Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutcc min 1996/10/01MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA Tuesday, October 1, 1996 4:10 p.m. CALL TO ORDER Council Chambers Public Services Building 1. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: ALSO PRESENT: Councilmembers Scott D. Alevy, John S. Moot, Stephen C. Padilia, Jerry R. Rindone, and Mayor Shirley A. Hotton. John D. Goss, City Manager; Glen Googins, Deputy City Attorney; Beverly A. Authelet, City Clerk; and Patricia Schwenke, Deputy City Clerk. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG. SILENT PRAYER 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: None submitted. 4. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY: a. Special presentation to the Mayor and City Council by Jim Fergus of the Chula Vista Downtown Business Association. Mr. Fergus presented the Mayor and City Council with postcards that the Chula Vista Downtown Business Association had printed which featured some of the beautiful spots in Downtown Chula Vista. Mr. Fergus also announced the upcoming Sixth Annual Third Avenue Festival to be held on Sunday, October 6, 1996 from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Councilmember Rindone asked Mr. Fergus about one of the items on the agenda regarding the festival. Councilmember Rindone stated that the City in the past has always waived business fees for special events, but suggested that the City consider having a nominal flat business license fee, such as $3.00 or $5.00. The reason for this proposal is that sometimes merchandise purchased at the events might be defective. If there was a business fee and vendors were registered, people would be able to contact those who were responsible for the merchandise. Mr. Fergus replied that he has kept a record of the names and addresses of vendors for the past six years, and he would notify them of upcoming events. Councilmember Alevy recommended, at the very least, that vendors show some type of identification such as a driver's license or business license so if faulty goods were sold, people who attended the festival would have some CONSENT CALENDAR (Item pulled: 9) BALANCE OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR OFFERED BY MAYOR HORTON, reading of the text was waived, passed and approved unanimously. 5. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS: a. Letter from the Acting City Attorney sating that there were no reportable actions taken in Closed Session on 9/24/96. It is recommended that the letter be received and filed. Minutes October 1, 1996 Page 2 b. Resignation from the Human Rdations Commission - Elsie Hashimot0. It is recommended that the resignation be accepted with regret and the City Clerk be directed to post immediately according to the Maddy Act in the Clerk's Office and the Public Library. 6. RESOLUTION 18442 APPROVING AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF CHICAGO, ADMINISTRATORS FOR A PUBLIC TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED GRANT, FOR SERVICES RELATED TO TELECENTER RESEARCH AND OPERATIONS, ACCEPTING AND APPROPRIATING $25,000 TO THE ENERGY CONSERVATION FUND TELECENTER BUDGET AND HIRING AN INTERN III - In pursuit of additional funding to help offset general Telecenter operations and services costs, staff applied for a grant f~om Public Technology, Inc. (PTI) in the spring of 1996. PTI is a non-profit organization which operates as the "research and development" division of the National League of Cities. It represents and promotes progressive and entrepreneurial city and county government operations in the United States. Chula Vista was one of nineteen local agencies that received funding from PTI. The City of Chicago entered into a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to administer the Grants for PTI. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Environmental Resource Manager) 7. RESOLUTION 18443 ACCEPTING CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ADULT BASIC EDUCATION SECTION 321 GRANT FUNDS AWARDED TO THE CHULA VISTA LITERACY TEAM, APPROPRIATING FUNDS, AND AMENDING FISCAL YEAR 1996/97 BUDGET TO INCLUDE A .18 FULL TIME EQUIVALENT POSITION - On 6/11/96, Council ratified the Library's application for Adult Basic Education, Section 321 grant funds to be awarded over a two-year period, FY 1996/97 and FY 1997/98. First year grant funds, in the amount of $5,840, have been awarded to the Library and will be used to conduct learner needs assessments and progress evaluations and to provide additional hours of supervision and training in the Literacy Center computer learning lab. