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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/05/1991, C-1 - MINUTES 3441 MINUTES . JOINT MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMISSION TUESDAY,JANUARY 29, 1991 COUNCIL HEARING ROOM- CITY HALL-990 PALM SAN LUIS OBISPO,CALIFORNIA Draft Minutes iq iaa ecxorsd ROLL CALL at &;ur' 1t MeWrj of 3 —5-91 Councilmembers Present Vice-Mayor Bill Roalman, Councilmembers Peg Pinard, Penny Rappa and Mayor Ron Dunin Absent Councilmember Jerry Reiss Architectural Review Commissioners Present- Commissioners Melinda Clark-Bradford, Madi Gates, Curtis Illingworth, Linnaea Phillips,Mike Underwood,and Chairman Duane Morris Absent Allan Cooper City Staff Present John Dunn,City Administrative Officer,Kenneth Hampian,Assistant Administrative Officer, Jeffrey Jorgensen, City Attorney, Pam Voges, City Clerk, Arnold Jonas, Community Development Director, Dave Romero, Public Works Director, Bob Neumann,Acting Fire Chief PUBLIC COMMENT P.C.1. Sandy Merriam submitted a list of suggestions and commented on ways to better provide water conservation through heavy pruning of trees. P.C2 Scott Bird. San Luis Recycling, spoke in support of private enterprise continuing to provide City recycling needs rather than to be government funded. CONSENT AGENDA C-1 YELLOW RIBBON DAYS Council considered proclaiming"Yellow Ribbon Days"to show support of the men and women currently serving in the armed forces. Moved by Raooa/Pinard.Resolution 6925 was adopted (5-0) proclaiming"Yellow Ribbon Days"as recommended. Councilwoman Ranoa made some brief statements relative to the support neeeded for the Armed Forces and had a basket of yellow ribbons available for the audience and City staff. City Council Minutes Page 2 Tuesday,January 29, 1991 BUSINESS ITEM 1. The City Council and Architectural Review Commission considered ways to facilitate implementation of adopted city ordinances and policies in the following areas: A. APPEALS OF ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMISSION ACTIONS Commissioners expressed concern that ARC actions heard by the Council had increased lately. In 1990 there were eleven appeals of ARC actions, all but two were filed by the applicants,one filed by the Cultural Heritage Committee and one by neighbors. Of the eleven appeals,six were upheld by the Council, overturning the ARC's action. The Commission was concerned that many times the Council was presented with a project that had changed significantly since the time ARC had acted upon it; that design issues, such as colors, materials, details, and landscaping had changed so that less attention was given to them;and that Council approved projects were not referred back to the Commission to implement design issues. Council and the Commission held lengthy discussion and upon general concensus agreed that if a project was appealed to the Council and included a substantial amount of revisions since-first reviewed by the ARC, that the appeal be heard and acted upon by Council,and then referred back to the ARC for final determination of architectural characteristics. It was also suggested that the ARC approve projects with additional conditions as deemed necessary,so that the appeal is not on the entire project,but only on identified specific conditions. B. HILLSIDE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS It was expressed that the adopted Hillside Development Standards were not being interpreted with consistency. They were originally adopted in October 1984 as part of the general plan Land Use Element. The Hillside Development Standards include four statements: A) Houses to be built in step levels to conform to the slope of the hill and keep a low profile. The use of prominent stem walls and foundation piers should be avoided. B) Grading on individual lots should be minimized. Houses should generally be built close to the street The grading of visible driveways should be minimized. C) Landscaping,which is visibly compatible with existing hillside vegetation should be used to screen building foundations and provide a landscaped transition between housing areas and adjacent open space. D) The color and texture of building materials should blend as much as possible with the natural landscape and avoid the creation of high contrast situations. Suggestions included having the ARC relook at the Hillside Standards, or having standards for difficult sites and making recommendations for change to the Council. Also, support was voiced for the staff project of preparing standards in the form of graphics which would make it an easier way to understand various regulations. 8:50 p.m. Mayor Dunin declared a recess. 