MINUTES OF THE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL of the City of Hermosa Beach, California, held on Thursday, May 15, 1997, at the hour of 7:15 P.M.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Eleanor Lynn, resident

ROLL CALL :

Present: Bowler, Oakes, Mayor Reviczky

Absent: Benz, Edgerton (Councilmember Edgerton arrived at 7:20 P.M.)

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE : Stephen R. Burrell, City Manager and Naoma Valdes, Deputy City Clerk

1. REVIEW OF 1997-98 PROJECTS AND WORK PLAN.

City Manager Burrell gave an overview of the progress made on the goals for 1996-97 and said that the following is a listing of the major projects that the City will be undertaking during the coming year.

Mr. Burrell said that currently there were large projects underway, citing the Downtown Renovation, Clark Building seismic retrofit and $700,000 in Sewer Renovation as examples, and that staff could not handle more than four or five such projects in a year so some items would have to wait to begin until others were finished.

City Manager Burrell said that the purpose of this list is to help keep track of where we are going and to maintain some focus so that we can complete the longer term projects.

Mr. Burrell continued by saying that each of the projects listed below is funded and has City Council approval to move to the next stage of development; that the projects are listed in the order that they will be processed; and, asked the Council to review the projects and make sure that they are consistent with Council direction:

PROJECTS UNDERWAY (MAJOR)

• Pier Renovation
• Parking Structure
• Greenbelt Renovation
• City Hall Renovation
• Valley Park Renovation

Noting the imminent improvement plans for two of the City's largest Parks, City Manager Burrell suggested that a joint meeting of the City Council with the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission be scheduled within the next few weeks in order to discuss long range planning and priorities. Mr. Burrell said it was important that a long range funding plan be established for park and facility maintenance as current improvements were being funded by the excess from the four percent UUT, which was no longer being collected.

Action: To direct staff to schedule a joint meeting with the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission and to include an estimate of the funding needed for an on-going maintenance program.

Motion Bowler, second Oakes. The motion carried by a unanimous vote , noting the absence of Benz.

• Underground Assessment Districts
• Traffic Signals at 13th and 14th Streets and Hermosa Avenue

This would include new lighting standards and eliminate the lead wiring in these signals.

• Street work - Hermosa Avenue from Pier Ave. to 16th Street

This would also include sewer and repaving along Hermosa Avenue.

• Street Rehab - Residential

Council questioned which streets would receive work. City Manager Burrell said that with 64 miles of streets, all needing some repair, this year's work would probably not be on the worst streets as the street budget could only manage slurry seal and therefore the attempt was to try to prolong the life of streets that did not need major repair.

• Sewer Rehab Project

Council questioned if wiring underground could be combined with sewer projects if the residents on the streets wished to form a district for this purpose. City Manager Burrell responded that it was the City's intent to try to encourage this however the cost was roughly $500 per running foot and there was a two-year lead-in to create an underground district.

• Strand Repair - 25th Street to 35th Street
• Upper Pier Avenue Design

WORK PLANS, STUDIES, ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS

• Parking Management Plan (under way)
• Long-term Financial Plan
• Facilities Maintenance Plan

City Manager Burrell said this needed to be set-up in order to have a long term plan for all maintenance, saying that on-going maintenance was less costly than major repairs, citing the cost of water damage from leaking roofs.

• Internet Program
• WAVE Program - Shuttle Program
• Community Center Renovation

City Manager Burrell said that most of the work was on the infrastructure, citing electrical problems and ADA access issues.

• Department Work Flow Reports
• Public Works Field Service
• Community Resources Work Flow/Financial Audit
• Community Development Work Flow/Financial Audit
• City Clerk / Personnel / City Manager

City Manager Burrell said that he was planning to review operations with the employees and an outside source (possibly a retired employee from another city) on a department by department basis to determine work efficiency. Mr. Burrell also noted that there would be a financial audit for both Community Resources and Community Development as both departments received cash payment fees.

• Newspaper Rack Ordinance

City Manager Burrell said that this item would come back as there had been new Court decisions made which increased the ability of cities to control newsracks.

• AB939 Commercial Implementation of Recycling

City Manager Burrell said that the City currently recycled approximately 30 percent of its refuse, but by 2000 the state mandated a 50 percent reduction. Mr. Burrell continued saying that the City would start recycling commercial paper next year and to look at increased fees by BFI for recycling.

Action: To include the goal of adding "green waste" to the recycling effort.

Motion Mayor Reviczky, second Edgerton. The motion carried by a unanimous vote, noting the absence of Benz.

Action: Mayor Reviczky directed, with the consensus of the Council, that staff place the site listing for "Hazardous Waste" special pick-ups on the City's website.

• Administrative Procedures Ordinance

City Manager Burrell said that a new state law allowed the City to levy fines (similar to parking tickets) rather than infraction or misdemeanor citations which often require court time to enforce, for violations such as animal complaints, trash can violations, sign violations or zoning non-compliance.

