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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/08/2013MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO TUESDAY, JANUARY 08, 2013 - 6:00 P.M. LUDWICK COMMUNITY CENTER, 864 SANTA ROSA STREET SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA ROLL CALL: Council Members Present: Council Members John Ashbaugh, Dan Carpenter and Andrew Carter, Vice Mayor Kathy Smith and Mayor Jan Manx. City Staff Present: Katie Lichtig, City Manager, Michael Codron, Assistant City Manager, Christine Dietrick, City Attorney, and Maeve Kennedy Grimes, City Clerk (Other Department staff members were also present to assist in the process as needed.) 2013 -15 FINANCIAL PLAN COMMUNITY FORUM City Manager Lichtiq provided an overview of the goal- setting process, current ' goals, and the fiscal outlook for 2011 -13. Consultant Don Maruska explained the interactive process designed for this forum and facilitated the process throughout the course of the evening. There were approximately 175 participants in this forum. Public Comments During the public comment period, 52 members of the public provided input on the issues and goals that were of priority to them. Public comments were grouped into the following categories: Downtown Economic Development Pierre Rademaker, San Luis Obispo. Primary City goals should be Community Development, Economic Development, Neighborhood wellness; investment into downtown with TOT $$. Update Downtown Master Plan for Mission Plaza; circulation improvement of infrastructure of streets, bus routes and stops, trolley lines, bike lanes and facilities. Update analysis of needs and improvements. Deborrah Cash, Atascadero. Executive Director of the Downtown Association. Goals should focus on security, design and maintenance, public relations regarding transient issues, continued and updated policing; private tree lighting and taxi stands. City Council Meeting Tuesday, January 8, 2013 Page 2 Dominic Tartaplia, San Luis Obispo. President of Downtown Association, SLO expressed his ideas: issue of transients; education of the public regarding the difference between transients and homelessness; increase bicycle patrols in downtown and collaboration with the city to get assistance for those who want it. Ermina Karim, San Luis Obispo. Chamber of Commerce, SLO. Chamber priorities include: Economic Development Strategic Plan; jobs for head of household; revitalization of Mission Plaza and long term fiscal sustainability for City budget and Measure Y. Joseph Abrahams, San Luis Obispo. Measure Y: Citizens voted for it as an investment in itself. The natural history of the downtown should be enhanced. Courtney Kienow, San Luis Obispo. SLO Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber goals include enhancement of Mission Plaza: it needs to be returned to its vital standing as a spiritual and cultural hub of our community. Finance public improvements; enhanced lighting, bridge safety are also important. Vision of the Downtown Concept Plan should be implemented. Bill Almas, San Luis Obispo. Encourage strategies of Economic Development Strategic Plan, transportation and infrastructure. The permit process should be streamlined and coordinated. 1 Skate Park Johnny Miller, San Luis Obispo. The community has done a lot towards design and fundraising for a skate park for over 6 years, but we need additional funding to go forward with the Skate Park. Eli Stein, San Luis Obispo, works for a local skate shop. There is a great need for this skate park; it is a widely popular sport, but doesn't have a proper facility. The current temporary spot in Santa Rosa Park needs to be upgraded and enlarged. Chris Pontius, San Luis Obispo. Has spent 18 years working towards the skate park. 7 years ago, she participated in the development of a plan. The group can make a few changes to reduce costs, but the time is now to upgrade the park facility. Spencer Crotty, San Luis Obispo. Has attended fundraisers and planning for nearly eight years. The location is phenomenal, but the infrastructure is in great need. It will provide a better place for skaters to skate and keep them off City and business properties. San Luis Obispo is the Happiest City, but it has the saddest skate park. Eric Meyer, San Luis Obispo. Supports the skate park. City Council Meeting Page 3 Tuesday, January 8, 2013 Dave E., San Luis Obispo. A skate park is an investment in our kids' future. Santa Barbara's park is very popular. A skate park localizes the skaters. How about using the boy's prison in Paso Robles as a skate park and BMX skate park? Open Space Jodee Bennett, San Luis Obispo. EcoSLO volunteer and SLO Steward. A natural SLO docent for our open space. Continue to help fund open space; conservation easements, education, etc. Janet Pierucci, San Luis Obispo. Enjoys exploring San Luis and finding joy in the outdoors. A happy city should also be a city of well- being. Biking and walking need to be safe and accessible. Expand our green space, walkways and bike ways. Establish a Commission on Open Space with a core of volunteers to create and maintain the upkeep of our open spaces. John Smigelski, San Luis Obispo. Continue to give high priority to open spaces, Laguna Lake; it is an