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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 03/15/1999March 15, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 457 i 1VIIN~TTES. s ®~' A REGi.TI.AR 1VgEE'I'ING 3 PETALITMA CITY C®jTNCII, a 1VIONDAY, MAItC~ 15, 1999 s 120I.I, CAI,I, 3:00 n.m. s Present: Healy, Torliatt, Cader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, Vice Mayor David Keller, ~ and Mayor E. Clark Thompson s Absent: None 9 P~I.IC C®1VIlVIEIVT io Geoff Cartwright, 56 Rocca Drive -you have dual zero-net-fill ordinances. This information i i can be found at 16.703.2 and 16.704.1 of your Zoning Ordinance. The County Ordinance i2 2918 also deals with the subject. You could make a single ordinance cover the Petaluma is floodplain. 14 C®1JNCIL COMMENT is Councilmember Pamela Torliatt - received a copy of the Marin County ordinance regarding i6 the county integrated pest management program. They are doing a 5 year phase out of i7 pesticides. A constituent said maybe we can do that. I would also like to talk to the school is district about a joint policy. Several Councilmembers said they agreed. 19 Councilmember Matt Maguire -Councilmember Pamela Torliatt, Councilmember Janice ao Cader-Thompson, and Councilmember Matt Maguire went to the Local Government zi Commission annual conference in Yosemite. This seminar was focused on sustainable sa transportation. T-21 and other types of funding are available for transportation and we 23 haven't begun to scratch the surface of it. There are opportunities for us to have more 2a localized training through that Commission. as 1VIINiT~'ES 26 Councilmember Pamela Torliatt: 27 March 1 -Page 3, Line 3 - we talked about sending the sports leagues notice of information is that we discussed and one of the things that wasn't on here which I wanted to include in :the i9 letter to the sports leagues was the fact that Apparacio Field will be able to be used 7' days a 3o week and McNear field is used 5 days a week. 31 Page 7, Line 35 - my comment should say we could increase the parking and reduce the 3i square footage of the site for Mr. McDevitt. 33 Page 10, I would say maybe around line 21 - I had stated that I had voted against the project 34 when I was a member of the Planning Commission and was having was not happy to have to 3s vote for the project and it was because of the legal requirements that we were going to have. 36 vote in favor of this final map. On line 36, Councilmember Hamilton had said we need to 37 have a Section 10 around the Adobe Creek and aggressively communicate with other 3s agencies. I think Councilmember Hamilton was a lot more specific in who we needed to send 39 letters to and so we need to go back and make sure that we are specifically contacting those Page 458, Vol, 32 March 15, 1999 i agencies that we wanted to contact so I thought it was a little too general under that 2 comment. 3 Councilmember lane Hamilton: 4 The minutes of February 16, page 415, Line 30 and 33 -it's Wendy Kallins s March 8 were approved as amended: 6 Page 450,, I;ines 1.1, 12, 13, 14 - it says Bryant Moynihan's editorial in the Chamber ~ newsletter concerned her because 'it was critical of the City and the budget process. That's s not what I said, I said it concerned me because it was fizll .of misinformation about "the City 9 and the budget process and that. many readers would not know that and it' was crucial for the io City and the Chamber to want. to work well together to -serve our mutual constituents.. ii The minutes of February 16, March 1 and March. 8 were approved as amended above. 12 Councilmembers who were absent during those .meetings abstained. Pursuant to the City 13 Council :Rules ofProcedure, unless an abstention is for a conflict of interest, an abstention is vote is a yes vote: is C®NSENT CALENDAR is The following items which are noncontroversial and. which have been reviewed by the City i~ Council and staff were enacted by one motion which was introduced by Councilmember Jane is Hamilton. and seconded by Vice. Mayor David Keller. i9 Ayes: ~ Healy, Torliatf, Cader=Thompson, Hamilfon,,Maguire, 20 Vice Mayor David Keller, Mayor E. Clark Thompson 2t Nces: None 22 Absent: None z3 RES®. 99-56 NCS 2a CLAIlVIS AMID )BILLS 2s Resolution 99-56 NCS approving Claims and Bills #79872 to #80198 26 RES®. 99-57 N.CS z~ DECLARE'WEEDS: A NIJISAIVCE AND SET HEA~tIN.G.APRiL 5 2s Resolution 99-57 NCS declaring weeds a :nuisance :and setting a hearing for Apri15; z9 RESO.99-58 NCS_ 3o RECEIVE AND. FILE.. QUARTERLY TREASURE>ft'S REPORT 31 Resolution 99-58 NCS to review and file the December, 1998, Treasurer's Report. 