to add a Closed Session item to the agenda.  Motion carried, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.

 

A MOTION was made by Councilman McCallon, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jones, to approve the consent calendar as submitted.  Motion carried on a roll call vote, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.            

 

1.         Waive the Reading of All Ordinances

Waived the reading of all Ordinances in their entirety and read by title only.

 

2.         Minutes - June 10, 2008 City Council Regular Meeting

Approved Minutes as submitted. 

 

3.         Minutes - June 10, 2008 RDA Regular Meeting

Approved Minutes as submitted. 

 

4.         Claim Consideration - Aurturo Mendez Contreras

Rejected claim. 

 

5.         Warrant Register

Approved Warrant Register No. 466 for July 22, 2008, in the amount of $2,351,583.63 and Payroll of $69,696.46. 

 

6.         Easement Acceptance/9th Street - Lepe

1.         Accepted the Grant of Easement for Road and Drainage Purposes from Javier V. Lepe and Luz Elena Lepe; and

2.         Directed the City Clerk to record the Grant of Easement.

 

7.         Easement Acceptance/TREH-Partners (CUP 007-003/Highland Crossings)

1.         Accepted the Grant of Easement for Road and Drainage Purposes from Regency Realty Group; and

2.         Directed the City Clerk to record the Grant of Easement. 

 

8.         Easement Acceptance/9th Street Sidewalk Improvements

1.         Accepted the Grants of Easement for Road and Drainage Purposes from Ruben and Emma A. Delgado; and

2.         Directed the City Clerk to Record the Grants of Easement. 

 

9.         A Semi-Annual Report of the Processing of Applications per the City Council’s “Come Home to Highland” Program and Policies for the Period of January 1, 2008, to June 30, 2008

Received and filed the report. 

 

10.       Direct the City Clerk to Publish Ordinances as Required by Applicable Law and Designating the Three Public Places where Official City Documents may be Posted

Adopted Resolution No. 2008-035 directing the City Clerk to publish ordinances as required by applicable law and designating the three public places where official city documents may be posted.  

 

RESOLUTION NO. 2008-035

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIGHLAND,

CALIFORNIA REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 98-48,

DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH ORDINANCES

AS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW AND

DESIGNATING THE THREE PUBLIC PLACES WHERE

OFFICIAL CITY DOCUMENTS MAY BE POSTED

 

CITY COUNCIL/REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PUBLIC HEARING

 

11.       Consideration of a Resolution to Increase the Business Licenses Tax on the Extraction and/or Processing of Rock, Sand and Gravel (Aggregate) pursuant to Section 5.17.040 (Rock, Sand and Gravel [Aggregate] Extraction and Processing Tax), of Chapter 5.17 (Business License Tax on Extraction and/or processing of Rock, Sand and Gravel [Aggregate]) of Title 5 (Business Licenses and Regulations)

 

Mayor Lilburn opened the public hearing.

 

Community Development Director Jaquess stated this item is one that comes up on an annual basis.  The mining tax is proposed to be increased annually based on the cost of living index and this year it is going up from 17.19 cents per ton to 17.82 cents per ton.  We did notify the mining companies and the BIA about two weeks ago and he has not received any feedback. 

 

Mayor Lilburn inquired if there were any applicants in the audience who would like to give a presentation.  Hearing none, she stated she has not received any speaker slips in favor or opposition, therefore, she will close the public hearing.

 

A MOTION was made by Councilman McCallon, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jones, to adopt Resolution No. 2008-036 fixing the Highland Business Tax on the extraction and/or processing of rock, sand and gravel (aggregate) for Fiscal Year 2008-2009.  Motion carried, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.

 

RESOLUTION NO. 2008-036

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIGHLAND

FIXING THE HIGHLAND BUSINESS LICENSE TAX ON THE EXTRACTION

AND/OR PROCESSING OF ROCK SAND AND GRAVEL (AGGREGATE)

FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008-2009


12.       Consideration of Proposals of Tow Companies to Participate in the City’s Tow Rotation Program beginning July 1, 2008, and ending June 30, 2010

 

Mayor Lilburn opened the public hearing.

