4/28/1986MINUTES OF A
REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF ROLLING HILLS, CALIFORNIA
April 28, 1986
A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Rolling
Hills was called to order at the Administration Building, 2 Portu-
guese Bend Road, Rolling Hills, California by Mayor Heinsheimer at
7:30 p.m. Monday, April 28, 1986.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT:
ABSENT:
ALSO PRESENT:
Councilmembers Leeuwenburgh, Murdock, Pernell
Mayor Heinsheimer
Councilwoman Swanson (arrived at 7:40)
Terrence L. Belanger
Michael Jenkins
June Cunningham
Captain E. Omohundro
Diana Chapman
Jerry Faris
Anne La Jeunesse
Robert Brown
Kevin Peterson
Sam Peterson
Douglas Schwantes
Leah Jeffries
Ginger Blake
Mr. & Mrs. J. Brogdon
Mr. & Mrs. W. Cross
Dr. F. W. Hartwig
Mrs. J. Heinsheimer
Miss E. Heinsheimer
W. J. Hine. -
H. G. Murdock
Mr. & Mrs. G. Partridge
Mrs. E. Pedersen
Mrs. B. Pernell
Mrs. S. Reddy
OATH OF OFFICE - CITY CLERK
Mayor Heinsheimer said the first
administer the Oath of office designating
Clerk. The oath was administered to City
Heinsheimer.
M
City Manager
City Attorney
City Clerk
Sheriff's Lomita Station
South Bay Daily Breeze
Los Angeles Times
Peninsula News .
Southern Calif. Edison
General Telephone Co.
Consulting Engineer
Consulting Engineer
County Representative
Secretary
Residents
to
order of business is to
the City Manager as City
Manager Belanger by Mayor
COUNCILWOMAN SWANSON ARRIVED AT THE MEETING.
CITY COUNCIL INSTALLATION
The City Manager explained that Councilwomen Ginny Leeuwenburgh,
Jody Murdock and Gordana Swanson took out the necessary papers,
indicating their intention to run for office at the Municipal
Election on April 8, 1986, at which time their terms of office
would expire. All candidates submitted the required filing prior
to the closing date and no other candidates filed for office. On
February 14, 1986 the City Council met and appointed the incumbents
to office for a full term of four years, as provided by law, and
the election was cancelled. Mr. Belanger said the law further
requires that the incumbents be installed in office and the oath
of office be administered exactly as if they had been elected on
April 8. The Oath of Office was administered to Councilwomen
Leeuwenburgh, Murdock and Swanson by the City Clerk.
REORGANIZATION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Councilwoman Swanson moved that Councilman Pernell be elected
Mayor for a term of one year,and that the appointment be made by
acclamation of the Council. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman
Murdock and carried unanimously, and Mayor Pernell was seated. Mayor
Pernell moved that Councilwoman Swanson be elected Mayor pro tempore.
The motion was seconded by Councilman Heinsheimer and carried
unanimously.
April 28, 1986
PRESENTATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL
Mayor Pernell thanked former Mayor Heinsheimer on behalf
of the City Council for his dedication to the City and Community
during his term as Mayor, and he presented a framed City plaque,
engraved to express the Council's appreciation to former Mayor
Heinsheimer. The City Manager presented framed Certificates
of Election to the Councilwomen -elect. Mayor Pernell recessed
the meeting and invited residents and guests to join the Council
and staff at a brief reception.
MEETING RECONVENED
The meeting was reconvened at 8:05 p.m.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Items on the Consent Calendar were approved on a motion
made by Councilwoman Murdock, seconded by Councilwoman
Leeuwenburgh and carried unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of a meeting on April 14, 1986 were approved
and accepted as presented.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
The Financial Statement for March 1986 was approved and
accepted as presented.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Demands No. 1315 through 1335 in the amount of $15,097.66
were approved for payment from the General Fund and Demand No.
1334 in the amount of $1,524.08 was approved for payment from
the Fire and Flood Self Insurance Fund.