3z RES0.99-591~TCS 33 APPLY `TO IVI'TC FOR "I'DA/S'TA FUNDS 34 Resolution 99-59 NCS authorizing stair to -apply to the Metropolitan Transportation 3s Commission (MTC) for Transportation Development Act (TDA) and State Transit 36 Assistance (STA) Funds for Fiscal Year 1999-2000.. The amount of TDA~ monies is 37 estimated to be $1,033,944, the STA monies will be $86,352, and the Carryover funds equal March 15, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 459 i $789,06..1.. This is part of the countywide consolidated claim. The funds 'are used to operate z the fixed transitroute and para-transit system. 3 ---End of Consent Calendar--- a The following items were xemoved from the Consent Calendar: s RECEIVE AND FII.,E C®1VIPREIiENSIVE ANNZTAL REP®RT 7 The City Council received and sent to file the comprehensive annual financial report for the s fiscal year ending June 30, 1998. It was moved by Councilmember Matt Maguire and 9 seconded by Councilmember Pamela Torliatt to send the Annual Report to file and to ask the to Finance Director for the following: t t Councilmember Pamela Torliatt wanted to state for the record in the compliance section for tz our annual report that there are conditions in here that are deemed not to be material t3 weaknesses, but many of the items that have addressed here have been things that the Council is has brought up on a very consistent. basis regarding notes that may or may not exist and is transfemng of funds from one fund to another that doesn't particularly have any tracking and i6 a lot of the responses to these conditions not deemed to be material the explanations have i~ been we are going to address this in our budget for next year. So I am looking forward to is having those corrections made because I was agreeing with a lot of the things that were t9 brought up there so I don't know if anybody really focused on that but. Introduced by zo Councilmember Matt Maguire and seconded by Councilmember Pamela Torliatt. zi Ayes: Healy, Torliatt, Cader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, 22 Vice Mayor David Keller, Mayor E. Clark Thompson z3 Nces: None 2a Absent: None zs 1VI®S()JTIT® ABATEMENT REAPP®INTIVIENT z6 The City Council asked staff to advertise for the term expiration on the Sonoma-Marro z~ Mosquito Abatement Board. zs RESO.99-60 NCS z9 HIST®RICAI., AND CUI,TiJRAI., PRESERVATI®N COMMITTEE 3o Resolution 99-60 NCS confirming the Heritage Homes selection of Marianne Hurley to the 31 Historical and Cultural Preservation Committee. Moved by Councilmember Jane Hamilton 3z and seconded by Councilmember Matt Maguire. 33 Ayes: Healy, Torliatt, Cader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, 34 Vice Mayor David Keller, Mayor E. Clark Thompson 3s Nces:. None 36 Absent: None 37 RESO.99-61 NCS 3s PEDESTRIAN -BIKEWAY EAST WASIIINGT®N STREET 39 Resolution 99-61 NCS authorizing the City Manager to file an application for Federal ao Surface Transportation Program and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement at Program funding for $720,000 and committing the necessary local match for the local project az and stating the assurance of the City of Petaluma to complete the project. The Page 460, Vol. 32 March 15, 1999 i Transportation Equity Act for the 21'` Century (TEA 21j which is Public Law 105--178 of z June 9, 1998, and-:the TEA 21 Restoration Act, which. is Public Law- 105-206' of .July 22, 3 1998, continue the Surface Transportation Program which is 23 iJ,S:C. "§1`33 and the a Congestion Mitigation arid.. Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) which. is 23 -U:S.C. s § 149. The City is to submit a grant application' to the Metropolitan Transportation 6 Commission for .funds in the fiscal year 1999=2000 for improvement of the pedestrian :and ~ bicycle access. at the intersection of East Washington.. Street and McDowell, Blvd. to construct s a lane along the north side of East Washington Street: Councilmember Matt Maguire asked 9 if the cost of this $65=0,000 plus the $163,000 or is the: $163,000 included in the $65.0,000. io Traffic Engineer Allan Tilton said the $150,000 would be the estimated portion that would i i come to the city in T monies. The match of the $163,000 would come fom other sources: iz So the $163,000 is not: included in the $650,000. Bullet. #4 the program funds. are expected 13 to be obligated by September 30,1E we could amend that I'll introduce it. is Councilmember Pamela Torlatt a couple things one is I wanted the public to know what this is is and we :are trying to secure funding from the T-1 funds to create a pedestrian bike path ~6 from Sonoma Mountain Parkway to Ellis Street; on East Washington which is a sorely needed. i~ bike and pedestrian access. A couple of comments one is the. Martin project is: supposed to is come through the. Council I think here in the next couple of months. That's; the project that 19 is right. by the southbound off-.ramp on Washington. in between the shopping center where