Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997/07/31 - MinutesJuly 31, 1997 CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA CITY COUNCIL REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT MINUTES Special Meeting A. CALL TO ORDER A special meeting of the Rancho Cucamonga City Council, Redevelopment Agency and Fire Protection District was held on Thursday, July 31, 1997, in the Tri Communities Room of the Civic Center, located at 10500 Civic Center Ddve, Rancho Cucamonga, California. The meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. by Mayor William J. Alexander. Present were members: Paul Biane, James Curatalo, and William J. Alexander. Councilmember Williams arrived at 6:12 p.m. Councilmember Gutierrez arrived at 6:14 p.m. Also present were: Jack Lam, City Manager; Jerry Fulwood, Deputy City Manager; Linda D. Daniels, Redevelopment Agency Manager; Larry Temple, Administrative Services Director; Susan Stark, Finance Officer; Ingdd Blair, GIS Supervisor;, Alex Ahumada, Administrative Services Officer; Joe O'Neil, City Engineer; Shintu Bose, Deputy City Engineer; Wait Stickney, Associate Engineer; Brad Buller, City Planner; Bill Makshanoff, Building Official; Deborah Clark, Library Manager; Diane O'Neal, Management Analyst II; Suzanne Ota, Community Services Manager, Chief Dennis Michael, Deputy Chief Bob Corcoran and Battalion Chief Ralph Crane, Rancho Cucamonga Fire Protection District; Marti Higgins, Disaster Preparedness Manager; Captain Rodney Hoops, Rancho Cucamonga Police Department; James C. Frost, City Treasurer; and Kathryn L. Scoff, Deputy City Clerk. B. IT!=M OF DISCUSSION B1. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED BUDGETS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997/98 Jack Lam, City Manager, gave an overview of the Proposed FY 1997-98 budgets. He explained that the Budget constitutes the City General Fund, which funds the majority of services of the City; the Fire District budget, which is a separate agency and has a separate budget that deals only with fire services; the Library Services budget, which has funds segregated from the transfer of County Library funds to the City for the operations of a City Library; the Redevelopment Agency budget, which contains restrictive revenues for that Agency and a capital improvements program which also consists of restricted funds for infrastructure improvements, the majority of which come from State and Federal agencies. Jack Lam, City Manager, said overall for this next year, the budget and revenues have been stable and we are looking forward to a projected 5.6% increase from the pdor year, the increases being a result of sales tax, permit and development fee revenues, franchise fees and motor vehicle license fees. Jack Lam, City Manager, provided the highlights of each department's budget. City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Protection District Minutes July 31, 1997 Page 2 Mayor Alexander opened the meeting for public comment at 6:45 p.m. Bruce Ann Hahn, Park and Recreation Commissioner, asked for the Councirs consideration to spend some of the $270,000 in Park Funds on the skate park project and for lights @ Etiwanda Creek Park. Councilmember Williams asked if the Park and Recreation Commission has come up with any dollar amount for Etiwanda Creek Park lights. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, stated to light both fields would be approximately $200,000. He said with respect to the skate park, the estimate is $65,000 for phase I and $35,00 for phase II. Mayor Alexander left the meeting at approximately 6:50 p.m. Steve Wilkerson, Pop Warner Football, also made a request for lights at Etiwanda Creek Park. He said if this could be done it would relieve a lot of pressure on all of youth sports. Bob Lundy, Rancho Cucamonga Visitors Bureau, said he understands there is not enough money for all the lights, skate parks, etc., so the Bureau is part of the City's economic engine. It is his hope to get direction from the City Council on how they would like the Bureau to make more revenues for the City through toudsm. He said the mission of the Bureau is to make sure that Rancho Cucamonga gets its share of the popular nostalgia segment of the travelers. Mr. Lundy said he would like some comment on the ad they are placing jointly from the Route 66 Magazine, which he showed to the Council. Mr. Lundy said toudsm is the top source of revenue in California and is here for the City to exploit. Councilmember Williams asked if the City were to put any money into their project, would they be willing to expand the facility to allow information on other activities and sightseeing and toudst opportunities in this city. Mr. Lundy he does not make those decisions. He serves at the pleasure of his volunteer Board of Directors who make the policy. He implements the policy. Councilmember Williams asked Mr. Lundy if he has asked the Board. She said she has asked this same question for about four years. Mr. Lundy said what needs to be said is that we do have advertisers consistently year after year. He said while they do not have members, they do have advertisers. Anybody who wants to buy an ad is perfectly at liberty to do so. Councilmember Williams said you are asking for a public agency to put money into your private agency and yet you are not willing to respond with advertising for what we consider to be other tourists attractions. She said as guardians of the taxpayers' dollare, she does not see it proper to put money into something that in return does not share and advertise our own city. Mr. Lundy said he agrees with her. He said again their mission is to make sure that Rancho Cucamonga gets its share of the nostalgia segment of travelers. If it is diluted into something that is blatantly unrelated to nostalgia, then they will lose the nostalgia market. Councilmember Gutierrez stated that there might be some ways to look at it, as he thinks it is something that could be brought up to the Board. He said he has a feeling that we would not get very far until we had more of an idea of how we can help each other to share with the toudsts that come in regarding history of the City. City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Protection District Minutes July 31, 1997 Page 3 Councilmember Gutierrez