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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/13/19551 1 rI u SPECIAL CALL iVTETING' City Hall, December 1.3, 1955 2181 City Council met in the special call session at 7:30 p.m., December 13, 1955. Roll Call: Present: Nels Beck., Lowell E. Christie, '::'arren G. 7,dwards, Fred H. Lucksinger Absent: Kenneth %.. Jones Mr. Richard D. Miller, City Adm_nistrative Officer, reported to the Council that he had issued a purchase order to the Taper Tube role Company for .1,998.20", for installation of traffic signals at !4onterey Street and.California Boulevard. At this time the City Council met with both the General and Financial Committees of the Mission Garage Park Committee. Mayor Lucksinger thanked all the committee members pre- sent for attending this joint study session. The 1Iayor explained the background of plans for use by the City of the former Mission Garage property. He explained the studies made by the off - street parking committee, a group of citizens interested in parking who recommended to the Council that the Mission Garage property be given a number three priority for off - street parking. He then explained the interest shown by a group of citizens for'the construction of the Plaza or a Garden on this property. As a base Mayor Lucksinger explained that financing is a number one item fo consideration by both the City and private individuals. Mayor Lucksinger read a letter from individuals. at Poly supporting the construction of the Park on the corner. The Mayor explained the financial policy of the City and the financial structure and organi zation of this administration. The Mayor explained to those present the pay -as- you -go policy and also explained the background of the financing of the new City Library and the Santa Rosa Park development. Said moneys being loaned from the General Fund to the Library Board and Park Commission and to be repaid to the General Fund over a period of years from the levies of these two departments. Mayor Lucksinger proposed that one possibility be that the City purchase the lot as soon as possible by condemnation and let it lay until July, 1956, in order to see if private subscription could raise the money to build this park. If at that time no financial assistance was received then it could revert back to th City for off - street parking. The Mayor explained there were three ways of financing this Garden• (1) Vote a bond issue in, (2 Vote an addition to the present Park and Recreation levy, �3) Vote in a special rate ear- marked for Mission 'ark improvement. Mr. Peters appeared before the Council and asked what had happened to the recommendations of the Plaza Finance Committee in asking for the County Supervisors for help in financing the Mission Plaza. Mr. Peters further stated that nothing could be done in the line'of public subscription until the property was irrevocably dedicated to the Mission Plaza. Mr. Peters asked the Council why then the Council should require the Mission Garage Com- mittee to acquire the funds for building this park when no citizen committee had been given the responsibility of raising the money to build the new City Library, improve Santa Rosa Park, and the City Hall. He also asked why was money given to the Chamber of-Commerce from the City's General Funds without any committee being appointed to raise the money to pay the Chamber. Current estimates by the committee for the project is limited to the pre- sent Mission Garage property and no more at this time as they believed this could serve as a base for the future development of the overall plan. tiir. Peters stated that three apprai had been made with a estimate of $`145,000, by three competent appraisers for acquiring the land for the entire plan. Mr. Peters stated that he was sure that the County Board of Supervisors would help finance the development of this park and also that Senator Erhart' stated that help might be received.from the State for developing this Garden. s:. Peters agreed with the Council that the first item would be the acquisition of the pro - erty and secondly a periodof time should be allowed for the committee to attempt to raise he money to improve this lot. yor Lucksinger answered Mr. Peters regarding getting money from the Board of Supervisors. e Mayor stated that he would be very happy for any funds that we could get from the Count and of Supervisors and from the State, through Senator Erhart, for improving this park. ayor Lucksinger again explained re: the money which was loaned from the general fund for he construction of the City Library and Santa Rosa Park. Said funds would be repaid from evies legally voted for these two commissions. r. Fred Kimball questioned the reasoning of only using parking meter money for acquisition nd maintenance of.parking lots. He asked why could not this money be deverted from the arking meter reserve to the Peneral fund and this money given to the park. Mr. Miller, dministrative Officer, and Mr. Houser, City Attorney, answered Mr. Kimball's question tating that State law specifically limits the uses of which parking meter money can be sed. Mr. Mueller asked what would be the procedure to have the electorate vote for increase tax rate and if this were possible and the voters approved the increase could the City then loan the money to develop the Mission Park and then take theincrease in the taxes voted �o pay the general fund back. ' Mayor Lucksinger answered Mr. Mueller, stating that this was one of the alternates he had Proposed earliee. Mr. Peters asked the Council how long it would take for the legal steps to acquire the Mission Garage property through condemnation. Mr. Houser, City Attorney, answered it would take about three to four months to complete this condemnation. Mr.'Peters asked if the Council would object to the Committee appealing to the Board of lupeervisors for funds to construct the Mission Gardens. Mayor Lucksinger stated again he would be very happy with any funds received from the Po.unty. rs. Rose McKeen stated in answer to comments regarding maintenance costs once constructed hat she believes that the park would be paved with I,11ssion mossaic tile and paved walkways, o that there would not be any maintenance costs. Mrs. McKeen also wanted from the Council statement guaranteeing that this property would be used only as a Mission Park and not as parking lot or something else. Mrs. McKeen also wanted to know why the Council requested his group of citizens to raise their own money for the development of their project when he Council did not request the Library Board, Park Board, or the Chamber of Commerce to aise their own money for their developments. 