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Library Director) 8. RESOLUTION 18444 RATIFYING THE LIBRARY'S APPLICATION FOR CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARY LITERACY PROGRAM TRANSITION GRANT FUNDS, ACCEPTING THE GRANT AWARD, APPROPRIATING FUNDS, AND AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 1996/97 BUDGET TO INCLUDE .85 POSITIONS - Due to the elimination of U.S. Department of Education, Title VI Library Literacy Grant funds from the 1996/97 federal budget, the Califomia State Library is offering a one-time transition grant opportunity to programs who have received federal grants in FY 1995/96. These funds are intended to allow literacy programs to continue the work begun under Title VI while affording them time to secure future alternative funding sources. Chula Vista will use these funds to continue a model program begun in 1994 to identify and aid adult learners with language-based learning disabilities, commonly referred to as dyslexia. Staff recommends approval of The resolution. (Library Director) 9. RESOLUTION 18445 APPROVING CLOSURE OF THIRD AVENUE FROM "E" TO "G" STREETS FOR THE THIRD AVENUE FESTIVAL ON OCTOBER 6, 1996, WAIVING SIDEWALK SALES ORDINANCE, AND WAIVING BUSINESS LICENSE TAXES FOR DOWNTOWN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION AND VENDORS PARTICIPATING IN EVENT - The Chula Vista Downtown Business Association is requesting permission to close Third Avenue between "E" and "G" Street in order to conduct the Third Avenue Festival on Sunday, 10/6/96, from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. This will be the sixth annual festival. The festivities for this event will include live entertainment along with approximately 100 arts, crafts, and food booths. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Director of Community Development) Mayor Hotton mentioned that there have been three consecutive festival-type events in this community in the last few weeks, one right after another. She suggested staff work with the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Association, and the Bonitafest Professional Organization to coordinate having more time between the different events so we do not congregate all at one time. Mayor Horton added that this would be more beneficial to members of the community to spread the events throughout the year. Councilmember Alevy mentioned this was one of the most enjoyable 15 hours spent in Chula Vista. He had one concern mentioned earlier about vendors coming to the City, being able to sell their goods and then leave. His concern is that when we have an event like this, for the citizens of Chula Vista to be protected from any kind of product defect or any problem that may arise with a product being sold. He suggested staff come back with some sort of vehicle by which we can have the vendors register at our festivals. Minutes October 1, 1996 Page 3 Councilmember Rindone concurred and mentioned that any time the City has an event, a fiat fee and registration be in effect. RESOLUTION 18445 OI,'IcERED BY COUNCILMEMBER ALEVY, reading of the text was waived, passed and approved unanimously. * * * END OF CONSENT CALENDAR * * * PUBLIC HEARINGS AND RELATED RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES 10. PUBLIC HEARING ADOPTING OTAY RANCH PRE-ANNEXATION DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT BALDWIN BUILDERS - The purpose of this item is to present a development agreeraent with Baldwin Builders. On 6/25/96, the Planning Commition and Council considered a series of development agreements with Village Properties, United Enterprises, Greg Smith, and the Foundation. (The Foundation agreement was subsequently split into three separate agreements.) The remaining party who is a property owner of a portion of the Otay Ranch property is Baldwin Builders, which is the trustee for the bankruptcy. Staff recommends Council place the Ordinance on first reading, (Deputy City Manager) Continued from the meeting of 9/24/96. ORDINANCE 2690 ADOPTING OTAY RANCH PRE-ANNEXATION DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN TBE CITY OF CHULA VISTA AND BALDWIN BUILDERS (first reading) George Krempl, Deputy City Manager, expressed that staff attempted to respond with the agreement to the issues brought to their attention previously and they provided Council with a copy of the bankruptcy court action from Monday in Santa Barbara. He advised that the applicant was present and able to answer any questions regarding the bankruptcy action. In terms of the development agreement, the applicant and staff were in concurrence. This being the time and place as advertised, the public hearing was declared open. · Bill Brasher, 17550 Gillette Avenue, Irvine, CA, stated that the lettars sent to the bankruptcy court were not officially allowed to be taken into consideration because they were ex parte; however, after the presentation was made, the court almost verbatim quoted back from the letters the reasons for its ruling. Baldwin was sincerely appreciative with everyone's efforts. Baldwin also concurred with the development agreement and to those additions that have been placed in the agreement to assure as much as is humanly possible that something similar would not occur on the Otay Ranch property. Councilmember Moot stated he sent about 30 or 40 letters directly from the homeowners to the trustee, and it appears that they finally found their way to some people who were willing to take responsibility for the situation there. For the homeowners, they probably wish it happened earlier but in the end the proper result was reached. He was curious on how Mr. Brasher felt the bankruptcy trustee might deal with any problems regarding existing warranties on the homes that had been built. What remedy or avenue was available to people who had their homes fully constructed but had problems that were still under warranty. Did we know whether the trustee