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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 06/12/197813 MINUTES OF MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL PETALUMA,_ CALIFORNIA JUNE 12, 1978 ADJOURNED MEETING ROLL CALL ACCEPT COMPLETION PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS ALDERWOOD SUBDIVISION RES #8219 NCS APPROVE AMENDMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN PLAN GLOBAL HOMES, 65 ACRES NEAR COUNTRY CLUB DR. RES #8220 NCS An Adjourned Meeting of. the Petaluma City Council was called to order by Mayor Helen Putnam at 7:40 p.m. Present: Councilmen Balshaw, Bond *, Cavanagh, Harberson, Perry, and Mayor Putnam. Absent: Councilman Hilligoss. *Councilman Bond arrived at 7:44 p:m. Resolution accepting completion of work required in Alderwood Subdivision and authorizing modification of certain flood control easements, was introduced by Councilman Perry, seconded by Councilman Harberson, and adopted by 5 affirmative and 2 absentee votes. Note: Councilman' Bond had-not arrived at the time the vote was taken on this resolution. Planning Director Ronald Hall advised the request from Evans, Evans, Targon, Hsi, Global Homes, is for an amendment to the Environmental Design Plan to change the designation from Agricultural to Suburban Low Density. The matter had received favorable considera- tion by the.Planning Commission on June 23, 1977, approved by Planning Commission Resolution No. 14 -77. On the wall map, Mr. Hall indicated the 65 acres under consideration for E.D.P. change at this time. The firm owns additional land in the area, but the balance of the land would be considered for change at a later date. Single- family units are proposed for the balance of the land, which would be under control of the City and -the two projects combined would give the density required. The suburban low density residential designation conforms to the General Plan, and changing the designation on the Environmental Design Plan would make the designations consistent. When the Planning Commission.heard the matter, there were no negative comments received. Mayor Putnam then opened the Public Hearing. A. letter dated June 6, 1978, directed to the City Council by Jennie A. Rossotti and Leroy L. Rossotti, 355 McNear Avenue,- opposing the change, was.read by the City Clerk and ordered filed. Mr. William Hsi, representing Global Homes, Inc., spoke briefly to the Council and indicated they had received nothing but praise from the citizens in the area; in fact, the citizens are anxious for them to continue with the project in order for the sewer and waterlines to be constructed. Mr. Hsi indicated. he felt the project would be an improvement in the area. No further comments were.received in the Public Hearing, and Mayor Putnam declared it closed. There was a -brief discussion by the Council regarding the density per acre. Mr. Gray, the City's Community Development and Services Coordinator, stated the proposal would permit two units per acre. Resolution #8220 N.C.S. adopting an amendment to the Environmental Design Plan to reclassify approximately 65 acres located off McNear Avenue near Country Club Drive, from Agriculture /Open Space to Suburban Low Density Residential, was introduced by Councilman Perry, seconded by Councilman Cavanagh, and adopted by 6 affirmative and 1 absentee votes. 1 4 June 12, 1978 INTRODUCTION OF This matter had been deferred from a previous Council ORDINANCE REGULATING Meeting in-order for Councilman Bond, who had been THE USE OF ALCOHOL absent, to express his views. IN PARKS ORD #1306 NCS Councilman Bond stated the matter of use of alcohol in the parks came to the Council's attention several weeks ago . by•means of -a petition signed by residents in the McNear Park area. While the.,petition did not specifically call for a ban on the sale of alcohol in the parks, the Public Works Superintendent had asked for a restriction to permit alcohol only by those groups or persons -with'a valid permit. Subse- quently, the Police Chief advised five arrests had been made for alcohol offenses. The City Attorney also advised the City is still subject to the provisions of an ordinance adopted in 1953, which prohibits drinking in all parks, and the resolution adopted in 1973 is not valid. Mr. Bond stated he was in total disagreement to.opening parks for drinking. He does not feel this is a part of the recreation program for the City, and stated he would appreciate more concern for children, families, and the neighborhood in and around the vicinity of McNear Park. Mr. Bond -also stated he felt the.work of the Parks personnel and the Police Chief.would benefit by enforcing the 1953 ordinance. The Police Chief has indicated the present.policy of allowing drinking by permit jeopardized enforce- ment because a determination has to be made if a person has been drinking as a member of a.:group which has•a permit. -Mr. Bond also stated he was opposed to having the playgrounds and parks littered with bottles and cans and does not feel drinking in the parks is a necessary function of the recreational uses and opportunities of the community. Councilman Bond stated he had many con- tacts