excellent resource for the community and visitors. Carolyn Huddleston, Templeton, and member of EcoSLO Board. She appreciates the Council appropriation toward open spaces. Trail maintenance and docent lead 1 hikes are provided by Eco SLO. We need to maintain open spaces for recreation, reduction of stress, quality of life, and reduced obesity Greg Bettencourt, Cayucos, Director of Central Coast Concerned Mountain Bikers. Congratulated Council on their political courage. Ranger staff for City open spaces is 1 FT and a few PT staff; more staff are needed. Sandra Marshall, San Luis Obispo. EcoSLO Chair. SLO Stewards newsletter is distributed to over 1,000 people. EccSLO is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the natural environment through community -based action, advocacy, and education. Thanked the Council for continued support. Neighborhood Wellness Catherine Meeks, San Luis Obispo. Please keep neighborhood wellness a priority and major city goal. Meadow Park has improved, but safety and the quality of life needs to be focused upon and improved. Need full time dedicated staff. Carolyn Smith, San Luis Obispo. Thanked the Council for making neighborhood wellness a major city goal. Progress has been made within the last year, however, street and sidewalk repair, effective street sweeping, and removing additional vehicles from neighborhoods needs to continue. Neighborhood patrols are needed City Council Meeting Tuesday, January 8, 2013 Page 4 to deal with burglaries. Rental reviews /inspections are needed to prevent low standards in housing. Noise levels must be reduced and need to be enforced. Karen Adler, Alta Vista, San Luis Obispo. Enjoys students, but not their parties. Fines for noise violations should be increased. The ordinance regarding 5 non - related persons in a rental must be enforced. Harry Busselen, San Luis Obispo. Neighbors North of Foothill (NNOF). Implementation of street sweeping should be set up with no parking on street sweeping dates. The parking issue at the trail head on Patricia at Bishop's Peak needs to be resolved. The rental area is a growing problem. Fiscal Responsibility and Pension Reform Kristen Yetter, San Luis Obispo. Continue to maintain focus on fiscal responsibility. Pension reform issue should be brought to the community. High staffing costs should be reduced. Foster the entrepreneurial spirit. Contingency funds should be in place. Bob Stets, San Luis Obispo. Pension liability must be focused upon. Opportunity of rising funds is hopeful, but are we living up to our commitments? Solutions are not simple, but we must analyze the situation and include community in the discussion. Gordon Mullin, San Luis Obispo Financial planner. Discussed defined contribution and benefit plans. People live longer; we may not be able to keep our promises. Jeff Buckingham, San Luis Obispo County. We appreciate the progress that has been made within the near past, and hope it continues. Kevin Rice, San Luis Obispo. Stated that Mission Plaza, Skate Board Park and homeless issues are top priorities. Measure Y back up plan is needed. We need to look to each department and find out where we can make cuts. Transportation Dan Rivoire, San Luis Obispo. SLO Bicycle Coalition. Supports safe streets for all, and a community atmosphere; wants to see improved bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure; build out of the bicycle plan; and safe routes to school. Improve downtown for better access of all modes of transportation. He requested a pro- active walking and biking goal. Restore bicycle planning position within the City. He finished his comments by requesting that all those who support bicycling stand up. 1 City Council Meeting Page 5 Tuesday, January 8, 2013 Peggy Koteen, San Luis Obispo. Southside bicycle route would be appreciated. ' Tank Farm and Buckley are not the best and stated that a stand -alone bicycle lane would be a great goal, along with the path between Avilla and San Luis Obispo. Vanessa Amerson, San Luis Obispo. Volunteer for safe routes to school. Would like to see staff review paths for best cycling and walking to each of the schools; a study would show what needs to be fixed. Elizabeth Thyne, San Luis Obispo. Mass Transit Committee, SLO. Traffic Congestion Relief should be a City priority. Maintaining and increasing ridership (with more money and a staff person). She would like to see an update to the current short term transit plan. She made a final statement that as our population ages, public transport should remain healthy for all. Michael Draze, San Luis Obispo. Member of Planning Commission. Renewing Measure Y is critical to the city. Transportation options are crucial. We all need to rethink trips and review options to single user automobile to reduce congestion. Economic Development Tim Williams, San Luis Obispo. ISP industry for 16 years. He wants to see access to broadband under Economic Development Plan. Private businesses have done 1 what they can, but it's time for the City to adopt a goal to aggressively increase and expand this new infrastructure in broadband. Ron Yukelson, San Luis Obispo. Sierra Vista Medical Center. EDSP allows for sustainable growth for the future and the opportunity to plan for our future. Encourage