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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcc min 1997/05/27 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA Tuesday, May 27, 1997 Council Chambers 6:02 p.m. Public Services Building CALL TO ORDER 1. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Councilmembers Moot, Padilia, Rindone, Salas, and Mayor Horton. ABSENT: None ALSO PRESENT: City Manager, John D. Goss; City Attorney, John M. Kaheny; and Beverly A. Authelet, City Clerk. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, MOMENT OF SILENCE 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: May 13, 1997. MSC (Rindone/Moot) to approve the May 13, 1997 minutes. Approved 4-0-0-1 (Salas abstaining since she was absent from the meeting). 4. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY: None submitted. CONSENT CALENDAR (Item Pulled: 9; Items Continued: 6, 10) BALANCE OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR OFFERED BY MAYOR HORTON, titles read, texts waived, passed and approved 5-0 with Item 9 pulled and ltems 6 and 10 continued to June 3, 1997. 5. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS: a. Letter from the City Attorney stating that the City Council did not meet in Closed Session on 5/20/97. It is recommended that the letter be received and filed. b. Letter from Miche!!e E. Courchaine requesting financial assistance to compete in the 1997 California Teen Vocal Championships in Costa Mesa, California on June 28 and 29, 1997. It is recommended that the request be denied. c. Letter from Ann Diffiey, President, Executive Committee, Friends of the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, requesting that the Downtown Business Association office be relocated so that the Museum can use the current office space for expansion. It is recommended that this request be ret~rred to staff for review and report back to Council. d. Letter of resignation from the Charter Review Commission - Rosie Bystrak. 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. Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 2 6. RESOLUTION 18675 WAIVING CONSULTANT SELECTION PROCESS AND APPROVING CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT WITH SOUTH BAY COMMUNITY SERVICES TO PROVIDE YOUTH COUNSELING AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH - Since fiscal year 1985/86, the City has contracted with South Bay Community Services to provide juvenile services. The proposed contract will formalize services to be provided which include a Youth Counseling Program, a Runaway Juvenile Case Management and Homeless Youth Outreach Program. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Chief of Police) Staff requested that the item be continued to June 3, 1997. 7. RESOLUTION 18676 APPROVING A TEMPORARY CHANGE RELATING TO THE TIME AND DATE OF COUNCIL MEETINGS - On 5/6/97, Council directed staff to bring back the required documents to reinstate the Council meeting tier the last week of June and to cancel the meeting tier the second week of July. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (City Clerk) 8. RESOLUTION 18677 APPROVING THE SEVENTH AMENDMENT TO SEWAGE DISPOSAL AGREEMENT OF 1960 WITH THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO TRANSFERRING 0.14 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY OF SEWAGE TREATMENT CAPACITY FROM THE CITY OF NATIONAL CITY TO THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA, TRANSFERRING FUNDS AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS - In December 1996, Council approved an Agreement with the City of National City to purchase Sewage Capacity up to a total amount of 0. 14 million gallons per day (MGD). This capacity was for the use of SDG&E to dispose of wastewater from their power plant that is currently discharging into the Bay. There was also the ability for Chula Vista to purchase up to 0.04 mgd capacity for the users of the MCA - Water Park project in the Otay Valley. Those two projects will discharge into a City of San Diego line in the Otay Valley rather than a Chula Vista line, however, the Treatment Capacity in the Metro System is the responsibility of Chula Vista. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Director of Public Works) 4/Sth's vote required. Councilmember Moot stated that it would be helpful in the future if staff would calculate the math under the fiscal impact section. 9. RESOLUTION 18678 APPROVING CHANGE ORDER NUMBER 2 FOR THE BROADWAY STREET RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT BETWEEN NAPLES AND ANITA STREETS, AND AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS TO EXECUTE IT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY - On 4/16/96, Council awarded a contract in the amount of $1,942,775.50 to Southland Paving, Inc. for the Broadway Reconstruction Project between Naples Street and Anita Street. The prqject has been completed and has required the processing of two construction change orders. Change order Number I amounted to $3,041.11 and was approved by the Director of Public Works on 11/25/96. Proposed change order Number 2 would increase the contract by $54,697.06. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Director of Public Works) Councilmember Salas expressed that she was trying to understand the bid process. In this resolution, Council was being asked to do a change order where we will increase the contract that was awarded to Southland Paving Inc. by almost $55,000. She stated that when talking about minor changes to the contract, they gave as an example "to remove and reconstruct additional curb, gutter, and sidewalks to enhance the area's drainage". To her, that seemed like a very basic type of work that could have been anticipated in the original bid. She was concerned because there was an increase in the contract of almost $55,000. If there was a bid process, then there may have been other people who had bid before that may have come under that amount. Cliff Swanson, City Engineer, stated that in a project of over $2 million, the $55,000 was a small percentage. This was not for any one item but for a series of items. When you design the plans, you have quite a bit of field work that goes into determining improvements that were existing in the field. However, no matter how much time you Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 3 spend in looking at that before hand, you have to make field adjustments. Fifty-four thousand dollars out of $2 million is approximately 2 1/2 percent. Normally, if they come within 5-10%, they feel they were doing very good. RESOLUTION 18678 OFFERED BY COUNCILMEMBER SALAS, heading read, text waived, passed and approved 5-0. 10.A. RESOLUTION 18679 MAKING FINDINGS ON THE PETITION FOR THE OTAY RANCH VILLAGE ONE ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NUMBER 97-2 - Village Development has formally petitioned the City to use assessment district financing for certain public improvement to be located in Village One of the Otay Ranch. Staff recommends approval of the resolutions. (Director of Public Works) B. RESOLUTION 18680 MAKING APPOINTMENTS IN THE OTAY RANCH VILLAGE ONE ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NUMBER 97-2 AND APPROVING THE FORM OF THE ACQUISITION/FINANCING AGREEMENT THEREFOR C. RESOLUTION 18681 ADOPTING A MAP SHOWING THE PROPOSED BOUNDARIES OF THE OTAY RANCH VILLAGE ONE ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NUMBER 97-2 D. RESOLUTION 18682 DECLARING INTENTION TO ORDER THE ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN A PROPOSED ASSESSMENT DISTRICT; DECLARING THE WORK TO BE DONE TO BE OF MORE THAN LOCAL OR ORDINARY BENEFIT; DESCRIBING THE DISTRICT TO BE ASSESSED TO PAY THE COST AND EXPENSES THEREOF; AND PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS FOR THE OTAY RANCH VILLAGE ONE ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NUMBER 97-2 Item was continued to June 3, 1997. * * * END OF CONSENT CALENDAR * * * ORAL COMMUNICATIONS There were none. PUBLIC HEARINGS AND RELATED RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES None submitted. BOARD AND COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS None submitted. ACTION ITEMS 11. RESOLUTION 18683 WAIVING THE BID REQUIREMENTS, REQUESTING COUNCIL APPROVAL OF THE AGREEMENT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH ORGANIC RECYCLING WEST, INC. FOR GREEN WASTE, PROCESSING AND MARKETING SERVICES - The Calitbrnia Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (AB 939) requires that each City and County within the State develop and implement an Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan that will divert 50 percent of its annual waste generation from landfills by the year 2000. Grass, tree trimmings, clean lumber, and pre-consumer food wastes (green waste) account tbr approximately 25 percent of the City's annual waste generation. To meet the intent and spirit of AB 939, the City established a program to collect, process, and market green waste in 1993. In an average month in Chula Vista more than 1,000 tons of grass, tree trimmings, and clean lumber are diverted from land fills through the curbside green waste program. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. (Conservation Coordinator) Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 4 Addressing Council were: · Suzanne Mathews, 816 Lehigh Avenue, Chula Vista, 91913, past President of the Bonita Organic Garden Club. She was supportive of the recommendation. She stated that some of their members have gotten compost from Organic Recycling. It was the best compost; it doesn't have to be sifted. · Richard Disney, Disney Enterprises, 2600 Hollister, San Diego, 92154, stated they were also involved in recycling of organic material. He f~lt that their prices were a lot lower than what you will be paying through Organic Recycling. They were a local company; they hire local people. Their attack on the green waste issue was three-fold; they make three different products out of it: (1) Decomposition produces an alternative energy source which they have recently been assured of a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to produce clean water from this new heat source. This heat source is capable of producing one acre fbot per day of distilled water. (2) They produce compost; the same as Organic Recycling West. The difference was, they give it away. (3) They produce "worm castings", the finest dirt. What they do with the compost that was