ROBERTI-Z'BERG GRANT REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM 1065
In a letter dated April 16, 1986, the City of Rolling Hills
Estates asked that the City of Rolling Hills again consider
allocating their Roberti-Z'Berg-Harris Urban Open Space and
Recreation Program Grant to the City of Rolling Hills Estates,
since they cannot be utilized in the City of Rolling Hills and
have traditionally been allocated to Rolling Hills Estates
for development of 'park and recreation areas in Rolling Hills
Estates that are mutually beneficial to both cities.
The Community Services Director, Sam Wise, said the City
Council has identified the Carriage Trail Project as the highest
priority capital project in Rolling Hills Estates, and has
directed that all available funds be pooled, including the current
fiscal Roberti-Z'Berg-Harris grant allocation. Further, the
Rolling Hills Estates City Council has directed staff to defer
Chandler Park improvements, which were scheduled to begin in
May of 1986, and to use funds previously allocated to that project
for the construction of Carriage Trail, and to request the City
of Rolling Hills to do the same. Mr. Wise advised that last
year the City of Rolling Hills contributed their allocation
of $1,019 for Chandler Park improvements, and he asked that
the City Council authorize re -allocation of those funds to
construction of Carriage Trail,, and execute a Joint Powers
Agreement, an Application for" Local Assistance Grant and a
Resolution approving application for grant funds under the
Roberti-Z'Berg Urban Open Space and Recreation Program for
Carriage Trail in the City of Rolling Hills Estates for the
current allocation of $1,002.
-2-
I
0�
April 28, 1986
Councilwoman Swanson moved that the request be approved,
that $1,019 allocated by the City of Rolling Hills to the City
of Rolling Hills Estates for Chandler Park improvements be re-
allocated to the Carriage Trail Project, that the current fiscal
year grant of $1,002 be allocated by the City of Rolling Hills
for use in construction of Carriage Trail, that the Application
for Local Assistance Grant and the Joint Exercise of Power
Agreement be executed, and that Resolution No. 547 entitled
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS
APPROVING THE APPLICATION FOR GRANT FUNDS UNDER THE ROBERTI-ZIBERG
URBAN OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION PROGRAM FOR CARRIAGE TRAIL IN
THE CITY OF ROLLING HILLS ESTATES be adopted, and that reading
in full be waived. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman
Murdock and carried unanimously.
STATUS OF MUNICIPAL LIABILITY INSURANCE. 1091
The City Manager reported that the City's application for
membership in the Coachella Valley Joint Powers Insurance
Authority was approved by their Board on April 22, 1986, and
(D the approval must be reviewed by the Coachella Valley Association
Lo of Governments when they meet on April 29. If approved by the
Association of Governments, as expected, the Council will be
notified, and the forms and premium information will be provided
LL
co early in May. The matter was held on the agenda.
< STATUS OF FLYING TRIANGLE 1103
The Manager reported that the plan submitted to the City
in February by Dr. Fritz Hartwig for buttressing the upper eastern
area of the Flying Triangle landslide was distributed to Los
Angeles County for review by various departments, and was also
given to a private engineer and geologist, with a request that
the plan be reviewed and evaluated. Mr. Belanger said the
evaluation has been completed by the private engineer, who is
present to address the Council; he said the County has advised
that their review has not been completed, and it is anticipated
that their report will be forwarded to the city later in the
week. The Manager said he asked the consulting engineer and
geologist to review the plan and make their comments as if they
were submitted by an applicant for a project, using the same
criteria and asking the same questions they would ask an applicant
or developer for this kind of a project, explaining that these
are the questions the City should have answered when considering
the proposal. -Mayor Pernell said the proposal presented to
the Council by Dr. Hartwig had three elements: technical, legal
and financial, and he said it is his understanding that the
geotechnical aspect will be addressed by the consultants contacted
by the City Manager. Mr. Belanger said the financial aspects
will be touched on as part of the geotechnical presentation,
which will address the probability of accomplishing the project
given the budget that has been discussed. Mayor Pernell asked
the City Attorney whether the presentation by the private
consultants could be heard, since the County's report has not
been presented. Mr. Jenkins said there is no requirement that
both reports be received before considering either one; he
recommended that following the presentation by the consulting
engineer and geologist, the matter be held on the agenda pending
receipt of the report from the County. Mayor Pernell welcomed
. Mr. Sam Peterson and Mr. Douglas Schwantes, consulting
geotechnical engineers, and invited them to make their
presentation.
