10/31/1974 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF ROLLING HILLS
Thursday, October 31, T974
A special meeting of the City Council of the City of Rolling Hills
was called to order by Mayor pro tempore Heinsheimer at 7 : 00 A.M. Thurs-
day, October 31, 1974.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Councilmen Crocker, Le Conte, Rose
' Mayor pro tempore Heinsheimer
ABSENT: Mayor Battaglia
ALSO PRESENT: Teena Clifton City Manager
�une Cunningham . Secretary
� William Corette ' � Res'idents
Juanita C.rane '. . " "
. , Robert F'ortney. . �, � � . � " _ .
Carol Hanscom, � ' " •
f . William Hines� ' , �� � , ,.
; Beverly� Menze , � . . _ i�. .
:�. ., , . Joseph 011a : , " , .
� Joan Saffo � "
Richard Scheide "
��URCAASE .OF PROPERTY ON POPPY TRAIL 006
Mayor pro tempore Heinsheimer stated that the purpose of the
special meeting of the City Council was to reconsider purchase of
property on Poppy Trail from Mr. Robert Dunn. He read into the
record a letter dated October 28th from Mayor Philip Battaglia,
directing that the special meeting lie held.
A letter dated' October 29th from Caballeros was presented, ad-
vising the Council that at the regular meeting of the Board of Direc-
tors of Caballeros on October 21, 1974 the Board unanimously adopted� a
motion requesting that the Board explore with the City Council the
possibility of developing an equestrian ring on a site recently given
to the City by Mr. Walter Storm, and that the City explore the possi- _
bility of not gurchasing property on Poppy Trail from Mr . Robert Dunn,
and if it has already been purchased, that the Council explore the
possibility of cancelling the contract of purchase . A letter dated
October 29th from William Kinley, City Attorney, was read into the
record. Mr. Kinley advised that he had carefully reviewed all cor- .
respondence to Mr. Dunn, which includes the letter agreement dated
September 20, 1974, and as a result of examination of the various
documents , Mr. Kinley stated that it was his opinion that the City of
Rolling Hills has entered into a legal and binding contract with Mr.
Dunn for the purchase of Lot 1 of Tract 32071, and should continue to ,
carry out and perform the terms thereof .
Mayor pro tempore Heinsheimer asked members of Caballeros present
to speak on the matter. Mr. Joseph 011a, 41 Crest Road West, advised
the Council the._comznuriity needs two rings in one area, one for Wes-
tern and one for English riding, and it was the intent of the Cabal-
leros Board to request a study to determine whether it would be pos-
sible to develop two rings on the Storm property. If it is not feas-
ible to do so, the present situation would not be improved by addition
of a satellite ring, Mr . 011a said.
Councilman Crocker explained that the Council has not considered
which site would be improved first . He said it is the intention of
the Council to proceed by. an orderly process to accomplish the goals
of the long range plan for development of additional equestrian facil-
ities , and would be necessary to hold public hearings before proceeding
with any development.
Oetober 31, 1974 ,
Mr. Richard Seheide, 29 Chuekwagon. Road, said he is of the opinion
that in making the reeommendation, Caballeros board did not have the
full facts . Mr. Scheide said he was not aware of a long-range plan for
develvpment of additional facilities , and if he had known of one, he
would. not have voted in favor of the motion as made . Mayor pro tem
Heinsheimer asked how many board members had voted, and Mr. Scheide
said there are eleven members of the Board; ten were present at the
eeting and the motion was passed on a. unanimous vote of those present . :
Mrs . Juanita Crane, 10 Caballeros Road, saiu the proposal for �
development of an additional ring was presented as an "either/or�
proposal, and she said that based on additional information, she wished
to have her vote reversed. Mayor Heinsheimer explained that the ques-
tion before the Council is not which ring to develop first, but whether
to proceed with purchase of property from Mr. Dunn for an additional
ring . Further, he said it was necessary to reach a decision, since
terms of the contract require that the ,sale of the property be final-
°ized by close of business on October 31, 1974, and if a motion to the
contrary is not made, the sale of the property would proceed according
to the agreement between Mx°. Dunn and the City Council.
Mr. William Corette, Chairman of the Equestrian Committee, stated
that plans for another ring in the area of the Gap originated in 1954,
and the long-range plan for both the City and equestrian community
includes a total of four rings ; two at the Gap, one at the westerly
portion of the City and one at the southerly area of the City or the
Flying Triangle area . Mr. C�orette asked that after reading all re-
ports that have been presented to the City Council, Community Associ-
ation and the Planriing Commission, and after considering the long-
term benefits to- the City of Rolling Hi11s , the Council not reverse
the decision to buy the Dunn property.
Councilman Rose stated that af.ter purchase an additional $5,000
would be required for engineering, and said in his opinion the past
study recomminding acquisition of the site from Mr. Dunn is irrele-
vant in� .view of the gift of land to the City by Mr. Storm. Further, '
he said ��there ar-e problems , especially pertaining to drainage, on
Poppy Trail, and he said he wished to recommend that the City Council
save the .$20,OOO .committed to the purchase and use it for immediate
development of a ring on the Storm property. Councilwoman Le Conte
said she ..didn' t �consider the funds available for development of
another ring, . since . they probably would be used� for legaI fees result-
ing from breach. of �the contract with Mr. Dunn.
Following. discussion Councilman Rose moved that the Council
negotiate� with Mr. Robert Dunn for an extension of time to explore a
mutual cancellation of the contract to purchase the property. The
motion died for lack� of a second..
ADJOURNMEN'� 2 6 5
Mayor pro tempore Heinsheimer adjourned the meeting at 8 : 00 A.M. �
� City C er
APPROVED: ' •
Mayor
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