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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcc min 1998/03/17MI~3TES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA Tuesday, March 17, 1998 6:05 p.m. 1. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: ABSENT: ALSO PRESENT: Council Chambers Public Services Building CALL TO ORDER Councilmembers: Moot, Padilla, Rindone, Salas, and Mayor Hotton. Councilmembers: None City Manager, John D. Goss; Assistant City Attorney, Ann Y. Moore; and City Clerk, Beverly A. Authelet. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, MOMENT OF SILENCE 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: March 3, 1998. MSC (Rindone/Padilla) to approve said minutes 4-0-0-1 (Moot abstaining because he was absent at the meeting). 4. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY: Mayor Horton presented a Resolution honoring outgoing president, Enrique Morones, of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Then she introduced the incoming president, Marco Polo Cortes. CONSENT CALENDAR (Items pulled: 7) BALANCE OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR OFFERED BY MAYOR HORTON, waived, passed and approved unanimously 5-0. headings read, texts 5. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS: a. Letter from the City Attorney stating that to the best of his knowledge from observance of actions taken in Closed Session on 3/10/98, that there were no reportable actions which are required under the Brown Act to be reported. Per staff's recommendation, it was approved 5-0 that the letter be received and filed. b. Letter from Vida Navarro, a junior at Hilltop High School, requesting a donation toward her trip to Europe with the San Diego Youth Symphony. Per staff's recommendation, it was approved 5-0 that $50.00 be taken from the Council Contingency account for Vida Navarro toward expenses incurred for her participation in Europe with the San Diego Youth Symphony. C. Letter from Dennis Mauricio, Director of Music at Hilltop High School, requesting a donation toward their trip to Phoenix for the Music Educators National Conference. Per staff's recommendation, it was approved 5-0 that $250.00 be taken from the Council Contingency Account and granted to the Hilltop High Music Tech Ensemble in exchange for their performance at a City event during this calendar year. d. Letter of resignation from the United Nations Committee Georgia Langhorst. Per staff's recommendation, it was approved 5-0 to accept the resignation with regret, and the City Clerk was directed to post the vacancy immediately according to the Maddy Act in the Clerk's Office and the Public Library. Minutes March 17, 1998 Page 2 6. ORDINANCE 2725 APPROVING AMENDMENTS TO THE SALT CREEK RANCH SECTIONAL PLANNING AREA (SPA) PLAN CONSISTING OF MODIFICATIONS TO THE PLANNED COMMUNITY DISTRICT REGULATIONS REGARDING CERTAIN SIDEYARD SETBACK ENCROACHMENTS (second readinq and adoption) - The applicant proposes to amend the Sectional Planning Area (SPA) plan for the project formerly known as Salt Creek Ranch and now identified as Rolling Hills Ranch. The proposed amendments would allow certain setback encroachments which would accommodate trellis structures over driveways, where the driveways lead to garages located in the rear of the lot for the SF1, SF2, and SF3 single family detached land use districts. Per staff's recommendation, the ordinance was placed on second reading and adopted 5-0. (Director of Planning) 7. RESOLUTION 18923 APPROVING A PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT AND JOINT ESCROW INSTRUCTIONS WITH THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO AND TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND FOR THE ACQUISITION OF 36.44 ACRES OF PARK LAND LOCATED IN THE OTAY VALLEY - In 1985, the City of Chula Vista annexed the community of Montgomery, which was found to be deficient in adequate park facilities. In 1989, the City adopted a comprehensive update of the General Plan which identifies a planned neighborhood park located north of the Otay River and west of Interstate 805. Council has approved a Capital Improvement Project for the acquisition of park land west of Interstate 805 in the 97/98 budget. An appropriation of $1,011,750 from Park Acquisition and Development Funds was approved; however, only $867,249 will be needed to acquire 36.44 acres within the Otay Valley. In conjunction with acquisition efforts related to the proposed Otay Valley Regional Park, the City of Chula Vista is working in conjunction with the City of San Diego Property Division to acquire this land. Per staff's recommendation, the resolution was adopted 5-0. (Director of Parks and Recreation and Director of Planning) The item was pulled by Councilmember Rindone. He asked how long did staff anticipate it will take the City of San Diego to deannex the 36.44 acres of parkland in Chula Vista. Jess Valenzuela, Director of Parks and Recreation, replied that