Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-7-2022, Minutes Regular MeetingCITY OF AZUSA MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL, THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE FORMER REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND THE PUBLIC FINANCING AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2022 – 7:30 P.M. The City Council of the City of Azusa met in Regular session at the above date and time in the Azusa Auditorium located at 213 E. Foothill Blvd., Azusa, CA 91702. REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY, THE PUBLIC FINANCING AUTHORITY. Mayor Gonzales called the Regular meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL ROLL CALL: Roll call was taken by City Clerk Cornejo. PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: BECKWITH, MENDEZ, ALVAREZ, MAYOR PRO-TEM AVILA Jr., MAYOR GONZALES ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Pastor Anthony Powell from Redeemed Life Church in Azusa. Invocation was delivered by Pastor Anthony Powell from Redeemed Life Church in Azusa. ALSO PRESENT Elected Officials: City Clerk Cornejo. Staff Members: City Manager Gonzalez, City Attorney Martinez, Chief of Police Bertelsen, Director of Administrative Services Johnson, Interim Utilities Director Torres, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Delgadillo, Deputy City Manager DeAnda-Scaia, and Chief Deputy City Clerk Garcia, Director of Community Resources Carpenter, Director of Economic & Community Development Marquez, Economic Development Specialist Carina Campos CLOSED SESSION REPORT - None CEREMONIAL - None PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Arturo Ortega commented about Azusa Unified School District (USD) updates including the December 21, 2021 Board of Education (BOE) vote as it relates to school reorganization. Azusa will have one high school located on the Azusa High School campus, and the mascot will be changed using a transparent and inclusive process which will also determine if the colors will change. There will be one middle school that will be located on the Gladstone High School campus that will encompass grades 6th-8th. Center, Slauson and Foothill middle schools will close in the 2023-2024 school year. Ellington, Magnolia, and Powell Elementary schools will close in the 2023-2024 school year and students will be welcomed to the other elementary school campuses. While these closing were a difficult decision, it will allow the BOE to focus their resources on additional innovative programing that will make Azusa USD a standout district. The district has improved their financial certification to positive since the report provided in December of 2020 which will allow them to meet their financial obligations for the current year and two subsequent years. There will be a vaccination clinic on February 26, 2021 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. open to adults and children at Center Middle School. The vaccination is free and insurance is not required and walk-ins are welcome. Russ Rentschler commented in favor of City voting districts. Marcia Neira from Sierra Village neighborhood provided comments about the reckless traffic dangers on Sierra Madre and Vernon Avenues. Eric Peterson from Sierra Village neighborhood spoke about traffic dangers on Sierra Madre and Vernon Avenues. City Manager Gonzalez responded to the comments about the traffic dangers at Sierra Madre and Vernon Avenues and invited Chief of Police Bertelsen and Director of Public Works/City Engineer Delgadillo to provide further information about the processes in which the City uses to evaluate and resolve the public dangers mentioned during public communications and responded to Council questions. Mayor Gonzales requested traffic studies be conducted more frequently than seven years, particularly in hot spot areas around the City that are known to be safety concerns. REPORTS, UPDATES, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM STAFF/COUNCIL City Manager Communications: City Manager Gonzalez provided an update on Azusa RMC Joint Powers Authority (JPA) reporting on the 180 acres of property that was to be ceded to a non-profit. The water conservation authority proposal was not supported by the JPA. No further decisions have been made regarding the property, the money to maintain the property has been spent, and at the end of the fiscal year is expected to be $10,000 over budget. City Manager Gonzalez introduced Ms. Elizabeth Ramirez, Vice President of Government Affairs for Athens Services who gave an update on the Athens Services transition for the new agreement and service delivery models which enables the City to comply with State law on organic recycling and the Downtown Clean City initiatives that started in January of 2022. Outreach