will be honoring those warranties and what direction should we send the homcownera if there were warranty issues that remained to be addressed. Mr. Brasher advised that after he received notice of the order yesterday that he was given a list of three names to communicate with, who would in turn advise the other homeowners. Baldwin's plan is once they get their subcontractor list and get the subcontractors out, they are going to use the subcontractors to complete whatever uncompleted customer service warranty work that has not been done. He stated that does not mean that Baldwin is going to agree with everything the homeowners say is wrong, but Baldwin will complete the warranty work in a reasonable and responsible fashion. Those items that Baldwin determines need to be properly taken care will be and that will happen with the subcontractors Baldwin has there while they are under construction with the inventory units. Councilmember Moot asked if Baldwin had any agreement with the subcontractors that they would continue to honor any warranties they provided. Mr. Brasher answered there were warranties from subcontractors from previous work and Baldwin intends to have them, to the extent they are still available, to honor their obligations. One of the problems is that Baldwin is just now starting the process of getting in touch to let them know what the process by which they are going to go Minutes October 1, 1996 Page 4 through to get the inventory units done. Some of them may not be desirous of going along with that, and we may have to replace them with others, but irrespective of whether they are there or are being replaced with others, if there is work that is determined was a result of defects on their behalf, then Baldwin will certainly take every action available to them to correct the work. Councilmember Moot believes it would helpful if, on behalf of some of the homeowners, the attorney of the trustee look into the issue of the warranty end what effect it might be on the warranty if there was a delay in addressing the problem by the subcontractors due to essentially the stay that occurred until Baldwin was able to get the court order yesterday. That would be very helpful to try to work with the subcontractors to get a commitment from them before seeing the work or see what position they would take on whether the warranty has lapseAl, just during this period of time in which essentially there was a stay on eny action because of the bankruptcy court. Councilmember Alevy asked Mr. Brasher that now Baldwin is able to sell the homes, there will be proceeds once those homes am built end sold. What will the proceeds be used for. Mr. Brasher replied that Council did not have Exhibit B in their agenda packets, part of which because the exhibit was about the thickness of the telephone yellow pages. Exhibit B was the July 19 order and he advised would send a copy to the City overnight that will explain without going into the infinite details what is contained within that order. Basically, what transpired is that proceeds are eserowed and to the extent when escrow is closed and there are proceeds left, those proceeds are used for the very kind of thing we are talking about now and that is getting these inventory units done, as well as funding payroll. In eny event, what transpires is that escrow closes and all of the subcontractors that worked on that house are paid out of the closing, if they have not been completely paid for the work they have done on that house, as well as the fact that they have the right for 20 days to make a claim for prior work they have done. That claim will then be resolved within 60 days one way or enother and after that 60 days has passed, their rights to that piece of property are gone. Councilmember Alevy asked if the proceeds would also go to reimburse the City for funds they have expended such as medians and that sort of thing. Mr. Brasher replied he did not have an answer. He stated that most certainly, as Councilmember Moot had earlier pointed out, that a lot of the questions relate to when the obligation became due. If it is pre-petitinn, that is a whole different set of rules. If the obligation arose after they went into bankruptcy, it was required to be taken cam of. Councilmember Alevy said it is important that the infrastructure be brought up to the level that was agreed upon when the maps were approved in the first place. That would certainly be part of where the proceeds go. But first end foremost, we are interested in those who purchased homes, whether the warranty has expired or not, that those warranty-type concerns be addressed with the proceeds. Mr. Brasher stated that the proceeds on the St. Claire Crossing project are to be used to complete the water line end scraping the road so the Fire Department could get there in the event of a problem. He stated that those type of proceeds will be replenished because they were post-petition. John Goss, City Manager, explained that staff received some questions from Councilmember Rindone yesterday and three of the questions required more work. Along with some other materials in response to those questions, there was a nine-page response. He suggested Council carry it over a week or two until they had a chance to read it or enother