9:00 p.m. City Council and ARC reconvened. All members present except Mr. Cooper. City Council Minutes Page 3 Tuesday,January 29, 1991 C. CREEK SETBACK POLICIES The Council and Commission had expressed concern that setbacks from creeks were not being required or when required were not being applied without consistency. There is no Council adopted policy on Creek Setbacks, but there is an administrative policy. Atter discussion and on general concensus, it was agreed that the administrative policy currently used to come back to the Council in the form of an ordinance proposal. D. COMMUNICATION The ARC felt it was important to have improved communication with the Council. Atter discussion, suggestions included 1) ARC to recommend ordinance amendments when appropriate;2) having an ARC representative attend Council meetings;3) Council liaisons to attend ARC meetings more often; 4) use of the telephone between Councilmembers and ARC members. 9.-SS p.m. There being no further business to come before the City Council, Mayor Duni n adjourned the meeting of the City Council to its next regular meeting. Chairman Morris adjourned the ARC to its regular meeting on February 4 at 5:00 pm. APPROVED BY COUNCIL: PV:cmh Pam Voges, City Clerk C�-1-3 ATE=nLS-wq1 M MINUTES JOINT MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE CITY OF MORRO BAY THURSDAY,JANUARY 31, 1991 -7:00 P.M. VETERANS MEMORIAL HALL-209 SURF STREET MORRO BAY, CALIFORNIA Qi%5';t Iva;-3ies ROLL CALL to 60 approved at Council Meeting City of Morro Bay of City Council Present: Councilmembers John Baker,Ben Luna,Susan Mullen,Tom Wuriu,and Mayor Rose Marie Sheetz Absent: None City Stats Present: Forrest Henderson,Assistant City Administrator,Judy Skousen, City Attorney; Bill Boucher,Associate Civil Engineer,Louise Burt,Finance Director,Ardith Davis,City Clerk; Nick Nichols, Public Works Director City of San Luis Obispo City Council Present: Vice-Mayor Bill Roalman,Councilmembers Peg Pinard,Penny Rappa,Jerry Reiss,and Mayor Ron Dunin Absent: None City Staff Present: John Dunn,City Administrative Otlicer;Cindy Clemens,Assistant City Attorney;Bill Hetland, Utilities Director, Gary Henderson, Utilities Engineer PUBLIC COMMENT P.C.1. Bruce Risley. 540 Piney Way, said since both Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo have long term water problems, it seems logical for the cities to work together and move forward jointly on the stream diversion feasibility studies. He asked why negotiations projected more than a year ago to resolve details of the stream diversion project never took place; why the same consultants who issued two reports tending to prove and encourage the feasibility and potential benefit of stream diversion to all parties and at reasonable cost,would issue a report just to the City of San Luis Obispo reversing their former joint study,and why Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo have apparently gone their separate ways in our present critical situation in studying and developing emergency desalination supplies? P.C.2. Doris Murray.236 Surf Street and a member of the TV Franchise and Services Board,stated she wishes to go on record regretting that Sonic Cable TV cannot be at the meeting to televise anything as important as this water meeting. P.C3. Mary Phillips said she is glad that the two Councils are together. She cautioned the Councils against only putting their efforts into decal water,and spoke in favor of exploring the acquisition of fresh water from Vancouver, British Columbia She questioned why Los Angeles takes its water from Northern California if decal is so great; they have the ocean at their front door. City Council Minutes Page 2 Thursday,January 31, 1991 P.CA. Ted Sands, resident of Santa Barbara and has been in the water industry for 40 years, said he is. familiar with desalting plants all over the world. He requested the Councils consider bringing water down from Canada by tanker,desalination has not been done successfully on the west coast He said the costs of importing fresh water are comparable to desal or even less. Information on the process can be made available to staff; as long as there is information as to the volume needed and the length of time it will be needed,costs can be determined. P.C.S. Cecil Caren.40 years experience in the water business,said decal water is essential for emergencies,but costs three to four times what the San Bernardo Creek and Coastal Streams project would be. State Water Project costs are$3,000 per acre foot and desal is $7,000 per acre foot. P.C.