• Banner / Sign Ordinance

It was remarked that Councilmember Benz had agreed to be the one-person sub-committee to work on simplifying the sign ordinance and a progress report was needed.

• Vacation of Walk Streets
• Review Business License Ordinance
• Pier Avenue Gateway

Council expressed the desire to see more attractive signage for all of the City's entryways, better directional signage and better signage for parking.

LONGER TERM / ONGOING

• Pacific Coast Highway / Aviation Economic Program

Council inquired if anything could be done, such as condemnation, to the property south of Vasek Polak's Porsche dealership that had been abandoned. Council also asked that a process such as R/UDAT, with an outside facilitator and a great deal of public input be started for the Pacific Coast Highway/Aviation commercial corridor.

• Citywide Residential Street Program
• Edison Underground Projects

Action: Mayor Reviczky directed that the City Manager get an update from Edison regarding the status of the undergrounding program.

• NPDES (NRDC)

Action: To direct staff to return to Council with a program requiring grease interceptors and traps for restaurants, on a shared basis where possible.

• Motion Oakes, second Mayor Reviczky. The motion carried by a unanimous vote, noting the absence of Benz.

• Oil Project / City Yard Relocation

City Manager Burrell said that the Coastal Commission would hear Mr. Macpherson's project in August with the completed application coming back in a few weeks. He said that the item would not come back before the Council as it was ministerial only. Mr. Burrell asked that Council give general direction to staff to be alert for another location for the City Yard.

2. 1997-98 PLANNING GOALS AND DIRECTION.

a) Councilmember addition to goals for 1997-98.

Councilmember Bowler said that he would like:

1. to stress the need for a strong emphasis on keeping the newly renovated downtown area clean and safe with a Police presence for lower Pier Avenue;
2. the possibility of street musicians in the downtown area and the need for a selection process and licensing if needed, also the delineation of a performance area in Noble Park, at the beach or at the Pierhead;
3. the encouragement of public art in public open spaces; give direction to staff to include more public art or public art spaces;
4. an update on the legal issues regarding a separate bike path on the sand;
5. a study of the Valley/Ardmore intersections and traffic studies to deter thru-traffic from using residential streets; and,
6. possibly adding the position of a paid webmaster to provide an increase in information for the City website that would allow a unified internal format with e-mail available directly to departments and the ability of the public to pay fines, apply for permits or respond to opinion polls.

Councilmember Edgerton said that many of his goals had been accomplished or were in the process of being completed but questioned when the signs would be changed delineating the changes in parking hours. City Manager Burrell said that the change of hours had to be approved by the Coastal Commission and that probably would take place in July of this year. Mr. Edgerton continued that he would like to see a weekly music program on the beach, not a rock concert but a low-key "Sunset Series on the Sand" during the summer months. Mr. Burrell responded that this would be appropriate to bring up at the joint meeting with the Parks, Recreation and Community Resources Advisory Commission.

Councilmember Oakes said that she would like to see both a short term and a long term program to slow bicycle traffic on the Strand; City requirements for grease interceptors for restaurants and automotive shops as most cities have, and a resumption of the City Commissions and Council versus the City staff summer softball challenge.

Mayor Reviczky spoke of staff accomplishments in 1996, saying that 80 to 90 percent of the goals were coming to fruition. Mr. Reviczky complimented staff by saying that he was very proud of the hard work done by City staff to produce these results and saying, "They made us look good."

3. CITIZEN COMMENTS:

Coming forward to address the Council at this time were:

Eleanor Lynn - Hermosa Beach, said that one of the best ideas to come before the Council was to try to get people to clean out their garages so that more cars could be parked off the streets; said that the streets definitely needed repair and that she would settle for slurry seal; and, expressed concern regarding the preliminary design submitted by the consultant for the Greenbelt and questioned when this item would come back; and,

Luis Chuey - (no address given), asked for the City's web address.

ANNOUNCEMENT IN OPEN SESSION OF ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED IN CLOSED SESSION AS FOLLOWS:

a) CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORGovernment Code Section 54957.6

City Negotiator: Stephen Burrell

Employee Organizations: As Follows:

1. Hermosa Beach Police Officers Association
2. Hermosa Beach Firefighters' Association
3. Teamsters Union, Local 911
4. Professional and Administrative Employee Group
5. Hermosa Beach Management Association

ADJOURNMENT - The Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach adjourned on Thursday, May 15, 1997 at the hour of 9:04 P.M. to the closed session. At the hour of 9:53 P.M. the closed session reconvened to the Adjourned Regular Meeting.

ORAL ANNOUNCEMENTS - There were no decisions made requiring a public announcement.

ADJOURNMENT - The Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach adjourned on Thursday, May 15, 1997 at the hour of 9:53 P.M. to the Regular Meeting of Tuesday, May 27, 1997 at the hour of 7:10 P.M.