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2/23/20091 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS, CALIFORNIA MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2009 CALL TO ORDER A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Rolling Hills was called to order by Mayor Hill at 7:35 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, Rolling Hills, California. ROLL CALL Councilmembers Present: Councilmembers Absent: Others Present: CONSENT CALENDAR Black, Lay, Pernell, Mayor Pro Tem Heinsheimer and Mayor Hill. None. Anton Dahlerbruch, City Manager. Mike Jenkins, City Attorney. Yolanta Schwartz, Planning Director. James Walker, Finance Director. Heidi Luce, Interim Deputy City Clerk. Lt. Greg Ahn, LASD, Lomita Station. Kit Bagnell, L.A County, Dept. of Building and Safety. Roy Itani, L.A County, Dept. of Building and Safety. Bill Orton, Field Deputy, Senator Roderick D. Wright's Office. Gordon Schaye, Former Wildlife Preservation Committee Member. Allen Kent Smith, Auditor. Ron Takaguchi, L.A County, Dept. of Building and Safety. Katie Wilson, Willdan Financial Services. Matters which may be acted upon by the City Council in a single motion. Any Councilmember may request removal of any item from the Consent Calendar causing it to be considered under Council Actions. a. Minutes - Regular Meeting of February 9, 2009. RECOMMENDATION: Approve as presented. b. Payment of Bills. RECOMMENDATION: Approve as presented. C. Financial Statement for the month of January, 2009. RECOMMENDATION: Approve as presented. d. Budget/Finance Subcommittee, February 9, 2009 Meeting Notes. RECOMMENDATION: Receive and file. e. Correspondence from Southern California Edison regarding Change in SCE Design Standards. RECOMMENDATION: Receive and file. f. Ordinance No. 314: An ordinance of the City of Rolling Hills amending in its entirety Chapter 8.08 of the Rolling Hills Municipal Code relating to the collection of Solid Waste and Recyclables. RECOMMENDATION: Approve as presented. Mayor Pro Tem Heinsheimer moved that the City Council approve the items on the consent calendar. Councilmember Lay seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Mayor Hill introduced Bill Orton, Field Deputy from Senator Roderick Wright's office. Mr. Orton thanked the members of the City Council for their letter of welcome that was sent to Senator Wright and expressed the Senator's interest in maintaining a close connection to the communities he serves. Mr. Orton reviewed the boundaries for the district of Senator Wright and stated that as Field Deputy, he Minutes City Council Meeting 02/23/2009 -1- covers the areas of Long Beach, Wilmington, San Pedro and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. He also thanked the members of the City Council for their nominations for the 25`h Senate District Woman of the Year and stated that Senator Wright will be hosing a luncheon to recognize the nominees. PRESENTATIONS Special Presentation to Gordon Schaye for service to the City of Rolling Hills as a member of the Wildlife Preservation Committee Mayor Hill presented Gordon Schaye with a City Council Commendation in appreciation of the time, dedication, commitment and knowledge that he generously provided as a member of the Wildlife Preservation Committee. Special Recognition of Mr. Roy Itani, County of Los Angeles, Building and Safety Department District Engineer, for service to Rolling Hills Mayor Hill presented Roy Itani, District Engineer from the County of Los Angeles Building and Safety Department a City Council Commendation in recognition of his many years of distinguished service to the residents of Rolling Hills on the behalf of the Los Angeles County Department of Building and Safety. County of LA Building and Safety Department Update City Manager Dahlerbruch introduced Kit Bagnell. District Engineer from the County of Los Angeles Building and Safety Department. Mr. Bagnell presented the members of City Council an update on the Building and Safety Department's services to the City. Mr. Bagnell stated that the Building and Safety Department is transitioning to a new service structure including the opening of a new Southwest office at the corner of Imperial Highway and Normandy He stated that Roy Itani will take over managing the new office. He further noted that with the opening of the new office, the Lomita office will revise its service offering due to the fact that the new office will be handling many of the communities that were previously handled at the Lomita office. The Lomita office will primarily serve the Peninsula area, and the smaller local unincorporated areas. He further stated that the office manager will be Frank Harris, that he (Mr. Bagnell) will serve as the district engineer; however, his is currently assigned to the Carson Building and Safety office. Councilmember Pernell asked Mr. Bagnell how this change affects the applicants from the City of Rolling Hills. Mr. Bagnell stated that office will remain open Monday through Friday and that the inspector assigned to the City of Rolling Hills, Wayne Chapman, will remain. He also noted that the Plan Check counter hours will change from five days per week to two days per week. Official