since the matter was first discussed, none of which has been negative. He stated there is an element in the community which expects the City Council to.take some positive action to.relieve some of the tensions and problems at McNear Park and other parks in the City. Vice - Mayor Perry, questioned whether Councilman Bond would also include the service clubs in the community in the prohibition of the sale of beverages in the parks for fund - raising affairs. Councilman Bond stated he was a member of a service club.which sells beer has a chicken barbecue for a fund- raising event for the soccer club. He felt these groups could find other ways to raise.funds by sponsoring other events. The question was also raised whether or not the recreation centers should be included. Mr. Bond felt if an adult group wanted to rent a facility.in a.closed affair, he would have no objection to staying with the present policy. His main concern was to have the open parks preserved. Police Chief Robert Murphy stated since the time he was advised by the City Attorney that the 19.53 ordinance was still in full-force, his department has been enforcing this law selectively. City.Manager.Robert Meyer reviewed the events which led to the adoption of the policy resolution in.1973. There were private groups, such as weddings, which requested permission to serve alcoholic••beverages in the recreation centers. Permission was expanded at that time to allow the use of alcohol,under certain circumstances in the parks. There was a general discussion on the matter by the Council. Councilman Harberson expressed some concern regarding the Council - dictating policy regard- ing personal preferences. . He, also stated ,if .the _matter is to be .introduced, he felt it should be open for public hearing. Councilman Balshaw asked if it would be possible to include possession, as well as consumption of alcohol, but to allow for use and-possession during certain specified hours.. Mayor Putnam called for the reading of the ordinance in order to get the matter before the public. City Attorney Larry Klose explained he had prepared three different ordinances for the Council'.s consideration. The first would prohibit the use and possession of alcohol entirely. The second would allow consumption between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and at others times by special.permit;•and the,third would limit the use to beer, malt liquors and wine between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and.6:00 p.m., and also permit sales where the A.B.C. one -day permit had been acquired. Councilman Bond introduced the ordinance amending-Section 10.20.010 of the Petaluma Municipal Code regulating the use of alcoholic beverages in public places (the complete prohibition). His motion was seconded by Councilman Harberson, and the ordinance was ordered published by 5 affirmative, 1 nega- tive and 1 absentee votes. Councilman Cavanagh voted "no ". 1 June 12, 1978 BUDGET DISCUSSION City Manager Robert Meyer asked the Council to review the materials previously given to them, and be prepared to give the staff direction at an all -day budget session to begin at 8:00 a.m., June 20, 1978. A paper prepared by Finance Officer John Scharer, dated June 9, 1978, was reviewed by the Manager and the Finance Officer. Mr. Meyer pointed out the figures prepared by Mr-. -. Scharer reflect._a...three -year phased reduction. The first-year-is $45,866 less than the.preliminary.budget submitted to the Council. Mr. Scharer then reviewed the three -year plan. He explained in the first year, seven positions which are presently vacant will not be filled. The revenues for the 1977 -78 fiscal year are greater than the projected expend- itures. This was not anticipated.when.the.budget was adopted. The recom- mendation is to use the excess to assist in balancing the 1978 -79 budget. The second assumption is to increase fees, licenses.and permits to recover identi- fiable costs. A program has.been.started on..the.fees to identify the costs. The report, therefore, includes an increase of $100,000 for fees, etc. Mr. Scharer also stated funds which previously had not been included in the Gen- eral Fund, such as Transient. Occupancy.Tax and Revenue Sharing have been transferred. By making.these adjustments, a total,of $342,536 remains to be reduced from the expenditure. lev.el._ _. Mr. Scharer then reviewed the method proposed to arrive at the $342,536 re- duction. A.copy of his. memorandum the exhibits, are on file with the City Clerk. The also reviewed reduced_ expenditures for fiscal years 1979 -80 and.1980 -81, and the method for meeting the limitations of the re- stricted.budgets.._-,_ Some discussion was held on increasing, the business license fee. Councilman Harberson indicated he would be in increasing the fees by 100 percent. City Attorney Larry Klose stated the draft.of the ordinance which he had prepared increases the fees by 100 percent, and makes provisions for increases thereafter, based upon the cost of living a's indicated by the Consumer Price Index. He also explained the City's Charter and the Government Code would permit the ordinance to become effective before July 