phases, barrel deployment schedule, and dedicated Azusa customer service information was provided, and Council questions were answered. City Council Communications Mayor Pro-Tem Avila Jr. thanked the residents who spoke about the traffic concerns and stated the City will need to expedite reviewing traffic circulation and safety concerns the upcoming USD closings may potentially create. Mayor Pro- Tem registered as a bone marrow donor at the event held at Center middle school for Liz’s father Art, thanked the community for their participation in the event, and hopes they can find a match for Art. Congratulations to Sandals Church for their two-year anniversary with thanks for all the work done in helping residents. Redeem Life just celebrated six years in Azusa and has also accomplished great work within the community. Chaplin McDonald is out of the hospital, prayers continue for a speedy recovery, and hopes they see him again soon. Happy Birthday to Jesse Avila who will be celebrating his 33rd birthday, and Happy belated Birthday to Councilman Beckwith who celebrated a birthday last week. Councilmember Alvarez attended the Foothills Transit meeting which had Congresswoman Norma Torres as a guest speaker. The Silver Streak will be reduced from $1.75 to $1.50 per ride. Students that were paying .75 cents will now pay .50 cents per ride. Free transfer will last for two hours. The fare revenues estimates have been raising fast than expected with Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 expected at $7.5 million with 2023 FY predicted to be $9.3 million. Foothill Transit is missing approximately 2-3% of their trips due to a lack of staff. There were 36 COVID absences in December and 122 in January. Just through January 26th, they had 10,594 phone calls and were able to answer 93%. Councilmember Alvarez commented he is familiar with the issue at Sierra Madre and Vernon and believes the people who commented were from the golfing community; he remembers they had a few near misses with golf carts trying to cross the road. The City is not able to go in and place traffic calming based on requests, a traffic study has to be completed and the need must be warranted. It’s frustrating and we wish we could do more, and City Council does care about safety, please keep in mind there are protocols that have to be followed to minimize the City’s liabilities. Councilmember Mendez commented he met with residents at the 900 block of W. Sierra Madre regarding the speeding concerns, as did other members of Council, and thanked them for attending that meeting and attending tonight to voice their concerns. He extended his appreciation to all the different department staff for their continued efforts in addressing these problems and requested statistics also be reviewed just north of the intersection of Vernon Avenue and First Street, which has a history of several accidents which have involved parked vehicles. There is a pothole in CalTrans jurisdiction on the westbound side of 210 at the Azusa Avenue exit and requested Staff address that with CalTrans. Councilmember Mendez inquired what systems the City has in place to notify residents for short term power outages planned by SoCal Edison for repairs. In reply, City Manager Gonzales stated the City has a system called Everbridge that allows for geofencing to send messages who have opted in when they have advance warning from Edison for repairs, and further explained that when there is to be a scheduled period they are sensitive to safety concerns and don’t typically give advance warning of specific time and areas due to potential burglaries where alarms systems will be without power. In response to Councilmember Mendez, Chief Carl Flores, Acting Assistant Chief for Azusa stated LA County’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is the one that Azusa Fire Department sponsors, in addition to the Boy Scouts of America. The only other program expected is the Explorer program for young adults which introduces them to fire safety and fire fighting basic skills. His area liaison is keeping an ear open for potential programs available in nearby cities. Councilmember Mendez stated on the northbound side Azusa avenue, at the train tracks at Target, cars park in the vicinity of the railroad tracks and it appears to be Uber and Lift drivers for people coming off the train platform and requested staff look into putting up a geofenced area specific for those 3rd party companies, and mentioned the Gladstone and W. Citrus avenue has insufficient space for parking and passing cars. Councilmember Beckwith thanked City Staff and education staff for their efforts during the pandemic, and the maintenance, public works and public safety staff for their work during and after the windstorm; and thanked Mayor Pro- Tem Avila Jr. for