Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/08/1975MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY.OF SAN LUIS - OBISPO TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1975 - 12:10 p.m. CITY HALL Pledge Roll Call PRESENT:. My-ron.Graham, T. Keith Gurnee, Jesse Norris, Steven Petterson and Mayor Kenneth E. Schwartz ABSENT: None City Staff PRESENT: J.H. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk; R.D. Miller, Administrative Officer, A.J..Shaw, City Attorney; E.L. Rodgers, Chief of Police; Wayne Peterson, City Engineer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. - The City Council-considered the minutes of the June 18, 1975 meeting of the Mass Transportation Committee requiring the following action: A) The committee recommended that benches not be placed in-the downtown area within the public right -of -way. The recommendation was accepted by.general..consensus of the City Council. B) The committee.recommended that Route 2..be changed to turn at Marsh and.Chor.ro.Streets . to avoid the congestion at the Post.Office corner and -that additional bus stops be on at the intersection of Marsh and Chorro, and at Osos and Pacific Streets. This item was referred.to the Traffic Committee for recommendation. C)- .The committee recommended.that..a bus stop..be approved.in.the.bike and travel lane on Foothill Boulevard in front of-University Square shopping center. On motion.of Councilman Gurnee, seconded by Councilman Norris that the request be denied and the matter referred back to the Mass Transportation Committee for further study. D) The committee.recommended that the City.Council.reject.the bike czar's recommendation calling for bikes to be carried on buses. On motion of Councilman Gurnee, seconded by Councilman Graham that the City Council accept the MTC recommendation. Motion carried, Councilman Norris voting no. E) The committee recommended that the City Council.authorize.the.staff time to prepare an application for an UMTA grant to purchase equip- ment. A.J. Shaw, City.Attorney, was concerned about the UMTA grant due to possible problems involved in Federal grants.. R.D. Miller,-Administrative Officer, was opposed.-to the recommendation due to the.commitment for on -going transportation plan once the UMTA grant had been approved. This matter was referred to the City Attorney for contract study on the application. .. F) The committee recommended that the Thursday night.and Sunday fares be increased from 10� to 25�. The City Council - accepted the recommendation on motion of Mayor Schwartz, seconded by Councilman Gurnee. Motion carried, all ayes. City Council Minutes July 8, 1975. Page 2 19A. The City Council.considered the,.Waterways Planning.Board.minutes for the meeting -held June .18, 1975. A) Revision to slope protection -at the Brook Street tot lot.. The recommendation of_the.Committee was approved. B) On the Tropicana bridge, staff was asked to write the owners a. letter stating that unless..some.action was. - taken. - immediately, an item.would be placed on.the.City Council,agenda -for July 21 initiating abatement'proceedings-against the bridge. Due to work being done since the June 18, 1975 meeting, the matter was received and filed. C).. On.the Laguna Mobile Home:Park creek problem, the Board.asked staff to.write them a letter explaining that the Department.of Fish $ Game had. made -a-reconmendation,for-.the repair of the weir..and_ that they should proceed with this and'the other work ordered by the Waterways Planning Board as soon as possible. This item was referred to the August-4 Council meeting for further discussion. Prior to-.consideration of the next item, Councilman Gurnee left the meeting due to possible conflict. D) The matter.of the Creamery project was brought up by.the Board and staff made -an informal report on the project. The Creamery was' requesting occupancy for the restaurant on Nipomo Street even . .though numerous items'were yet to.be completed,..such as the wooden retaining wall, discussed at the last Waterways Planning Board meeting, the rock outcropping upstream and some landscaping and building- problems. -Mention of.the'outcropping sparked discussion and the following ..action was taken: Removal of rock outcropping.should not be a requirement of occupancy for-the restaurant. The City Council rejected this recommendation.. The.Waterways.Planning:_Board felt that�the rock outcropping` ..adjacent to the Creamery should be removed at City expense with bank pro - .. tection, if necessary, constructed to the satisfaction.of the City ._Engineer. only. after acquiring. .permission from the property owner to work.on hi.s property. The City Council again rejected the-recommendation of the Waterways.Planning Board. Mayor Schwartz suggested that to permit.continued.occupancy of the restaurant should be subject to negotiation.with the property owner and.the City for creek public-access with six weeks to complete-.with the City to accept conditions of property .within the 'easement. If not, then the property'owner would remove the obstruction. The.recommendation was approved on motion of Mayor Schwartz,.seconded.by. Councilman.Petterson. Motion carried, all ayes.... 19B $ 19C... -Waterways Planning-Board minutes regarding.the Creamery. . The Waterways Planning Board, on the word of staff that the creek was of sufficient.capacity. behind the Creamery,.reversed its original-abatement order of..the,wooden'retaining wall at that location and accepted the con- . struction of this wall pending approval. by the City Engineer as to its structural ,stabilization. The:City siaff.lad,made-a more complete, accurate analysis of the..capacity of the creek'at this point and determined that .despite..this retaining wall, the creek was.of sufficient capacity to handle a 30-.year storm. Since the capacity demanded of the creek at this point was largely determined by the tunnel under.the town which could carry only a.30 -year 1 1 1 1 City Council Minutes July 8, 1975 Page 3 storm, the 30 -year criteria was appropriate. Therefore, reasoning that the wall was an obstruction was no longer valid and left only the fact that the wall was constructed legally and was of questionable structural stability as justification of its removal. With regard to the stability of the wall on the bank, the Board chose to accept modification of the structure to ensure stability. The Engineering Office had received the proposed modifications and was processing