HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/27/1969MINUTES
ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA
October 270 1969 - 7 :00 P.M.
City Hall
Pledge
Roll Call
Present: Emmons Blake, Myron Graham, - Arthur F. Spring,
Donald Q. Miller, Kenneth E. Schwartz
City Staff
Present; R. D. Young, Planning Director; J. H. Fitzpatrick,
City Clerk; J. Stockton, Park and Recreation Supervisor;
H. Johnson, City Attorney; D. F. Romero, City Engineer;
E. Rodgers, Police Chief; J. Wainscott, Battalion Fire
Chief; E. P. Thompson, Director of Water Department;
R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer.
30 Communication from Pacific Telephone Company offering to landscape a portion
of the City property adjacent to their building at 888 Morro.Street and that por-
tion between the Telephone building and the City Library. In addition to the
landscaping they proposed to install a sprinkler system-which will be..connected
to the telephone company's water system. They will maintain the landscaping for
45 days at- which time it will be turned over to the City for maintenance.
R. D. Young, Planning Director, stated that the Design Review Board had approved
the proposed landscaping and sprinkler plan presented by the telephone company
with the.folloFri.ng exceptions: The minimum size to be 15 gallon rather than
5- gallon trees, and the addition of one tree (Eucalyptus citriodora) at the
1 northwest corner of City Hall. •
-R. D. Young presented the plan proposed by the Pacific Telephone Company and
recommended that the plan be accepted as amended.
.On motion of Councilman Blake, seconded by Councilman Graham, that the proposal
be approved with the recommended changes and the Mayor be authorized to sign the
landscaping agreement on behalf of the City. Motion carried.
4. -The City Clerk reported on the following bids received for landscaping the
new Police.Facility, City Plan No. 10 -70.
Planning Director's Estimate $ 8,700.00
Dennis landscaping $ 93850000
San Luis Obispo
Heatheraood Landscaping $122100.00
Santa Maria.
Karleskint-Crum, $10,990000
San Luis Obispo
R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, explained the financial status relative to
' the new Police Facility as follows: Taking all known-factors into consideration,
it appeared that the capital budget would be exceeded by approximately $400. This
could be absorbed -out of the Police Department operating budget because of savings
realized as a result of the delayed occupancy of the new building.
Be Rodgers, Police Chief, recommended that the low•bid of Dennis Landscaping be
accepted.
On motion of Councilman Miller, seconded by Councilman Graham, that the low bid
of Dennis Landscaping be accepted and the contract awarded. Motion carried.
City Council Minutes
October 27, 1969
Page 2
5, John Ross, Architect for the Police Facility,•presented Change Order #2
contaazn in- 711 changes to the basic contract with a net increase of $1742.48.
He stated that all the items 1 thru 18 have been completed except #14 which
is to furnish and install drapes in room 130 and curtain in Room 104. He
stated the contractor will have this item completed within the next few days:
He also stated that item #18 should be added, which was the addition of a
chalkboard in the classroom.,- an added cost of $82.96 which was included in
the total.
E. Rodgers recommended that all the items in the change order be approved in
the amount of $1742.48.
On motion of Councilman Graham, seconded by Councilman Miller, Change Order
No. 2 was approved with item Til., door closers to be given to other city uses.
Motion carried.
6. Communication from-Charles E. Ogle, Attorney for Madonna Construction Co.,
bringing to the Council's attention the problem in connection of the four -foot
by seven -foot bcx-culvert•under Madonna-Road presently under construction-by
the Madonna Construction Company and the three -foot by seven -foot box culvert
through the Madonna Road Shopping Center. It was Mr. Ogle's contention that-
the culvert passing under the shopping center may very well be inadequate to
carry the natural flow of water from above the Madonna property coming through
the four foot by seven -foot culvert to the three -foot by seven -foot culvert.
