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Minutes 1994-10-11 . .' · . 361 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1994 CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 215 EAST BRANCH STREET ARROYO GRANDE, CALIFORNIA The City Council of the City of Arroyo Grande met at 7:30 P.M., with Mayor Matthew Peter Gallagher, III, presiding. 1. AND 2. FLAG SALUTE AND INVOCATION Mayor Gallagher led the Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag, and the Rev. Ken Lockwood of Seventh-day Adventist Church delivered the invocation. 3. ROLL CALL Present with Mayor Gallagher were Council Members Drew __ Brandy, Bernard Burke, Michael Lady and James Souza. Staff Members present were Acting City Manager Rick TerBorch, city Attorney Roger Lyon, city Clerk Nancy Davis, Planning Director Doreen Liberto-Blanck and Director of Building and Fire Kurt Latipow. 4. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS HEATHER JENSEN, 569 May Street, spoke about the City's pending negotiations with Sonic Cable Television. She urged the city to discuss with the Sonic the quality of service and station selection. She said the weather and travel channels are not received by Arroyo Grande citizens. She also requested that Sonic provide public service time for such special events as the recent Candidates' Night. Mayor Gallagher said the city has a month-to-month agreement with Sonic. He said San Luis Obispo and Atascadero are negotiating with Sonic and Arroyo Grande may benefit from those negotiations. 5. CONSENT AGENDA It was moved by Souza/Burke, and the motion passed unanimously to approve Consent Agenda items 5.a. through 5.g., with the recommended courses of action. 5.a. Proclamation, "Red Ribbon Week," October 23-31, 1994. Mayor Gallagher presented the proclamation to Roger Freberg, San Luis Obispo County chairman. Mr. Freberg gave tee shirts to the Council with the Red Ribbon Week logo on them. 5.b. September 27, 1994, City Council Minutes. Approved. 5.c. October 5, 1994, Senior Advisory Commission Minutes. Information. 5.d. September, 1994, Investment Report. Information. 1 '. 362 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OCTOBER 11, 1994 5.e. Third Quarter, 1994, Sales Tax Revenue Report. Information. 5.f. Audit Report of the Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund. Information. Council Member Brandy noted that State auditors had found that the City has accounted for, expended, and safeguarded its Highway Users Tax funds in accordance with the State requirements for 1992-1993. He said the city staff had done a good job. 5.g. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Pamphlet. Information. Council Member Lady complimented the Planning Department on the pamphlet. The Planning Director said it is a part of a series of pamphlets to assist the public in better understanding the Planning Process. 6. REGISTER OF CHECKS .It was moved by Burke/Lady, and the motion passed unanimously to approve Cash Disbursements in the amount of $550,682.40, as listed in the October 6, 1994, staff report of Finance Director David Bacon. 7.A. PRESENTATION BY RAY BURNELL. REPRESENTING THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Mayor Gallagher said Mr. Burnell represents the Economic Development Committee, which is made up of City, Chamber of Commerce, business and community people. He said the group has been meeting for two years with the goal of improving the economic vitality of the city. RAY BURNELL, chairman of the Economic Development Committee, said he would be encouraging city Hall in four ways, ( 1 ) reinforce Arroyo Grande's economic vision, (2) applaud the community's economic achievements, ( 3 ) confront the economic challenges and ( 4 ) embrace a long-range commitment to strategic economic vitality for the City. Mr. Burnell showed slides on the overhead projector and gave the history and goals of the EDC. He stressed the importance of strategic, not crisis economic development. He said there is a need to continue the work of the committee, and not slip backward with the loss of Tim Quiggle, EDC coordinator, who has had to return to his full-time position with PG&E. MR. QUIGGLE also spoke to the Council. He reviewed the accomplishments of the EDC. He said the committee met for three days in June, 1993, and reached a consensus on the course to chart for economic development for the City. He said the first thing the committee decided to do was conduct a survey of the 2, , 363 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OCTOBER 11, 1994 community. He said the survey showed that 93 percent of those surveyed thought it would be a good idea to support the existing businesses and help them expand. He said 64 percent thought that new business should be aggressively attracted. He said 91 percent thought that the farmland currently being farmed should stay that way. A survey also was done of the commercial business owners to see what their plans were for the future, according to Mr. Quiggle. He said 27 percent of the business owners said they planned to expand, but one-third did not have enough room to do so. He said the business owners also were asked what their biggest frustration was in dealing with city Hall, and they said "red tape." He said since that survey, the city had initiated a pre-application process, business license start-up fees were eliminated, conditional use permit requirements were streamlined and traffic mitigation fees were dramatically lowered. Mr. Quiggle said the EDC applied for a Department of Commerce $30,000 planning and technical grant and received it. He said the grant will point the City in the direction of attracting new business to Arroyo Grande, build on the strengths it already has, and help create more primary wage earner jobs. A new business attraction brochure will be printed in the near future. Theme of the brochure will be "Arroyo Grande - positioned for Progress." DICK WOOLSLAYER, a member of the EDC, spoke on the challenges to the committee and the City. He said it is the end to the State's "gold rush." He said the State's population has gone down, along with the gross domestic product and employment growth. He said the city should not return to a solely reactive approach to economic development, but needs to move forward with a strategic approach. He said it is essential that the momentum not be lost. He said 81 percent of Arroyo Grande graduates go to college, but cannot return here for career entry or head of household jobs. He said new revenue sources are needed. REUBEN KVIDT, EDC member, praised the city