 

Community Development Director Jaquess stated this item was previously before you, about two years ago, and the contract was approved which expired on June 30, 2008.  We are running a little over and have continued with the previous tow rotation people that were previously approved.  This time staff sent out an RFP in May to the five tow companies that were already on the tow rotation agreement.  Staff also sent out three additional copies to firms that have indicated they wanted to be considered being added to the tow rotation and advertised the tow rotation in the newspaper.  He did not receive any additional requests but we did get eight submittals.  Seven submittals were received by the deadline as noted in the staff report.  One of the submittals came in about five days after the deadline. Of all the submittals, only two are fully compliant with all the criteria of the RFP and the contract.  This means they have four classes of towing and storage, their storage yards are within 1-1/2 miles of the city and they fully comply.  Others in different ways were less compliant.  A & G and Armada were fully compliant and they have been on the program previously for six years.  Bill Wags is a new request and they are not currently in the tow rotation in the City of Highland but their yard is about two miles from the city limits.  They are located in Redlands right now.  That is one of the criteria that we have applied in the past to evaluate firms and the criteria was they should be within 1-1/2 miles.  The fourth one was JLM Towing, another new proponent.  One correction to the staff report - after the staff report was distributed he spoke with the owner and the owner stated they are both Class A and Class B provider.  Their tow yard is also outside the 1-1/2 mile criteria.  They are about seven miles from city limits.  L & L Towing has been in the program for about ten years.  They are Class A, Class B and Class C Towing.  They have been previously approved and have been in the program for ten years. 

 

Councilman Timmer stated they have a yard within the City of Highland.

 

Community Development Director Jaquess stated yes they have a yard within the city.  Pepe’s Tow Service has been in the program for six years and is currently in good standing.  They are a Class A and Class B tow and storage provider.  They have been previously approved but they did have a yard that was more than 1.5 miles from the city.  Their yard is about 2.2 miles from the city.  They did provide all the information that was requested from them since the staff report was prepared.  William Dot Truck Specialties is a new proponent.  It’s the third of the three.  They are a Class A and Class B proponent.  Their yard is more than 1-1/2 miles in distance.  It’s about 2.2 miles from city limits to their yard.  Wilson Towing is an agency that has been in the tow rotation for several years, since 1994 in fact.  They are a Class A and Class B tow facility only, similar to the previous proponent.  Staff has provided all eight of the proposals to the Council for determination.  One of the questions that arose at staff level is what is the amount of activity that we have right now and historically in the program.  It is a little difficult to answer.  We have coordinated with the Police Department on that and they were able to document about 450 tows last year and those were spread across the five tow companies that we have.  The Police Department indicated there were some other private towing that occurred that they did have information on.  He did put a summary table at the end of the staff report that you could refer to that has basic information in there.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated, we only had two people who complied with the RFP.  Let’s just say this is another project that we had going on in the city and only two people complied with the RFP.  Would we only allow those two people to qualify for the project?  Why should it be any different on the tow rotation? 

 

Community Development Director Jaquess stated the only reason he would address that differently would be the fact that there is a history of the city for the last several year of granting some adjustments to that criteria. 

 

Mayor Lilburn stated obviously there is a reason we wanted them close and we wanted them to have a C and D license.  Her concern is why should we treat them any differently.  An RFP is an RFP.  She knows we have some applicants here and she was a little curious as she read one proposal was five days late with no reasoning. 

 

Councilman Timmer stated he would follow up with the same question.  Would we normally accept an application after the deadline dates?

 

Community Development Director Jaquess stated normally we would not but he did in this case bring it forward for Council’s consideration because one, they are a long term provider of this service in the city and got a very good report from the Police Department, who evaluated all of the submittals. 

 

Mayor Lilburn stated could he define Class A as a regular tow, Class B is a bigger tow.

 

Community Development Director Jaquess stated they are all based on the type of vehicle they had to use to do the equipment.  He would refer to a specific tow company provider to give us a detailed description of what those different trucks are. 

 

Mayor Lilburn asked if there are any tow truck companies willing to define the class of C and D.

 

City Manager Hughes stated it is also based on minimum gross vehicle weight as well. Class A is a minimum of 14,000, Class B is 19,000, Class C is 33,000 and Class D is 50,000.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated her concern is we have all these with Class A and Class B but  not Class C and D.  Are we just giving them the big stuff and not calling them for the smaller stuff as well? 