He feels this could cause flooding to the Madonna Property. He continued that
the present plan of joining the four -foot high culvert to the three -foot high
culvert calls for a flaring down of the four-foot culvert to three feet in or-
der to join to the three -foot culvert. He continued this would not only destroy
the effect of constructing the four -foot high culvert but would also, in years
where the rainfall provides a flow of water that the three -foot high - culvert
cannot handle, result in water backing onto the Madonna property which could.
cause problems. He wished to put the City on notice of this facto
He suggested that the City Council consider not flaring down the four -foot cul-
vert to meet the three -foot culvert, but to allow a one -foot opening at the.
connection so that during flood periods the water can flow freely through .the
four -foot culvert-and over the parking lot of the Madonna Road_Shopping'Center,
which he feels will relieve any property damage to the upstream property owners.
D'. F. Romero, City Engineer, reported that the developer of the Madonna Road
Plaza Shopping Center was required to install a triple three -foot by seven -foot
reinforced concrete box culvert which had adequate capacity to handle storm
waters considering a 25 -yeas storm and a runoff factor taking into account ul-
timate development upstream. This criteria meets that established•by.,the City
Council in 1961. He wished to remind the City Council that when the contract
for the culvert under the Madonna Road was awarded it specified a three -foot by
seven -foot triple box culvert with the same dimensions as that under the shop-
ping center, but that upon the insistance of Mr. Madonna, the City Council
enlarged the culvert to a triple•four. -foot by seven -foot which has substantially
greater carrying capacity than the culvert which it is joining.
He continued that the four -foot by seven -foot culvert under Madonna -Road can
never carry its full design capacity during extreme storms due to the down stream- -
restrictions. He continued that he has disapproved the request to connect the
four foot box culvert to the three -foot boot culvert leaving a one-foot gap which
would allow surplus water to discharge onto:the Madonna Road Shopping Center
property, on the basis that this method of construction could create a definite
liability for the City and would create a connection which would tend to plug;
easily with floating debris. He stated it was his opinion the likelihood of_ -___
flooding at the lower reaches of the Madonna property is greater with the ..design
recommended by Mr. Madonna than the design planned by.the Public Works•Department.
He stated he believed the City's design criteria is one which balances the cost
to,the developer .with the potential hazard due to flooding. No matter what size
"storm is used in the design or what size structure is installed it is always
possible for a developer to claim that a larger storm should be considered and
a larger structure should be installed. In his opinion, the danger of flooding
on the Madonna property due to the size of the structure through: the Madonna
Road Plaza Shopping Center is negligible; therefore he recommended that the
City Council deny the request of A. Madonna.
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City Council Minutes
October 27, 1969
Page 3
Communication from A. Madonna asking that the City Council grant an extension of
time for the completion of the Madonna Road project until such a time as a dec-
ision on the connection is reached by the City.
D. F. Romero presented .a sketch showing what was recommended by the Public Works
Department and what was being requested by the Madonna Construction Company..
Ma or Schwartz stated as he looked at the situation the City had the following
alternatives:
1. Accept the request of A. Madonna
2. Accept the existing plan to connect the four -foot culvert to the three-foot
culvert with a transition area.
3. Possibly add a trash rack at the inlet of the culvert to keep out debris
and allow only water to go over the shopping center and not debris.
H. Johnson, City Attorney, made the following statement regarding possible City
biabiit.'ty under the recommendation of A. Madonna: The Government Tort Liability
statutes provide an immunity to public agencies from liability for tort damages
allegedly resulting from approval of the design of a public improvement where "
such design has.been approved by the governing body.of the concerned.agency. To
be certain-of the broadest protection from such statutory immunity., of course,
the public agency should accept the recommendations -from those members of its
staff who are experts in the particular field - in this case the City Engineer.
However, the terrain is such that since the construction of the freeway the run-
off from the Madonna property has passed over the shopping center property, so
that neither.plan would apparently change the historical runoff pattern.