new business to come and promote current businesses and encourage them to thrive. Bob Mansell, San Luis Obispo. When he moved here he recalls that there were no big box stores within the downtown of the City and wants it to stay that way. Need to have a traffic light in the Stoneridge area across Broad Street / Lawrence. Eric Justesen, San Luis Obispo. He wants to see implementation of the EDSP. This development is a long -term endeavor. We need EDSP for almost every topic that has been discussed tonight. In favor of bike plans and redevelopment of Mission Plaza. Chris Richardson, San Luis Obispo. Thanked Council and Staff for the adoption of the EDSP. Implementation is the next step and it will take tenacity. Infrastructure finance plan can be an impediment so it is a critical component. Help the companies that are here and encourage new businesses to come to San Luis Obispo. Open Spaces are not infinite; they should be considered during development. City Council Meeting Page 6 Tuesday, January 8, 2013 Homeless Services Bill Portzel, San Luis Obispo. Thinks the homeless shelter on one acre on South Higuera is too small for 200 beds, parking and a kennel. He would like to see the site moved to a more suitable area for facilities, parking and activities. Bill Thoma, San Luis Obispo County resident and City business owner. Two years ago, this approval was not fully discussed. Prado 40 is a feasible site and should be considered by CAPSLO. The City should help fund this. Enforcement of behavioral issues should be funded to a higher level. It violates the City's Tri Polar concept: Healthcare on Johnson; government in downtown; social services in south part of town. Alcohol Outlets Allan Cooper, San Luis Obispo. Save Our Downtown. He supports neighborhood wellness — especially in our downtown. Economic vitality and mixed use in downtown should be encouraged. Discourage additional alcohol outlets in the downtown. Downtown Concept Plan should be incorporated into the Pedestrian Plan. There should be a more appropriate balance between alcohol and other businesses in downtown. Elisabeth Abraham, San Luis Obispo. Wants to continue to see SLO as a happy town; reduce alcohol proliferation in the downtown. Other topics (community partnerships, revenue generation, annual public service recognition day, south side traffic solutions, and traffic congestion Zivad Nacassha, San Luis Obispo. Foundation for the Performing Arts Center. Support of the PAC by the City is major goal and greatly appreciated. Look forward to continued success. Charlene Rosales, San Luis Obispo. COO of United Way of SLO County. Volunteered on EDSP. She wants to see the plan implemented to the fullest possible extent to help build a resilient economy and engage the community. Dixon Moore, San Luis Obispo. Proposed his idea for revenue generation for the City... Advertisement/Marketing in the parking structures; elevator and door wraps; framed posters on the top of stairwells. $15,000 to $100,000 income potential. Marilyn Fiddler, San Luis Obispo. There are 1,000 501 C3's in San Luis Obispo. We are not only the happiest town, but also the "caringest" town. Harness that energy. Create an annual public service recognition day — "care fair" where non- 1 profits would set up tables with information regarding what they do. Give free ice City Council Meeting Tuesday, January 8, 2013 Page 7 cream. The City should facilitate a liaison position to help all the non - profits and proactively reach out to help those who wish to create new ones. Don Hedrick, San Luis Obispo. Governments have no soul. We need to look for a better way to treat our citizens. Invest in our location here. Aimee Wyatt, San Luis Obispo. From Meadow Park it is .7 miles between the nearest street lights. Asked for a new street light on Broad Street Linda Gruber, San Luis Obispo. Parking structure. We should have a 24 hour mechanical system in place especially for the evenings. Sandra Rowley, San Luis Obispo. Represents Residents for Quality Neighborhoods, SLO. Measure Y Essential Services. Touched on several issues: neighborhood wellness, public safety, street paving, infrastructure, noise ordinance, problem behaviors of students, code violations and property owners should be included in rental review /inspection and enacting our own program. Josh Friedman, San Luis Obispo. Freedom. Nothing is free. Independence and entrepreneurship can fund the matters people are requesting. Dan Phares, San Luis Obispo. Happiness should be the number one goal of the council. Trees and plants encourage happiness; make SLO a green place. Plan to 1 reduce the traffic flow on LOVR, do whatever you can to reduce traffic in that area. The speakers' comments were recorded and all participants at the venue were provided with an opportunity to "cast a vote" next to the six ideas they thought should be top priorities. In addition they "cast a vote" next to the six top Measure Y projects /services. Additional comments were received in writing and attached to the comment sheets. —end of public comments— There being no further business to come before the City Council, Mayor Marx adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m. Maeve Ken edy G es City Clerk APPROVED BY COUNCIL: 01/22/13 1