zo Kinko's is and. the -freeway off-ramp. I haven't seen Ghat project yet or read. the. conditions of zi approval-:and I don't know if that allows, for bike. access- on-street and/or' off-street, but if it zz requires. on-street I would see that, this project would maybe pay for its fair share of the bike z3 improvements along there as opposed to the City; I mean to come up with that money za through this grant. and I know that the Bicycle .Advisory Committee has been very, very zs excited about this bike/pedestrian access way and they haven't really been involved in the z6 design process but. I hope if we are going., to be involved in thE, design. process of ahis access z~ way and :if'maybe -Allen can tell. me a little .bit about the fact that we haven't decided upon zs whether this is over the overpass orunderneath the freeway and as far as the design to access z9 Washington Creek et cetera, so I definitely am in favor of this but I want to make sure that 3o we have all of the input we possibly as to where this is placed and what pavement texture- 3 t used et cetera. 3z Vice Mayor David Keller likewise. I am glad this 1s corning close to fruition on .this.. He is 33 concerned about the language on the resolution. just says. construction, refers to construction 34 of sidewalk and bikelane along the north side of East Washington, it doesn't specify ending 3s and starting points. There should'. either be a map attached indicating the project .area. or 36 include a complete enough description in here so. that you know and the. funding- sources 37 know and the contractors know and staff knows; what it is we are trying to. achieve.. Right 3s now that is not clear. There should have been a map in the staff report so we would have 39 that. ao Councilmember Michael Healy Allan can. you tell us how far along the design 'is with respect. an to the component between Sonoma Mountain Parkway and McDowell, and is it going to be az separated 'from the .street? .Another question., is there was a copy of a letter from. Jack.. a3 Balshaw a few weeks back talking about the:condition of the roadway there and questioning as whether there was some slumping going on, noticing all the cracks; Is that an issue'and how as is that being addressed? Are you anticipating a separated bicycle path there? a6 Allan Tilton, the answer is all- of t_he above. The project. is .not as defined as .maybe we would a~ like to have it;at this point. What we have is: a concept and we are going„ forward with the as proposals to get funds: We, do :have a contractor,. consultant,, who is working right -now in 49 the area of~the Washington- Street and McDowell corridor focusing on physical roadway so improvements and enhancements for- bicycle and pedestrian. If we are successful in getting ~.. :,C. March 15, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 461 t the money, we will hope to amend the design contract with the consultant firm for them to go z forward and look at design alternatives and to bring back to the. City Council and Bicycle 3 Committee alternatives and proposals. This will be a year process at minimum. We will be a looking at some off-street, could go under the freeway, could go over. A bulk of it will be on s street which: will be a Class 2 facility which would also address the. pavement failure that have 6 been experiencing on East Washington Street. He doesn't. have specific answers right now. ~ We will bring this back for full discussions of design alternatives, materials, textures and' s other considerations as they relate to this project. Introduced by Councilmember Matt 9 Maguire and seconded by Vice Mayor David Keller. io Ayes: Healy, Torliatt, Cader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, t t Vice Mayor David Keller, Mayor E. Clazk Thompson iz Nces: None 13 Absent: None is -- End of listing of items removed from the Consent Calendar - is RESO.99-62 NCS 16 C®1\TTRACT AE>EtIAI, LAI9DEIt FI4tE TItiTCK i~ Resolution 99-62 NCS accepting bid and awarding contract to Sutphen Corporation to build is anew aerial ladder'fire truck. Sutphen's bid was $613,725 less deletion of two minor options 19 for a net price of $608,407. Fire equipment for the truck will be purchased under separate zo quotes after July of 1999. Staff has recommended .financing all of the costs; including zi prepaying for the cab and chassis in July, 1999 and financing the remaining cost of the truck zz and equipment over aten- year period. The annual .cost for the first five years will be z3 $96,000/year and $85;000/year for the second fiveMyears. Sales tax is $45,631 for the truck. za Future equipment purchases will be $70,000 plus. 5,250 Sales Tax. Kevin Marks, President zs of the Firefighters Local 1415, expressed support from the firefighters for this purchase. z6 Battalion Chief