A. Madonna appeared before the City Council urging that the Council allow -the
four -foot by seven -foot culvert to stay open where it connects to the three -
foot by seven -foot culvert under the shopping center and allow overflow water
to go over the shopping center parking lot. He continued that he felt his
future plans for his property upstream of Madonna Road will place more water
through the culvert which he felt could not be handled by the transition be-
tween the four-foot and three -foot box culverts as presently designed. He
stated the reason.he brought this to the Council's attention at this time -was he
did not feel there would be any sense to make the transition from the four -foot
by seven -foot box culvert to the three- foot'by seven -foot culvert.
D. F. Romero stated that the drainage system was designed to include drainage
from all the area that could be improved by A. Madonna.
Councilman Miler stated -he was opposed to the plan to make a transition from a
four -foot by seven -foot box culvert to a three -foot by seven -foot box culvert and
he would prefer the proposal made by A. Madonna for an opening to take care of
-the excess water.
Councilman Graham suggested that possibly some type of screw operated trap door
could be placed in the transition portion of the four -foot culvert which would
be opened when it becomes full to relieve pressure at that point.
Councilman Spring stated he agreed with Councilman Miller's comments on not join-
ing the four -foot by seven -foot culvert with the three -foot by seven -foot culvert
with a transition area.
Councilman Blake agreed with the suggestion to allow -the four -foot by seven -foot
culvert to be open where it connects to the three -foot by seven -foot culvert if
some type of safeguard were installed to protect people from falling into -the
culvert.
Mayor Schwartz stated he felt that the four -foot by seven -foot box should be left
open at the.south end to allow'storm water to flow freely from the four-foot high
box where it connects to the three -foot high box. He also felt that a trash rack
could be installed to keep out large debris,•and the open end should be protected
to keep people from going into the culvert.
City Council Minutes
October 27, 1969
Page 4
A. Madonna suggested that the outlet should be flared up so that any debris
caught there could be floated out before going into the three -foot box.
On motion of Councilman Miller, seconded by Councilman Spring, the City Council
approved the flared up design of the four-foot by seven -foot box culvert where
it connects with the three -foot by seven -foot culvert, subject to the approval
of the design by the City Engineer. Motion carried,
On motion of Councilman Blab, seconded by Councilman Miller, the contract was
extended for two weeks. Motion carried.
7. Discussion by the City Councilcof the renewal of the Workable Program
Application.
R. D. Young, Planning Director, stated that before this could be approved by
the City Council, it must first be filed with HUD for their approval and then
brought back for approval by the City Council.
89 The Council committee consisting of R. D. Young, Planning Director; Pat
Gerety, Planning Assistant; and D. F. Romero, City Engineer, made the follow-
ing report with a list of proposed additions, deletions and alterations to the
plans and specifications for the landscaping of the Mission Plaza as prepared
by Richard Taylor, Landscape Architect,
Construction:
Possible Additions:
a. Relocation of manholes, traffic light, street lighting, junction boxes,
access covers, fire hydrants, meters, etc. Under contract, rather -than
by City.
The Council approved this item with work to be accomplished by City forces.
b. Locking devices for parking post barriers. -
c. Roll gutter along walkway at Southeast corner of site.
The Council approved items B:and•C. -
d. Extra 40 linear feet of redwood bench ($550 addition)
The Council denied item D.
e. Longer transition apron at Monterey and Chorro. -
f. Realign curb along Chorro Street.according to City plans.
g. Paving to be minimum 6 inches thick in area through which vehicles pass.
h. Electrical outlets for P. A. System, canned music, etc.
i. Salvage chainlink fence and sheet beam sign column in Plaza.
The Council approved items E. through I.
Possible Omissions:
a. Expansion joints in paving.
b. Construction sign.
-c. Mission Plaza sign. ($500 savings)
d. Fountain and all related equipment ($22094 savings)
e. Fountain pump equipment only. ($1000 savings)
f. Trash receptacles. ($200 savings)
g. Curb inlet at Chorro & Montery is not required. ($115 savings)
The Council approved items A through G.
h. Four pole lamps and concrete foundations ($3200 savings)
Item H was not approved by the Council.
City Council Minutes
October 27, 1969
Page 5
Planting
Possible Additions:
a. Selective conservation of existing plant material in Plaza.