them. They include the construction of dead men behind the wall as well as the enlargement of the existing footing. The appropriate action of the Council would be to reverse the order to abate this retaining wall. If the Council reversed its previous order, the City Engineer would issue a permit to stabilize the wall once the calculations had been found in order. By general consensus, the City Council accepted the recommendation of the Waterways Planning Board. The Waterways Planning Board recommended to the City Council without prejudice the proposal for dedication of creek property. The staff felt the City should have access to this property for creek maintenance and pedestrian use. Whether this occurred by means of an easement or fee title was not important. Minimally, staff would like the City to have rights for the construction, maintenance, and repair of creek improvements and pedestrian access. Staff did not feel that the City need pay for this easement or dedication since the property obviously would benefit from it. It was the consensus of the City Council that the City Council again accept the recommendation of the Waterways Planning Board. The rock outcropping (actually a man-made structure) was originally ordered to be removed at the August 30, 1974, meeting of the Waterways Planning Board. From the minutes, "The Engineering Department staff was ordered to prepare abatement proceedings for this projection." Subsequently, when the City Engineer analyzed the creek for its capability at this point, he strongly recommended its removal because of the turbulence it caused. Staff made the removal of the outcropping a condition of occupancy of the Tortilla Flats connected with the Creamery. Therefore, staff strongly objected to this Waterways Planning Board ruling. The implication and precedent set by it were far - reaching and dangerous. The City could not take on the removal of all creek obstructions without accepting the responsibility for the adequacy and capability of the entire creek and drainage system. This obstruction was no different than a thousand others in the creeks, many of which would be significantly more expensive to remove. The Board saw this as similar to the Municipal Code requirement of curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements across the frontage of the property being developed. Therefore, staff requested that the City Council reject the Waterways Planning Board action and proceed with the abatement of this object as a public nuisance. The Waterways Planning Board action of June 18, 1975 was that the rock outcropping adjacent to the Creamery property would be removed at City expense. On motion of Mayor Schwartz, seconded by Councilman Graham that the City Council accept the recommendation of staff for the Waterways Planning Board on this matter. Councilman Gurnee returned to the meeting. 19D. Memorandum from Paul Landell regarding recommendation of the Water- ways Planning Board meeting of June 27, 1975 regarding City contract policy as it pertained to consultant firms was continued to the City Council meeting of July 21, 1975. 20. Communication from D.F. Romero, Director of Public Services, regarding specific proposals for improvements to the Mission Street play lot. He stated this lot appeared to have been abandoned, it was overgrown with weeds, and the equipment needed repair and painting. The entire appearance of this play lot was most unattractive and certainly spoke poorly for a City facility. He asked Lane Wilson, Park Foreman, to prepare a plan and estimate for improvements of this facility for the Council's information. City Council Minutes July 8, 1975 Page 4 The plan proposed the following improvements: A) Automatic sprinkler system, B) Lawn in front area, C) Brick in planter area in sidewalk, D) Bench, E) Drinking fountain, F) Play lot sign, G) Landscaping of front area, and H) Regrade and place sand base on play area. The cost for the improvements would be $2,000 for materials and $1,200 for labor, if conducted by contract. In addition, City forces could overhaul and repaint the play equipment during the summer. He recommended that the City Council approve the plans and specifications as submitted to them. He felt the work could be done for less than $5,000. On motion of Councilman Graham, seconded by Councilman Norris the recommenda- tion was.approved and.the Public Services Director was authorized to proceed with the Design Review Board to approve the sign. Motion carried, all ayes. 21. Communication from D.F. Romero, Public Services Director, submitting a recommendation for fertilizer and weed control in City park turf areas. He stated that the extra poor condition of some of the City parks and requested permission to initiate a program for fertilization and weed control. He stated that the City now fertilized seven acres of park and did not fertilize 55 acres. In most of the unfertilized areas, the turf was in extremely poor condition and overgrown with weeds. He concluded that if the City was ever to have first -class turf in the City parks, they must apply fertilizer on a regular basis and make an attempt to control weeds by chemical means. The program outlined by the Park Foreman would cost $8,660 for fertilizer for the-55 acres of turf, and approximately $1,135 for the broad -leaf weed control. He recommended that the City Council so authorize. On motion of-Councilman Gurnee-, seconded by-Councilman Norris the City Council approved the recommendation of the Public Services-Director and authorize the expenditure as requested with the staff to apply the chemicals on a priority basis. Motion carried, all ayes. 25. On motion of Mayor Schwartz,-seconded by Councilman Petterson the following resolution was introduced: Resolution No. 2829 (1975 Series), a resolution of the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo authorizing the closure of Higuera Street at the discretion of the Chief of Police. Passed and adopted on the following roll call vote: AYES: Councilmen Graham, Gurnee, Petterson and Mayor Schwartz NOES: Councilman Norris ABSENT: None Item 25 concluded the continued business items from the July 7, 1975 meeting. The City Council then moved into study of review of management at City Hall and administration of the City business. On.motion of Councilman Petterson, seconded by Councilman Norris the meeting adjourned to July 14, 1975 at 7:30 p.m. APPROVED: October 6, 1975 y� ,0ff.JtTzpatrick, City Clerk J I� 1