 

 

Mr. Mike Hassan, Armada Towing, stated he has Class A, B, C and D.  Class C and D is the most expensive equipment that you can have.  It has special employees, special training, special insurance and these trucks cost five to ten times more than a regular class does.  When we were put on the city’s rotation, we had to comply with Class C and D.  He has complied with that and other towers have.  Now typically the rotation they would call him or Pepe’s for Class C and D, most of the time city vehicles, fire trucks and school busses to be moved out of the way.  Class C and D are on stand by at all times. 

 

Mayor Lilburn inquired if they are getting calls for A and B as well.

 

Mr. Mike Hassan, Armada Towing, stated yes.  To run a Class C or Class D truck, it also costs about $10,000 to $12,000 a month. 

 

Councilman Timmer stated yes but you are compensated for that by the higher tow rate for those larger vehicles.

 

Mr. Mike Hassan, Armada Towing, stated that is true but there isn’t a whole lot of volume. 

 

Councilman Timmer stated historically we have looked at the bulk of the service that we ask for and most of the tows are A and B, probably 90% to 95%, if not greater than that.  Maybe the alternative is we need to revise our fee if we don’t want to take any action. 

 

Councilman McCallon stated one thing he is feeling uncomfortable with is considering the proposal that was not submitted within the appropriate time when everyone else submitted it.  He feels uncomfortable moving forward with the particular application.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated she recalls two years ago Council accepted an RFP that was late.  Why would we take one two years ago and not one this year?

 

Councilman Timmer stated historically we probably did do that as this is a unique issue.  Maybe at our next two year cycle we should look at refining the requests on how we put that together so everyone is on the same page.

 

Mayor Pro Tem Jones stated he has some concerns.  Pepe’s Towing submitted 16 certificates from Workman’s Compensation to various individuals but we have no certificates of insurance for General Liability or Auto.  Is there a reason for this?  In the RFP there are 16 certificates for Workman’s Compensation coverage to various certificate holders of which the City of Highland was not one of them. 

 

Pepe’s Towing stated everything should be up to date.  Our manager probably missed some forms that are being asked for now.  The previous manager is no longer with the company. 


Mayor Pro Tem Jones stated this concerns him because they all meet the requirements but without knowing that, you don’t meet the requirements.  The other is JLM Towing.  Their certificate expired on June 30, 2008.  Is there a current one?

 

Mr. Jose Serrano, JLM Towing, stated we tow for the CHP and everything has to be updated.  He might have made a mistake and put the wrong one in the package. 

 

Mayor Lilburn stated it was probably current when we asked for the RFP’s.

 

City Manager Hughes stated this item was actually supposed to come to Council back on the second meeting of June and we ended up not having the meeting so that could be why.

 

Mr. Jose Serrano, JLM Towing, stated when it comes to the Class C and D trucks, we might be a small company but we do provide the service that is required.  It is up to each company to have a Class C and D because as Armada Towing was saying, they are expensive.

 

Mr. Mike Hassan, Armada Towing, stated Class C and D are being provided as free tows to the City of Highland, Fire Trucks and City Vehicles.  If he has to have C and D and the Highland Fire Department calls and says one of the trucks broke down, he goes out there, performs a service for free.  Per his RFP contract, he has to have that truck. 

 

Mayor Lilburn asked does the RFP call for free services? 

 

Mr. Mike Hassan, Armada Towing, stated for all city vehicles, it is in the contract.  He and Pepe’s have been doing them for the past six years for free, C and D. Now another tower comes in with A and B, he doesn’t have to do the free tows if he doesn’t want to do them because C and D are usually the city vehicles and that’s not fair.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated well it is stated in the RFP so it is fair.  You have agreed to provide the service, however, we need to do apples for apples.

 

Mr. Mike Hassan, Armada Towing, stated yes it is unfair for him to have it and other towers that are trying to get on, don’t have it.