1, 1978, if introduced at one meeting and at another prior to June 30. A brief discussion was held on the ordinance which created the Transient Occupancy Tax Fund. Councilman Cavanagh questioned whether these funds had to be:used to continue support of such events as the Old Adobe Days, the Wrist - wrestling, etc. Both Mr. Scharer and the Attorney advised the ordinance is permissive and the funds could be diverted to other uses for the good of the community, such as to the Community Development or Planning Departments. Mr. Meyer advised no discussion of the Budget would be held at the Council Meeting of June 19. STATUS OF PROJECTS ANNEXATIONS City Manager Robert Meyer reported the Council may want to reconsider annexing properties to the City, as Proposition 13 will now make the tax rate the same whether areas are in the incorporated,_limits of the City or in the County. The only tax which may be collected would be the personal property tax. The Council will not be setting a tax rate in September, with the exception of the personal property tax rate. Mr. Meyer also stated the City has been informed by LAFCO that the Friedman and Willow Creek annexations together are sufficient to require the Wicke's property to annex to the City. A motion was made by Councilman Balshaw, seconded by Councilman Bond, direct- ing the Planning Commission to commence prezoning activities to include Wicke's properties in the annexation. Motion carried unanimously. AIRPORT STUDY The Airport Study is proceeding on schedule. Draft copies of the site layout and aircraft demand projec- tions have been prepared by the consultant. The City should expect the preliminary applications and the draft report sometime in August. June 12, 1978 MASTER E.I.R. The Master E.I.R. has proceeded through the.data- gathering stage and is now into analysis and prepara- tion of the master document. The schedule is in compliance with-the contract. IMPACT FEES Mr. Meyer stated the staff is preparing a study and gathering information, and expect to have a report to the Council by mid -July. There would be a•.proposal made to the Council, however, before the end of June, on certain fees. MEETING WITH RATR RnART) Mr. Meyer advised the Fair Board.has requested a meeting with the City Council for July 24, 1978, to discuss various subjects, including the parking and the matter of uses of the Fairgrounds facilities. FLOOD - ELEVATION City Manager Robert Meyer advised the United States STUDY Army-Corps of Engineers held a meeting in City Hall this date regarding•the Flood Elevation Study for the City of Petaluma. Community Development and Services Coordinator Frank'Gray had attended the meeting, and advised the Flood Insurance Program is now getting very specific about the flood elevations along'tM Petaluma River, and they are defining specific parcels of land where the 100 -year flood elevations are located. The identification of properties eligible for flood insurance is being made. The City now has the draft of the map prepared by the Corps of Engineers and a study is being conducted with.the Sonoma County Water Agency. It will be sent back to the - Corps of 'Engineers with comments; it will be reviewed by Dames and Moore, Engineers, and then be published in final form. REPORT -- ASSOCIATION Mayor Putnam advised she had attended-the General OF BAY AREA Assembly of the Association of-Bay Area Governments as GOVERNMENTS the City's Representative on Saturday, June 10, 1978. GENERAL ASSEMBLY The matter before the General Assembly was the final JUNE 10,'1978 approval of the Environmental Management Plan.. Prior to getting to this matter, the-President of ABAG made an announcement they would be cutting back from between 60 to 70 percent of their budget. This move would cut their staff substantially, as well as reduce the membership fees for agencies. The matter of the Management Plan'was handled-in a similar manner as the City's Consent Calendar. If there was objection to any portion of the plan, it was removed.for discussion. Both the City of Petaluma and the City of Sonoma objected to the Water Quality portion of the plan, as it relates to the Surface Runoff Management Plan. Although the objection by Petaluma and Sonoma did not change the course, a firm protest was made, pointing out that the County of Sonoma does not belong to ABAG. Mayor Putnam stated she advised both the City of Sonoma and City of are incorporated areas surrounded by a large unincorporated area,'and' they are being to begin a program without any tangible funding to-implement it. The problem -is unique to Sonoma County, but Mayor Putnam felt the Council would like to that Petaluma and Sonoma were supported in their opposition by the- Cities of Santa Rosa, Cotati, and Cloverdale, as well as by a city from another county. The Chairman indi- cated, with the support of the five cities, he felt there would be some lever- age in the problem. Mayor Putnam stated after the Assembly worked its way•through the plan, a section was added to the final resoltuion addressing the critical question of financing. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. to an Executive Session. Mayor Attest: City C erk