deannexation will not occur immediately. It will probably be over a year or so before any kind of annexation occurs. However, the property will be purchased within the next couple of months. Escrow closes at the end of the month. Councilmember Rindone asked if it was staff's understanding that if we adopt this resolution tonight that they will also be having direction to proceed with San Diego for deannexation. Mr. Valenzuela responded yes that staff is proceeding in that direction. He has met with San Diego staff and Councilmember Vargas to go over the possibility of annexation and deannexation. Staff feels optimistic that we will be able to achieve the annexation. Councilmember Rindone asked if the City of San Diego could waive the property taxes since we are waiving potential of any soil clean up costs. Ann Moore, Assistant City Attorney, stated that under the State constitution the City was required to pay property taxes for property not within its jurisdiction. Once we have annexed the property and its within our jurisdiction, then we can ask for a cancellation of the taxes. But it is the County that we would have to ask for such cancellation after the annexation. Up until then, we cannot get a waiver of the property taxes, although they do allow a discounted amount of property taxes. Councilmember Rindone asked if assuming the parkland is purchased, we do annex, and all things fall in place, then would it be possible for us to apply for a waiver of the property taxes retroactively from the time in which we made the purchase. Ms. Moore replied that we can certainly ask. Minutes March 17, 1998 Page 3 Councilmember Rindone asked if staff would inquire into that and give us information in regards to their understanding. This is something that we should pursue and also should vigorously shorten the time line in which the property would be deannexated and obtained by the City so that it would come down on this cost; it is a mutual benefit. Councilmember Moot asked why didn't we structure the transaction so we didn't become owner until after the annexation was approved and thereby save us from having to pay the property tax in the first place. Ms. Moore responded that we could have done that. We structured the deal in accordance with staff's wishes. There was a desire on the part of the City staff to own the property now. Mr. Valenzuela stated what we attempted to do was identify the property that Council had seen while on a tour. That particular property we wanted to assure that it belonged to the City and wouldn't get blended into the remaining portion of the regional park. We wanted to do it on the onset of the overall purchase to insure it would be a Chula Vista park. Councilmember Moot asked if staff thought that the City of San Diego would be adverse structuring the contract in such a way so we had an option. We could put down some option money and then actually it wouldn't change hands until annexation. Technically then, we wouldn't be the owner and we wouldn't have to pay the property taxes in the mean time. Mr. Valenzuela stated that staff hasn't discussed this with the City of Sat, Diego, but we can attempt to do that. Councilmember Rindone asked that if we were to trail this for a couple of weeks to give staff time to investigate those options which are being suggested, what problems would we have for that delay. Ms. Moore responded with respect to the suggestions that were made for the City putting an option on the property, we could try to negotiate that. Her understanding was that the property owner, Fenton, was anxious to sell the property. Right now they were primarily negotiating with San Diego. We could provide the City of San Diego with our money and ask them to purchase the 36 acres and then seek an option with the City of San Diego if we wanted to do that. She believed it was staff's belief that they wanted to actually have the property in Ownership because it would also help with our deannexation process if we were the property owners. Mr. Valenzuela stated that escrow will close on March 31, so we will have a very small window of opportunity with the City of San Diego processing the purchase of the overall property including the property which is being purchased with State funds. John Goss, City Manager, stated what has been proposed to the City of San Diego has been something which has been discussed for a number of years. Our general plan actually goes beyond our City limits. What was proposed a number of years ago when the City of San Diego deannexed 200 acres and we annexed 200 acres that is now the site of the water park and the amphitheater was the straightening of the boundary line. Politically that did not work out between the two mayors. What has been more recently proposed to the San Diego City Manager was basically straightening the line out all the way to Beyer Way, so the broader issue ts trying to straighten out the boundary line which takes in about four times the amount of property