not used in the land part of their operation was used as a tbod product fbr worms. Worms eat green waste; they produce dirt, the finest potting soil. Mayor Horton asked if Disney Enterprises was licensed by the California Integrated Waste Management Board. Mr. Disney replied that they were permitted by that Board. They do not require a license because they were agriculture; they use the material that comes in. The Integrated Waste Management Board has determined that their operation was exempted from licensing. Further, they have done business with North County cities: Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, Carlsbad. They have all received AB-939 recycling credits for using their facility. Mayor Horton asked staff how was Organic Recycling West different from Disney Enterprises. Mr. Meacham stated that the exempt and excluded categories have some limitations as to how much material can be on the property at any one time and how much material can go off the property. The other one would not be regulated by the California Waste Management Board which he believed was the exempt status. They would be regulated by the Department of Agriculture. Essentially, if a company brings material from a secondary generator, they have some responsibility to either the Agriculture Department or the California Waste Board. Once they get the waste board permit, there will also be regional quality control board, air quality management district, and other regulatory agencies that will provide monthly oversight for those thcilities. They would assure that they were working within the permit standard. They also require local land use approval. These other types of exempt companies do not necessarily require those approvals, and they do not have the same restrictions in terms of quality of material. A Calitbrnia Waste Management Board facility would have to pass a test and demonstrate that the material had been composted to a point that all pathogens had been eliminated prior to the material going off site. The AB-939 statute, the Calitbrnia Integrated Management Act, is regulated by the Waste Board; they were the ones who determine whether or not we have diversion credit, whether or not we have met our land fill diversion program. They oversee the facilities that come under their jurisdiction. A facility outside of their jurisdiction would not have the same ability to verify diversion tbr a city. ORW was the only facility in San Diego County that meets the two top tiers, either the solid waste permit status, which was the original or only status at the time they applied, or the standard compost permit. · Stephen Neudecker, 313 Glen Creek Drive, Bonita, reported that Organic West had been a help to them at the Nature Interpretire Center in terms of providing compost which they have used in their restoration programs. They have delivered materials several times; it has been good quality material. Councilmember Salas asked about the CIWMB permits. In the staff report, it states that there were other bidders out there but that they did not have that permit, nor have they expressed an interest in obtaining the permit. Would this include Mr. Disney's company. Mr. Meacham responded that both of the bidders have representatives which he has talked with for at least a year. During those discussions, we have talked to them about what the city's expectations were in terms of protection of liability; most importantly, their concern about the rate payer. Looking for a company who does not rely solely Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 5 upon the tax payer to pay the tipping fee, but a company whose ultimate goal was to produce a product that will generate revenue that will off set that need tbr the tax payer to support that program. Mr. Disney had made significant progress, but it was not the same as we have developed over the five years with the agreement that we have now. We are at the cross roads of being able to move forward with the substantial retail opportunities and create that which will be a model program tbr the State with our current partner. Councilmember Salas stated that when we waive the bidding requirement, it strongly demonstrates that they were the best and probably the only supplier of the service or product. This was the second time in a month that one of the rationales that Council has been asked to waive the bidding process was because there was not enough time to put together the Request for Proposal. It seemed to her that this was another case where this kind of proposal should have been anticipated in advance so there could have been a competitive bidding process. Even though this may be the only or best company selected for this, she felt it gave the public a feeling that there was not enough competitive and fairness in the bidding process in the City of Chula Vista. Councilmember Padilla stated that in this case, the judgement of staff was correct. His comments went mainly to the process. He felt that we have certain situations where we can justify, waiving the bidding process. He felt it was good public policy that we articulate clearly some of the comparisons. This will help strengthen the position that staff was advocating. It was important to