 

Mayor Pro Tem Jones stated but they would be providing free tows for those classes that they are towing within.  It is fair.  In our RFP we have $750,000 per accident, bodily injury, property damage limit.  He thinks that is extremely low for current conditions today.  Many of the tow companies that have applied have much higher limits than that and this should be raised to meet the current standards of today yet we will allow tow trucks to operate within this city and tow vehicles and allow them to get away $750,000.  On the “Hook Coverage” which is that vehicle which is in tow on Class A, our requirement is $50,000.  There are a lot of vehicles today that are a whole lot more than $50,000.  You can take any Mercedes, Lexus, you know some Expeditions and what this does is it puts the city at risk for that for which is over that.  We become the secondary insurer that the tow company is the primary with limits of only $50,000.  We are primary on every single tow that they are doing and that is not acceptable as far as he is concerned.  The same thing on Class B.  It is a $100,000 limit and then you have $200,000 and $250,000 on C’s and D’s.  Again the importance in C and D is not only is the vehicle required within that but also any cargo that’s in those vans we are responsible for on the hook and that limit is way too low.  It is absolutely way too low depending upon the cargo that is involved in it.  Again several of the tow companies have limits higher than that but he thinks we need to bring this standard up to a higher limit. 

 

Mr. Mike Hassan, Armada Towing, stated he has on his insurance package $1 million dollar coverage.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated Mayor Pro Tem Jones was just generalizing in our RFP for what we should ask for.

 

Mayor Pro Tem Jones stated not necessarily Armada Towing.  Under Garage Keeper’s Legal Liability this of course covers any vehicle while it is in the care/custody and control of the tow company.  That would mean that we’re saying the requirement should be the same as on the “Hook.”  If we tow three cars, for instance, that are $65,000 a piece, our Garage Keepers legal requirement is only $50,000 but we have three cars in storage that is worth $150,000.  We the City of Highland, are now insuring the storage of those vehicles in that tow yard which is absolutely unacceptable as far as he is concerned.  Again the limits have to be increased to meet the current standards of what our exposure is and it is far greater than what we are asking.

 

Councilman McCallon asked does our current contract allow for extensions of the existing contract? 

 

Community Development Director Jaquess stated there was no provision for that in the contract language itself. 

 

Councilman McCallon stated the reason he asks is with all of these concerns about the way the proposal is, if we could extend the current contracts for a period of time and then put out a new RFP.  It might address a lot of these issues that have been talked about.

 

Community Development Director Jaquess stated you can take a formal action to extend those.  They are not automatically extended but a formal action can be taken to extend the ones that are currently in place.


City Manager Hughes stated what we could do, per Council direction, is a letter agreement with the existing providers for a fixed period of time and then we could put it back out.  What would be good is to bring this item back to the Public Safety Subcommittee and get some input from the committee.  We could do letter agreements to extend the agreements and attach that to the contract if the City Attorney is in agreement.  This would buy us some time to put the item back out again.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated that is a good idea and she doesn’t mind doing that but if we are going to change the contract and then we put it out for an RFP, we need to clarify what we want. 

 

City Manager Hughes stated in the past staff has presented these items but past Councils have also tweaked it and added to it as well as allowed some of these things to occur.  If it is the direction of the Council that you only want A, B, C, D to be able to apply for it then that’s what it will be.  In the past, Council has allowed these exemptions.

 

Councilman Timmer stated part of the rationale was that there is a limited amount of folks out there.  We didn’t want to exclude small businesses to provide a service to the city so he would think if this is something we want to look at which is to provide a six month extension while we put a new one together.  We, as a Council, need to be very careful that we don’t eliminate some small businesses that have provided services.  We need to make sure we still have the ability to deal with small businesses that have been providing services to our city, that we update all the current insurance requirements so there is better protection for our city and those things.  He would hate to have a blanket statement saying we only hire folks that are A, B, C and D certified or who has that type of equipment.  We would be eliminating a big portion of the business community who has provided a service.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated she agrees but we are asking for that in the RFP so she is not sure of the fixable solution.  Maybe this is something we could address in the Public Safety Subcommittee as to those who do provide Class C and D.

 

Mayor Pro Tem Jones stated he thinks the justification is the fact any of those who have the full line get in the rotation on a regular basis and they get called on for any vehicle that is to be towed. Those who cannot tow C and D, they get past over on any C and D tows and it goes directly to the person who has all of them.  The person who has all of them could be called five times in a row where the individual who only has A and B is only going to be called if they are eligible to tow.  We have more city vehicles that are not fire trucks but other types of vehicles.