than we are talking about in this item. He felt the deannexation, if we are just looking at the park parcel, would not be much of a problem. He felt it was the larger one which will take a longer period of time, although he did not feel it was an issue. Councilmember Rindone felt the points made by Mr. Goss were sensible and reasonable. He also felt the issue about paying property taxes to another public agency for parklands without more assurances is something that should be looked Minutes March 17, 1998 Page 4 at, but not to the extent that it would delay the close of escrow. He felt it was reasonable that we protect the interests of Our residents. We will be paying property taxes to another public agency for a public park which is not going to generate funds, but all of the other characteristics and reasons for the action tonight are legitimate and viable. He felt it would be prudent for us to have that researched with the City of San Diego and to develop some kind of Memo of Understanding so that we don't have those difficulties. Mr. Goss felt that his only caution would be that if we proceeded to say we want to look principally at this time of the deannexation and annexation just the park property to save the $2600 per year in the property tax, we may lose the bigger issue of the property that we are trying to annex from San Diego that would basically straighten out the boundary. Councilmember Rindone stated he was not convinced. If we get a validation of that and that was the intent of the City of San Diego, we would be able to bring this back in time with that assurance and not jeopardize either the short-range objective that is before us or the longer range objective for straightening out the boundary. He asked if it would be possible to bring this back at the next scheduled meeting. Ms. Moore responded that if the next meeting was on the 31st then we would miss the escrow closing. Councilmember Rindone responded that he did not want to hold this up, so if we proceed with this, then staff at the next meeting could present a report. RESOLUTION 18923 OFFERED BY COUNCILMEMBER RINDONE, heading read, text waived, passed and approved unanimously 5-0. 8. RESOLUTION 18924 ACCEPTING REAL PROPERTY CONSISTING OF 1.8 ACRES LOCATED SOUTH OF BEYER WAY WITHIN THE OTAY VALLEY As a result of mitigation requirements for work associated with the construction of La Media Road, where it crosses the Telegraph Canyon Creek flood channel, McMillin Project Services, Inc. proposes to deed 1.8 acres of land located within the Otay River Valley and south of Beyer Way to the City. This land area is to be retained in its natural state (riparian), per the conditions of permits issued by State and Federal agencies, and is intended to be a part of the proposed Otay Valley Regional Park. Per staff's recommendation, the resolution was adopted 5-0. (Director of Planning) * * * END OF CONSENT CALENDAR * * * ORAL COMM13NICATIONS Matt A. Flach, 1399 Nacion Avenue, 91911, representing the Cultural Arts Commission, announced the following upcoming events: Expo 98 at Chula Vista Marina View Park on Saturday, April 4; Mixed Media Show at Southwestern College Gallery March 18-April 23; the recent Black Film Festival which was very successful will become an annual event; Public Programs at Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego on March 28; Gail McCandliss Art Awards are in the process of being selected; Benefit Performance with proceeds going to the McCandliss fund on March 18-21 at Southwestern College; and finally the Commission intends to become more active and will try to make a monthly presentation to Council. · Dale M. Vizina, 442 Oxford Street, 91910, stated there is a thing called a "brit fitting" that ties a sewer line in. What it is is another cleanout on the frontage property of the house. One cleanout is put on the sewer line at 7 feet from the house and there is supposed to be another cleanout put on the frontage property to bring it up to code. He was told that he could put this in, but he was not going to do so. All the houses are not getting it put in. It should have been added in with the cost of putting in the curb and sidewalks. Minutes March 17, 1998 Page 5 It will be a problem when it comes to cleaning out sewer lines. He thought he would bring it up to the Council to take a look into it. Mayor Horton stated she would have staff get back to Council with a report on the status of this. PUBLIC BEARINGS AND RELATED RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES None submitted. BOARD AND COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS None submitted. ACTION ITEMS 9. RESOLUTION 18925 APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR EMERGENCY SLOPE PROTECTION MEASURES AT 289/291 GREENWOOD PLACE - On 7/30/97, Engineering staff issued a grading permit for the creation of two new residential dwelling pads at 289/291 Greenwood Place. Work on this project came to a halt after the natural slope had been revised, a considerable amount of soil had been imported to the site, and a retention wall at the toe of the slope had commenced. Since October 1997, staff has attempted to have the property owners, and/or the bonding company, to either complete the work and/or take actions to correct the potential unstable conditions created as a result of the unfinished grading, inadequate erosion protection, and excessive storm run off at the site. We were unsuccessful in having the permittee take the appropriate corrective action and due to the threat of the El Nino effect were forced to take steps to correct the situation on an emergency basis. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Director of Public Works) 4/5th's vote required. Mayor Horton excused herself because this particular house with the slope problem was within a few blocks of her house. She turned the meeting over to Mayor Pro Tem Rindone, and she left the dais. Cliff Swanson, Deputy Public Works Director/city Engineer, emphasized that this was to appropriate funds to cover not only money spent by staff to undertake emergency measures, but to get a final plan for a permanent fix. If the bonding company doesn't step forward prior to the point at which we want to take the final action, there may be further City funds that would have to be appropriated. RESOLUTION 18925 OFFERED BY COUNCILMEMBER PADILLA, heading read, text waived, passed and approved 4-0-0-1 (Horton abstaining). ITEMS PULLED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR Item No. 7 was pulled by Councilmember Rindone; however, the minutes will remaLn in published agenda order. OTHER BUSINESS 10. CITY M/~NAGER'S REPORT(S) · GMOC workshop. It will be on April 27 at 6:00 p.m. · Date for the Fourth Meeting in March. Councilmember Rindone requested that the last meeting of March be held on 3/31/98 instead of the usual 3/24/98 since he could not make the meeting on the 24th. MSUC (Rindone/Padilla) to change the date for the fourth meeting to March 31, 1998. Minutes March 17, 1998 Page 6 · Requested closure of a portion of 1-805 northbound for filming and impact on Chula Vista. Mr. Goss stated that we had received a request from the San Diego Film Commission indicating that there had been a request by a film company to close northbound 1-805 for three miles from its split at the border to the Main Street exit. While the City of Chula Vista would not be involved in this decision, it was put on the Council Agenda since it could affect people who live in Chula Vista. They would be closing the freeway during April for 23 days. A lot of questions have been raised. He has been advised by the Police Department that there ie a major meeting with the film company tomorrow involving Caltrans, Highway Patrol, Chula Vista Police Department, and other interested parties. He Suggested that if after hearing the presentations, Council had questions regarding this proposal that we record the questions and attempt to get answers at the meeting with the film company. Kathy McCurdy, representing the Film Commission, shared some potentials for some great benefits to the comaunity as well as the tremendous challenges. She briefly reviewed how the project came to them and the efforts she has been making to guarantee that Chula Vista and San Diego are well involved. Councilmember Padilla eagerly awaited for information illustrating that the economic or public relations impacts of a potential activity of this kind would outweigh what he views at first blush as potentially devastating impacts. This is something that is integral to the economic viability and development of the entire South County. When you are so close to the border and you have struggling businesses in Chula Vista that rely on people having access not to mention the impacts to residents in the South Bay in terms of simple inconvenience of being routed over to the I-5 up to 1-54. Although the Council does not have any regulatory authority over the decision, we do have a voice. It would take an awful lot for him to be convinced that although it may be very exciting from a Hollywood glamour standpoint and very appealing with various promotionals, he was having a hard time imagining what data could be provided to show that the trade off and potential losses to local businesses, exposure and costs, and inconvenience could warrant this in the South Bay. Mayor Horton asked why was this segment selected as the site for filming. Were there special criteria that we are not aware of. Why couldn't they have selected the segment between 1-805 and I-5, the SR-54. The impact would be less on businesses and the community than this segment. MS. McCurdy replied that they had looked at every possible freeway in the area. There was an element of complete control because of the nature of the border crossing. It seemed to be more logical to be able to start a detour where there was an immediate access to another parallel freeway; traffic could be