include information as to whom, when, what the specifics were with regard to the different type of permitting, why that makes a difference, and why that was important. It was important that the City generally, except in extraordinary circumstances, follow the bidding process and allow for open competition because that best serves the City and ultimately the rate payers. · Jacy Davis, 137 N. El Camino Real, Encinitas, representing Solana Recyclers which was a non-profit, community based recycling organization that previously ran a curb-side recycling programs in Encinitas, Del Mar, and Solana Beach. They currently run agricultural composting programs in Northern San Diego County. Their agricultural programs were exempt from the Integrated Waste Management Board's permitting process because the materials which they bring in were from curb-side programs. They grind them and the host t~rmer uses their material, so they do not sell or give away materials to the public. Their operations in North San Diego County have been detrimentally impacted by facilities that Mr. Disney has run. Mr. Disney has run sites at Cal State San Marcos that have been shut down. He currently has a site in Carlsbad that has been given a cease and desist order by the City of Carlsbad. The haulers have been given notice not to deliver materials to his t~cility. When he quotes he has been working with cities in Northern San Diego County, it was material that has been delivered by haulers, not that he has been contracting directly with the cities. She recommended that the Council support a responsible company such as Organic Recycling West. · Richard Flemmer, 477 Marina Parkway, Organic Recycling West, Inc. stated they have been working with the City/br the past/bur years. When they first sited their facility in Otay Mesa in City of San Diego's recycling market development zone, they wanted to contract directly with the City. They were advised to work with the hauleL Their facility was specifically designed to handle Chula Vista's material. They t~.,el very loyal to the City because most of their revenue and green waste has come from the City. They have relocated their administrative offices to Chula Vista so on all the material they sell, the tax revenue goes to Chula Vista. They have been working with the City to give more back in return for a long-term contract. The rates they are offering in the long-term contract were far below then they want to go. They want to lock in Chula Vista's material and sign a long-term contract. They were willing to drop their rates. They have a lot of existing markets for the material. Councilmember Rindone stated he supported the recormnendation and justifications, but he was disappointed because he could not find a section which explained the terms; they were not clearly delineated. · Dan Higgins, General Manager, Laidlaw Waste Systems, 881 Energy Way, Chula Vista, stated they went through a competitive bid process and got responses from three parties. They asked for bids/br six months, two years, and a five year period. The proposal belbre Council was pricing for a five-year period which was the lowest price they received in that competitive bid process. Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 6 Councilmember Moot stated that when past recycling issues have come to Council, the market in this area tends to be somewhat volatile. There seems to be an advantage to lock in a price for an extended period of time to compensate for the ebbs and flow of the market. He asked if Mr. Higgins was satisfied that this proposal was the best that we could get for our rate payers. Mr. Higgins stated that in terms of the long-term cost benefit, based on the proposal that they had received, it was the best available because of the fitct that it has residual impact on the City in terms of providing material in the City and selling it in the City. In terms of the rates over the five years, this was best proposal. This proposal was different because of the permit issues and also in terms of the residual impacts. · Pam Cortelyou, 4950 Northaven, San Diego, programming coordinator with the County of San Diego in charge of their recycling program and representative to the Technical Advisory Committee for AB-939, stated she strongly supported the proposal for ORW. She had worked with ORW fbr the last six years. They were a company who persisted despite difficult land use issues and permitting requirements by the State. They were the only green waste facility which has been in business steadily under the same company name and at the same site fbr four years. RESOLUTION 18683 OFFERED BY COUNCILMEMBER SALAS, heading read, text waived, passed and approved 5-0. * * * Council recessed at 6:57 p.m. and reconvened at 7:08 p.m. * * * 11.1 REVIEW OF DEPARTMENTAL BUDGETS: City Attorney; City Clerk; City Council; Fire; Planning; and Public Works (Engineering, Operations, and Transit). Councilmember Rindone requested that the City Council budget be continued to June 2, 1997 since he did not have a chance to review the newly submitted material. Public Works Councilman Rindone stated he was trying to understand the purpose of staff establishing one enterprise fund for several areas; or was it several