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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996/12/11 - Minutes - Special December 11, 1996 CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Special Meetinn A. CALL TO ORDER A special meeting of the Rancho Cucamonga City Council was held on Wednesday, December 11, 1996, in the Tri-Communities Conference Room of the Civic Center, located at 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Mayor William J. Alexander. Present were Councilmembers: Paul Biane, Rex Gutierrez, Diane Williams, and Mayor William J. Alexander Also present were: Jack Lam, City Manager; James Markman, City Attorney; Jerry Fulwood, Deputy City Manager; Rick Gomez, Community Development Director; Linda D. Daniels, Redevelopment Agency Manager; Shintu Bose, Deputy City Engineer; Larry Temple, Administrative Services Director; Susan Stark, Finance Officer; Jim Frost, City Treasurer; Ingrid Blair, GIS Supervisor; Suzanne Ota, Community Services Manager; Duane Baker, Assistant to the City Manager; L. Dennis Michael, Fire Chief, Rancho Cucamonga Fire Protection District; and Debra J. Adams, City Clerk. B. ITEM OF DISCUSSION B1. DISCUSSION OF PROP 218 AND COUNCIL DIRECTION FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION A. PD-85 Staff report and overhead presentation was given by Jack Lam, City Manager. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated everyone wants to protect the two parks and does not want to see them go under. Councilmember Biane asked if there would be arguments for and against this in the package sent to the property owners. James Markman, City Attorney, stated he recommends not to do this because it is not outlined to do so in the wording of Proposition 218. He stated the City cannot spend any money to lobby for this either, but that any special interest group in the City can campaign for this as long as there is not any City money being spent. Mayor Alexander inquired if the City Council could campaign for this. James Markman, City Attorney, stated yes. Councilmember Williams asked if they could spend their own personal funds to campaign. James Markman, City Attorney, stated yes. City Council Minutes December 11, 1996 Page 2 Councilmember Gutierrez inquired how many parcels will be eligible to vote. James Markman, City Attorney, stated about 24,800 parcels. Councilmember Biane asked who would be able to vote, the property owner or the tenant of the property. James Markman, City Attorney, stated there is no way to know for sure who pays the assessment for the property, but that there will be a notice mailed to the owner of the property which will state if the tenant is directly reliable to pay for the assessment, he should have the right to vote on this matter. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated the City will be doing everything possible to get the most up-to-date property owner listing. Councilmember Gutierrez asked if the park will be closed if the election is lost. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated that will have to be a decision of the City Council and that staff will need direction from the Council as to what should occur. He also reported the City will not be able to save any money on the capital side to help pay for the maintenance cost of the parks because of Prop 218, because if you save money on the capital side you would have to have a property owner vote to use that money for maintenance. He added they would like to put in an escalator to help with any incremental costs such as increases in electric or water. He added the Jarvis people do not object to this approach as long as they are put into the election validation. He stated staff would propose to put in a Gann limit initiative escalator in the ballot measure. Jack Lam, City Manager, commented on the three proposals for the possible election dates as was included in the agenda package. The City Council questioned the preparation of the Engineer's report. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated it would be prepared by the Assessment Engineer, and that it would be completed by January 15. Councilmembers Biane and Williams felt the election should take place sooner rather than later. Mayor Alexander stated he hoped there would be time to get information out to the people so they would be better educated when they go to vote. Councilmember Gutierrez stated he is in favor of doing it at the April date. He felt the Council should decide their policy on how it will affect the parks and the service level, not only for Red Hill and Heritage, but all other City perks as well. He stated he didn't want this to affect all of the parks, but to instead close these two parks if the election doesn't pass. Councilmember Williams asked if there is any reserve money if the election doesn't pass. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated there is six months reserves for the O & M because of the tax collections. Mayor Alexander opened the meeting for public input. Addressing the City Council were: Bill Holly, speaking as a private citizen and also with the Chamber of Commerce, stated he cares about the two parks and that he helped to establish PD-85. He stated Red Hill and Heritage Parks are the heaviest used parks in the City, and that these two parks set the standard for other communities and their parks. He felt the people of Rancho Cucamonga take great pride in Red Hill and Heritage Parks and that everything should be done to preserve them. He stated he realized this is a very difficult City Counicl Minutes December 11, 1996 Page 3 decision for the Council and that the community needs to also look at this issue very seriously. He pointed out he did not think rushing the election date would be the best approach because of the possibility of new legislation that might get approved which could save the parks if the election lost. He felt that the conservative approach should be taken with this issue. He also mentioned when this d~ was flint formed, the Chamber assisted in getting it approved. He felt the community would like this with the utility tax, and that this election would be the first time the public would be able to vote on an assessment. He stated he is willing to help preserve the parks in any way he