in~mediately diverted to the I-5. They were also looking for an urban look. The story plays in Los Angeles, so it has to have a sense of continuity that they are in an older established freeway with some civilization around it. Councilmember Rindone asked who ultimately had the final authority or decision on this. Would they be holding any public hearings on this. Ms. McCurdy replied that it was a very strong partnership between Caltrans and CHP, but Caltrans ultimately has the final authority. She did not know if there would be any public hearings. There would be another technical data gathering meeting tomorrow. Caltrans would be returning with more numbers to see if there were options to see if any of the suggested concessions were doable or not. Councilmember Rindone stated that one of the things that we should request would be to have at least one or two public hearings to insure that something wasn't being overlooked by Caltrans or the Highway Patrol. He assumed that AAA and the Truckers' Associations would be contacted for their input. He requested that Caltrans review the impacts this would have on I-5. Even if 1-805 is closed for those three miles bringing the traffic across 1-905 to I-5 would also have some impacts all through Chula Vista and would affect our residents. Minutes March 17, 1998 Page 7 Addressing Council was: · Patty Davis, 1375-17 Callyon Montifrio, 91910, concurred with Councilmember Padilla's remarks that the impact on the community would be tremendous and would be very negative. She had a concern for the businesses in Chula Vista; there would be a loss of revenue to the businesses and a loss in revenue of sales tax dollars to the City in a time when our budget needs that money. She had talked with Doug Fuller from Fuller Ford, he wasn't able to be here because he had a meeting in Sacramento, but he was very much opposed to the closure of 1-805 for this filming. She did not feel there will be positive impacts for Chula Vista; she felt the people would probably be staying and eating in San Diego. She was also concerned about the people who live in East Chula Vista who actually work in Mexico. When they come home, they are going to have to go up I-5 to SR-54, go east to the 1-805, then south to "H" Street or Telegraph Canyon east. Currently, there is traffic congestion around 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. now. If we add the additional people who can't come north on the 1-805, there will be a tremendous traffic impact. Mayor Horton stated that the City of Chula Vista tries very hard to cooperate with other cities and the county. She wished she could support the request to move forward and cooperate. However, the impacts to the business community and to the residents will be tremendous and that has to be considered. She hoped staff would take the concerns expressed to the meeting tomorrow. 11. MAYOR'S REPORT(S) · RESOLUTION 18926 SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY BILL 68, SALES & USE TAX EXEMPTION FOR ANIMAL SEELTERS ON PET ADOPTIONS - This bill would exempt the City's Animal Shelter from having to pay sales/use tax on sale of animals. · RESOLUTION 18927 SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY BILL 1685, DISTRICT BOUNDARIES - This bill would help ensure that all of Chula Vista remains within one Supervisorial District. MSUC (Eorton/Rindone) to approve Resolution 18926 and 18927. · RESOLUTION 18928 SUPPORTING ER 2757, CABLE SERVICE RATE MORATORIUM - This bill would protect Chula Vista residents from additional rate increases on basic cable television or cable programming costs. Mayor Horton stated that when she read this item, she wondered what would the impact be to the smaller companies like Chula Vista Cable. The smaller compan.es struggle much harder competing with the big companies like Cox Cable. If Council would agree, we need to make a statement that companies in a smaller company category need to be excluded from this legislation. Gerald Young, Principal Management Assistant, stated that the author may be amenable to that. In looking for a category that a company like Chula Vista Cable would fit into, the broader category is that Chula Vista Cable and many other smaller companies are not currently rate regulated because of the size of the company. If there were to be a category added to the author's bill that dealt specifically with those companies that are currently not rate regulated that would probably address the issue best. Mayor Hotton asked are you telling us that if we went ahead and approved th,s, the smaller companies like Chula Vista Cable would not fall into this category; that they would not be regulated by this legislation. Mr. Young responded no, actually the way bill is written right now is very broad, and it would effect all cable companies. But if Council were interested in adding a category to the bill that specifically gave some allowance along the lines suggested, those companies that are not currently