enterprise funds since they ar monies administered by the department and why it was set up that way. He understood the logic, but he did not understand how it worked or what role the Council would have in policy issues. He did not understand how it interfaced with the operating budget. Mr. Goss replied that various funds have been set up like this for a number of years in terms of the equipment replacement fund, central garage, etc. The idea behind the equipment replacement fund was to even costs out over a period of time, so we have depreciation charges built into the budget. Some of the others such as the storm drain fund, transportation development impact fee, the transit fund; these are separate funds that have been established by the Finance Department. The money starts in the operating department, its based upon depreciation charged against each piece of equipment, it goes into a fund, and then Council approves the recommended purchases for the fund in the budget. When the actual acquisition goes out, we come back with a bid, and Council approves the acquisition of the equipment. Councilmember Rindone stated that since the money was administered by Public Works by taking it out of the operating budget, then you have an enterprise fund that was set up to amortize over a period of time, but how does Council get a snapshot of what was anticipated for the coming year as far as these various funds which were included in the enterprise funds. He would like to know what was included in their expenditures on the various funds, so we know what we were approving. He stated that perhaps a supplemental budget item to delineate what was proposed for 97/98 in the various monies that was administered by Public Works in the enterprise fund was information that all councilmembers should have access to, not just the aggregate totals for the various accounts. Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 7 Councilmember Rindone stated that we had an excellent transit system in the City. He wasn't satisfied in the proposal about using diesel fuel buses to replace the entire eleven buses. He would like staff to look at this and see if staff can work with MTDB as a partner to see if a CNG fueling station could be set up here; work with the elementary school districts to have off-hours access; see what can be done with SDG&E; and report back. This was a major policy issue; he was not ready to support this until he received more detailed information. Councilmember Rindone asked about the Environmental Manager who was located within the Engineering budget. It would appear that areas should be put in the budget under the areas where they were supervised. Although, the cost would not be any different, he felt this should be under Administration, or the Environmental Manager should report to Mr. Lippitt. A budget was a planning document, and it needed to reflect those departments within the specified areas. Councilmember Padilia stated that if you separate out the related funds with regard to the enterprise funds and look at operating within each basic department as a separate function, it didn't occur to him that he needed to go to the summary in order to find something that he expected to find delineated under operations. For him, the Central Garage and the function of personnel, operating costs, and the output measures of that particular city function would be critical to Public Works. Are there any other exceptions besides personnel within the central garage that would not be reflected in the main portion of the budget. Mr. Lippitt stated that the central garage was the only personnel in public works that were not in the overall summary. Councilmember Padilia stated he was looking at the explanation for why that was separated in the actual budget document for public works. Without the explanation, there was no way he would have found the personnel strengths, histories, and titles of those individuals working in that particular department in Public Works. The personnel strength within that particular department was an item of concern to him because of the concerns that he has heard from individuals working within various departments that were affbcted by that fleet maintenance. He was concerned that the staffing has not been adequate to safely maintain or to maintain at optimum levels as we would desire tbr various items of equipment in fire and police. He would appreciate any infbrmation that could be provided to make that picture clear so that he could understand. Councilmember Moot stated that maybe we need to start keeping some statistics as to how many hours of operation a piece of fire equipment has been down and unusable. When we have those statistics, then we can make the policy decisions about much money to spend on mechanics. Mayor Horton asked if we needed to increase the street sweeping from once to twice per week along Broadway, will this also include the "E" Street corridor from I-5. She f~lt that since this was a window to the City that this segment between Broadway and I-5 should be included. Mr. Goss replied that what was proposed in the budget did not. Staff' observed that there was more trash buildup along Broadway because there were a lot of fast tbod places along there. Councilmember Rindone stated he would like to add "H" Street between Broadway and the Trolley Station. Mr. Goss stated that there was one other issue in terms of the Telecenter Program under the Environmental Section of Public Works. There was a danger of closing down the Telecenters. Staff' was recommending Option #1 which staff felt was the bare amount that would enable at least one Telecenter to remain open until there was an opportunity to get some grants that would continue the life of the Telecenters. It would require $15,000 from general funds. Mayor Horton stated that originally it was a concern of Council that they did not want to have to subsidize this program with general funds. Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 8 {----~ Mr. Goss responded that was true, but basically what has happened was the grant money was running out, and there was opportunity for additional grant money in the future about a year from now. Staff was saying in order to have the least impact on the general fund as possible, was there some way to bridge for a period of time until we get grant money again. One of staff's recommendations in the report was to support staff's continued efforts to pursue Option 3 per Council direction resulting from the SmartCommunity Report approved last July to secure necessary funding to merge the Telecenter and the Library. If Council wanted to do this, it would cost an additional $42,000 out of the general fund. Councilmember Salas asked about the relevance of the Telecenter with so many homes being connected to computers and the Internet. The other argument that this was tier people who cannot afford a computer at their homes, so they can telecommute. Then you talked about the reluctance of employers to let go of their workforce in a telecommuting center. She asked if the Downtown Telecenter Center could ever generate the interest or the clients; have you seen any growth in the people using the "H" Street Telecenter or have you seen a decline. Barbara Bamberger, Environmental Resource Manager, stated that in the last three years, we have seen occupancy rate increase primarily because telecommuting was becoming a more viable option for employees and employers. When they started the program, most employers had never heard of the term telecommuting. So, they had to market the concept of telecommuting at the same time as they were trying to get them to understand the concept of the telecenter itself. Currently the occupancy rate is at 60 %, the highest we have seen. Councilmember Salas stated that at this point in time, it shows the City's commitment in doing its part to be more environmentally sensitive and responsible. She felt the public does need to know the exact position of the City and why they would want to be involved in this as opposed to having someone like Kinkos who could provide that kind of service. Ms. Bamberger stated that the difference between a Kinkos operation, or an Executive Suites which was another competitor to the Telecenter, was that Kinkos was a drop-in situation. An individual will run to a workstation for a minute a time with each minute being charged. With the Telecommuting Center, we contract directly with employees to use the Telecenter as a once every week for as long as they want to use it. The difference was that it was an eight hour schedule for one, two, or three days a week. Kinkos does not have that ability to contract with an individual and to provide them with a workstation. That was something that an employer would t~el comfortable allowing their employee to work out of. Councilmember Moot felt that the telecenter will never pay for itself. There will be a percentage of people who won't have the ability to do that. Having this merge with library services was probably the most logical extension of this project. He felt this was a concept that was worth pursuing and he would support this. MS (Salas/Horton) to support Option #1 and direct staff to pursue Option 3. Councilmember Moot stated that this was the last time that the City Council would directly support the Telecenter out of general funds. If we can't transition into the Library, then that will be the end of the project. VOTE ON MOTION: Motion to tentatively approve was approved 5-0. Planning: Councilmember Padilla asked, in regard to the Bayfront, if staff was comfortable having an Associate Planner in terms of adequacy in light of the priority and discussion that the Council recently had in one of our goal setting workshops about trying to move on consolidating efforts to get some planning accomplished in coordination with the other interested agencies and jurisdictions on the Bayfront. Was it consistent with that direction or would we be better served to try to fund something with regard to Bayfront Advanced Planing. " It Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 9 Mr. Leiter stated that the Community Development Department would be the lead department on this planning and economic development effort since the two issues were really intertwined. Planning staff members would be part of the team and their expertise in land use planning would be part of that team. It was his understanding that the budget proposals in the Community