& Don Smith.San Luis Obispo,quoted from an article in the LA Times that State Water Project officials will cut the amount of water it is supplying to the Metropolitan Water District by 85%if drought conditions continue to be critical. He noted most people in San Luis Obispo have cut back their water use to about 5 units per month. He is concerned about the amount of energy used by a desal project, and prefers Nacimiento as a source of water. Mayor Sheetz closed the hearing to the public. PUBLIC REPORTS D-1 DESALINATION PROJECT-SAN LUIS OBISPO STAFF • PROJECT SUMMARY/OVERVIEW(MONTGOMERY ENGINEERS) • TIN EFRAME FOR DECISIONMAKING Bill Hedand. Utilities Director,stated California Is going into its M year of drought. He displayed charts depicting water levels in San Luis Obispo wells and reservoirs, and stated if the trend continues, San Luis Obispo will run out of water. Two years ago, the City of San Luis Obispo started mandatory rationing. In November 19911,staff presented the Council with projects for a new water supply. Some of them were rainfall- dependent projects,but they also considered tinkering and desal. The City Council directed staff to proceed with the desal project to rainimirisks. They realize the costs are very expensive, but believe there is no choice. The City of San Luis Obispo is now talking with other agencies who might be interested in participating in the project and asking them for commitments. They hope to have the project operational by July 1992. Charles Dougherty,J.M.Montgomery Engineers, Inc., prepared the feasibility study for the City of San Luis Obispo for the desal project Mr. Dougherty gave a detailed description of the project and the fast-track timeline for getting the project operational. The recommended project is for ocean water to come In through the P.G.& E. property; and then through a new pipeline to the existing Whale Rock pipeline for distribution to San Luis Obispo through their water treatment system. San Luis Obispo's capacity is for 3,000 acre feet per year. He said P.G.& EA participation is critical to the project The waste and brine will be funnelled back through the P.G.& E. outfall and possibly the Morro Bay wastewater treatment plant Mr.Dougherty estimated costs for San Luis Obispo's 3,000 acre feet at$1,600 per acre foot plus$1,300 energy costs per acre foot; for a total of$8.7 million per year. Because of the necessity to fast-track this project to have it operational by 1992, San Luis Obispo is asking for agency commitments by February 6, 1991. Any delays beyond that push project operation further into the future. Councilmember Wuriu stated from the drawings, it looks like the reverse osmosis facility is larger than the P.G.& E. plant; is it really that large? Mr. Dougherty stated it is 1-3/4 to 2 acres. There is a relationship between the size of the facility and costs. It is estimated San Luis Obispo will subscribe to 3,000 acre feet; Morro Bay perhaps 1,100 acre feet; and several other agencies at 500 acre feet A small facility for one user will cost as much as a large facility. �-r-S City Council Minutes Page 3 Thursday,January 31, 1991 Councilmember Mullen asked questions relative to the reverse osmosis filtration system, to which Mr. Doueherty responded. Mayor Sheetz asked if the water has to be treated coming from the reverse osmosis unit? Mr.Dougherty stated Morro Bay will probably have to undertake minimal chlorination. Mayor Sheetz asked how costs will be apportioned? Mr. Douehertv stated all agencies participating will enter into a JPA agreement and will be charged according to the amount of water they use. Mayor Sheetz asked if this also applies to construction of the plant? Mr. Dougherty said he believes so. Councilmember Luna asked if nest winter brings substantial rainfall,enough to recharge our basins,will the City be required to go ahead with the project? Mr.Dougherty stated the project is planned for a 5-year source of supply;if it rains,it will be the City's decision on how to deal with it Mr.Hetiand said once an agreement has been signed by the various agencies,the financial commitment will be made. If rains develop and the plant is never turned on,the agenicies will still be liable for the capital portion of the plant costs. Mayor Dunin stated the JPA may be in more than one section; one for the capital improvement, one for maintenance,and perhaps one for the actual product Councilmember Mullen asked if Morro Bay will be requesting 1,100 acre feet from this project? Mr.Nichols stated it has not been decided yet and is up to Council how the details of the project will be worked out Mr. nn stated the contrail will spell out the wants and needs of all agencies involved. Mavor Sheetz asked if Morro Bay subscribes to the project,when will the first payment be due? Mr. Hetland said the feasibility