counter hours will be in the mornings on Monday and Thursday however at any time applicants need to speak with a Plan Checker, they can contact them by phone and arrange for an appointment. Mr. Bagnell then introduced Ron Takaguchi, Regional Engineer from the Alhambra office. Mr. Takaguchi expressed appreciation for the long-term relationship between the City of Rolling Hills and the Department of Building and Safety and his intent to continue that relationship. He stated that his department's roll in the process is primarily administrative in nature and operates mostly behind the scenes. PLANNING COMMISSION ITEMS, NONE TRAFFIC COMMISSION ITEMS, NONE. PUBLIC HEARINGS NONE OLD BUSINESS NONE. NEW BUSINESS Minutes City Council Meeting 02/23/2009 -2- 1 CONSIDERATION OF THE 2007/08 FISCAL YEAR AUDIT City Manager Dahlerbruch introduced the City's finance director Jim Walker and stated that Finance Director Walker will present the 2007/08 Fiscal Year Audit. Finance Director Walker presented the 2007/08 Fiscal Year Audit for consideration. He noted that the Auditor, Allen Kent Smith, was seated in the audience. Finance Director Walker stated that the 2007/08 audit is a clean opinion and the financial statements are fairly presented. He further noted that there were VI two comments made by the Auditor; one regarding an accounting manual. He further stated that he is in the process of putting together a practical operations manual for both finance and treasury. The second comment was that there is a need to formalize the bank reconciliations, which he stated were done in December. He further noted that the accounting manual will be an ongoing document that will change as processes change and, it will be presented to City Council in the future. Auditor Allen Kent Smith presented the 2007/08 Fiscal Year Audit and further noted that there was no discovery of anything that was out of line and would require anything other than minor adjustments He further stated that the City's books and records are kept in good order. Following the presentations and brief discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Heinsheimer moved that the City Council accept the fiscal year 2007/08 audit as presented. Councilmember Lay seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. CONSIDERATION OF MODIFICATIONS TO THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS INVESTMENT POLICY AND TO THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS FINANCIAL, BUDGET AND DEBT POLICIES Finance Director Walker presented proposed modifications to City's investment policy and the financial, budget and debt policies. He noted that the Auditor recommended minor modifications to the policies and those recommendations were reviewed with the Budged and Finance Subcommittee on February 9, 2009. He further noted that those changes have been redlined into the previous policy for the Council's review. He reported that the changes were minor in nature, mainly language changes. Councilmember Lay asked if there has been a change in the investment strategy and Finance Director Walker reported that no changes were made to the investment strategy. After discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Heinsheimer moved that the City Council approve the modifications to the City of Rolling Hills Investment Policy the City of Rolling Hills Financial, Budget and Debt Policies as presented. Councilmember Black seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. PRESENTATION AND CONSIDERATION OF THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS "COMPREHENSIVE USER FEE AND RATE STUDY" AND REVIEW OF THE 2008/09 SCHEDULE OF FEES AND CHARGES City Manager Dahlerbruch stated that Katie Wilson from Willdan Financial Services will explain the User Fee Study that was initiated in anticipation of preparing the next fiscal year budget. In explanation, he stated that the User Fee Study evaluates what the City's fees are compared to the City's cost of providing services. He stated that a user fee study is typically done in most cities every five years and that is has been longer since the City has done a user fee study. He stated that Willdan Financial was engaged to help with the Study and that the purpose of tonight's presentation is to introduce the report, gain feedback from the City Council and then from that, develop a schedule that would formally adopt the recommendations. He then introduced Katie Wilson, Principal Engineer from Willdan Financial. City Manager Dahlerbruch noted that he previously worked with Ms. Wilson when he was with the City of Beverly Hills. Ms. Wilson presented the User Fee Study. She stated that the purpose of the User Fee Study is to ensure that the full costs are identified and to identify where the General Fund may be subsidizing cost. She stated that the study reviews all the direct and indirect costs associated with providing the service. She stated that in doing the User Fee Study, department budgets, overhead cost allocations and, staffing levels are reviewed to develop a fully burdened hourly rate. She stated that the methodology used in the study is the Case Study Method which looks at each service that is delivered. She stated