MINUTES OF THE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL of the City of Hermosa Beach, California, held on Monday, February 26, 2001, at the hour of 7:35 P.M. at Ein Stein's Restaurant, 1301 Manhattan Avenue, Hermosa Beach.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS MEETING WAS A JOINT DISCUSSION MEETING BETWEEN THE HERMOSA BEACH CITY COUNCIL AND THE HERMOSA BEACH CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES

 

1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Dr. Robert Clark, Superintendent of Schools

 

2. ROLL CALL :

CITY COUNCIL

Present: Dunbabin, Oakes, Reviczky, Mayor Bowler
Absent: Edgerton (arrived at 7:45 P.M.)
Also present were: Stephen Burrell, City Manager
                                 Naoma Valdes, Deputy City Clerk

 

SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Present: Kelsey, McCurdy, President Weiss
Absent: Bichlmeier, Rubino-Holtzinger (arrived at 7:45 P.M.)
Also present were: Dr. Robert Clark, Superintendent of Schools
                                 Nora Roque, Executive Assistant
                                 Angela Jones, Business Manager

 

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Coming forward at this time to address the meeting were:

Jerry Compton - Valley Park Avenue, expressed neighborhood concerns regarding traffic and parking problems caused by events occurring on the school property; said that a proposed new gymnasium built close to Valley Park Avenue would exacerbate the problems; questioned if a new gymnasium was the best use of this space; and mentioned that the current school parking lot had 68 parking spaces while the number of school staff was 75; and,

Betty Evans - Valley Park Avenue, agreed with the concerns of Mr. Compton.

 

4. MEETING WITH BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGARDING JOINT USE VENTURES . Supplemental letter from Howard Longacre objecting to the meeting, received February 26, 2001. (Note: This meeting started before dinner and continued through and after dinner.)

General discussion ensued on various topics. The basic question from School Trustees was if the Council had any interest in planning jointly with them for community projects. The basic question from the Council was if the School Trustees had a prioritized needs assessment and growth projection that could form the basis of future planning discussions. Both bodies agreed that they would like to work together where possible.

It was explained that discussion by the School District Board of Trustees of the possibility of a new gymnasium was initiated at the request of parents for more available hours for sports and other programming. Parents said that their children often had league games scheduled later at night because there was not enough court area. It was felt that a gymnasium could also be used for assemblies, music programs, performing arts classes and other programs of that type, all of which now use the school's multi-purpose room. This would free the multi-purpose room for additional classroom use.

The School District Board of Trustees was currently in the process of gathering information on a number of facets of this type of project such as possible locations, size, costs, and funding sources.

Responses to questions included:

1. the current school enrollment is 1,001 with the possibility of a one-classroom drop next year and there is not a reliable growth projection at this time;
2. the School District was never able to finalize the purchase of the cable television site now owned by Adelphia, but that site would be a logical expansion area;
3. the mobile home park is the city's only low-to-moderate income housing and did not fulfill the numbers mandated by the state;
4. the state has the power to prevent the city from issuing building permits if low income housing were to be reduced or not matched to the satisfaction of the state;
5. currently there were no plans to reopen North School as the present use met a need within the community and provided $250,000 annually into the School District budget;
6. the School District is waiting for a report from the state to see if the Valley School site has enough open space to allow a gymnasium to be built there.

Action : It was the consensus of the joint bodies that the next meeting would be on Monday, May 21, 2001, at 7:00 P.M. with the place of the meeting to be announced after a meeting place could be determined. It was also the consensus of the joint bodies that City Manager Burrell and School Superintendent Clark would meet to discuss various sites for possible expansion of the Hermosa Valley School and assemble information regarding possible future action on the Library and the Community Center as well as a new school gymnasium.

 

5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Coming forward at this time to address the meeting was:

Jerry Compton - Valley Park Avenue, expressed appreciation to the City Council and the School District Board of Trustees for the open and informative discussions tonight; suggested that a temporary cover could be placed over the court at Clark Field for basketball use; and, mentioned the possibility that the School District consider selling the residential property at North School, the old classrooms on 25th Street that were not reinforced for earthquake safety, in order to pay for improvements at the Valley School.

 

6. ADJOURNMENT . The Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach adjourned on Monday, February 26, 2001, at the hour of 9:30 P.M. to the Regular Meeting of Tuesday, February 27, 2001, at the hour of 7:10 P.M.