281 Mayor Lucksinger answered Mr. McKeen explaining again the financing of the new City Libra and Santa Rosa Park. Also that the money was given to the Chamber of Commerce as is done Cities and Counties in California, that the additional basis was that the Chamber of Uommerce does the necessary job and if there were no chamber in the City, the City= Ad- ministration would be required to do the job, such as handling inquiries by person and mail, mailing out and acting as a clearing house for Chamber work and possibly it i-e uld cost the City more than the $500 being given to the Chamber. D'Ir.. Mueller then asked why did the City Council loan money to the Santa Rosa Park de- velopment from the General Funds and could not loan any to the Mission Plaza Committee. Mrs. Francis stated that she remembers when the people voted for the park and recreation department tax levy but she stated that she was sure that nobody voted to sn.ecifically support Santa Rosa Park, so why could some moneys not be given to the Plaza Committee from the moneys set aside for the Santa Rosa Park. Mrs. Francis further said that she wanted to be sure that if the people voted an increase in the taxes for the laLission Plaza that this money not be used for other purposes. Mr. Fred Kimball asked that the Council determine which item was more important to all the people of the City, whether to use this property as a Mission Gardens or as a parking lot. He also asks how much in debt the park department was andhow long would it take to pay back the loan to the general fund.. Ar. Miller, City Administrative Officer, answered that the park department owned the gener fudn fi9.5, 00. At the present rate it would take 10 to 13 years to pay back the general fund. Kr. Kimball also asked that is the park was acquired with parking meter moneys could not the general fund in the next two years pay back the lot from the parking meter funds. :vlr. Kimball then called for definite opinion from the Council as to whether they wanted a parking lot or a Garden. Mr. Kimball also wanted the Council to seriously consider the acquisition of this property for Mission Gardens. virs. Eva Main asked why did not the Council loot to the future for development of parks, particularly this Mission Gardens. She said it appeared to her that the present Council ,vas not in favor of this ;pro ject. UIrs. Polin asked why can not both the Parking lot and the Gardens be installed together. In other words, a parking lot beautifully landscaped and call it Mission Garden Parking Lot, in that waif both interest would be satisfied. Mayor LucksinPer answered that this has been considered, in having the lower Chorro Street level of this lot being parkin,- and possibly the upper level facing Nonterey Street being a park. !Ir. Peters and Mr. Kimball and others asked that the Council go on record at this time whether they are in favor of a park or not. The Mayor answered that he did not believe that the council could go on record one way or the other, regarding this property until they had an opportunity to meet with the proponents of off - street parking for this lot, ihich meeting he said was to be held the next night, December 15, 1955. vIr. Peters asked the Council to go on record starting condemnation proceedings for the Mission Garage property at this time with whatever moneys were available and once the pro - Oerty was acquired to see about development as a park. Mr. Kimball again appeared before the Council and stated that he did not believe that this Lot, formerly mission Garage property, would be any good if used for off-street parking Ln attempting to help the shoppers in the downtown area. He stated he thought the lot was too small and further that better lots were available a couple of blocks away. Mr. Peters stated he realized that the Council had a difficult problem in that there were two groups of citizens that wanted to use the same piece of property for two different purposes, that he knew the decision could be a difficult one. But he believed that with the historical value of the Mission to the City that more tourists would visit the City ;o see the Mission and the City would get more revenue in that way. He further stated ;,hat he believed that the Mission could be used as a focal point for local community spirit and community growth. Mr. Peters then went on..at great length as the value of Darks to a community, giving as an example in New York, Boston, and the redevelopment in ;he downtown area in Philadephia. He then asked for the support of the Council for this project, for he believed with Council support the plan would succeed, but with opposition ,he plan would possibly fail. Phe Mavor asked the 14Iission Gardens Committee assembled if they would agree to a question - nnaire being sent out to all the registered voters in the City, asking if they wanted (1) a parking lot or, (2) a Mission Gardens at the site of the i•lission Garage building. Mr. Peters of the Mission Gardens Committee, stated that he was sure that this.would be satisfactory with the Committee. Mr. Kimball suggested as an alternative that maybe an ad in the paper would be just as good if the people would answer. After some dis- cussion it was decided that the matter of a questionnaire would be presented to the proponents of the off - street parking and that a group could be together to work out the questionnaire. Mr. Lowell E. Christie, Councilman, presented his feelings and opinions to the people pre, sent in regard to this matter and explained that being on the Council only-a short time and that he had been very strong for off - street parking, as he believed this was one of the greatest nees of the City in order to keep our downtown area solvent. He stated that with the opinions shown by the Pflission Gardens group and the meeting following night with the off - street parking group, that he would keep an open mind until he had heard both sides of the story and at that time he would make a decision as to parking.or park. y most C 1 1