rate regulated would be allowed to let their rates float up to a level currently allowed within the service area. That would accomplish that objective. The bill as it is currently Minutes March 17, 1998 Page 8 written would not give Chula Vista Cable the ability to raise their rates at all. With the amendments that he suggested, it would. Councilmember Rindone stated he would only support this if its understood that we would seek a provision which would allow the unregulated companies to be able to adjust their rates, not to exceed the current rate paid which is what the moratorium would affect. Addressing Council was: · Marty Altbaum, 396 E Street, Chula Vista, 91910, representing Chula Vista Cable, explained to the Council the fight that has been waged to try to make sure that he did not get crushed in what is going on. He thought what he did is what the Congress and Senate wanted. That if people would step up and do what he has done, then you wouldn't have all these problems with rates because in the area where he serv,ces, people are paying almost $5.00 a month less just because they are ~n the areas of Chula Vista Cable. Competition does work; but without money ,t is a struggle. This bill will not work for him. He is supposed to be exempt from regulation, but if they put him back into it, then he couldn't make it. Mr. Young stated that the way this piece of legislation is written which is very brief and very broad, it would not exempt any of the cable companies even if they were currently exempt as Chula Vista Cable Councilmember Moot stated the author of the bill clearly committed an oversight. He did not feel that he meant to regulate businesses that didn't fall under regulations to begin with. If that was pointed out to the author of the bill, that he shouldn't attempt to apply this to a business not subject to regulation under the federal rules. That would be an easy amendment to the bill that at a minimum would be appropriate. The point being made, however, is that this type of legislation as a whole really does very little to address the basic problem. Councilmember Rindone stated the point that we are suggesting is that we are not wanting to take a position of support or opposition to this bill instead we are considering the option of actually directing staff to suggest the amendments that would be beneficial to provide for competition and would protect the smaller companies. With that understanding, staff should bring this back to Council for a position of support or opposition. He felt that would be even more proactive. Councilmember Padilla asked what was the status of HR 2757. There is generally a time limit at each committee level before it is reported on the flow for amendments to be offered. Do you know what it is in this case. Colleen Kelly, Administrative Analyst II, replied that HR 2757 has been introduced and assigned to a subcommittee, but has not yet been given a hearing date. We have time to come back with a suggested request for amendment. In addition, having spoken with the author's office, she agreed that his concerns are over some of the rate increases which have already come into existence and the fact that the competition has not materialized as quickly as one would have hoped. She did not know what the time limit was. Councilmember Padilla agreed that we should not be calling upon staff to try to make any opinion of the applicability of this to a particular provider, large or small, because of the way it is drafted. He could not support the bill in its current form and was not going to try to guess what the author's amenability to an amendment would be until he has some kind of statement from the author as to what and when they would be willing to offer the amendment. He agreed with his colleagues that we should continue this before we make a statement of support or opposition until we have some clear information about the author's intent. MSUC (Rindone/Padilla) to take no position on HR 2757 and direct staff to communicate with Fazzio's staff regarding Council's concerns and report back to Council and Mr. Altbaum. Mlnutes March 17, 1998 Page 9 · RESOLUTION 18929 SUPPORTING HR 3258 CALLING FOR AN EXTENSION OF FCC'S REGULATION OF EXPANDED-LEVEL CABLE SERVICE BY REPEALING ITS CURRENT SUNSET DATE OF MARCH, 1999 (Legislative Committee) Councilmember Padilla stated it has clearly been borne out that the results that were thought to be coming to fruition with competition being introduced at a greater level have not been realized. Me felt this piece ls most appropriate and he was prepared to support this. Councilmember Salas stated she rather take more time to make sure that even though Mr. Altbaum feels that he is exempted from this particular regulation because of his size, she would prefer to make sure and come to an understanding about that. Council needs to do whatever we can do to ensure that companies like Mr. Altbaum's are able to compete and thrive in a community. Resolution 