.(Hawthorne, Plum, Maple, etc.)
' b. Tie in sprinkler system on south side of creek to existing
four -inch line in Plaza.
c. Substitute Buckner equipment for Rainbird sprinkler equipment.
Items A through C, were approved by the Council.
d. Use 1 gallon size Eucalyptus citriodora ($120 savings). Possible
alternates: White Alder (native), Big Leaf Maple (native), California
Sycamore (native) and Holly Oak. It may be of some advantage to use
two or three species of trees in the Plaza rather than one.
e. Use four -inch perforated Orangeburg pipe filled with gravel to a
depth of four feet to encourage deep rooting of trees (Eucalyptus only).
Items D and E were continued for possible citizen participation.
Possible Omissions:
a. Existing planters can be used in-place of proposed planters ($300 savings)
b. Planting and materials could be donated by various groups ($2945 savings)
Items A and B were approved by the Council.
On motion of Mayor Schwartz, seconded by Councilman Miller, the recommendations
of the committee were approved with noted exceptions, and the staff was instructed
to meet with the architect regarding the changes. Motion carried.
' - 9. Council consideration of the Capital Improvement Program.
R. D. Miller Administrative Officer, explained the proposed development of the
Capital Improvement Program for the City, the reason for the program, and the
items to be incorporated therein. He also submitted for the Council's consid-
eration an analysis of monies available for capital outlay purposes during the
next twenty years. ,
Mayor Schwartz also:,-submitted for the Council's information a list of capital
projects by category which in combination with the Administrative Officer's list
should assist the Council in lining up capital projects.
Councilman Miller made the following statement relative to the Capital Improve-
ments Program. "Planners are called in to save citizens far more often than they
are asked to keep them healthy. The people who make decisions and excercise pow-
er in our cities usually value a pound of cure more highly than an ounce of
prevention." This statement appeared in the October 26, 1969 issued of the
Los An es Times.
Our meeting tonight to discuss the City's, Capital Improvement Program is an
excellent opportunity for the Council to discuss long -range objectives for our
city and the outlying areas adjacent to our city limits.
At this moment in time we as citizens of this city are perched on the summit.
' We have two ways to go. Either play the game of "little see", "little do ", and
"-little speak ", while development and land use go the way of "what's good for
private and public profit is good for all ". Or we can learn from the mistakes
of -urban America. We can as a community protect our environment -land use, water
use and air use through planning and inter - governmental cooperation.
Let's be specific - land use -we must protect the natural beauty of our area.
This means upsetting cherished ideas because a man owns a piece of property he
cannot "exploit" that property as he desires. Our zoning ordinances do give
us limited control. We must have broader control.
City Council Minutes
October 27, 1969
Page 6
Land and land use as we see in other cities has affected the social and economic
well being of the community. Some to the good - often to the disadvantage of
the urban center.
In our area, because of the mountains and hills, we can preserve our natural en-
vironment by encouraging land owners to agree to agricultural preserves. A second
method would be through the purchase of open -area easements or outright land '
acquisition.
Water use as it affects our environment must be considered. The development of
domestic water supplies. As equally important the proper treatment and use .of
waste water.
Air quality was thought to be someone else's problem. Today we as a nation know
that we must clean our air, and keep it clean, or suffer the consequences of
exposing our'citizens to health damage.
'My recommendation for land use is: A cooperative land use plan with the city
and county planning departments working together. Their goal to revise the
general'plan giving emphasis to the preservation and protection of our ztreams
and mountains for the enjoyment of future generations.
Once the city and county have agreed on open space then both governmental groups
should commence on long -range plans for acquiring easements, purchasing the land
or granting agricultural preserves.
Now water use. On the development of water resources we have done an acceptable
job. Waste water treatment must be improved. The utilization of waste water is
an area where more'thought and study is needed.
Again the city and county should enter into a long -range study for the adequate
distribution of domestic water throughout the San Luis Obispo city area. Coup-
led with this study should be the planning for collection and three -stage treat-
ment of effluent.