 

Councilman Timmer stated one of the issues that have had a lot of debate is the closeness of the facilities to Highland.  One of the concerns of an individual Council Member was that if someone has a vehicle towed, they no longer have a vehicle and now has to go to Fontana or Ontario to pick up their vehicle.  Initially we had said we wanted their facilities to be in Highland.  Some of the contractors at that time moved their businesses to Highland to meet the criteria.  Then we started flexing on the criteria and we kind of said do we want to encourage to have vehicle storage facilities in our city.  Maybe it would be better if they were in San Bernardino but they can’t be any further than ½ a mile away.  Again, if someone has to pick up their vehicle they won’t have to drive to Ontario.  If we take action, two things are important, we don’t exclude small businesses and it is written in such a way that we have a need for all four classes and the other is we still need to encourage facilities relatively close to Highland. 

 

Mr. Mike Hassan, Armada Towing, stated regarding the amount of C and D tows that we have gotten this year so far is two commercial tows since August.  Last year he could account for one.

 

Councilman Timmer stated to him the solution should be that we only go with A, B and C and eliminate D.  If we need a D tow requirement, the sheriff calls the next one that they want to help the CHP with.  Maybe that’s the way we should look at the RFP.  If we are only having two tows a year, do we really need to have that as a requirement in the RFP? 

 

Mayor Pro Tem Jones stated Councilman Timmer is assuming the fact that the vehicle will be on a freeway as opposed to a city street.

 

Councilman Timmer stated no, because they still have to meet CHP standards.  In fact, we adopted the same standards for our city.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated she thinks it is still worthy of a review of the contract language and if nothing else for an update.

 

Councilman Timmer stated if we are going to look at trying to meet some of these concerns, it won’t be done in one meeting.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated she has no speaker slips in favor or opposition, therefore, she will close the public hearing.

 

Councilman Timmer stated initially when he read the proposals and before some of the issues came up, his initial reaction was let’s go with the same providers that we have now since they have been providing a good service with the exception of Pepe’s because they did not adhere to our requirements as far as providing information in a timely manner.  However, he thinks some other issues have now surfaced and the one that really bothers him is the liability issues that the city could be taking on and maybe we don’t want to do that.  So, maybe we would want to do a letter to each of the current providers extending the services for six months or some period of time to give the right committee some time to come up with these issues. 

 

Mayor Lilburn asked if the motion is to send a letter to the current providers with the extension of six additional months?  Is that including Pepe’s? 

 

Councilman Timmer stated yes because they are a current provider.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated and then further discussion back to review for further draft of the contract with the Public Safety Subcommittee.

 

Councilman Timmer stated he thinks it should include additional things like if they don’t get the paperwork in on time as a complete package, they are excluded from the process.  This should be in the Request for Proposal, just like we do with bids.  If the bid doesn’t come in on time, we don’t accept it.

 

Mayor Lilburn stated but that should be in the letter of extension of their contract.  We are going to extend it for six additional months but you must provide this and this and this. 

 

City Manager Hughes stated it should be in the RFP.

 

Councilman Timmer stated we would indicate in the letter that hopefully within six months we would have a Request for Proposal out and you would have to address those issues and the RFP would include all those characteristics.

 

A MOTION was made by Councilman Timmer, seconded by Councilman McCallon, to prepare a 6-month extension letter to all current tow company providers and for the current contract language to be reviewed by the Public Safety Subcommittee.  Motion carried, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.

 

13.       Cancel Public Hearing for Adjustment of Commercial Solid Waste Rates

 

Mayor Lilburn opened the public hearing.

 

City Manager Hughes stated staff is requesting this item be canceled and for it to be re-advertised at a future Council meeting.

 

            Mayor Lilburn closed the public hearing. 

 

A MOTION was made by Councilman McCallon, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jones, to cancel the public hearing for adjustment of commercial solid waste rates.  Motion carried, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.

 

14.       Consolidated Landscape and Lighting District 96-1 Annual Report (Fiscal Year 2008-09)

 

Mayor Lilburn opened the public hearing. 

 

City Engineer Wong stated this is the annual protest hearing for assessment for maintenance of parks, trails, parkway and median landscaping and also street lights. Staff did not receive any written or verbal protests on the proposed assessment rates and staff recommends that Council confirm the approval of the engineer’s report and the levying of the assessment.


Mayor Lilburn stated she has no speaker slips in favor or opposition, therefore, she will close the public hearing.