can, but asked the Council to clearly clarify exactly what they are doing. He asked that the parks not be closed down. Mark Dickey who lives in Red Hill area, stated he is associated with AYSO and felt the people need to know what the effect will be on the kids if the parks are closed if the election loses. He stated this would effect the number of games played for sporting activities because of the lack of facilities to play on, and that the public should be made aware of the consequences if the parks were to close. David Ogg, President of Citrus Little League, stated he can't even imagine closing the parks. He stated there is a lot to consider when you talk about closing the parks. He hoped it would not come to that. Pdmo Morales, Rancho Little League, felt the industrial/commercial owners are the ones that need to be educated about this matter. He didn~ think there would be a problem getting the residential owners to go along with this election. Councilmember Williams commented on the mobile home parks and that the owners of the parks are the ones that pay the tax bills. Bob Dutton thought each mobile home space owner paid their own tax bill. Councilmember Gutierrez stated it will eventually come to the point that the City will run out of money if this election fails and then the parks would have to close. He added this is why he feels after the parks vote is completed, that the utility tax will have to go on the ballot. He stated if he decides to campaign for this, he will be happy to go door-to-door and felt the entire Council will have to work for making this election successful. He stated it will hurt the City badly to close any park. He added if the parks do close, that once the utility tax is put on the ballot, it will show the people what really can happen. Bruce Ann Hahn asked if this had to be an anonymous vote by the property owners. She stated she would want to know if a large landowner votes against this. James Markman, City Attorney, stated there is no way of knowing this. He stated if this is a protest hearing, everyone will know who votes against it. Bob Dutton felt the campaign needed to be done with the sports groups and that they need to get behind this. He felt the emphasis should be placed on the single family dwellings, and that he and Chuck Buquet will also work to get behind this effort and start campaigning for this. He inquired if they should follow the lobbying election rules. James Markman, City Attorney, stated they should form a committee just like they would at any other election. Bob Dutton asked if another district could be formed if this one fails. James Markman, City Attorney, and Jack Lam, City Manager, stated yes. Councilmember Williams asked what was the life of the bonds. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated 2005. City Council Minutes December 11, 1996 Page 4 Bill Holley commented on when PD-85 was formed and what they went through to get it. He urged the Council to consider running a 1972 landscaping and lighting district assessment program and having it in place before July 1, 1997, and then go to implement Prop 218 in fiscal year 1997-98 which would allow for more time for legislation to come down to clear up ambiguities or possibly court clarification on this. Mayor Alexander stated this is not an easy decision. Councilmember Williams asked when the utility tax could go on the ballot. James Markman, City Attorney, stated under Prop 218 the only viable election for the utility tax would be at the next Council election which would be November 1998, unless the Council declares it an emergency. Councilmember Williams inquired if an emergency was declared when could it go on the ballot. Debra J. Adams, City Clerk, stated it would have to be June because the deadlines have already passed for the March election to get something on the ballot. Councilmember Williams inquired what the deadline is to put something on the June ballot. Debra J. Adams, City Clerk, estimated it would be approximately February. James Markman, City Attorney, stated it is hard for him to imagine how he would develop a Resolution stating the facts that this is an emergency. Doug Morris, representing 5 Little Leagues in Rancho Cucamonga, felt there should be a focus on the residents to get this approved. He hoped that the fields do not become the icing on the cake and reiterated that they are really needed. Jim Frost, City Treasurer, felt they should go ahead with the later alternative, but should go ahead and get the process started now because this would get everyone past tax time and into the summer when people use the parks the most. He felt instead of closing the parks, if the election fails, the O & M would have to be decreased and a lower level of service given to all of the parks. Mayor Alexander stated he would go along with Option D and wait as long as possible to have the election. Councilmember Biane stated he would like to see PD-85 voted on now or as soon as possible so that the utility tax can go on the ballot after that. Councilmember Williams stated she is not counting on there being any legislative relief. James Markman, City Attorney, stated there is an effort to get more clarification on this, but didn't know when that would happen. Councilmember Gutierrez felt it should be done as late as possible and that then the utility tax could go on the ballot in November. Councilmember Williams stated she would go with Option D. Mr. Dickey felt the May option is better than the June date because he felt a lot of people would be on vacation in June. He mentioned the April date would be during Spdng Break. Jack Lam, City Manager, inquired if the amount should be asked for at $31 or $52. City Counicl Minutes December 11, 1996 Page 5 James Markman, City Attorney, stated they would bring two Resolutions to the Council for ballot wording and that they could decide then which amount they wanted to go with in the measure. Councilmember Williams asked for their to be some sort of a chart to show the history of this district's rate. C. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC No communication was made from the public. D. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. s, pectfully submitted, ~'~e br~am~s, 'C M~C~'L~'"~ City Clerk Approved: January 15, 1997