Mr. Peterson advised the Council that three reports were
reviewed: two prepared by the County in 1981 and Dr. Hartwig's
proposal. A field investigation was conducted, Mr. Peterson
said he toured the area twice and prepared a preliminary report,
and it was determined that there is not sufficient information
to make a recommendation without further investigation, since
the slide is much larger than the slide as it was studied by
the County.
-3-
,; 0
April 28, 1986
Mr. Schwantes showed the outlines of the area studied by
Los Angeles County on a geological map of the area marked to
define the area of the slide in 1981. An older slide, which
was mapped in 1946, was also defined. Mr. Schwantes showed the
area of the slide as it is at present, and also defined the
direction of movement, indicated on the map by arrows. Mr.
Schwantes and Mr. Peterson advised the Council that the slide
at present is approximately ten times the size of the slide defined
in 1981. As mapped by the U.S.G.S. the slide is presently within
the City of Rolling Hills; however, Mr. Schwantes said cracks
in the area of Flat Top are close to the City's southerly limits.
Mr. Peterson said it is necessary , when planning to build
buttresses and fill canyons, to determine whether anything will
be blocked, either free water seeping from cesspools and runoff,
which could create hydrostatic pressure, and cause additional
problems. Also, he said that some of the houses which do not
show signs of stress might be moving without breaking up. In
order to fill the canyon or build a buttress it would be necessary
to clean out the canyons and install sub -drains for drainage
at the bottom and build storm drains to control erosion, and
additional soils and geology investigations would be required
in order to design something that would work. Mr. Peterson
said that dumping dirt into the canyon without compaction and
proper placement might result in moving the fill along with
everything else. Mr. Peterson said it is not possible for him
to say at this time whether the project could be done without
additional drillings, explaining that in his opinion the borings
made by the County have not reached the true bottom of the slide.
He said there may be superficial slides near the surface, but
in his opinion there is a large slide deep in the earth that
is causing the movement, and it would be necessary to determine
whether that is so. He said he has talked to several contractors,
and it is estimated that to fill the canyon with approximately
115M cubic yards of dirt calculated to be needed to fill the
two canyons, to clear the bottoms of the canyons, install sub -
drains and build storm drains would cost approximately $1,500,000
and Mr. Peterson said good roads would be necessary to accommodate
the trucks. As an alternative, dirt from the upper end could
be carried by conveyor, moving the dirt from the head scarp into
the canyon, but he said a large dirt moving operation is very
expensive, and it would be necessary to get equipment down into
the canyon to prepare it for the operation. Mr. Peterson said
that as he and Mr. Schwantes got into the report they found that
they were asking more questions, rather than answering the
questions presented by the City. Mr. Schwantes said the concept
of using earth buttressing to stabilize landslides is widely
acknowledged as a good practice if properly applied, but in this
particular case there is not sufficient information about the
foundation for the buttress; also he said the impact of such
a buttress on the surrounding area is not known, since buttressing
of a small local area could be beneficial to the surrounding
area, could have no effect, or could make the entire situation
worse. He agreed with Mr. Peterson that additional study is
necessary before proceeding with the proposal.
Mr. James Brogdon, 5 Maverick Lane, asked Mr. Schwantes
whether the movement in the Flying Triangle encroaches toward
Crest Road, or whether it continues to move downhill. Mr.
Schwantes said there is no evidence of significant movement uphill;
he defined the area mapped by the U.S.G.S. in 1946 as the ancient
slide, and said the boundaries appear to be coincident with the
current slide. He said that as far as he knows, no attempt has
been made to determine whether it will move north, and he said
that is something that should be looked at before any plan for
moving dirt from the head of the slope into the canyon is
considered.