 

A MOTION was made by Mayor Pro Tem Jones, seconded by Councilman Timmer, to approve Resolution No. 20008-037 ordering the continued maintenance of improvements in the Consolidated Landscape and Lighting District No. 96-1, confirming the Engineer’s Report and levying the assessment for fiscal year 2008-09.  Motion carried, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.

 

RESOLUTION NO. 2008-037

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIGHLAND

ORDERING THE CONTINUED MAINTENANCE OF IMPROVEMENTS IN

THE CONSOLIDATED LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING DISTRICT NO. 96-1

AND CONFIRMING THE ENGINEER’S REPORT AND

LEVYING THE ASSESSMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008-09

 

15.       Street and Drainage Maintenance District 96-1 Annual Report (Fiscal Year 2008-09)

 

Mayor Lilburn opened the public hearing. 

 

City Engineer Wong stated similarly this is the protest hearing for the street and draining maintenance district.  Staff recommends approval of the engineer’s report and levying of the assessment. 

 

Mayor Lilburn stated she has no speaker slips in favor or opposition, therefore, she will close the public hearing.

 

A MOTION was made by Mayor Pro Tem Jones, seconded by Councilman Timmer, to approve Resolution No. 2008-038 ordering the continued maintenance of improvements in the Street and Drainage Maintenance District 96-1, confirming the Engineer’s Report and levying the assessment for fiscal year 2008-09.  Motion carried, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.

 

RESOLUTION NO. 2008-038

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIGHLAND

ORDERING THE CONTINUED MAINTENANCE OF IMPROVEMENTS

IN THE STREET AND DRAINAGE MAINTENANCE DISTRICT NO. 96-1

AND CONFIRMING THE ENGINEER’S REPORT

AND LEVYING THE ASSESSMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008-09

 


CITY COUNCIL/REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY LEGISLATIVE

 

16.       Proposed Contract Amendment with the County of San Bernardino for Animal Care and Control Services from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009

 

            Community Development Director Jaquess gave a brief review of the staff report.

 

Councilman Timmer stated in reference to the SB 90 dollars, the state has sometimes taken those monies out of the budget and on the expanded program  there is a reference.  Will we be doing both areas at one time or doing them separate?

 

Community Development Director Jaquess answered they have stated they will do half the city one year and half the city the following year.

 

Councilman Timmer asked do we, as a city, choose which half is done first?  Historically we have wild running dogs more frequent on the west side rather than on the east side.  He would suggest doing the west side first.  We need to adjust the map as it includes parts of San Bernardino.

 

Mr. Brian Cronin, Division Chief of Animal Care and Control for San Bernardino County stated, we have recommended the dog licensing program for some time.  We do feel the primary emphasis is to encourage spay and neutering of the pets.  The city has taken the first step in trying to consider a canvassing project.  We do believe you should not target just one section of the city and have a mix within the city to have the results for revenue.  Our proposal is to target prospective areas in the city.

 

Councilman Timmer asked if we could do both areas at the same time or parts of those areas at the same time to have a unified approach that would be ideal. 

 

Mayor Lilburn inquired if costs for services were going down.

 

Mr. Brian Cronin, Division Chief of Animal Care and Control for San Bernardino County, stated no, they are actually going up.  The number of service calls in the city has increased significantly over the past year.  We actually had 900 additional calls for service in 2007-2008 compared to 2006-2007.  The time spent in Highland has actually increased.  We hope through our dog licensing canvassing program we will have a higher visibility in the community and hope to address the increased costs.

 

A MOTION was made by Councilman McCallon, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jones, to approve the contract amendment with the County of San Bernardino for Animal Care and Control services from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, in the amount of $483,745; authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the appropriate documents; and authorize staff to continue to work with the County to establish a Joint Powers Authority for the East Valley cities for Animal Care and Control and Shelter Services.  Motion carried, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.

 

17.       Ad Hoc Committee Report on Consultant Update on Specific Plan Proposals for the Orange County Flood Control Property Southeast of the Seven Oaks Dam

 

City Manager Hughes gave a brief review of the staff report.