study cost$49,000;the preliminary design currently underway will be$438,000;and the EIR and permitting process$256,000 for a total of$743,000 committed to date. Based on letters from other agencies and the amount they may subscribe from the project and Morro Bay's estimate of 1,100 acre feet,Morro Bay's portion would be approximately$150,000 of the$743,000. Councilmember Mullen noted a State grant obtained by the City of Riverside for water projects. Mr. Hetland stated they are looking into the possibility of grants. D-2 SAN BERNARDO CREEK DAM -MORRO BAY STAFF • BRIEFING ON PROJECT STATUS AND SCOPE Mr.Nichols reviewed the concept of building a water storage facility at San Bernardo Creek,and the history of the City's applications for water rights. An EIR is underway but has not been finished due to the drought; there are no stream flows to conduct the fisheries analysis. Mr. Nichols also reviewed the Coastal Streams Diversion Project whereby the yield of the reservoir could be increased by adding stream flows from nearby creeks. The San Bernardo Dam Reconnaissance Report estimates costs at $155 million to build the dam. Along with the problem of finishing the studies,there is the reluctance on the part of nearby property owners to have a lake on their land;also,people downstream do not want to live under a dam. This is envisioned as a long-range project Councilmember Luna asked if San Luis Obispo had considered Morro Bay expanding the Whale Rock reservoir for its uses before going to the desal project? Mr.Hetland pointed out the City of San Luis Obispo is only one agency of the Whale Rock Commission;there is also the Men's Colony and Cal Poly. He said they investigated trying to expand the reservoir with regard to the spillway,but there is a minimum amount of storage that can be gained. He does not believe expanding the reservoir is a viable project for San Luis Obispo. Major Sheetz commented on the discussions regarding building another reservoir when there is nothing to fill it with. ��5� City Council Minutes Page 4 Thursday,January 31, 1991 D-3 COASTAL STREAMS DIVERSION PROJECT- MORRO BAY AND SAN LUIS OBISPO STAFFS • PROJECT OVERVIEW/CURRENT STATUS • STATUS WITHIN RESPECTIVE CITY WATER DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS Mr. Hetiand stated the Coastal Streams project involves putting temporary dams on small streams and pumping water during peak flows back to Whale Rock Dam for storage. Based on the feasibility report, it initially appeared to be viable and cost effective. Due to some change in staff at the Fish and Game Department,their direction was withdrawn on how to operate the coastal streams project until a fisheries study could be done. It is a rainfall-dependent project and will not help in a drought; therefore,San Luis Obispo concentrated its efforts on other projects. Until the study is finished and yields are known,it is premature to discuss putting the project together. He noted the report submitted based on San Luis Obispo's needs revealed a constraint in the project on the amount of water the City of San Luis Obispo could obtain because of the limitation in the Whale Rock pipeline and the ability to convey excess water. Councilmember Wuriu asked if Morro Bay decided to pursue the Coastal Streams Project,would San Luis Obispo let Morro Bay do it on its own? Mr. Hetland said there has been no formal action on the project because the feasibility study is incomplete. Right now the Coastal Streams looks very expensive to the City of San Luis Obispo. Mr.Nichols noted if Morro Bay pursues Coastal Streams on its own,it will need a storage facility. Councilmember Baker asked what the acre-foot costs are on the Phase II Stream Diversion Project? Mr. Nichols stated based on the reconnaissance study diverting four streams into the San Bernardo Reservoir the approximate cost is$500 per acre foot. Mayor Shretz stated Council cannot make a commitment to the City of San Luis Obispo's desal project at this time, but she will schedule the subject for public hearing before Council at their regular meeting on February 11th. Mayor Sheetz opened the meeting for comments from the public. Gary SunkeL member of a San Luis Obispo group called Water Action to Eliminate Rationing(WATER) and an elected director on the Resource Conservation District,urged the City Councils to turn to the private sector to help solve this problem in order to solve it quickly. He said the Diablo Canyon desal plant only took 6 months from beginning to end to develop. Katherine Wallin&Morro Bay resident,stated she visited the desal plant when Diablo Canyon was being built and commented on the corrosive nature of the pipes through the