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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003/09/10 - Minutes - Spec Jt w/Rte 30 September 10, 2003 CiTY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA CITY COUNCIL/ROUTE 30 AD HOC TASK FORCE MINUTES Special Joint Meetinq A special meeting of the Rancho Cucamonga City Councit and the Route 30 Ad Hoc Task Force was held on Wednesday, September 10, 2003, at the Lions Community Center West, located at 9161 Base Line Road, Rancho Cucamonga, California. Mayor William J. Alexander called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. Present were Councilmembers: Rex Gutierrez, Robert J. Howdyshell, Donald J. Kurth, M.D., Diane Williams and Mayor William J. Alexander. Present were Task Fome Members: Mayor William J. Alexander, Mayor Pro Tern Diane Williams, Planning Commission Chair Larry McNiel (left the meeting at 6:43 p.m. to attend the Planning Commission meeting), Jane Bradshaw, Chuck Buquet (left the meeting at 8:35 p.m.), Klm Aylor, Doris Beckner, Bob Coberly, Les Davies, Peter Liu (arrived at 6:13 p.m.), and Karen Schmauss. Also present were: Pamela Easter, Deputy City Manager; Joe O'Neil, City Engineer; Jon Gillespie, Traffic Engineer; Mike Olivier, Sr. Civil Engineer; Ken Fung, Assistant Engineer; and Debra J. Adams, City Clerk. Absent were: Task Force Members: Sergio Martinez, and John O'Neil B. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC B1. Alice-Faye Brown submitted a letter (which is on file in the City Clerk's office) expressing her concerns about the freeway. B2. Steve Rentoria Kenyon Way, talked about the traffic on the off-ramps and felt the problem could be the timing of the signals. He stated he would like to see the area of 19th, Farmont and Highland stay closed permanently. B3. Greg Schmauss stated he has no sound wall at all. He stated they requested a sound wall study at their home and it was not done. He stated his area is very noisy. B4. John Lyons, Etiwanda, stated tomorrow is the tribute to 9-11 and talked about the event at the Filippi Winery to commemorate this. He talked about the auxiliary lane from Haven to Milliken and felt it worked very well. He added he has petitions for the Rancho Recall with him tonight for people to sign. B5. Karen Bridgeford talked about the sound study done at her house and did not feel the study was done at a time of day when there was a lot of traffic on the freeway. Be. Bob (??) talked about the weeds near Highland between Beryl and Hellman, and asked who should clean them up. B7. Sandra Walker did not feel the walls built in her neighborhood were very safe. City Council/Route 30 Ad Hoc Task Force Minutes September 10, 2003 Page 2 1[ C. ITEM(S) FOR DISCUSSION I C1. The minutes of November 12, 2002 and February 11, 2003 were approved by the Route 30 Ad Hoc Task Force. 02. Discussion of Results of the Caltrans and City Sound Studies, with Suggested Mitigations. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, stated staff has asked Caltrans to look at some of the problem areas regarding sound. He pointed out there is criteria to mitigate some of the sound issues. He stated Urban Crossroads was hired by the City to do an independent sound study. He felt the readings were fairly close to that of the models. Bill Lawson, Urban Crossroads, gave a power point presentation, which is on file in the City Clerk's office. Tony Louka, Caltrans, also gave a power point presentation, which is on file in the City Clerk's office. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, stated there were seven areas surveyed, and that five of them will get some mitigation. He stated those that do get the mitigation will be people that live on top of the freeway and their noise level does not exceed the acceptable criteria for noise. Councilmember Gutierrez wanted to thank those present tonight. He stated the Council wants to help the situation. He stated his concern is the area between Milliken and Rochester near Highland. He felt if the levels are close to the 67 that something should be done to mitigate the problem. He realizes landscaping can help and felt it should be done sooner rather than later. He asked if a wall is built for this area, what would the liability be and if there was insurance that can be taken out by the City to cover that liability. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, stated this area does not exceed the City or Caltrans' standards. He stated Caltrans stated if the City wants to build a wall, the City would have to pay for it and assume the maintenance and liability for it. He stated he wasn't sure if insurance could be obtained for any catastrophes that might occur. He stated this would cost approximately $1,000,000 to build. Councilmember Gutierrez stated the fence along this section is not safe and felt the wall is not high enough. Councilmember Howdyshell stated he would like to know why houses are built along the freeway with no mitigation and would like this discussed at a future meeting. Councilmember Williams felt the wall on the freeway should be looked at. She felt something should be done to bring the noise level down so that it is at an acceptable level. Mayor Alexander stated the City is going to have to accept some of these things. He stated they cannot make exceptions for part of the City and not take a look at all of the areas where there could possibly be problems. He felt we are all going to have to live with some noise. He felt double and triple pane windows will help. He felt the City will be providing some mitigation. He did not think building a wall where there could be potential litigation is the right thing to do. He felt this was wrong. Task Force Member Coberly asked how the increase in traffic over the years will impact the noise in the future. Bill Lawson, Urban Crossroads, stated he has figured this into his calculations. City Council/Route 30 Ad Hoc Task Force Minutes September 10, 2003 Page 3 Task Force Member Coberly questioned how the noise differs from driving on asphalt or cement. He felt asphalt is more quiet, but more expensive. He felt the asphalt would solve a lot of problems. Tony Louka, Caltrans, stated it would cost $140,000,000 over four years to do this. Task Force Member Buquet felt possibly a wall with landscaping stilt might not help the noise problem. He felt the City should pursue checking into the liability issue with respect to the wall between Milliken and Rochester. Task Force Member Liu asked several questions about the study and stated he did not feel the results were convincing. Councilmember Kurth stated he appreciate the study and thanked Caltrans for being here. He stated he did not think it was fair to have a cut-off for the noise level and that if you don't meet it nothing is done for you. He stated these people live in these homes and Caltrans should tryto do something to help them. Mayor Alexander opened the meeting for public comments. Addressing the Council and Task Force were: Julio Castillo asked if the wall on Archibald north of the freeway could be higher than six feet high. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, stated no because it does not meet the sound level to make it any higher, and added it didn't meet the sound requirement for a wall at all. Mr. Castillo felt the City missed the boat and should not have signed off on the freeway. He asked for the timing of the six-foot wall to be built. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, stated since the property is in the City's name, they will start the wall, but added it is a very laborious process to do this. Joel Harris, Cambridge, asked what the standard is for the noise level - 65 or 67. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, stated they are using 67. Mr. Harris asked questions about the study and stated he did not understand why his area can only have a six-foot wall. David Birchfield stated he did not agree with the report. He felt something should be done that is effective to help the noise and fett all the concrete is not helping. He stated when the study was done in his neighborhood, there was reduced noise because there was an accident on the freeway. Tony Louka, Caltrans, stated they redid the measurement for his area and used the second reading in the study. Alice-Faye Brown felt everyone should raise funds to pay for the walls. She asked for the elected officials to help the residents. She hoped that rebates are offered so people can replace their windows and landscaping. She asked for the City to help them upgrade their homes. Steve Rentoria, Kenyon Way, stated he does hear the freeway in his neighborhood even with the air conditioning going. He stated the 67 number should not matter if it affects someone's quality of life at their home. He did not feel this was a comprehensive study. A male (did not get name), Wingate Drive, felt the standards were not acceptable and that if it cannot be built so there are no problems, it should not have been built at all. City Council/Route 30 Ad Hoc Task Force Minutes September 10, 2003 Page 4 Jerry Haywood, Murdock, asked once they are notified, how long will it take to build a wall. Tony Louka, Caltrans, stated possibly between one and three years. Leslie Grimes asked how the criteria were set for the study. Bill Lawson, Urban Crossroads, stated the City set the criteria. Ms. Grimes felt the City failed the residents. She asked what the timeframe was to get the freeway landscaped. Tony Louka, Caltrans, stated about one year. Ms. Grimes felt everyone needs to get involved with their legislators on how criteria is set for these types of things. Greg Powers, located on the west side of town, felt asphalt would really help the noise. A male (did not get name) felt there was the same situation on Fisher Drive. He hoped there could be some fast growing trees planted. Paul Johnson stated there is asphalt in Montclair on the 10 Freeway and wondered why there couldn't be asphalt on the 210 Freeway. Tony Louka stated the 10 Freeway needed resurfacing and this is why they put down asphalt. Mr. Johnson asked why Citation and Fieldstone Homes were able to walk away and not build the wall necessary. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, stated they did build a perimeter wall, but they were not responsible for building a freeway wall. Sharon Paylow, Highland area, asked if they could get a garden wall instead of a chain link fence. She felt there was confusion with the numbers. Mayor Alexander felt the City has an obligation to look at all of the City to see what else can be done. Dorothy Scholler, Malathon Street, stated the noise does not really bother her that much. She stated she does not want an ugly 16-foot wall blocking her view. She stated she was impressed with the presentation tonight and the work of the Task Force. She felt the residents won by getting the freeway built below grade. Bill Winslow, Benito, talked about someone coming off the freeway into his backyard if there is no wall built to protect his yard. John Lyons, Etiwanda, felt the developers have millions of dollars and should be asked to help pay for some of these mitigations. He felt the developers should be accountable. Task Force Member Liu felt if there's a 67.8 reading, there should be another study done at a location. Mayor Alexander stated it can be taken into consideration and if an area is done, the City will have to be fair to the rest of the City and do the same thing. City Council/Route 30 Ad Hoc Task Force Minutes September 10, 2003 Page 5 II D. IDENTIFICATION OF ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING II DI. Task Fome Member Braflshaw stated she would like to discuss the park issue. D2. Task Force Member Coberly stated he would like to discuss the timeframe on the landscaping. He stated he does not know why there is a two-year delay to get it done. D3. Councilmember Williams stated yesterday she was in Sacramento and now the State is going to take $4 million instead of $2 million of the City's money. She stated this money could have been used to help pay for landscaping of the freeway. She stated Senator Brulte did not have any sympathy for the City and felt Rancho Cucamonga could manage without it. Task Force Member Bradshaw talked about how grant money was to be used to pay for the landscaping. The Council agreed to discuss future legislative initiatives at the next Council meeting. D4. Task Force Member Coberly asked if they could talk about the signalization at the overpasses also. D5. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, suggested the Task Force next meet in January 2004. lhe meetin9 adjourne0 at 9:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, City Clerk Approved by Council: October 1,2003