option would be for staff to go through the questions and answers for them. Mayor Hotton advised they could possibly continue the item until next week. Mr. Brasher said that would be a problem because he would be out of town until October 15. Councilmember Rindone advised that he wanted to hear a response regarding those issues. The purpose of submitting the questions was for clarification because there were two additional memos from the City Manager and the City Attomey's office that had different positions on some issues regarding item 10. Mr. Goss stated the questions were directed more to staff than to Baldwin, and it was an issue that relates to what has happened but was more related to responses needed by Council. Mr. Brasher commented that he did not know how it impacted the development agreement, but if it was important enough for Council to see this trailed to October 15, then he concurred with that. Minutes October 1, 1996 Page 5 There being no further public testimony, the public heating was declared closed. MSUC (Padilla/Rindone) to continue the public hearing until October 15, 1996. 11. PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE USE OF COPS FUNDING PER AB 3229 - CITIZENS OPTION FOR PUBLIC SAFETY FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES During the 1996/97 budget process, Council authorized the Police Department to pursue funding for Community Oriented Policing projects. The State budget was adopted appropriating $356,408 to the City as a result of Assembly Bill 3229, Brulte. This bill allocates State money to the local agency for purposes of the Citizens Option for Public Safety COPS Program. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Chief of Police) RESOLUTION 18446 ACCEPTING $356,408 FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM THE STATE BUDGET TO PAY FOR POLICE PERSONNEL AND RELATED EQUIPMENT TO BE IDENTIFIED Police Chief Richard Emerson explained this was a state allocation and initially this allocation was looked upon as a portion of the voter's income tax where they could elect to have monies go to this fund. That was changed by the legislature at the last hour and when they made that change, they did not remove the public hearing component so it has been left in the bill. As such, each local agency has to have a public hearing. This being the time and place as advertised, the public hearing was declared open. There being no public testimony, the public hearing was declared closed. Councilmember Rindone asked if there would be any new monies required for the in-kind matching. John Goss, City Manager, explained that part of this grant could be utilized to meet the incoming contribution required for some federal grants we would be eligible for and those would have some specific recommendations as to how the money would be spent. Councilmember Rindone questioned if some of the funds would be used for capital improvements or if they would be used for personnel. Police Chief Emerson replied there would be some money available from a minor capital improvement project (CIP) level. First of all, there would be equipment staff was recommending because in some cases personnel and the appropriate equipment, including patrol vehicles, would be added at the same time, but there were also some improvements such as better surveillance inside and outside the building which was referred to as minor CIP. In terms of any kind of major capital improvements, that was not contemplated. Councilmember Rindone suggested that as staff looked at other grants that in their analysis of the fiscal impact to separate personnel costs from CIP. This being the time and place as advertised, the public hearing was declared open. There being no public testimony, the public hearing was declared closed. RESOLUTION 18446 OH~'ERED BY COUNCILMEMBER ALEVY, reading of the text was waived, title read, passed and approved unanimously. 12. PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING EXISTING AND PROPOSED RATES AND CHARGES FOR COX COMMUNICATIONS' BASIC SERVICE TIER AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT AND CABLE PROGRAMMING SERVICES TIER, AS SUBMITTED BY COX COMMUNICATIONS TO THE CITY VIA FEDERAL COMMUNICATION COMMISSION (FCC) FORMS 1235, 1240 AND 1205 - In May 1996, Cox Comm~mications instituted a $3.79 increase in its Cable programming Services tier. This charge is subject to FCC regulation, thus any complaints must be filed with the FCC. At the same time, Cox proposed to raise its Maximum Permitted Rates for the Basic Service Tier, which is subject to City regulation. Both of these changes were based on costs to upgrade Cox's infrastructure. Further cost-based increases in Maximum Permitted Rates were requested in July, along with decreases in the rates for associated equipment/installations. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Principal Management Assistant Young) Minutes October 1, 1996 Page 6 RESOLUTION 18447 DISAPPROVING UPGRADE-RELATED INCREASES IN MAXIMUM PERMITTED RATES FOR THE BASIC SERVICE TIER; DIRECTING STAFF TO FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE FCC ON BEHALF OF LOCAL SUBSCRIBERS REGARDING UPGRADE-RELATED INCREASES IN THE CABLE PROGRAMMING SERVICE TIER RATES; APPROVING PROPOSED COST-BASED RATE DECREASES FOR ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT; AND APPROVING PROPOSED COST-BASED INCREASES IN THE MAXIMUM PERMITTED RATES FOR THE BASIC SERVICE TIER John Goss, City Manager, announced that Cox Cable requested this item be continued until October 15, 1996. Councilmember Alevy commented that he recently saw on Cox Cable in North County a program called "North County News" and suggested Cox Cable look into the possibility of staffing a South County News program. MSUC (Horton/Alevy) to continue this item until October 15, 1996. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS · Bob Strahl, 328 Crestview Drive, Chula Vista, CA, commented that he was distressed by the thought that this City was in such a financial condition to sell park land and limit recreational activities for citizens in order to generate revenue. He said many things about this process gave him an uneasy feeling, but he welcomed a grand hotel in the area of Chula Vista but did not understand why it was being placed in Bonita rather than in the Bayfront. Mr. Strakl served on the Parks and Recreation Commission for seven years, two years of which he served as Chairman, and he was told that this issue was not brought before that commission. Mr. Strahl wondered why we had the commission system if it was only going to be used when convenient. He also did not see or hear about open bids or requests for proposals for that land and value was determined by the buyer no matter what the City thought the land was worth. Were we to assume that there was one developer or one person interested in the use, sale or purchase of that land. Mr. Strahl was not aware of any community meetings to seek input from citizens regarding this sale and wondered whether we have stopped doing this or were decisions being made without seeking input from citizens. BOARD AND COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS None submitted. ACTION ITEMS 13. RESOLUTION 18439 WAIVING IMMATERIAL DEFECTS, ACCEPTING BIDS AND AWARDING CONTRACT FOR "PARKING LOT IMPROVEMENTS FOR EUCALYPTUS PARK (PR-211)" - On 9/4/96, bids were received. The general scope of the project includes improving the parking lot adjacent to the American Legion's building at Eucalyptus Park. The work includes, traffic control, removal of alligatored pavement areas and replacement with asphalt concrete pavement, AC leveling courses, P.C.C. pad for trash recoptaele, P.C.C. drainage swale, asphalt concrete berm, drainage ditch, splash wall, crushed aggregate base, and other miscellaneous items of work as shown on the plans. Staff recommends approval of the resolution awarding the contract to MJC Construction - Chula Vista. (Director of Public Works) Continued from the meeting of 9/24/96. Councilmember Rindone asked Mr. Lippitt what elements were in the full cost recovery packet. Mr. Lippitt answered that basically it covered the overhead of both the department and the City. Vehicles that were being used or anything that was involved in the City process was not part of the direct charge. He did not have the details but would be able to come back later with a report. Councilmember Rindone que~stioned the costs and asked what precipitated the determination of those costs and why were they going so high. He requested staff to come back to them in a memo, or whatever was most appropriate, to look at the composition of the FCR factor and how it was determined. Councilmember Rindone suggested that Council make a policy decision to stack several of the smaller projects together so that the overhead costs were not so debilitating to the cost of the project. Councilmember Rindone raised the issue because if there was a way to economically process the smaller form projects and still use diligence in determining the appropriate recommendations, then they would be doing a big cost saving factory for the City. The reason Councilmember Rindone was seeking the information is that if it was cost beneficial to batch some of these projects together, then Minutes October 1, 1996 Page 7 we may need to look at that as a policy issue. If it was not and we needed to proceed with this, then that is information for us to consider as a Council. He wanted to move forward on this with the understanding that it come back for Council to make a policy decision to see if that would be a cost effective way. RESOLUTION 18439 OIq"ERED BY COUNCILMEMBER RINDONE, reading of the text was waived, title read, passed and approved unanimously, with the direction for Staff to come back with an information or agenda item to discuss the factors which determine the FCR ratio and whether a policy of batching smaller projects to reduce the cast would be cost efficient. ITEMS PULLED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR Item pulled: 9. The mimltes will reflect the published agenda order. OTHER BUSINESS 14. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT(S) Mr. Goss commented on a couple of items mentioned under oral communications by Bob Strahl. The City, as the Redevelopment Agency, did receive a number of proposals, and the City was now going through the process as a result of those proposals. This item will go to the Parks and Recreation Commission at the appropriate point in time. There has been one public forum, and there are plans for another one but at this point the application has to be specifically filed with a more specific definition of a project now. When that occurs, it will go through the regular process of review such as going to the Parks and Recreation Commission. a. Scheduling of meetings. Mr. Goss has had some frustration in scheduling a joint meeting with the two school boards. There was a date scheduled for October 29 but one of the school beards later said they could not have their entire board there. Mr. Goss will look at another date for the meeting. Councilmember Rindone suggested sending Mr. Strawberry a letter with that information because he felt that communication was important. Mr. Goss replied that he would give Mr. Strawberry a phone call. 15. MAYOR'S REPORT(S) a. Ratification of appointment to the Resource Conservation Commission - Bob McAlister. MSUC (Horton/Padilla) to appoint Bob McAlister to the Resource Conservation Commission. b. Setting a future Council workshop on permit streamlining/business responsiveness/standards of service. Continued from the meeting of 9/24/96. Mayor Herton said several years ago the City recognized the need to be more business responsive and to improve the standards of service to the people who do business with the City of Chula Vista. She believed our Economic Development Commission came forward with some proposals to improve and streamline the permitting process and to look for other ways to reduce red tape at City Hall during the last few years, and we implemented many of those recommendations. In the past few years, however, Mayor Hotton has been hearing more complaints from the business community in regard to doing business with our planning department or building department. She believes it would be beneficial to arrange a workshop with the different building, planning and whatever appropriate department to look at how we can improve our business responsiveness and raise our standards of service to the public. Also, we need to look further into some of the problems we have with some of the developers who come to the City trying to do business and trying to get simple things done and then somehow it gets locked up in the bureaucracy and things are held on the table longer than they should have. She suggested Mr. Goss schedule some type of workshop in the next few months so we can address some of those issues. Minutes October 1, 1996 Page 8 Councilman Rindone supported Mayor Horton's suggestion and added that at the same workshop for Council to sit down with the City Manager and develop a priority of projects and expectations. Mayor Horton had originally thought of including that with this particular workshop but thought the more appropriate place would be when they had the City Manager's evaluation. Councilmember Rindone mentioned that it was difficult to evaluate a city manager when they shared with him the day of the evaluation what those expectations were and that was not really fair to the City Manager. He suggested that Council sit down with the City Manager, prioritize those in a separate workshop and then at a later time, have that evaluation. Mayor Horton agreed but stated the problem was coordinating everyone to schedule a date when they could all meet. Mr. Goss commented that he welcomed the workshop to look at the priorities because that would really help our focus. Mr. Goss felt the need to focus on priorities because obviously Chula Vista is a very active community, we have a lot of projects going on and we have fewer hands on beard to do the work because of the budget cutbacks. Councilmember Moot advised that not only do you need to set priorities for projects you know about, but equally important is you have to give guidelines to staff in the planning department as to how to evaluate the importance of a project that is given to them that has not yet come to the attention of Council. Part of the process is not only setting priorities for existing projects which we know about, but giving policy guidelines to staff so when they get an important project that comes in, they know how to anticipate whether it will be a priority with the Council so they can get moving on it right away without having to let it filter its way up to the Council level. Mr. Goss believes that would be useful and pointed out that them are stories that occur, especially with smaller businesses and businesses trying to expand where we run into various hardships and we need to focus on that. In Mr. Goss' view, some of the cases that may come to Council's attention were really issues where it was not the bureaucracy or the staff slowing them down, it was the fact that the policy that was being implemented did not coincide with what was being proposed. We sometimes have commemial projects that attempt to be located in industrial areas but we try to help and make them work which sometimes takes a longer period of time to process. Mr. Goss had a recent complaint a few weeks prior of someone asking why was it taking so long for a project to get through the planning department and in checking with the planning department, that person's representative had not even filed an application yet. Mayor Horton stated that Councilmember Rindone had mentioned that prior to her being on the Council that there have been some retreats where Council would get together and discuss future plans or set priorities. Maybe we would want to look at doing something like that since we are quickly approaching 1997. 