18929 OFFERED BY MAYOR HORTON, heading read, text waived, passed and approved unanimously 5-0. · Reconsidering Council's direction on the Gross Receipts Tax. Mayor Horton felt it was pretty clear from the comments made at last week's Council meeting that the Council would not like to move forward on looking into the gross receipts tax. Unless she heard otherwise, the issue will be dropped. This will not be an issue which Council will be supporting. There was no response from Council. · Reconsidering the composition of the BECA board. Mayor Horton stated that Mr. Rindone had originally expressed some concerns and wanted Council to support having a Councilmember and Ms. Salas a Chamber member added to the BECA Board. We went forward with the Chamber member, but she felt it would be prudent until we get further along to include a member of the Council as a member at large. M (Morton) to include a Councilmember on the BECA board as an at-large member. Councilmember Moot stated he wasn't at the meeting when this was discussed, but he had attended several of the BECA meetings when the idea of what their composition could be. He was an advocate of leaving a member of the City Council off the Board, because as soon as you put a City Councilmember on the Board you begin triggering the Brown Act and other governmental regulations. He felt that conceptually the Board wanted to move away from an overly regulated organization that was constrained with some very ridged requirements if a member of the Council was on it. Mayor Horton stated for that reason, she was not supportive of having a Councilmember be a part of the composition of the BECA board. However, it might be beneficial for a short period of time to include some participation with the City by having an at-large member until we can feel that we are fully established, have the financing, and are ready to move forward. Councilmember Rindone stated he would support it, but he felt it should be as a voting member. We have a classic example where this ,s ,n place now on the Bayfront Conservancy Trust where an elected official, the mayor, is on the Board as a voting member. Any one of the five Councilmembers serv,ng in that capacity has the genuine interest to see it successful and perhaps provides a perspective that would be beneficial in contributing to the potential success which were his reasons for having the two members added to the list of participants. He still thinks it was an excellent idea. Mayor Horton asked if having an actual Councilmember play a part on the Board as a voting member would complicate the structure that has been developed. Minutes March 17, 1998 Page lO Glen Googins, Deputy City Attorney, responded that staff did contemplate having a City Councilmember on the Board to provide that connection with the City. Staff elected in the proposal that came before the Council not to propose City Council involvement. While we are in a grey area with the Brown Act with this proposal, it is clear that a City appointed Councilmember either voting or non- voting would complicate the analysis from a Brown Act standpoint that would make it more likely than not that the Board would be treated as a legislative body for Public Meeting Act purposes. The intent by staff in structuring the Board as a non-Brown Act body was to give it some flexibility in its dealings with potentially proprietary information in discussing policy issues that may relate to intellectual property issues and other kinds of transactions. It may be problematic for them to act in an open environment. It is not an unsolvable problem, and a City Councilmember could be a member of the Board, but more likely than not it would make it a legislative body. It was staff's opinion with the kinds of controls that we described in our formal presentation on the Board with City Council approval of any changes to the Articles and your approval of the qualifications of the Boardmembers, and the City Manager designating the initial Board of Directors, and the Community Development Director or the City Manager having the authority to designate two ex-officio staff members that we would have the kind of connection with the City that you would want but without the burden placed on the City Councilmember. In addition, staff was also concerned about a p,-tential for a conflict of interest if the BECA program was pursuing sources of money that in theory the City might also be pursuing to fund different projects. The Councilmember serving on the BECA board might be in a difficult conflict of interest position. Mayor Hotton stated that the only thing she did not understand was the Brown Act problems created by having just one member of the Council participate. Mr. Googins stated there are a couple of little known provisions in the revised Brown Act which go beyond the rule dealing with private, independent non-profit organizations. One of which says a private, non-profit can be a legislative body if its created by a