My recommendation for air pollution control may startle some. First, the county
must establish an air pollution ordinance. This ought to be under the juris-
diction of the county health department. Socondly, all burning other than in
domestic fire places should be banned. Strict control of those manufacturing
operations that must burn combustible material for their production.
My third suggestion will cause mixed reaction. That is, the pollution control
caused by the internal-combustion engine. Let me preface my remarks by stating
that as I understand the Federal Government's policy on air pollution, it is the
responsibility of the local communities. This is the way I heard it from
George Venemin, Assistant Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, in a speech
to city officials at this year's League of California Cities.
My proposal is this: Establish by city ordinance a ban on the sale-of automo-
biles powered by internal combustion engines. Such ban would take effect,foT
example, in two years unless the manufacturers install a smog control device that
measures up to our state's minimum standards or substitute a means of power that
does not pollute the atmosphere.
The two year advance warning would give auto manufacturers time to equip cars
sold within our city with smog devices or design smog -free power plants.
The question is, is this "tipping over windmills"? Let me reiterate, the ap-
parent federal policy is, "it's up to local governments %, Naturally other -
cities will be intrigued by our stand and may follow our lead-by similar or-
dinances. -If enough communities do act positively to prevent the pollution of
their air, and if auto dealers and oil distributors yell loud enough at the
manufacturers, maybe the manufacturers would through economic "sanctions" oor-
rect their motors that pollute our air.
City Council Minutes
October 27, 1969
Page 7
The problem of the automobile logically leads to the next suggestion. The plan-
ning and development of a balanced transportation policy for our city and county.
Again, we find when discussing transportation policy we are involved in a
regional problem.
Our county.with the cooperation of all incorporated cities (and unincorporated
urban areas within the county) should establish a regional transportation board.
Such a board could be a part of the County Planning Department. Maybe the County
Planning Commission could act as such a board. The board ought to have regional
representation, and this the County Planning Commission has.
This board should have jurisdiction for the planning and allocating of road
priorities within our county. The function of state road priorities is now ves-
ted.in the various chambers of commerce within the.countye I have no fault with
the chambers. One of several concerns is that elected public officials or their
appointed representatives should be making the decisions as to the priorities of
our proposed state roads within the county. A second concern is that chambers
of commerce are often oriented to "what's best for local business ". State high-
ways ought not be be built on this-criteria. No, I am not saying the present
group has based its recommendations on this motive. There is the possibility
that at some future date it could.
Another transportation problem a regional transportation board could consider
would be the planning and establishing, after public hearings, transportation
corridors. We should recognize that as the county grows the need for public
transportation between our cities will increase. By locating our transporta-
tion corridors now we can control building and zoning adjacent to them. Thus,
when these corridors are utilized the capital cost of public transportation
will be reduced.
The regional transportation board could cooperate with cities in the location
of public freight loading and unloading facilities near our major cities. The
growing problem of truck traffic on our public streets is continuing to expand.
In time.we will have to place restrictions on the hours trucks can utilize our
downtown streets for loading and unloading freight. Hence, the need for.area
truck dropoff facilities.
To summarize: Let us direct our capital improvement program toward "people
needs ". Parks, recreation facilities, open space preservation, creek beauti-
fication, air and water pollution control, public transportation -- all these.
amenities to living have been shoved to the background as we have devoted far
too much of our capital resources toward the convenience of the internal com-
bustion engine. And what thanks do we receive from this four wheel technolog-
ical wonder from Detroit -- foul air.
The City Council then reviewed the list prepared by the Administrative Officer
in an attempt to consider by priority.proposed• capital projects for the next
twenty years.
After discussion, R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, was requested to recast
the list of capital projects in accordance with the discussion this evening,
meet with the department heads for additional suggestions for capital projects
and priority, and then review the list with the Planning Commission and Citizens
Advisory Committee.
1 10. The City Council adjourned to executive session to discuss personnel matters.
11. On motion of Councilman Blake, seconded by Councilman Miller, the meeting
adjourned. Motion carried.
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APPROVED: November 17, 1969