that the data has three cost layers: direct labor, departmental overhead, and central service overhead. She presented an illustration showing that direct labor is usually the largest portion followed by departmental overhead then central service overhead. She also presented an example of how a fully burdened hourly rate was calculated. Finally, she presented an example of how the actual cost of service is calculated using all of the information available. City Manager Dahlerbruch summarized the findings of the User Fee Study in comparison to the City's current fee schedule, noting that with the information in the Study, the City could potentially see a Minutes City Council Meeting 02/23/2009 -3- decrease in revenue. He explained that the difference in the revenue considers an estimated number of construction projects and building permits applied to an administrative fee to administer the County contract in comparison to the County multiplier on the cost of the permit cost, which is based on project valuation and varies based on the size and complexity of the project. City Manager Dahlerbruch reviewed a revenue comparison based on data collection by the previous Finance Director. He further compared those numbers to a full cost recovery scheme based on the data in the User Fee Study. He also pointed out that additional revenue may be gained in some of the other areas of fee collection if the City changed its method of determining fees. He stated in summary that Staff suggests eliminating the multiplier and move to a cost recovery method identified by Willdan. He noted that in the recommendation, there is no contemplation to change penalty fees and it is recommended that proposed recovery method incorporate a lower cost for copies. City Manager Dahlerbruch presented the pros and cons of making the proposed changes. A discussion F" ensued among the members of the City Council regarding whether the User Fee Analysis included and reflected all City costs, expressing concern that not all costs were included and about the methodology for preparing proposed fees. Questions were raised about the incorporation of overhead costs in the proposed fees. Ms. Wilson reported that the Study incorporated information provided to them by City staff. In response, the City Council directed staff to work with the City Council Finance/Budget Subcommittee to further analyze the Study and fee calculation methodology and calculation, and to prepare a proposal for City Council's review. FISCAL YEAR 2009/10 BUDGET PREPARATION CALENDAR City Manager Dahlerbruch reviewed the fiscal year 2009/10 budget preparation calendar. The members of the City Council directed staff to proceed with the calendar as presented. APPROPRIATION OF $10,000 FROM THE FY 08/09 BUDGET CONTINGENCY FOR LANDSCAPING MAINTENANCE AND CLEARANCE City Manager Dahlerbruch presented a staff report requesting an appropriation from the budget contingency for landscaping maintenance and clearance. He noted that there is additional landscaping maintenance necessary around City Hall specifically, irrigation heads to be replaced to be more water efficient, installation of a controller to measure precipitation, removal of dead trees at the back of the property and removal of a tree in danger of falling, that is beyond the funds originally budgeted for landscape maintenance. Councilmember Black moved that the City Council approve an appropriation of $10,000 from the fiscal year 2008/09 budget contingency for landscaping maintenance and clearance. Councilmember Lay seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. OPEN AGENDA - APPROXIMATELY 8:00 P.M. - PUBLIC COMMENT WELCOME NONE MATTERS FROM MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF A REPORT FROM THE PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE REGARDING AN APPOINTMENT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION Councilmember Lay presented a report from the Personnel Subcommittee proposing the appointment of Jeff Pieper to the Planning Commission. He reported that Roger Sommer reapplied and was interviewed along with the other individuals that applied. He explained that at the Council's direction, the appointment policy was changed so that all Commission and Committee members must reapply if they wish to continue upon the conclusion of their term. He stated that the intent of the change was to give opportunity to others in the Community to serve on Commissions/Committees and not to have a Commissioner become entrenched. He explained that the Subcommittee's recommendation to appoint Mr. Pieper to the Planning Commission is based on several factors and does not reflect in anyway an inability by Mr. Sommer to serve as a Commissioner. He stated that Mr. Pieper has lived in the City for six years and has been through the planning process as a builder, constructing his home. He stated that Mr. Pieper was critical of the process as he went through it but has since, through his participation in the Focus Group, Minutes City Council Meeting 02/23/2009 -4- expressed and understanding of the process and an interest in improving the process. He stated that Jeff Pieper has worked hard in the City in various aspects and has applied