-4-
9M
April 28, 1986
Mr. Peter Lewine, 74 Portuguese Bend Road, noted that Dr.
Hartwig's proposal talked about a commercial venture, and he asked
whether the engineers considered it on that basis. Mr. Peterson
said that to bring in the dirt commercially, even if there was
a contractor who had 100,000 yards of dirt to dispose of close
by, it would be necessary to prepare the canyons, cut into the
sides to provide a foundation, and install sub -drains. He said
dirt haulers use double bottom dump trucks that would require a
good two-way traffic road. Further, he said smaller equipment
would take too long, and it would be necessary to have equipment
down in the canyon to get the dirt to the bottom to be compacted.
It was Mr. Peterson's opinion that it would not , be attrative as
a commercial venture, explaining that contractor would find it
less expensive to dump dirt at the landfill. Mr. Peterson said
the idea would be feasible in a smaller area, where a landslide
is not a consideration; he said the canyons are very deep, and
vibrations resulting from the equipment could be hazardous to anyone
down in the canyon as part of the operation. Mr. Peterson said
it is doubtful anyone would insure the project.
Mr. William Cross, 63 Portuguese Bend Road, asked Mr. Peterson
LO whether, in his review of the proposal, he had developed a proposal
M for stabilizing the landslide, or whether he would make any
Li- recommendation for stabilization. Mr. Schwantes said recommendations
Co previously made by the County were reviewed, including buttressing,
shear pins, caissons, de -watering, all of which were made relative
to a limited area smaller in scope than the existing slide. Several
things would have to be evaluated, and he said additional information
about where and how the current landslide is moving would be
required, since there is little information about the larger slide.
The larger question, Mr. Schwantes said, is whether the slide is
related to the Portuguese Bend landslide, and additional study
would be needed in order to determine whether there is a
relationship.
Councilwoman Leeuwenburgh said she is concerned about the
information provided to Mr. Peterson and Mr. Schwantes, stating
that there is more current information available from the County
than the 1981 report which was given to them. The Manager said
the material which was provided was pertinent to the plan proposed
by Dr. Hartwig, and he said additional information would be provided
the engineers before the next Council meeting.
Mr. Brogdon asked what the City's admitted liability for the
slide is, and what liability by the City is charged by the. victims.
The City Attorney explained that the City admits no liability,
and that drainage is alleged by the plaintiffs in their suit against
the City, Association and County. Mr. Jenkins said the matter
is in the courts and is on the way to trial.
Mayor Pernell ordered the matter held on the agenda for
additional discussion at the next meeting.'
MATTERS FROM MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CANDIDACY FOR POSITION ON RTD BOARD - COUNCILWOMAN SWANSON
Councilwoman Swanson announced that she is running for
.re-election to the Board of Directors of the Rapid Transit District,
and she asked for the support of the City Council. Councilwoman
Leeuwenburgh moved that the City Council go on record in support
of Councilwoman Swanson's candidacy, and send letters to cities
in Corridor "B" requesting that their representative to the City
Selection Committee vote to re-elect Mayor Pro Tem Swanson to the
Board of the RTD. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Murdock
and carried unanimously.
April 28, 1986
COMMENDATION TO SHERIFF'S LOMITA STATION PERSONNEL,
Councilwoman Murdock related an incident that occurred in
a city other than Rolling Hills, but was handled by personnel from
the Sheriff's Lomita station. She asked that Captain Omohundro
express her appreciation of the sensitivity and concern shown by
sheriffs from the Lomita station in a situation that concerned
a lost child late at night.
RECESS TO LITIGATION SESSION
Mayor Pernell recessed the meeting to a closed session at
8:40 p.m. to discuss pending litigation.
MEETING RECONVENED I
The meeting was reconvened at 9:50 p.m. and was adjourned
to Monday, May 12, 1986.
APPROVED:
Mayor
Clerk