16. COUNCIL COMAIENTS Councilmember Rindone a. Assignment of Department Oversight within the City Manager's Office as of 10/1/96. · Councilmember Rindone had requested information but two words, "request for," were left out. Councilmember Rindone requested this item be continued until October 15, 1996 and to have that information provided for review. Councilmember Alevv b. Report on relocation of Minor League Baseball Club to Chula Vista. · Councilmember Alevy mentioned in the last meeting that he asked Mr. Salomone to come back with a report related to the potential of having an established minor league baseball club relocate to our City. The ownership group from the baseball club was present. Chris Salomone, Director of Community Development, stated that the project staff had been looking at for several weeks involved the potential of relocating a minor league team to Chula Vista. In order to facilitate that, the team's owner had requested that we try to locate sites that would accommodate a small stadium, similar to the type that Minutes O~tober 1, 1996 Page 9 you have seen in Lake Elsinore and Rancho Cucamonga. The facility that we were trying to analyze was an approximately 4,000 seat facility that would cost from $3.5 million upwards to as much as $15 million. At this point, we have identified several sites in the City and we have worked with this owner to see if those sites would accommodate such a facility. The owner has given us some site plans so we could understand the amount of acreage, parking, and other impacts of such a facility. Such a facility generally would take 15 acres: 5 acres for the stadium and 10 ac~.,s for parking. Councilmember Alevy expressed that it is pretty clear that we are a city on the move and there is a lot of baseball interest in our community. Councilmember Alevy feels that the timing is right for that interest level and he is a big proponent for this project. He spoke with people in Long Beach and learned that the closest of the teams in the Western Baseball League is the franchise in Long Beach, the Long Beach Riptides. They operate in dose proximity to two major league teams in a very thriving community of roughly twice the size popularinn-wise as ours. The people Councilmember Alevy spoke with indicated from a business standpoint and from a spirit standpoint, it has been very positive for their city. There has been a considerable increase in restaurant revenues in the several- mile radius of where the stadium lies. There have not been any traffic problems, and they have not had a single crime problem at any of their games. It has been nothing but positive for the city. He knows there are a lot of concerns about wh~re that location should be mad that is something we will have to glis~u~, but you have ~0 understand that it is not just 45 to 60 minor league baseball games that we are looking at, we are looking at the possibility of having high school football, soccer and baseball games being played at the location. Depending on where it is at, it can coordinate very well with community festivals and provides an entirely new venue. If located in certain parts of our City, it helps us in some ways to approach a threshold level in recreational facilities. It will bring in a considerate amount of income to our City, not just through the gates or turnstiles at the stadium, but in the immediate area. It will also put a number of unemployed people to work. Councilmember Padilia replied that he shared Councilmember Alevy's enthusiasm in terms of the potential possibility of moving an asset like this into our City, but he did have some comments and questions. In the staff report, would the estimate on the consultant cost be primarily for a feasibility study or did that include something else in terms of after a feasibility study. Mr. Salemone replied that it was really a guesstimate because once we had developed a scope of the facility and the capacity of the facility, we would do a feasibility study which would probably include a market study. Those are the two key elements. Councilmember Padilia stated that with regard to comments when we get a lot of projects in front of us that have potential and are exciting, we should always play these processes very smart, especially in times when we are trying to build assets for the community and increase our economic picture. We should also play it smart when our own resources are not where we would like them to be optimally. He would personally like to see some more details on a proposal from the team and an independent marketing analysis about having a minor league team, an independent team located in the same regional overlapping markets with that of a major league team in the same area. Councilmember Padilia believes that the order should be first to fred out if it is economically feasible, second to find out if it is something that we want and that the community wants, and then start addressing what a potential project's impact would be in the City of Chula Vista. In terms of the facility itself, the financing of the facility, the level, degree