HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/23/19791
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MINUTES
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1979 - 11:30 A.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
Roll Call
Councilmembers
PRESENT: Alan Bond, Jeff Jorgensen and Mayor Lynn Cooper
ABSENT: Melanie Billig and Ron Dunin. .
City Staff
PRESENT: .Leland Walton, City.Administrative Officer;.J.H. Fitzpatrick,
City Clerk; George Thacher, City Attorney; Roger Neuman, Chief
of Police; Captain Englert, Police Department
1. The City Council considered matters relative to the June 30th rally
to be held in San Luis Obispo County sponsored by the Abalone Alliance, a
protest to the nuclear power plant.
Lee Walton, Administrative Officer, reviewed for the City Council the proposal
of Abalone Alliance and other national groups to hold a major ant.i.- nuclear
rally in San Luis.Obispo County on June 30, 1979. Apparentl- yyarrangemersts have
been under discussion with the County for a number of months. Since the pub-
licity with the accident at Three -mile Island, it appears that between 40
and 80 thousand people will.be expected.at.the rally, depending on the weather
and the gasoline situation. One of the problems involved in negotiations with
the County Board of Supervisors, was that they required a million dollar
insurance policy for liability and a.5 thousand dollar cash bond to insure
clean- up..and restoration of the County park if used. The Alliance has accepted
the insurance requirement but is refusing to meettthe 5 thousand dollar cash
bond as being excessive and punitive. The issue before the Council then is
whether the City in anticipation of the problem should take precautions to
minimize the impact of the event on the City. If so, what are the alternatives?
AlternativefNo. 1 - would be to deny the use of the facilities on the reasonable
basistthat city parks are not designed for and cannot accommodate groups of the
size anticipated.
While there is no feasible method of preventing individual members from as-
sembling within various city parks, the city can prohibit the use of sound
equipment etc. He felt that all the denial would do would cause a confron-
tation between the.City and the rally people. Such a confrontation could
result in substantial damage to city facilities and a major burden to the
taxpayers for overtime costs relating to police.and,fire services. Al-
though the Abalone Alliance claims to be a non - violent group, the sheer size
of the anticipated crowd introduces a substantial degree of uncertainty.
With a little luck, there will be no major problem, but there is a major risk
that a well - meaning, but frustrated group could get out of hand with rather
serious financial consequences for the community.
.Alternative No. 2 - would be to encourage..the.:All.iance and their.associated
groups to utilize .the -.facilities .outsi.de.of San .Luis Obispo more suitable for
the occasion::The only _feasible location�ap.pears to.be the E1. Chorro Regional
Park. This park could handle the expected crowd, providing that adequate ar-
rangements are made for traffic :control and.san.itation..Whi.le the Alliance
and their associated groups .appear . we.l.l- organized and capable of.
clean -up, -the crowd size suggests that new plantings in the park would suffer
extensive. damage under the best-of circumstances. Thus, -while the 5 thousand
City Council Minutes
May 23,1979 .
Page 2
dollar cash bond is far in excess of previous requirements for organizational
use of the County park, it should be noted that the County has no experience
or precedent in accommodating a crowd of this large size. If this appears to
be the best practical alternative, it may be appropriate for the City to
take positive steps to approve the probability of the site being made available
by the Board of Supervisors. These positive steps might include the City's
paying $605. for appottson of the required liability insurance and providing
a City crew on the day following the event to assist the County in clean -up
and restoration of the-park. The only drawback to this plan is the principle ,
involved. To many citizens, it may appear that the Council is capitulating
to pressure or even encouraginghthearaYly. The Council should also be con-
cerned with this direct assistance, alttiough.it may be in the best interest
of the -City, that might seta precedent--for future events occurring outside
the City. He felt that this was'eertainly a very real objection and must be
weighed with the possible consequences.
After analyzing all the alternatives, both pro's and con's, it was the Ad-
ministrator's recommendation that.the City offer to share with the County
some of the costs associated with holding the event at E1 Chorro Park to the
extent of $700. plus the maximum of 32 man hours of labor.
City Attorney, George Thacher, then submitted for the Council's information
a memorandum opinion, number 79 -30, regarding the possible expenditure of
City funds to.assure County approval of large public assemblies in County
parks. It concluded that the offer of assistance in this situation, that is
payment of insurance.premium and some clean -up costs to assure County ap-
proval of a large group of people proposing to .assemble in the County park
would be a legitimate expenditure..He. stated that without.. such County approval,
there was strong possibility the assembly will take place wholly or partially
in the City with potential consequence cost to the City of security, traffic,
clean -up etc., far in excess .of. the minimum amounts . now proposed for payment.