Bob Gloeckner discussed the Implementation Plan when the truck is delivered z~ in approximately twelve months. At the present- time there are 14 firefighters and one zs Battalion Chief on duty each day. (Engine staff at each of the three fire stations, an z9 ambulance staffed with two personnel at Headquarters and at Station 3. In addition there is a 3o rescue truck which is staffed at Headquarters Station with one person.) The aerial truck will 31 be housed at fire station 2. Assuming no additional personnel are hired in the next fiscal year 3z the firefighter currently assigned to the departments rescue truck at Headquarters Fire station 33 will be reassigned to the aerial truck at station 2. All rescue and support equipment will be 3a Gamed on the aerial ladder truck. Total daily staffing would continue to be 14 firefighters 3s and one Battalion Chief. Gloeckner also noted that the fire department. is asking for three 36 firefighter/paramedics and a Training Officer in the upcoming budget with the top'staffing 37 priority the Training Officer. The addition of three firefighter/paramedics would provide for 3s one additional firefighter/paramedic on each of the three shifts. The additional 39 firefighter/paramedic would be assigned to the aerial ladder truck for a total compliment of ao two personnel. These two fire personnel would also cross-staff the departments third ai ambulance. which would be housed at fire station 2. Total daily staffing would be 15 az firefighters and one Battalion Chief. Staffing and other fire department concerns will be a3 discussed at the City Council meeting on April 14th when the city council reviews the Fire as Departments Master Plan. as Finance Director Spilman noted the aerial ladder truck will be obtained on a lease/purchase a6 basis. A request for bids was sent to 14 companies. There were five responses. The interest a~ for the lease /purchase is estimated to be 4.6% to 5.7%. The General Fund is the source of as money for payments. Page 462, Vol. 32 March 15, 1999 i Developing. the specifications. for this vehicle has taken three: years of a number of z firefighters' time. They are: Ken McDermott, Rick King, -Dan Epperson,. Chuck toucher, 3 John Kuehl,. Ken Hassler, Judd Cumin, Mlcfiael Ahln, George Vedder, Dan Graveman, Bob a Cochrane, and Fred Clement:: Delivery is anticipated in one year. Each Councilmember in s turn expressed their pleasure in seeing this new truck coming into town. They noted the. 6 purchase is for. the`Public Safety of the community ~ Introduced by ViceMayor David Keller.and seconded by Councilmember Pamela Torliatt. s Ayes: Healy, Torliatt Gader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, 9 yice.Mayor David Keller, MayorB. Clark'Thompson to Nces: None 1 i -Absent: None iz REPORT ON VOLUNTEER GRAFFITI;REMOVAL 13 In September; a citizen volunteered to establish a volunteer committee to. -remove:. graffiti is throughout the city.: To date there i"s a ;growing number (34) of volunteers'who :are: removing is these unwelcome paintings in different areas of the City:. Recently the :Board of `Realtors i6 donated $50 towards this program. Staff assisting; the program are Randy Wyatt from Public i~ Works, Lt. Dave TDohn from. the Police Department. K-Marx recently .donated. some paint is and another company is arranging to donate scrubbers. A Graffiti Hot Line. has been 19 established at 776'-3606:.. This telephone line will be monitored by Parks -and Recreation staff. zo These volunteers are truly dedicated'to the beauty of the: comma~riity and they do not seek any zi recognition. Various service groups= have been addressed. with requests for some assistance zz with the project. A grant application has been submitted to the Sonoma County Community z3 fund for $1,500, The City Council asked. that the telephone number be given to the cable za television. .public access .people. The Council asked that staff look into using Cellular zs telephones to report graffiti problems; there has been .some publicity about those calls being z6 accepted by the aelephone companies without charge: z~ Staffis exploring the possibility of amending,the existing: ordinance whereby violators would za be fined if convicted of placing graffiti on a surface in Petaluma. It is proposed that z9 -progressive fines be established, starting at $100 for the first violation. and with no other 30 option than to imply .pay the, fine. There was' discussion about to fine or not to fine. Total 31 costs ofthis project to date`aie~$202.00. 3z The City Council. expressed their appreciation for this work. 33 LIAISON and COUNCIL 3a ~ City Manager .Fred Stouder said he has been speaking with, Juan Lopezabout ~a fizrther 3s workshop between the City Council :and the'Management Staff. He will be meeting with the 36 Management Staff on March. 