said he does agree with Bob Lundy that there is a lot to be gained if we have some emphasis on tourism, because there are a lot of people coming to Ontario Mills, which will eventually add to our local economy. He said it is very convenient for people to drive up and see us here, and we would like to attract some dollare here. He said he is grateful to Mr. Lundy as he has tded very hard and is very sincere, and he is always happy to entertain his proposals. Councilmember Biane asked if there is an opportunity for the City to rent a space in his shop to promote what the City feels is nostalgic about the City of Rancho Cucamonga. Mr. Lundy said absolutely. He referred to his ad once again-Exhibit Vl. He said we are the gateway to the Route 66 hedtage corridor scenic highway to the west, the birth place of the Cucamonga valley wine region, we have interesting new restaurants and old local favorites along Foothill, and we are adjacent to 3,000 top notch hotel rooms. Councilmember Curatalo asked how we could proceed further with this issue without knowing what your Board wants to do. Mr. Lundy answered that is why we are having a workshop. He said he reports to his Board and follows their direction. He said he is confident that the Board would unanimously applaud the Council's direction. Councilmember Williams, upon Mr. Lundy's request to restate the City's proposal, said the City has more toudsm to offer that just Route 66. We have the unique historical items that deserve a mention. She said we have a County museum in the Rains House and the Chaffey Garcia House and she would encourage when there is an event at any of the venues these be given an opportunity for exposure in their shop. She said we might be interested in working with you on some service exchange, such as promoting other areas in our city. She asked that he and his Board put together a proposal and bdng it back to the City. She said we don't just hand out public money, but we buy services. She said we need a philosophy statement from the Board that says we are willing to promote the entire city. Mr. Lundy agreed to take this information back to the Board. Mr. Tim Younger, President of the Rancho Cucamonga Chamber of Commerce, discussed the Chamber's proposal with regard to a partnership with the City of Rancho Cucamonga as it relates to economic development with respect to marketing the City as a whole. He said the proposal is designed to not only create a marketing program for the business community, but they really believe that it is time that the City and the business community take these steps together. Councilmember Curatalo said he thinks the Chamber and the City are on the same track and that they are both here to serve people in this community. Councilmember Gutierrez apologized as he has to leave, however, he stated the following remarks about the budget. 1) He is happy about the lowering of the utility tax; 2) He is in favor of the skate park project and would like to see it completed; 3) He supports the lights at Eftwanda Creek Park and hopes that it is not a one-use facility; 4) With reference to Disaster Preparedness, he noticed there was a reduction compared to last year's budget, and he hopes we are not compromising any disaster preparations that have previously been made; 5) He is supportive of Fire Maintenance; 6) He thinks there is a way to be partners with the Chamber and he has nothing against having the Chamber take a few projects from the City, as it relieves the City of some financial obligations; he is not against looking at the possibility of having the Chamber help in the Shopping Center Conference in Las Vegas; City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Protection District Minutes July 31, 1997 Page 4 6) He hopes that in the future that we do not lose sight on finding a way to build towards Central Park; 7) He is happy with the police force and is ready to stay with them, however, he is interested in looking at the contract; and 8) He feels that transportation for the seniors should be a priority. Jack Lam, City Manager, said regarding transportation for the seniors, staff is currently exploring a program which will be presented shortly to the Council for consideration. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated with respect to Disaster Preparedness, the State has restructured emergency funds and we will lose some, however, the department has been reorganized and is now under the Fire Department. Councilmember Williams asked if we are doing an ongoing study or awareness of the Sheriff's contract services versus our own. Jack Lam, City Manager, answered yes. Councilmember Gutierrez left at 7:25 p.m. Councilmember Curatalo said he is very pleased with the budget. He wanted to acknowledge that we did have an increase in population here in the City, and as Jack pointed out, we are working with a smaller staff than in 1990. In spite of that, Jack and staff have been able to maintain services-even increased the services-to the citizens within the City. He thanked Jack, his vision, and city staff for being so dedicated to keeping the services going in spite of all the negative forces. Councilmember Biane stated in reference to the budget summary, comments were made with respect to the efforts to beautify Foothill Blvd. To further promote the economic benefit, however, his concam is that we keep stopping at Vineyard and not talking about the full connection to Grove, which is our oldest segment of Rancho Cucamonga, and is probably in the most need of the Redevelopment Agency's beautification project. He would like a policy direction on this. Jack Lam, City Manager, commented that the area to Grove is not in the Redevelopment area and there was an effort to look at the median beyond the Cucamonga Creek area but the train overpass needs to be widened, which is a multi-million dollar project. In terms of a vision it has always been to have that bridge widened so that we can ultimately get the same kind of treatment clear across to Grove, but because the portion on the other side of the pass is not in the Redevelopment area, it is much more difficult. He said he only mentioned the more realistic segments due to the fact that Cal Trans is doing this one portion, and that we have a competitive program with Cal Trans called "ice tea" money, which is a 50% match. If we look at the three segments mentioned, at 50% of the amount we were going to put in the first segment, we can use that for match money and also be able to widen the other bddge on the Deer Creek side. Councilmember Curatalo wanted to acknowledge that he was aware that expenditures balanced with revenues and overall city reserves increase slightly, which means we accomplished this without dipping into reserves. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated the reserves is approximately $10 million. Councilmember Williams stated regarding Route 66 and Grove, she completely supports Paul in this, as it has long been as issue. There is an awful lot that can be done out there with plain and simple code enforcement and a few dollars spent. It needs to be cleaned up. She said Grove is still our gateway, and we forget that. She said we need to put attention on property and attract quality business and make it viable. City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Pretection District Minutes July 31, 1997 Page 5 Jack Lam, City Manager, said we could have done more this next year had it not been for the fact that we have to do Day Creek. Council concurred to review this item at the next scheduled workshop. Councilmember Biane said he is concerned about the overall tone of some issues brought up in the summary, mainly regarding planning and building and safety staff and using 1990 numbers as benchmarks. He said a lot of automation has happened at City Hall since that time, and there is a computer on everybody's desk with greater skills and efficiency, and he does not want the public to think we are adding people just to add people because we need to get back to this number we were at in 1990. We've been elected here to ensure that City government is running as efficiently as possible, and he wants to make sure that is what we are doing. Jack Lam, City Manager, said he can reassure him that itwas not used for that purpose. He was just showing as a comparison that the level of development has picked up and in order to be able to maintain a higher level of customer service, we need to add a couple more people in that arena, especially since AB 1600 says you have to use development fees for customer service. Councilmember Biane said he would like to consider modifying the pass-thru agreements so that additional tax increment passes to the Fire General Fund. He said in fairness to staff and Jack, it is more of a question because he does not have the numbers to base a decision or to say this is the direction we should go. He would like to take a harder look at it before we reach a final budget agreement. Jack Lam, City Manager, said we need to carefully look at that because there are a lot of other implications to doing that. Councilmember Williams said she concurs with that. Jack Lain, City Manager, stated he would like to recognize the Finance Department. He said this is the 9th year we have received a very prestigious award for accounting and reporting purposes. He said there is no city in this region that has won it nine times consecutively. He said most cites are just now trying to apply for their first award. Susan Start, Finance Officer, was applauded for this achievement. Councilmember Williams stated she would like the Council to sit with staff eady on to listen to their concerns about next yea~s budget. She said we have a real generalization of things and she does not have a clue what most of them represent. She wants to be more informed, and next year she would like to work on that. Councilmember Williams stated regarding the animal shelter, she would like an update on the dog licensing. Jack Lam, City Manager, said we contract with the County for animal contrel which costs us about $75 to $80 annually. The County handles all the animal licensing. Councilmember Williams said maybe we should sit down and talk to them because the average citizen does not have a clue how to license their animal. Jack Lam, City Manager, said if we take over licensing the cost of the service will go up considerably and the estimate determined in a report generated two or three years ago was about $400,000. Councilmember Williams said we need to have discussions with the County and take a look at the contract. City Council/Redevelopment Agency/Fire Protection District Minutes July 31, 1997 Page 6 Councilmember Williams said with respect to park money, she is supportive of the skate park project. She said we have in our City an asset that belongs to Sanbag, and we need to be aggressive with Sanbag and get a right-of-way for trails--taking rail lines and converting them to trails. She said she feels very strongly about this and would like to see a study. Councilmember Curatalo said he concurs 100%. Councilmember Williams said another great asset is the Epicenter. She suggested that we pull the Epicenter out of Community Services and create it as its own authority-much like a convention center. She would like to hire a marketer, not an events manager under Community Services, as she believes we are missing the boat. She said we need to look at that and maybe use park money to set up a salary and set up their own authority. She said she is in favor of exploring this as she sees this venue as being very productive. Councilmember Williams asked where we stand with the buyout of the library. Linda Daniels, Redevelopment Agency Manager, replied we have two more years @ $100,000 each year then it drops to $50,000. Councilmember Williams asked about the regional project fund under the Redevelopment Agency. Linda Daniels, Redevelopment Agency Manager, explained the funds. Councilmember Williams said her personal opinion about budgets is that they do not show you the financial picture of the city. She would like to see a real financial picture of our city. She said after the annual audit report she would like to have a workshop to interact with the auditore. C. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC No communications were made from the public. D. ADJOURNM~=NT MOTION: Moved by Biane, seconded by Curatalo to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously 3-0-2. Meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Sincerely, Kathryn L. Scott Deputy City Clerk Approved: September 3, 1997