several times for an appointment to the Planning Commission. He informed the members of the City Council that this recommendation was also presented to the members of the Planning Commission at their meeting on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. He stated that that recommendation was understood by the Planning Commission. Councilmember Lay moved that the City Council approve the Personnel Subcommittee's recommendation to appoint Jeff Pieper to serve on the Planning Commission. Councilmember Pernell seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. It was further stated that Mr. Sommer should be invited to an upcoming City Council meeting at his earliest convenience to be recognized for his work on the Planning Commission. REGIONAL LAW COMMITTEE UPDATE (ORAL) Mayor Hill updated the members of the City Council on the items discussed at the Regional Law Committee meeting of February 12, 2009. City Manager Dahlerbruch added that it was also reported at the meeting that the Sheriff's Department is proposing a three percent cost increase. He stated that the three cites will meet with the Sheriff's Department to determine if there are any ways to reduce costs. Councilmember Lay asked if the crime rate has increased or decreased. City Manager Dahlerbruch responded that the overall crime rate in the area that the Lomita station serves is down. He added that the Lomita station will be hosting a "Gifts for Guns" exchange on April 18-19. Councilmember Pernell reported that he attended a joint meeting of the League of California Cities and the California Contract Cities Association in Pasadena on February 18, 2009. He stated that the meeting honored Judy Mitchell as President of the League of California Cities. Mayor Hill informed the Council that he received a request from California State University Dominguez to support a community event in the area. He stated that he would support the event but is unable to attend. Mayor Hill also informed the Council that he attended an informal meeting with some of the residents on Packsaddle regarding crime. Councilmember Pernell questioned a false call for service that was made to the Sheriff's Department from a non-resident concerning a resident. Lt. Alin explained that the call was legitimate and no action needed to be taken. City Manager Dahlerbruch stated he would look into further into the call. MATTERS FROM STAFF City Manager Dahlerbruch reported that he participated in a meeting with representatives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and resident, Marcia Gold regarding recent crime activity. He reported that a follow-up meeting will be scheduled to include the lead residents in the neighborhood watch program and that a community -wide meeting will be scheduled for the fall. City Manager Dahlerbruch reported that he had a meeting the Integrated Waste Management Board and the City is on their radar list. He reported that the City will need to continue working with Allied Waste to ensure that their reporting is correct, especially relating to construction and demolition waste. Councilmember Black questioned why the City does not get credit for green waste brought into the City and suggested that Senator Wright's office assist in addressing this matter. City Manager Dahlerbruch stated that he would contact the Senator's office and continue to work toward a resolution. City Manager Dahlerbruch reported that a proposed date of June 29, 2009 has been suggested for a joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission to discuss the recommendations of the Focus Group. Councilmember Lay suggested that the meeting be moved to a sooner date. City Manager Dahlerbruch stated that staff would coordinate with those involved to schedule the meeting. UPDATE ON 2010 UNITED STATES CENSUS (ORAL) City Manager Dahlerbruch reported to the members of the City Council the items presented during a recent meeting with representatives from the 2010 U.S. Census. He further reported that their intention is to conduct the 2010 U.S. Census via mail. Minutes City Council Meeting 02/23/2009 -5- CLOSED SESSION The City Council finds, based on advice from legal counsel, that discussion in open session will prejudice the position of the local agency in the litigation. Existing Litigation: G.C. 54956.9(a) Hui -Tse Sheen, Individual, Plaintiff, vs City of Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Community Association, et. al., Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. YC051963. G.C. 54956.9(a) 1'_ Jonas, et al. v. City of Rolling Hills, et al., Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. YC033955. G.C. 54956.9(a) Freeman v. City of Rolling Hills, et al., Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. YC054015. No closed session was held. ADJOURNMENT Hearing no further business before the City Council, Mayor Hill adjourned the meeting at 9:18 p.m. to the next regular meeting of the City Council scheduled to be held on Monday, March 9, 2009 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, Rolling Hills, California. Approved, 1 � � ill Mayor Minutes City Council Meeting 02/23/2009 Respectfully submitted, 4ait Heidi Luce Interim Deputy City Clerk Eel 1