30. 37' Vice Mayor` David Keller asked for an update on the BP Gasoline Station at the corner of 3s McDowell and Washington. They have filled part of the site., What is the company doing 39 about off-site.contamination. He is concerned about,the leachate going into the ground water: ao and into the creek. Councilmember Janice Cader-Thompson asked about the boulders which ai were put near there and she doesn't think they are holding up. az CLOSED SESSION March 15, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 463 r At 4:00 p.m. the Council recessed to Closed Session to discuss: z CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL -ANTICIPATED LITIGATION -Significant 3 Exposure to Litigation Pursuant to Subdivision (b) of Section 54956.9: (2 Matters) a CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL -INITIATION OF LITIGATION Pursuant to s subdivision (c) of Government Code §54956.9 (1 matter) s AI2JOUIt1V 7 The Council adjourned to dinner at 6:00 p.m. s RECONVENE 7:.00 n.m. 9 Present: Healy, Torliatt, Cader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, io Vice Mayor David Keller, Mayor E. Clark Thompson . 11 Absent: None rz PLEIDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 13 J. T. Wick led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. is MOlVIENT OF SILENCE is PiT>BLIC COMMENT i6 -Rob McCaughey, Jr., 590 Ely Road - I'd like to speak a couple of seconds on something i~ that happened at the last Council meeting. It was the fact that Councilmember Jane Hamilton is brought up doing a rebuttal to Bryant Moynihan's article on the Chamber newspaper, and I i9 was wondering where this is going. Is-the Couricil going to start rebutting newspaper articles zo in the Press Democrat, the Ate? Why was this one picked? Is it going to start being, done. zi on a regular basis, because your calendar is pretty congested as it is. I think you have already zz over 100 agenda items waiting to be taken up. How much time is this going to take? How z3 and where is this going? There is a forum that I'd like to offer. I have already talked to za Bryant and if Jane would like to I would produce ahalf--hour show on Public Access cable zs television. If you would like to get together and debate some issues on your personal time; z6 then I think that would be the way to go. I don't know if the City Council needs to start z~ getting involved with rebutting articles in the newspaper. zs -Terrance Garvey - About a month ago, Councilmember Pamela Torliatt had article in Argun z9 Courier listing various achievements and activities of the Council. That was very interesting. 3o I thought it might be a good idea for the Council to look into making this a monthly activity 31 by any one member of the Council and keep the public well informed. 3z -Don Weisenfluh -trees - in my neighborhood along :Ely and I believe along Meadowview 33 near a bus stop, the Davey Landscaping folk were- cutting down three really beautiful. 34 redwoods right next to the bus stop..It turns out they were hired by PG&E because the trees 3s were soon to be encroaching on the high tension- wires. I guess that's legit, but a town's 36 quality can be measured also in the trees. Does PG&E have a policy to replant like type trees 37 in an appropriate location to make up for these. Will the town look into planting some type 3s of conifer along the long access of the fence line along our airport especially to hide the 39 building, the hangars, the maintenance shops. Those are very stark and I understand their ao purpose, just like the military, is tasteless. And I was in the military for 20 years that doesn't ai mean I don't have some taste. They do a great job on the air bases in Europe. Of course az those are run by people who have their stuff together. We are not talking Air Force, we rent Page 464, Vol. 32 March 15, 1999 i those bases. And all those air bases with beautiful conifers, you don't see them. And the z planes have no problems coming in and out. s -Hank Flum -Corona. Creek - in the 3'/z years I have lived .there,. I-'ve noticed some a significant changes to the creek. I don't know whether they are .good or they are bad: When s I moved the. creek had a well. defined `v' shape. It now has a flat bottom, a lot of silt has 6 come into it. There are small trees aplings, bullrushes, there are all kinds of weeds in it. It ~ has gone :back to like a riparian state. At the bridges there were rip-rap rock that has a disintegrated. The creek after the rains seemed to drain the water and I'll say it'was variously 9 dry and now it seems to be holding water. The clearances that the bridges had are sharply io ,reduced. If we have a significantly changing hydrologic situation in the ,creeks I'd like u somebody to take a good look at it rethink it or do something