Development budget provided for a Senior level planners and economic development professionals to do a lot of the work on that. With that understanding, he felt this would work. MSC (Padi!!a/Horton) to tentatively approved the Planning Department's budget. Approved 4-1-0 (Moot voting no). Fire Councilmember Rindone stated that about five years ago, a community member donated $25,000 for the defibrillator. He was pleased that staff will be planning to include this in the next two years budget. He requested that when this comes back to Council next year, he would like to see the number of lives the defibrillator has saved. Councilmember Padilia expressed concern about transferring an engineer from Suppression into Training. He would be interested on the operational impact with regard to the optimum recommended field staffing per unit that was deployed on various calls for service. He wanted thoughts on the operation of safety impact as regards to each unit's staffing, because there were recommended minimum levels of staffing on the different apparatus and different response teams to different incidents. Also, he would like to know if thought has been given to civilianizing the training position at a lower the cost. Chief Hardiman responded that the Fire Department has not studied the issue of civilianizing training although they have had some discussions on the matter concerning fire prevention. What he would like to do in the training office is to go back to some very fundamental hands-on technical training that would not necessarily be fhcilitation. This was what they were attempting to do by reassigning an engineer to coordinate in the training division to focus not only on scheduling and planning and the mandatory training which was increasing each year, but actually focusing on very hands-on training. Councilmember Moot asked what will the affect of the reclassification be on fire suppression's services tbr the Battalion Chief. Chief Hardiman felt it would not have any effect. The current staffing was 22 per shift. If we drop below that with the reassignment of an engineer to training or with reclassification of the Battalion Chief, the staffing level per shiti will remain the same. If we drop below that on any shift, we will call back people to maintain that staffing level. MSUC (Horton/Padi!!a) to tentatively approve the Fire Department budget. City Attorney: John Kaheny, City Attorney, stated they were trying to shift their costs from private outside counsel to inhouse counsel. They did a survey of fifteen Calitbrnia cities to see how they were organized in relationship to the norm. They found out that of fifleen cities surveyed, Chula Vista had the smallest inhouse staff. That was why they came up with the plan to try to develop more inhouse counsels. They have started a Case Management Program. It is an entire work assignment sheet program to tract all written requests for legal services or fbr advise that comes to the office. It has been in operation tbr ninety days, and they have already tracked close to 320 written requests for legal assistance. That does not include telephone calls or walk-ins. They hope by next year, they will have better handle on the actual output measures of the office, because the current figures do not accurately reflect the nature of the legal services being provided. The have also instituted a tbrmal Memorandum of Law files so we can maintain our own institutional memory of the issues thcing Chula Vista as the City continues to grow. Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 10 ,.----~ Councilmember Salas asked what kind of expertise would he be hiring, and would they be able to provide the same type of expertise. Mr. Kaheny replied that there will always be a time where we will have to hire outside counsel for a variety of reasons. What they were trying to accomplish was to hire attorneys who could do the general municipal law work in two basic areas: (1) in litigation and administrative law, and (2) in general municipal law with an emphasis on personnel and labor relations. There needs to be some work in this area especially in the revision of the Rules and Regulations both in the Civil Service Rules and the Personnel Manual. Councilmember Moot asked about the equalization of salaries for the two assistant city attorneys. Mr. Kaheny stated that currently the one who works part-time was paid a higher salary on a monthly basis which was pro rated. Although she earns less, the actual rate on the salary tables was much higher than the other assistant. Councilmember Moot asked if we were going go back where we will have full-time assistant city attorneys; how long will this part-time situation last. Mr. Kaheny stated that the part-time assistant city attorney has not expressed any indication of wanting, for personal reasons, to go full time. Currently, the individual works three days per week and primarily handles police and code enforcement litigation cases. There were other litigation cases which we do contract out to independent counsel. Those were the types of cases that we are planning on assigning to the new Deputy. Councilmember Rindone/hit we always seem to have unique cases. He felt that the balancing of his staff