 

Mayor Pro Tem Jones stated the meeting went well with Orange County addressing their concerns and the City of Highland addressing our concerns.  An understanding was established of our design of this property being one of the last developments that we will ever have to deal with in the city.  We have concerns that it not become a tax on the city that the city has to provide all the services to this community at a cost to the city itself as opposed to the project being developed and designed in such a way that it will bring commercial jobs which will help offset the exposure.  In order to get to this level, we discussed the process of having a developer involved from the very beginning as opposed to being brought in at a later date.  In doing so, the developer would be one that would have a commitment both financially and to the community. 

 

Councilman McCallon stated we did discuss the fact that we thought the best thing for this project is to have a developer involved from the beginning.  We want a project that includes jobs, retail, housing, maybe a self contained community.  It is apparent in the discussion with Orange County that one of their primary concerns is to try to use the existing procurement process that they have gone through.  They proposed a six month envisioning process and a developer could get involved later in the process as a way of salvaging their current procurement.  He does not support this.  He thinks we, as a Council, need to let the Orange County policy makers know clearly that we want a developer involved in this project from the beginning.  If they cannot do this in the current procurement package, we would request another one to achieve what we are looking for. 

 

Mayor Pro Tem Jones stated we have to understand that this particular community actually sits seven miles from here.  It amends itself to a design standard that will include the commercial and other businesses that are necessary to operate it as well as the services of police, fire and other public services that will be necessary. 

 

            Mayor Lilburn stated it seems Orange County wants our direction and our concerns in writing following this meeting and she wants to thank both members of the Ad Hoc           for their time. 

 

A MOTION was made by Councilman McCallon, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jones, to issue a statement to Orange County Board of Supervisors stating City Council wants to clearly communicate the fact we are not in favor of the six month vision process.  The City Council wants a developer led effort and this cannot be done within their current procurement activity then we will issue another Request for Proposals.  Motion carried, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.    


18.       Second Reading of Ordinance No. 327 Authorizing Notification to the Department of Housing and Community Development for the Cancellation of Enforcement Responsibility for the Mobile Home Parks Act and the Special Occupancy Parks Act

 

Community Development Director Jaquess gave a brief review of the staff report.

 

A MOTION was made by Councilman McCallon, seconded by Councilman Timmer, to adopt the second reading of Ordinance No. 327 to notify the Department of Housing and Community Development to cancel the city enforcement responsibility for the Mobile Home Parks Act and the Special Occupancy Parks Act.  Motion carried, 4-0, with Councilwoman Scott being absent.

 

ORDINANCE NO. 327

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF HIGHLAND, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTION 8.16.010 OF THE HIGHLAND MUNICIPAL CODE AUTHORIZING NOTIFICATION TO THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOR THE CANCELLATION OF ENFORCEMENT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MOBILEHOME PARKS ACT (HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTION 18200 ET SEQ.) AND THE SPECIAL OCCUPANCY PARKS ACT (HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTION 18860 ET SEQ.)

 

19.       Update on SANBAG, SCAG, Omnitrans, Work Program and Regional/Legislative Issues/Development Issues/Subcommittees/AB 1234 Updates

 

            Councilman McCallon stated SCAG will have workshops for the proposed Regional

            Comprehensive Plan on August 1, 2008.

           

Councilman Timmer stated he attended the Muni Advisory Commission Meeting along        with Councilwoman Scott.  They spoke about how to acquire additional waters since the state water allocation is being severely cut and how the aquifers are going down.

 

20.       San Bernardino International Airport Authority and IVDA

 

            None

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

            Monday, July 28, 2008         Blood Drive at Community Center

            Monday, July 28, 2008         Ed Begley, Jr., and Environmental Issues at the Community Center

            Friday, August 1, 2008         Volunteer Recognition Dinner at Community Center

           


CLOSED SESSION

 

            At 7:46 p.m., the City Council and Redevelopment Agency convened into closed       session regarding the following:

 

CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION

            Subject to Government Code Section 54956.9 (a)

            City of Highland vs. McCarty et al

            San Bernardino Superior Court Case Number SCISS130282

 

            At 8:05 p.m., the City Council and Redevelopment Agency convened into open          session, with all members present, making no announcements.

 

ADJOURN

 

            There being no further business, Mayor Lilburn adjourned the meeting at 8:07 p.m.

 

 

 

Submitted by:                                                            Approved by:

 

 

 

____________________________                     _________________________________

Betty Hughes, CMC                                                  Penny Lilburn

City Clerk                                                                   Mayor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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