about it, but I ,believe we iz shouldn't just let this thing go until we really have- a big rain and we wash out a bridge or 13 comes into the neighborhood. is -Diane Reilly - in this time of tax season I was going over my tax bill and .noted the taxes u went up 2% this year.. I made some ,phone calls and feel we :need a junior high on the east i6 side and if'we are paying for it I was curious what .is happening to the money. The. School i~ District told 'her they don't have enough students for 3 junior highs. They'd have to tear is down Kenilworth to build one on the east ide. I did confirm with-the school there are 900 19 students who _go to Kenilworth and.. all ofthem except 20'live on the east side. It would make zo sense for them to build on the east side. The City could rent. that Kenilworth achool and use zi it for their homeless shelter for animals and people. The School District could use -the lent to zz build the new junior high, When it comes to paying your taxes there are phone numbers. at z3 each item you can call the° number and they'll explain to .you where your tax. money is going:. za There is a lot of talk about detention ponds and the Sonoma:County Water Agency- compared. zs commuters with` flood. waters. It was interesting. the way°they did it. The efficiency of a flood z6 channel .or highway is increased by gettingdownstream floodwater. or downstream. z~ commuters into the. channel or into the freeway early while there is capacity available. za -J T Wick -The Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce will .hold the Economic Development z9 Committee Breakfast meeting on Friday at 7:30 a.m. at the wastewater treatment plant, with 3o City Manager Fred Stouder as speaker on rates. The room capacity is about 30 persons. 31 ~ -Bill Bennett -Zone 2A Flood Control District funds are paid.:by us in the county also and 3z we have. received -absolutely no flooding- assistance. We get the assessments, you get the 33 benefits. Over the last 1.1 years. the City of Petaluma has.extiracted some $2 Million from the 3a rural community over this tax. This: farm land: has produced 3'0% of .all the revenue.that .the 3s City ofPetaluma has received.. You've taken our money and put it into the flood channel'. I 36 have a letter from the County counsel's :office which includes the state law providing,for this 37 assessment. I've read this document a -number of times ;and don't think the law is being 3a complied with. I don't. think the City of Petaluma has a right to draw a: circle around the 39 map, tax the people in the outlying. district and use their funds. I have talked to ao Councilmembers briefly, I am approaching the Supervisor anal the Sonoma County Water ai Agency that :administers these funds for the flood control district .and :we have `met: with a az stymie on every. effort we have made.. I represent a growing number. of homeowners, a3 property owners; farmers that are very upset:with what's going on. 'The problem is still alive. as We haven't' forgotten it. The. City 'h_as not changed its policy :and. continues to extract this as money in its 100%. entirety. We get. nothing and we pay '70% of it: We have our own. flood a6 problems and we need those to be addressed. _ a~ -Alice Bononu -there are a lot of cats that are not feral, they are :abandoned. Forgotten. as Felines, she called them. They are wonderful people with big hearts `but what's happening in a9 Petaluma this woman that wants to run the Humane Society is putting colonies out of cats. March 15, 1999 Vo1.32; Page 465 i They are not dead, they are starving. Some are sick. They keep putting them out and we take z them. in. Some are sick and have worms all over. The people know that they can dump 3 animals. They are ready to have babies. I took three out last month before they get them. a They cut half their ear off. You can't make a pet out of them. We usually find homes or s keep them. A friend of mine bought three acres of land so she could take in and she is out 6 there trapping right now: I trap them. These are not feral cats. They are tame animals and ~ when they first go out there they are the sweetest things. I would like to invite one of the s City Council who is interested in this to come and see what I have at my house. I have the 9 ones that have their ears cut off. You can pet them with one hand, but you don't pick them io up. The other ones will just come up to you and are the most loving things you could have ii for a pet. They used to tip the ears, but when you cut half of the ear off this is the most cruel iz thing like pulling the nails out of them which is against the law now. Nobody's feeding them. 13 -There were students, from, Casa Grande High School Government class. I'm Billie Texeira is from Casa Grande High School with me is Kyle Warren, Richard Kena and Jamie Brown. is He said they are present observing for their Government class. Basically we just have to i6 write what we see. The Mayor asked the students to be kind to the Council. Mayor E. Clark i~ Thompson congratulated them for the performance for winning the Statewide Academic is Decathlon. You have made us proud. 