the birthday wishes and wished his wife a Happy Birthday. Mayor Gonzales commented the Riverbed Working Group has important cleanups that will be taking place. The Army Corp of Engineers will be reaching out to the region’s Congresswoman for federal money to help with the Riverbed’s cleanup. The houseless is still a problem that needs to be resolved and this will be the year to address that. City Council will not be making comments regarding the School Boards elected colleagues. The school closings will not be taking place until next year which should give the City and Public Works time to address traffic concerns for impacted neighborhoods. February 26th there will be a community event between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. with the local VFW and American Legion 180 for a Flag Exchange Event. Bring your old and wind damaged American Flags and receive a new 3x5 Flag so the old ones can be retired properly. Please bring old, retired flags even if you don’t want a replacement. They are not supposed to be flown tattered, ripped, or upside down, and they are not to be thrown away. SCHEDULED ITEMS 1. PUBLIC HEARING – COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG-CV) CARES ACT FUNDS - A PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER ADOPTING A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE USE OF THE REMAINING $45,693 IN CDBG-CV FUNDS FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF CONTINUING TO RESPOND TO, ADDRESS, AND MITIGATE THE IMPACTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC BY PARTICIPATING IN ROUND 3 OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (LACDA) SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM. 1) Open the public hearing, receive testimony and presentation of the proposed eligible CDBG CARES Act project; and 2) Approval of a Resolution No. 2022-C08 approving the City’s participation in Round 3 of LACDA’s CDBG-CV Small Business Grant Program; and 3) Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute all contracts, Agreements, and Amendments, in a form approved by the City Attorney, with the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) and if applicable, with each approved recipient/subrecipient of the CDBG-CV Small Business Grant Program. Carina Campos, Economic Development Specialist introduced Tina Gall, the City’s Community Development Block Grant Consultant who gave a summary of Round 3 of the CDBG program and answered Council questions. Mayor Gonzales opened the Public Hearing. City Clerk Cornejo stated all noticing requirements had been met and held the proof of publication in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune on January 7, 2022. There are no public communications. Motion to close the Public Hearing by Councilmember Alvarez, seconded by Mayor Pro-Tem Avila Jr., and carried by unanimous vote of City Council. AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: BECKWITH, MENDEZ, ALVAREZ, AVILA Jr., GONZALES NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE Motion to approve Agenda item D(2) Resolution No. 2022-C08 approving the City’s participation in Round 3 of LACDA’s CDBG-CV Small Business Grant Program; and D(3)Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute all contracts, Agreements, and Amendments, in a form approved by the City Attorney, with the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) and if applicable, with each approved recipient/subrecipient of the CDBG-CV Small Business Grant Program by Councilmember Alvarez, seconded by Mayor Pro-Tem Avila Jr., and carried by unanimous vote of City Council. AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: BECKWITH, MENDEZ, ALVAREZ, AVILA Jr., GONZALES NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE 2. CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF CITY COUNCIL GOVERNANCE PROTOCOLS AND PROCEDURES. 1) Consider and adopt Resolution No. 2022-C09, establishing formalized protocols and procedures for the Azusa City Council’s conduct of public business. Deputy City Manager DeAnda-Scaia introduced Resolution No. 2022-C09, establishing formalized protocols and procedures for the Azusa City Council’s conduct of public business and answered Council questions. Mayor Gonzales commented in the compliance section he requested that “majority vote” or “majority of Council” be included in the language of who is making decisions of enforcement and reprimands, and responded to Mayor Pro-Tem Avila Jr.’s comment on the Mayor’s authority to keep the City Council meetings moving pending number of speakers communicated by the City Clerk’s office. Mayor Pro-Tem Avila Jr. commented on Page 10, of item 10, he believes as it pertains to highly controversial items, it should be a majority vote of Council to move/change Agenda items and change time