and mechanism of a public subsidy for this move and what the traffic and facility impacts are. If we make a realistic assessment of what all those impacts would be, we could make the decision to have the consultants come on board to help facilitate the process and make it happen. Mr. Goss stated that there is the issue of a major capital project which would be funding of a stadium, as well as its location, but the other points of its economic feasibility and the impact to the community were very important. · Don DeCarlo, 830 Hilley Field Lane, San Bereardino, CA, stated that Chula Vista is an exciting place to be able to look at bringing in a minor league baseball team to. There are some unique opportunities and he believes it could be one of the unique places in the country where a minor league baseball facility could actually be cost effective. He stated that the comments brought up by Councilmember Padilia were well taken that minor league baseball stadiums on the whole do not make any money and some of them have been a tremendous drain on their Minutes October 1, 1996 Page 10 communities. The project he has discussed with staff and with members of the community here in Chula Vista has been a very detailed project that can be cost effective. The other thing that is important to realize is that the market area in Chula Vista is large enough to support a minor league operation, separate from the Padres, Chargers, and other major league operations that are here. Minor league baseball is by far a less expensive family entertainment option. The demographics of the area, not only in Chula Vista but the surrounding communities including across the border, make this a unique market, The only other similar market to Mr. DeCarlo's knowledge is in El Paso and with the Juarez/El Paso comb'mation, that has been a phenomenal successful minor league facility, an "AA" franchise like ours, and it just sold for a large amount of money. Councilmember Moot appreciated that Mr. DeCarlo mentioned the situation in Lake Elsinore where that stadium did not torn out to be a good thing for the community. There is clearly a big difference betwean doing something like this correctly and doing it incorrectly. Mr. DeCarlo said that the Lake Elsinore scenario was very similar to what Councilmember Padilia mentioned wher~ a community got so excited, but it did not use good sense. That facility is a major league facility and probably should not even be there, but ther~ were people who wanted it built above good conscience and so, consequently, they are in the trouble that they are in. Mr. DeCado believes that a new wave of minor leaerie facilities will be built across the United States because smaller communities need an entertainment option that is filled by minor league professional sports franchises. They will be multi-use facilities that will house more than one professional sports franchise. Councilmember Moot encouraged Mr. DeCado to consider contacting the Arco Olympic Training Center as well. He believed that such a facility like the one Mr. DeCarlo proposes may be very interesting and work very well in a relationship with the Olympic Training Center. Mr. DeCado replied that they had talked to people with the U.S. Baseball Committee to look at that option and although they have not had favorable results so far, they have not closed their minds to that. Councilmember Alevy encouraged staff to continue to work and try to get some of the investigation done, check with people like Long Beach of what has Blaire Field done for their city, and to come back with this as quickly as possible to try to get some sort of commitment. He senses from hearing the comments that peeple would like to see a baseball team relocate to Chula Vista, but we obviously have to move cautiously and try to get the answers. He would help as much as possible to move forward and requested that Mr. Salomone keep Council abreast of that. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5:35 p.m. to closed session. CLOSED SESSION 17. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL REGARDING: 1. Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9 ® Christopher vs. the City of Chula Vista. s SNMB, L.P. vs. the City of Chula Vista and MCA. Minutes October 1, 1996 Pago 11 2. Anticipated litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9 ® Metro sewer issues. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RELEASE - Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE APPOINTMENT - Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957. · City Attorney CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR - Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 · Agency negotiator: John Goss or designee for CVI~A, WCE, POA, IAFF, Exocutive Management, Mid- Management, and Unrepresented. Employee organization: Chula Vista Employees Association (CVEA) and Western Council of Engineers (WCE), Police Officers Association (POA) and International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). Unrepresented employee: Executive Management, Mid-Management, and Unrepresente~l. 18. REPORT OF ACTIONS TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION Respectfully submitted, BEVERLY A. AUTHELET, CMC/AAE, City Clerk Patricia Schwenke, Deputy City Clerk