desalination process,and stated it will require mixing with fresh water to make it potable. Clint Milne. County Engineer,stated the reverse osmosis system proposed by the City of San Luis Obispo is different than the desal project in effect at Diablo Canyon. Mary Phillips stated the brine from the desal project will destroy the estuary as well as the fishing industry; Cayucos and Morro Bay sewage is already flowing out to the ocean. She asked why P.G. & E. doesn't let us purchase decal water from them until we can get other sources. She also asked questions concerning the membranes in the filtration system. Mr. Dougherty stated the membranes used today do not disintegrate in the system and come out the water pipes. He also explained the level of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in this water will not cause corrosion in the pipes. He said desal is a proven technology and has been.used for years in the Middle East;it has not been used in California before because of the expense. The waste or brine from the system will not be deposited in the estuary but will leave Morro Bay through the P.G.&E. Diablo Canyon Power Plant. He further explained the technology of the minerals involved in the desal process. City Council Minutes Page 5 Thursday,January 31, 1991 Councilmember Luna asked how P.G.& E.was able to expedite their construction of the Diablo Canyon desal project. Mr. Peterson stated P.G. & E.already had a site which would not have to be developed; their's is a smaller project than that proposed by the City of San Luis Obispo;the conveyance systems were easy to work out; they did not have to wait for an agreement from the public sector, they did not have to go through the permitting per,eta Mr.Hetland pointed out the private sector is going to be doing the work on this project Ted Sands again spoke on the merits of tinkering water from Canada. John Lemons.419 Shasta,commended the Councils for their efforts to do something of an emergency nature. He suggested if Morro Bay requests 1,100 acre feet from this project for an emergency,there may be some legal problems with that much emergency water. He said with respect to giving San Luis Obispo an answer by February 6,it is poor business practice to commit to something without seeing the agreement. He said in 1978 an advisory election was held in San Luis Obispo County about the State Water Project,and it passed. If the County had gone ahead then and developed the State Water Project,none of us would be here this evening. Charles Palmer.435 Estero, discussed water rate structuring. Nelson Sullivan said Morro Bay's high alkalinity in the water is saving us from big problems because of our asbestos pipes. He said the desal project should be compared with Nacimiento as it seems time (frame and costs are competitive. Jane Bailey asked how high the decal plant will be built? Mr.Dougherty said it will be a single story,no higher than 10 feel D-4 WRITTEN REPORTS: RECEIVE AND FILE INDIVIDUAL REPORTS FROM CITIES A. NACIMIENTO RESERVOIR ACTIVITIES B. STATE WATER PROJECT STATUS C. WATER RECLAMATION EFFORTS Mr.Nichols stated Council was in receipt of a joint report from the Cities of San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay regarding the status of these items; no further presentation is planned. Councilmember Wurfu stated despite the fact Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo do not always have the same interests,he believes it is amazing loth staff and elected officials have been able to work as successfully as they have in trying to solve their mutual water problems. He hopes it continues. Councilmember Luna commented funding of projects has been scheduled on the next Council agenda. He stated he would like to see information from Ted Sands after the meeting. Councilmember Baker commented on the portable trailer reverse osmosis units to be used in the San Luis Obispo project Mr. Nichols stated the trailer reverse osmosis units Morro Bay is presently using at Keiser Park for brackish water are different than the ones to be used in Morro Bay's emergency project scheduled for this summer. It is possible the units for Morro Bay's 1991 project may be interchangeable with the upcoming San Luis Obispo project Mayor Sheetz expressed sincere appreciation for San Luis Obispo City Council coming to Morro Bay; there is definitely a common ground and she believes the Morro Bay City Council is leaning toward a joint project City Council Minutes Page 6 Ttiprsday,Jangary:31;1991 F. ADJOURNMENT' 14 iavorSheetz'adjourned the.meetinat 930 p:m: .Minutes recorded byArdith-Davis.City Clerk;Morro Bay: APPROVED BY COU — PV:cmh — - - -- •Pam Voges;;City Clerk. 1