formal act of the City Council, and it is delegated authority that the City Council would otherwise exercise. We attempted in this case to have this be more of a staff created organization with the City Council approving the form of Articles and By laws and qualifications of the Board, but not have the City Council take a formal action to form it. We viewed the program potentially as an independent, federally funded program, and therefore, not technically a typical City Council delegated act of authority. The second potential Brown Act issue is that a private non-profit can also be a legislative body if the City Council appoints a Boardmember, and it receives City funds, even an independent non-profit. While we thought that this organization did not fall into either of these categories, when you are in a grey area, they were concerned that City Council involvement would make it less defensible that this was a non- Brown Act organization. Mayor Horton asked for clarification purpose, would we still have the connection via a staff member from Redevelopment. Chris Salomone, Community Development Director, responded yes. There are 49 incubators in the State and one of their cardinal rules is do not sever your relationship with the local government. We have kept that connection by your authority over the By laws, and the staff as ex-officio members; we will be doing liaison work with them. Mayor Morton asked what about having a non-voting position. Mr. Googins replied that from the Brown Act stand point that would better than having a voting member. We are in such a grey area that he could not give a specific opinion. Mayor Horton asked if it was prudent to have staff come back to us with quarterly reports on the progress of the program. Maybe we can schedule some actual presentations so all the Councilmembers are kept up-to-date with the progress and programs, and we can ask questions in a formal setting. Minutes March 17, 1998 Page 11 Joe Monaco, Environmental Projects Manager, responded absolutely. That is one of the reasons that we do have staff members included as ex-officio members on the Board to maintain that connection. Councilmember Salas stated she had a different understanding as to what occurred at the last meeting. She referred to the minutes which reflected that when this whole conversation evolved and Council was looking at expanding the composition of the Board. We were offering suggestions; Councilmember Rindone offered the suggestion of having two citizens at-large on the Board. He did not indicate at that time that it was a Councilmember. She followed up that discussion saying that she felt it was very important that a representative of the Chamber serve on the Board. She felt it was really important to consider to have at least a Chamber representative on the BECA Board. If you go back to the minutes, there was a clarification that we didn't necessarily mean a Councilmember. She was not advocating for a Councilmember to be on the Board, but she was advocating for a Chamber member and for an at-large citizen that has had the experience developing a small business be on the Board. Mayor Horton asked who actually appoints the Chamber and the business representatives. Would the final ratification brought before Council. Mr. Googins responded that it was not staff's intent to for the Council to ratify appointments. What staff had proposed was City Council approval of the qualifications of the Boardmembers. Council action was to add two members which could include a member at-large with small business experience and a Chamber representative. Those were going to be built in as qualiffcations of the Directors in the By laws. Then in accordance with the By laws and those qualifications, the City Manager would appoint the initial Board. Thereafter, the Board itself would be responsible for filling vacancies that met those qualifications. Councilmember Moot suggested that this was an ideal appointment for an ex- Councilmember who was Still active in the community and kept a tie with City government. Councilmember Rindone reiterated that when you had indicated dropping the proposal tonight of specifying the City Councilmember and returning to the status quo that Mr. Googins description of status quo certainly w~s the one that he believed the Council did. Ms. Salas concurred with that which was adding the two additional members with the one specifically having Chamber experience and the other representing expertise in small business. That addition would make seven members and that was what the Status quo was. 12. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Salas stated she was asked by Michael Meacham, Conservation Coordinator, to announce the "Keep Chula Vista Beautiful" campaign that was going to take place on March 21st. They were trying to recruit at least 500 volunteers to this event to clean up the area from Main Street to Otay Valley Road. The meeting adjourned at 8:18 p.m. ADJOURNMENT City Clerk