Incidentally, the organizers of the assembly and those assembled would be
benefited but the City's dominant purpose is simply to spend a few dollars to
save thousands. Given the motivation, the purpose of•the proposed expenditure
is public and in his opinion would withstand judicial test.
,
Councilman Bond stated that. there was no issue of the funds . for the insurance as
it
was no longer pertinent, as he has been given in the amount of $605.
.acheck
by a private citizen to pay for.the insurance coverage for the event in order
to keep the City out of the rally. He continued that.the private party does
not wish to be known, to avoid any possible harassment.
On motion of Councilman Jorgensen; seconded:by Councilman Bond, that the City
offer to help .the .County by providing a-four -man crew to the El Chorro Park on
Monday, July 2, following the -rally, to assist in the clean -up and restoration
of the park. Also, this offer is made in lieu of the 5 thousand dollar clean -up
deposit required by the County. To the extent necessary, the Police Department
would.provide assistance to the Highway Patrol under the terms of the law en-
forcement mutual aid agreements.
Motion carried on the following vote:
AYES: Councilmen Jorgensen, Bond and Mayor Cooper.
NOES: None
ABSENT: Councilmember Billig and Dunin
2. Sally�Punth6s-,- :CHai.rwoman of_the Prorrrotional. Coordinating.Committee:•
and Dave Garth, Executive Manager of the Chamber. of Commerce, appeared before
the City Council requesting a special expenditure:of Promotional funds in
view of the current gasoline crisis which has drastically affected tourism
in San Luis Obispo. Sally Punches stated that motels-have reported being off
10 to;20 percent and restaurants and retail establishments have reported being
off 10 to 40 percent. They felt this would.obviously have a negative affect
on sales and bed -tax .revenues. The Chamber of Commerce has instituted Operation
Gasoline Watch, for both local people-and-tourists to inform them where gasoline
City Council Minutes
May 23, 1979
Page 3
can be procured. Sally Punches stated that on behalf of the Promotional
Coordinating Committee ,.that she.-be allowed to begin a radio advertising
campaign to inform tourists in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fresno that
gasoline for the most part is available-in San Luis Obispo..She felt this
campaign was necessary to allay fears of motorists in these areas about
gasoline being available. She felt that funds are available in the con-
tingency and advertising budgets. Also, they asked that the City approve
a $300. grant.for the Durchase...of an.automatic answering machine to help
handle the gasoline.,.nformation•-call.s. The Chamber of Commerce would pay
the $131. for installation and all the monthly telephone line charges.
The answering machine would provide basic information about-gasoline;
availability 24.hours a day.and would be..an important part of the pro -
motion campaign regarding gasoline. When and if the. gasoline crisis should
abate, the answering machine could be used for things such as La Fiesta,
Poly Royal, Rodeo, Mission.Plaza Events etc. Both Sally Punches, and
Dave Garth asked.for $1,350. for emergency gasoline radio advertising,
2,000. for emergency gasoline radio ads and $495. for answering machine
for operation . "Gas Watch
The City Council discussed the request: of Sally Punches and Dave Garth
and ruled the feeling that this was.not the appropriate time to be going
on this type of.an advertising campaign, due primarily to the uncertainty
of gasoline supplies.now and in the future. Also, Council did not feel
that the City should use:tax; money in the amount of $2,845: to encourage
use of gasoline when the go vernment.has been urging conservation.
On motion of Mayor Cooper, seconded by Councilman Bond, the City Council
approved $500. for the.answering machine, but continued consideration of
any advertising on gasoline availability until the situation settles down.
Motion Carried: All ayes, Councilwoman Billig and Councilman Dunin absent.
3. Mayor Cooper-announced to the City.Council that he-had been approached
by an attorney representing..some.citizens' in San.Luis Obispo who wished to.
contribute-to the City .$100,000. to $150,000.for use by the City in the Mission
Plaza. One stipulation was that some type of a 6 to 8 foot statue-and fountain
should be placed in the Plaza as part of this grant-The Mayor stated that the
attorney who contacted him did not know.what size or of whom the statue was to
represent.
The City Council in general felt that this was a nice thought on behalf of
the citizen to-leave money upon their death for use of all the citizens, but .
would like to know a li.ttle.more about the statue conditions,;;.The attorney
was asked to contact the. grantors attorney to continue negotiations and for
clarifying the various conditions in the proposal.
There being no further business to come before the City Council,at this
Special Meeting, Mayor Cooper adjourned the meeting at 12:00 noon..
APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL
June 19; 1979
Date
'�J.H.. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk