Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/29/1973Roll Call MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA January 29, 1973 - 7:30 p.m. City Hall Present: Emmons Blake, John C. Brown, Myron Graham, T. Keith Gurnee, Kenneth E. Schwartz. Other Present: K. Kupper and R. Kresja, County Supervisors; G. Protopaoas, County Engineer; C. Milne, Deputy County Engineer; J. Warnagieris, County Assessor; B. Bader, Deputy Assessor. City Staff Present: J. H. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk; A. J. Shaw, Jr., City Attorney; E. L. Rodgers, Police Chief; R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer; R. Young, Planning Director; D. F. Romero, City Engineer; R. A. Paul, Director of Water Department; D. E. Englert, Police Captain; L. Schlobohm, Fire Chief; W. Flory, Director of Parks and Recreation. Mayor Schwartz explained the purpose of the meeting was to review the problems of the recent flood and possible ways of correcting or improving matters so that a recurrence would be minimized. He urged the cooperation of all people participating in the hearing and set guidelines so that each ' person would have an opportunity to be heard. He stated that the Council would be unable to answer direct questions due to the threatened lawsuits against the City because of the flood. He continued that the City would ask support of State or Federal governments to make aid available to the people and properties that were damaged during the recent flood caused by the heavy rains. He then called upon each department head for a brief report on the status of his department. D. F. Romero, City Engineer, reported on the drainage, streets, sewer plant and sewer lines after the storm and also reported on official rain- fall data for the storm. He concluded that there was more serious damage to private property but only.minor damage to City property and City streets. All City facilities were in operating condition. R. A. Paul, Director of the Water Department, reported that the City's water system held up during the storm and that there were no major breaks or difficulties in the system. E. L. Rodgers, Police Chief, reported that his department had been active through the storm and worked several days afterward. All men had been placed on stand -by status. The City lost one police car due to damage by the flood, and two other cars received minor damage. Fire Chief Schlobohm reported that the Fire Department had continued in ' following up after the flood to help the citizens throughout the com- munity who needed help with flood problems. W. Flory, Parks and Recreation Director, reported that there was only minor damage in the parks (primarily debris) which could be cleaned up very easily. R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, then reported in detail regarding his attempts to get help from State and Federal agencies not only for public property but to help the private property owners who had losses and damage. City Council Minutes January 29, 1973 Page 2 George Protopapas, County Engineer, stated that the facilities which were damaged in the County were primarily in the area surrounding the City of San Luis Obispo, particularly the Prefumo Canyon area and the Los Osos Valley area. Throughout the County, five bridges were lost. Joe Warnagieris, County Assessor, stated that as soon as the County Board of Supervisors took action and declared the County a disaster area, the property owners who had received damage to land, buildings and business inventory could request a reappraisal by the Assessor, and a portion of the 1972 -73 taxes would be refunded, and a reappraisal would be made for the 1973 -74 assessment roll which would possibly reduce the taxes for the following fiscal year. Bruce Bader, Chief Appraiser, County Assessor's Office, explained that as of March I, 1973, any property owner damaged by the flood should file with the assessor a claim for a property inspection so that the 1973 assessments might be adjusted to show losses caused by the flood. The City Clerk presented a letter on behalf of the San Luis Obispo Savings and Loan Association urging the City Council to do whatever could be done to correct the problems under the Cole Building between Marsh and Higuera Streets which was one of the causes of flooding on their property. The City Clerk also presented a communication from L. M. Emery, Johnson Avenue, suggesting several approaches to cleaning out the creek and protecting property in the City. The City Council received a resolution from the Motel and Hotel Association requesting that the City Council do what was necessary through Congressional representatives to-have the Army Corps of Engineers conduct an investigation of conditions in and around the City of San Luis Obispo which might lead to flooding, and asked that these matters be. corrected. The City Council received a communication and resolution from the Downtown Association urging that the City Council contact their Congressional representatives asking that a bill be introduced author- izing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct studies of flooding within the community.. Mayor Schwartz then declared the public hearing open stating that the comments would be heard by the Council on an area or creek basis so that all comments dealing with one drainage basin could be considered at one time. The first area under discussion, OLD GARDEN CREEK: Gerard Parsons, 199 Chorro and San Luis Mill and Lumber Company, stated that both his property and business were extensively damaged by the flood, and he urged that the City call in the Corps of Engineers in order to establish flood control structures throughout the drainage basin. Shirley Souza, 165 Chorro, stated her property was also damaged due to flooding, and hoped the City would take whatever action was necessary to protect her. , STENNER CREEK: Leonard Fisher, Nipomo Street, felt that the damage could have been reduced had extensive development been denied in the upper reaches of the basin. He felt too much drainage from new projects without a compensating increase in the size of the creek downstream caused flooding in the older parts of town. City Council Minutes January 29, 1973 Page 3 Bill Ryan, 470 Lincoln, stated his property was flooded due to shallow- ness of the creek in the area. It was his opinion that all creeks should be graded and deepened in order to carry more water. Dean Robinson, Lincoln Street, felt the bridge at Stenner Creek and Santa Rosa Street was inadequate due to its construction and due to the sewer and water pipes carried under the bridge, which caused debris to hang up and block the channel. He urged that the creek be widened and deepened and that trees be removed to clear the channel. He stated he was willing to pay his share of the improvements. Dr. Paul Van Eeckhout, 199 North Santa Rosa Street, urged that the creek be deepened and widened in order to handle the great amounts of water that came down the stream. Mrs. Gibson, 533 North Broad, stated that her house moved off the founda- tion and that she needed help, both physical and financial. SAN LUIS CREEK - CUESTA PARK TO STENNER: Homer Odom felt that the City Council should now look to expert opinion on the best way to control storm run -off that comes down San Luis Creek. He stated that he had personally lost many thousands of dollars of electronic equipment just as he did in 1969. He urged that the City no longer sit back without taking some action, and he requested that the Corps of Engineers be asked to make a comprehensive, impartial study of the entire drainage basin of San Luis Obispo and its environs. The study could result in a plan which would be developed to protect the City and its citizens. He presented resolutions from organizations urging that the Corps of Engineers make a study for flood control which would also allow citizens to obtain flood insurance. He also urged that the City Council have the debris that was still in the creeks cleaned up. ' Mrs. Hildenbrand, County resident of.the area north of the City along San Luis Creek, felt that her property was damaged when the water backed up from the City. Howard Brown urged the City Council to be very careful in removing trees and deepening areas in the upper San Luis Creek as he was sure this would not help properties in the southern part of the City. He felt that a comprehensive creek -by -creek study was what was needed. Mark Haywood, 1196 Islay Street, objected to the attitude of the City rescue forces who did not seem to be very serious or helpful in their work for the citizens during the height of the storm. Dr. Ernest Werble, 1372 San Luis Drive, objected to the City pulling trees out on his property without permission, and further he felt that the damage done by the equipment pulling up the trees was much worse than that caused by the storm. Douglas Donaldson, Buena Vista Street, felt that if the City had an environmental committee or commission that a great deal of the ecological damage to the City would not have occurred. Bill Pesky, 657 Howard, felt the constrictions of bridge and culverts within the City to creel: width was what caused much of the damage. He felt that the underground structures should be widened so water could flow freely through the open creek. Bill Roberts, 1854 San Luis Drive, disagreed with solutions of removing trees from San Luis Creek. He felt the equipment used to remove the trees caused more damage to private property and creeks than any storm could ever cause. City Council Minutes January 29, 1973 Page 4 Tony Leon, 244 Upham Street, stated it was his opinion that damage caused by the storm was due to the great amount of rain falling in a short period of time. He did not feel that calling in the Corps of Engineers would do any good. He felt that a study by the Soil Con- servation Service would be a better agency to study the flood area. Bruce Petroski, Cal Poly, stated the City did not need the Corps of Engineers but that a local study by local people and construction of wider culverts would ease. the problem. SAN LUIS CREEK - HIGUERA AND MARSH TO SOUTH CITY LIMITS: Roy Parsons, 236 Higuera Street, San Luis Mill and Lumber, felt that something should be done to bring in the Corps of Engineers to do the required flood control work in order to protect the City and its citizens. He felt that the City did a good job in tearing down trees in San Luis Creek along San Luis Drive to eliminate obstructions. Dr. Ernest Werbel, San Luis Drive, objected to the comments made by Mr. Parsons in saying that the trees. removed in his area was a service to the community. Rose Barger, 171 Brook Street, felt_ the reason she and her neighbors were flooded was because the adjacent owner, the Division of Highways, had placed a concrete berm to protect their property which caused a dam and flooded adjacent properties.. Dink Hall, 304 Higuera, felt that some creek improvements should be made which might require removal of some trees but this should be done in an intelligent manner. Norman Stone, 236 Branch, felt that one area that the City should look to was correction of the bridge at Marsh and Higuera which he felt caused much of the damage in the area south of the intersection. James Curry, South Higuera Street, Curry Rentals, agreed that the bridge at Marsh and Higuera caused damage to his property. He also agreed with removal of all trees from the creek which might hinder the passage of water. Rita Beavuais, 265 Elks Lane, asked the City Council to do something to stop floods as she felt it was only by the grace of God that no loss of life occurred during the January 18th storm. 9:17 p.m. Mayor Schwartz called a recess. 9:35 p.m. The meeting reconvened wi.th.all Council present. F. McNamara, Realtor, Higuera Street, felt the main source of flooding on Lower Higuera Street was the Higuera Street off -ramp from 101 Freeway. He urged the Council to try to get the cooperation of the Division of Highways to raise the bridge at least five feet so that debris could clear. He also felt that the willows should be cleared out of the creek as debris hung up in the willows and formed a dam. Margaret Aikens, 268 Lemon.Street, representing the Cal Poly Ornamental Horticulture Club, offered to help in erosion planning in the City. Elsie Schmidt, 112 Broad Street, stated that the damage to her property was not caused by Garden .Creek but was due to an adjacent property owner who covered up a small drainage ditch which caused run -off to come down Broad Street and sheet across her property and her neighbors' property. 1 1 J City Council Minutes January 29, 1973 Page 5 Bob Miller, 162 Higuera Street, urged the City Council to get expert advice on controlling floods through development of proper controls of creeks and drainage. Carol Robinson, Santa Rosa Street, felt the damage was caused by the apathy of not only the City government but also of the citizens who did not take. an interest in their community. LAGUNA LAKE AREA: Don Frost felt that the City had never taken into consideration the complete development of Laguna Lake which caused the flooding. He urged that the City request the Corps of Engineers to make the required studies for flood control of the entire valley. S. Jenkins, Atascadero Street, felt that the Council should look into handling water from Prefumo Canyon which he felt caused silting of the lake. He felt that the City needed better planning so that homes were not built in flood plains as was done when this marsh was developed. George Headley, 1801 Prefumo, listed damage to mobile homes and his mobile home park caused by the flooding from Prefumo Canyon. He felt that a great sum of money would have to be expended to bring their park back to the original condition. He felt their problem was caused by the lack of interest by the County in not cleaning out Prefumo Canyon Creek, and he hoped that the City Council would do all in their power to get help from either the State, County or Federal governments to clean the upper Prefumo Canyon area. Harold Field, 1704 Oceanaire Drive, felt the problem was caused by inadequate storm drainage operated by the City and County. He felt the City Council should get the best advice available in order to protect the City and its citizens. He urged that the Council prohibit any further grading in the Laguna flood plain and that a new drain be added to take the water from Prefumo Creek through to the outlet. He felt a larger storm drain should be built on Madonna Road which was now constricted and also the drain at Highway 101 should be enlarged to handle the great volume of water. Lynette Crook, 1347 Avalon, urged the Council to not fill in the lake or allow it to be fil.led but to deepen it so it would hold more water. Ray Hauser, 1564 Oceanaire Drive, asked what the City planned to do to enlarge the culvert under Madonna Road and how soon it could be done. D. F. Romero, City Engineer, stated that the third barrel and downstream improvements would be planned for summer. Mr. Hauser also asked what the City Council's attitude was as far as asking for federal disaster declaration for this area. The Council replied that all possible action was taken by the City Council to have the area declared a disaster. Norman Eatouqh, 1508 Gulf, asked why emergency measures were not taken to protect homes evacuated by residents due to the storm. He claimed a number of houses were looted after the storm, and he did not feel that the City had offered enough protection to the residents of the area. He too felt that the drain under Madonna Road should be enlarged so that water could drain out of the lake. He also objected to the schools letting the youngsters out without some control of where the children were going while the school grounds were high and dry. City Council Minutes January 29, 1973 Page 6 L. B. Hawley, 1477 Oceanaire Drive, felt something should be done to get the water out of Laguna Lake and under Madonna Road during storm condi- tions. He also felt something should be done to correct the Prefumo Canyon outlet, not only into the lake but also out of it. Tom Boyd, 1101 Atascadero, wondered why the streets in Laguna Lake area were not cleaned up after the storm as a new storm could bring a new disaster as the gutters were full of debris, junk, etc. Diane Lane, 1108 Madonna Road, asked that the debris be picked up from the gutters as today's rain was backing into her garage. Ken Silva, 869 Church Street, felt that creeks were not the problem but that poor planning had caused development in flood -prone areas. He felt that the Corps of Engineers should be asked to make a study and then let the citizens decide on which action they wished to take. Mrs. Atkinson, 159 Tassajara, felt that her problems were caused.by the City's work upstream from her house when the bridge was widened, and she felt that the City should take necessary steps to protect all property. Mr. Guys, Oceanaire Drive, urged that the Corps of Engineers be asked to make a study, and their advice should be followed to protect the Laguna Lake area. AI McWilliams, Laguna Mobile Homes, stated that his trailer was damaged when Prefumo Canyon Creek flooded. He felt that the County and City should get together and do something at Prefumo Creek. He too urged that the Corps of Engineers come in and take over the drainage_ and flood control from the City and the County as they seemed inept at handling this type of problem. Mrs. Dillon, 1582 Oceanaire Drive, stated that she felt the main problem was the culvert.at Madonna Road being to small to handle water during flood periods. Bill Smith, 1316 Oceanaire Drive, urged the Council to call in experts like the Corps of Engineers to do the job right. Dennis Hynes, 1486 Oceanaire Drive, agreed with asking help and advice from the Corps of Engineers and also urged the formation of a flood control district for the San Luis Obispo drainage basin. He felt the major problem was that upstream development caused debris to come down- stream and the improvements could not handle the debris. He also felt that City planning was to blame for not controlling density and develop- ment in flood -prone areas. T. Baumberger, Civil Engineer, objected to the City Council's inability and inactivity in solving flood problems and spending great sums of money on developing other matters without any money being spent for flood control to help its taxpayers and citizens. The President of the Cuesta College Student Body urged the City Council to look to its zoning laws which were the main causes of flooding because the City allowed people to build in the flood plains, and the densities were too high. He offered the help of the Student Body at Cuesta College to help clean up creeks, private property, etc. Jack Foster, 2595 McMillan Lane, felt the problem was the debris plugging drainage facilities within the City. He felt the debris came from outside the City and that some sort of joint City and County effort should be made to clean up the entire basin. He suggested that the City Council ask the Corps of Engineers to come in and make a drainage basin study for the City's and County's guidance. He also recommended that the City rebuild their bridges and collect and clean out growth from the creeks in the City. n 1 1 City Council Minutes January 29, 1973 Page 7 R. Dunin, Motel -Hotel Association, felt that the City should move ahead in complying with the requirements of the Federal government in order to make flood insurance available to the citizens of this community. Frank Exeter, Director, Chamber of Commerce, congratulated the City Council for holding this meeting in order to let the people of the City be heard. He urged that the City Council get the best technical advice it could to protect the property and citizens of the City from future flood damage. Charles Delmartini urged that the City Council ask the garbage company to help with picking up debris in front of the houses in the Oceanaire Drive area. Supervisor Kresia felt that the volume of water during the Thursday rain was the main cause for flooding. He did not feel anything could have been done during those three hours to prevent damage. He felt that a contributing factor of flood in addition to the rain was the poor planning which allowed high density development in flood plains of the City, also without adequate provisions for drainage development. He felt that the City, County and State should study ways to avoid future flood problems. He also felt the Corps of Engineers could be of some help to the City and County in making a study and preparing a flood plan. Mayor Schwartz declared the public hearing closed. Councilman Gurnee felt that the City Council should not sit on its hands in this matter but should proceed with some plan of action as soon as the proposals and comments heard this evening had beer studied. He concluded that he had urged flood plain zoning and control of run -off from developments. He:felt that past floods proved the need for flood plain zoning and for open space to hold water. He felt that past drainage plans of the City had not worked, and the City should get expert help and advice from outside the City so the City could proceed on good engineering advice and experience. Councilman Blake objected to .a stop order that was issued to the City Engineer preventing him from removing trees from the creek adjacent to San Luis Drive. He felt that the City Council should back up the City Engineer in his decisions. He felt that the City Council had time and time again overruled the City Engineer's advice. Councilman Brown felt that the Council should immediately clean up the creeks and streets in the City before moving on to other matters. He also felt that the City should ask the Corps of Engineers to make a study of our drainage needs. He felt that the City and County should cooperate on drainage studies and drainage maintenance. Councilman Graham felt that the City Council was just as concerned as the citizens in protecting the lives and property of residents; he felt there were other ways to contain water than with concrete channels. He listed alternates to concrete in channel i zation of drainage and streams. He felt that the Council should ask for outside help and advice on flood control. He also felt that a key issue was the reconstruction of the bridge at Marsh and Higuera Streets on -ramp. He concluded that the . Council had made a mistake in allowing high density development in flood plains without any means of protecting the properties. He felt that the Council should immediately look into the drain of Prefumo Canyon which he felt was now in a dangerous condition. 1 City Council Minutes January 29, 1973 Page 8 Mavor Schwartz felt that over the years the City Council had been required to make decisions involving tech.nical drainage recommendations and each expert had been proven wrong with the Council being blamed. He reminded the public that the City Council and City government owned only a small amount of the San Luis Creek property or other creeks in the City. These creeks were privately owned and the City had no right to go on private property to tear down trees or damage property without the property owner's permission. He concluded that the Council must now take action, and it would cost a lot of money but the Council would have to make the decision for the people of the community. Councilman Brown felt that the City Council should proceed with asking the Corps of Engineers for help and for future studies of flood control. Councilman Graham agreed to ask for immediate help from the Corps of Engineers. Councilman Gurnee agreed that a Long -range study by the Corps of Engineers or some other responsible agency would be of great help for future planning. Councilman Blake felt the immediate need for the Corps of Engineers to come in and help clean up debris and channels in the creeks. Mayor Schwartz summarized the Council's choice of studies: (1) go along with the City staff and their recommendations; (2) form a flood control district through joint effort of the City and County; (3) call in the Corps of Engineers and see how much and when it could be done. On motion of Councilman Gurnee, seconded by Councilman Graham, the following resolution was introduced: RESOLUTION NO. 2414, a resolution of the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo requesting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to assist the City in removing flood -borne debris from the City's creek system and in rehabilitating creek channels damaged by said flood. Passed and adopted on the following roll call vote: AYES: Emmons Blake, John C. Brown, Myron Graham, T. Keith Gurnee, Kenneth E. Schwartz NOES: None ABSENT: None On motion of Councilman Brown, seconded by Councilman Graham, the City Council adjourned to 12:10 p.m., Friday, February 2, 1973. Motion carried. APPROVED: . TR , CITY CLERK