for its cooperation in trying to improve economic development~ He said there were three questions that could be asked, ( 1 ) Does the city want to continue? ( 2 ) How much commitment does it want or can it make? ( 3 ) Does the city want to make a crisis or strategic response? He referred to a memorandum to the Council from the EDC, and said in order to preserve a strategic approach toward the economic development of Arroyo Grande, the EDC believes it is vital that the city provide staff support services in the 3 - .364 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OCTOBER 11, 1994 following areas: I. Administrate the Existing Business Retention and Expansion Program to enhance commercial enterprises currently doing business in Arroyo Grande. II. Design and implement a New Business Attraction Program to identify commercial enterprises for location in Arroyo Grande, conduct target industry analysis on such businesses, and direct efforts to recruit new enterprises. Mr. Kvidt said it should be made certain that the members of the staff and committee are problem solvers and not problem makers. III. Insure staff support for the pUblic/private Economic Development Committee's partnership. '-/' IV. Network with other economic development groups (other cities, etc. ) . V. Develop funding sources for economic development beyond City allocations (grants). VI. Prepare (and keep current) an economic development element for the General Plan based upon responsible analysis of economic trends. VII. Liaison and ombudsmanship between the city and local businesses. He said the person should sense what the wants and needs are, be a specialized person acting as a go-between and have a goal each year. Mr. Kvidt said the committee estimated that such economic development activities, combined with any related duties, would require a thirty (30) hour per week effort. He said as such, the EDC had proposed three options for Council consideration: 1. Division of Lahor. Divide the economic development workload among existing city staff. 2. Reshuffle Current Staff. Reorganize city staff with the addition of a part-time community development position to coordinate primary economic activities. 3. Arrange Contract Services Contract outside economic development services on a year-to- year basis accountable to clear annual performance goals. 4 . 365 . , CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OCTOBER 11, 1994 Council Members discussed the EDC proposals. They applauded the efforts of EDC, said the momentum must be continued and Council should put in place a system that "grows" the economy of the city. The three above options were discussed, with Mayor Gallagher saying he preferred No. 3 . Council Member Brandy expressed concerns about who would do the recruiting of the person hired and who would file for the grant, for example. Council Member Souza said that has been a function of the EDC, and he saw that continuing. council Member Burke suggested waiting to choose one of the above options until the consultant is hired when the economic development study funded through a Housing and Community Development Grant is finalized. He said it might be better to wait and get direction from the consultant concerning where to go. Mr. Burnell said the consultant would be studying types of businesses to bring into the city, and an economic development coordinator still would be needed. Council Member Burke said he would like to see staff review the three options and give the Council a report on what is involved in each one of them. Council Member Lady urged the Council to take a look at the City resources such as community leaders and the community-at- large. He said there may be people who can "fill the gap." Council Member Brandy said the matter should not get bogged down, and a timetable should be set up. It was moved by Brandy/Burke, and the motion passed unanimously to direct staff to evaluate options presented by the Economic Development Committee and any other options considered; work with the EDC in corning to a consensus and recommend options developed in priority order; report back to the Council at the second meeting in November, 1994, and continue working with the EDC and offering as much support as possible in the interim. 7.B. DECLARATION O~ SURPLUS EOUIPMENT The Acting City Manager recommended adoption of a resolution declaring as surplus four portable voting booths that were used in elections conducted by the City in years past. He said the city no longer has use for these booths, and the South County Historical Society is interested in collecting items of historical nature and would like the City to donate them to the Society. Council Member Brandy asked about selling the voting booths. City Clerk Davis said the booths need to be cleaned and reconditioned. 5 3'6 6 .' CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OCTOBER 11, 1994 It was moved by Souza/Burke (5-0-0, Souza, Burke, Brandy, Lady and Gallagher voting aye) to approve Resolution No. 3057 Declaring Items to be Surplus and Requesting Authorization to Donate Them to the South County Historical society. 8. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS None. 9. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS a. Council Member Burke said the movie partially filmed in Arroyo Grande, "Little Giants," will have a benefit showing at 7:00 P.M. Thursday, October 6, 1994, at the Festival Cinemas. b. Council Member Souza said he had received a number of complaints about mattresses piled up outside "The Sleep Shoppe" on Alder Street. Fire Chief Latipow said he is working with the store owner to solve the problem. He said the store owner has a space problem and the mattresses are picked up weekly. Mayor Gallagher requested that Chief Latipow find out who picks up the mattresses and if the mattresses are recycled. 10. CLOSED SESSION On the unanimously approved motion of Brandy/Lady, the Council adjourned at 8:45 P.M. to a Closed Session on the following: a. Conference with Labor Negotiator: Government Code section 54957.6 Agency Negotiator: Rick TerBorch, Acting city Manager Employee organization: Service Employees International Union; Local 817 b. Conference with Legal Counsel: Anticipated Litigation; Significant Exposure to Litigation Pursuant to Subdivision (b) of section 54956.9: (1 case) 11. ADJOURNMENT The Council reconvened at 10:35 P.M. On the unanimously approved motion of Burke/Souza, the Council immediately adjourned. No action was taken on the Closed Session items. Yv\ (J .a;:. -r- MATTHEW ATTEST: ~ a.~ NANCY~VIS, CITY CLERK 6 -'