in the ~""~' selections was going to be most critical. He did not understand the proposed structure and requested a flow chart of the positions with two or three key areas of responsibilities so Council can understand. MSUC (Horton/Padi!!a) to tentatively approve the City Attorney's budget. City Clerk Mr. Goss stated there were two issues: (1) regarding elections which will occur in June 1998. As a cost saving measure for the coming year, and in anticipation that next year will be better economically, we were proposing that most of the election costs be booked in Fiscal Year 98/99 since the basic expenses would occur about a month after the election; this reduces the base budget cost by about $75,000. (2) since this budget was prepared, there has become a vacancy in the Deputy City Clerk position. This may be an issue which Council may want us to look at because in the past we have tried different levels of salary compensation. This may be something which Council may want staff to evaluate. Councilmember Moot stated that when we went to hire this position, he was the minority of one supporting the City Clerk's idea that they may have to be competitive and look at a higher salary range for this position. What we have learned over time is that it is an important position; its a small office and yet they serve a very important role. To find the right person for the position, we may have to revisit that issue. Mayor Horton requested that staff come back with some comparable data to help Council make that type of decision. Councilmember Padilia asked if there would be a need to fund the optical imaging system in future years. He asked -----, if the wheels were turning on making that transition to keep that very important system fully funded and operational. ~ City Clerk responded there would be a need to fund a position, and it would be included in next fiscal year's budget. MSUC (Rindone/Horton) to tentatively approve the City C!erk's budget. Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 11 City Council Council concurred to continue this to the June 2, 1997 meeting. ITEMS PULLED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR (Item 9 was pulled, but the minutes will remain in published agenda order) OTHER BUSINESS 10. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT(S) Mr. Goss informed the Council that on June 3, the DBA along with the Chamber and Southwestern College Small Business and Development Center will be conducting two roundtable meetings as part of the Community Tune Program designed for Chula Vista's Downtown. The goals of the Roundtable is to develop a vision for Downtown. Each Roundtable, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, is going to have a different group of people. They were asking/br two members of the Council to participate. Mayor Horton stated she would participate in the morning. There was a commentary by Roger Schalley which had been distributed to Council with a memo from Mr. Leiter, the Planning Director, which gave the impression that the whole Otay Ranch Plan may be changing. That was not true. The McMillin proposal will be before Council on June 3. There was no proposal to change density in the McMillin plan, but there were some issues that Mr. Leiter's memo highlights. Councilmember Rindone suggested that Mr. Leiter's memo, which addresses some of the concerns, should be forwarded to the San Diego Union Tribune. 11. MAYOR'S REPORT(S) - None 12. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Rindone: a. Newspapers in Education: Councilmember Rindone requested that Council consider an $800 donation to the Newspapers In Education. MSUC (Rindone/Horton) to approve the $800 donation and to have a recommendation of the City Council included in the ad as an endorsement for the war on literacy. b. City ordinance for divorcement and lhir wholesale pricing of gasoline. San Diego County was looking at analyzing the proposal of the Automotive Trade Association of California in looking at the over charges to the consumers tier the high price of gasoline. They were preparing a position and legal brief on this. It was his understanding that if the County proceeds, it will have a minimum impact if stations in other cities were not under similar rules and regulations, if this was legally feasible. MSUC (Rindone/Horton) to refer the item to the City Attorney's office to review what the County was proposing, to analyze it, and come back with a recommendation. Councilmember Salas: Minutes May 27, 1997 Page 12 Councilmember Salas expressed that in 1991, the ICETEA Act included a provision which imposed truck size restrictions on triple trailers and other combination vehicles. The freeze was imposed because of numerous complaints that were received by Congress about the danger of the trucks. The freeze expires on September 30. She encouraged Council to oppose the litling of the ban on the use of triple trailers. She would like Council to join a number of jurisdictions and community organization groups that oppose the ban. MSUC (Salas/Horton) to support the lifting of the ban on the use of triple trailers and to direct staff to bring forth a resolution for approval. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m. City Clerk