limits for speakers. Councilmember Mendez commented on Page 10 of item 10, majority of Council is what he would like to see used, and he believes the private conversation rules should not be included in the social media criteria. City Attorney Marco Martinez provided information on Brown Act requirements for speaker protocols on Agenda and non-Agenda items versus Public Hearing public comments and explained the social media regulations for councilmembers as it pertains to public interpretations. Councilmember Alvarez provided comments in favor of the Mayor’s authority to limit speaker time. City Clerk Cornejo explained City Clerk protocols involving public speakers during Council meetings. Motion to approve Agenda item D(2) Adoption of Resolution No. 2022-C09, establishing formalized protocols and procedures for the Azusa City Council’s conduct of public business with the change to the penalty section, by Mayor Gonzales, seconded by Councilmember Alvarez. AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: ALVAREZ, GONZALES NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: BECKWITH, MENDEZ, AVILA Jr., ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE City Clerk Cornejo stated the motion did not pass with a 2-3 vote by City Council, with noes by Councilmembers Beckwith and Mendez, and Mayor Pro-Tem Avila Jr. Mayor Gonzales stated by changing items #5 and #10 it would be limiting the Mayor’s ability to manage a meeting efficiently. Council continued to debate the wording of the Mayor’s authority to move Agenda Items and limit public speakers time during controversial items. Councilmember Beckwith suggested adding the language “with Council concurrence” to the Mayor’s authority in the item. Motion to approve Agenda item D(2) Adoption of Resolution No. 2022-C09, establishing formalized protocols and procedures for the Azusa City Council’s conduct of public business with the change to the penalty section of (a) adding “by the majority of City Council” under item 2, and (b) removing the words “highly controversial” under item 10, by Councilmember Mayor Pro-Tem Avila Jr., seconded by Councilmember Beckwith and carried by unanimous vote of City Council of 4-1. AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: BECKWITH, ALVAREZ, AVILA Jr., GONZALES NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: MENDEZ ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE CONSENT CALENDAR – CITY COUNCIL 1. Minutes of the Special City Council Meeting on October 13, 2021 was approved as written. 2. Adoption of Resolution No. 2022-C10 allowing certain claims and demands and specifying the funds out of which the same are to be paid was approved. 3. Adoption of the proposed 2022 City’s Legislative Platform; and the proposed 2022 State and Federal Legislative Priorities was approved. 4. Adoption of Resolution No. 2022-C11, ratifying the proclamation of a State of Emergency by Governor Newsom (March 4, 2020), and authorizing remote teleconference meetings of the Legislative Bodies of the City of Azusa pursuant to Assembly Bill 361 was approved. 5. First Amendment to Professional Services Agreements between the City of Azusa and Willdan Engineering, KOA Corporation, and TKE Engineering Inc.; and Authorize the City Manager to execute the contract amendment, in a form acceptable to the City Attorney, on behalf of the City was approved. 6. First Amendment to the Grant Agreement for the City of Azusa TIF Feasibility Study for the Azusa TOD Specific Plan Study Area; and Authorize the City Manager to execute the amendment, in a form acceptable to the City Attorney on behalf of the City was approved. 7. Second Amendment to the Professional Service Agreement with Bakers Man Productions for Video Production Services, not to exceed amount of $12,000; and Authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement, in a form acceptable to the City Attorney was approved. Motion to approve the Consent Calendar by Councilmember Beckwith (abstaining for Item 1), seconded by Mayor Pro- Tem Avila Jr. and carried by unanimous vote. AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: BECKWITH, MENDEZ, ALVAREZ, AVILA Jr., GONZALES NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ADJOURNMENT It was the consensus of the Council to adjourn the meeting in solemn honor of those Azusans who lost their lives to Covid-19, with the request to keep our service men and women in prayer. TIME OF ADJOURNMENT: 10:05 P.M. * Items heard out of order __________________________________________ CITY CLERK NEXT RESOLUTION NO. 2022-C12 (City) NEXT ORDINANCE NO. 2022-00 NEXT RESOLUTION NO. 2022-R04 (Former Redevelopment Agency) NEXT MEETINGS: Tuesday February 22, 2022, 6:30 p.m. Closed Session, 7:30 p.m. Regular Meeting Monday March 7, 2022, 6:30 p.m. Closed Session, 7:30 p.m. Regular Meeting