19 COI.INCII. COMMENT' - zo -Councilmember .Jane Hamilton to respond about the Airport Commission and Mr. zi Weisenfluh's request about the trees I will take that to the Airport Commission and ask them zz about that and put it on the agenda. I just want to clarify that the reason I asked for the City z3 Manage to request space in the Chamber of Commerce's newsletter is the article contained za opinions of Mr. Moynihan that were not factual and I have done this would do it at any time: zs that something is in print I will ask that it be responded to in print so that it reaches the same: z6 readership and I think that that's very appropriate I want it to be responded to in the same z~ venue and this will not be on the Council agenda this is just going to take about an hour of zs the City Manager's' time to write a response. Eor Bill Bennett and Zone 2A I would =like to z9 suggest that. perhaps. Bill and myself and Tom Hargis meet with Mike Kerns and just talk 3o through some of the issues because I know a little bit about it and I am interested in it and 31 think that Mike is the person to help us. 3z -Councilmember Pamela Torliatt, our Zone 2A representative is Councilmember Janice 33 Cader-Thompson probably should be a part of that. I also wanted to include the comments 34 regarding the Chamber newsletter I actually had asked for a copy of the package that 3s perspective business owners would receive if they wanted to come to our area and. one of 36 those things that was included in it was the Chamber newsletter. .And I thought to myself, 37 wow, if we are sending. this type of information with the President of the Chamber basically 3s bashing the Petaluma City Council and telling folks that we are not fiscally responsible which 39 we are and not working together with a Chamber not working together with their City ao Council would really tell me something about the community and `I hope that with Mr. Wick ai coming forward and asking us to come to the Economic Development I hope this and I az believe it is a handshake and a good feeling of `let's work together' because that's what we 43 need to be doing, we need to be showing a good representation that we are a united as community with. our school district, with our Chamber of Commerce especially if we want to as create business coming here. That just came to mind when I had received that package. I as also wanted to state that I attended the Local Government Commission conference along. a~ with Councilmember Matt Maguire and Councilmember Janice Cader-Thompson this last as four days that was located in Yosemite. There were a lot of local officials that were there 49 that were getting together to talk about Sustainable Community concepts. Other so representatives from cities were, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Windsor, we had our three -from si Petaluma and also four members out of the five on the Marin County Board of Supervisors Page 466, Vol. 32 March 15, 1999 i also attended which I thought was :really wgnderful. What I wanted to share with the z Councilmembets and the public is that. among many things-that became clear to me at the 3 conference were the city and .county officials need to work together including Sonoma and a Marin officials. It. was )ust really emphasized at this conference how it's -important for us to s communicate among.. each other. I also re=emphasized for me; you -need to need to use the s Sonoma County Transportation Authority to :promote :mare ,.sustainable transportation ~ projects. We also need. to implement: the Petaluma.River Enhancement Plan and the Bicycle s Plan because it~ is critical.. to ;promoting the sustainable community concept. in Petaluma. I also 9 think we need to rettunk. our capital improvement projects and rename: theme, to .include a io philosophy of promoting multimodal transportation improvements not. juste street n improvements. ..And our population :growth is increasing exponentially that was' very, very iz clear at this conference and it was re-emphasized and the' cities and the counties that are. 13 going to survive are the cities and the counties that are planning now to provide for a variety is of housing opportunities and a transportation, network that does not solely rely on the is automobile. I just wanted to share that with the Council and `we have some. other iriforma_ ton i6 that we can provide to the Council. i~ Councilmember -Matt Maguire I'd like staff to -follow up on the issue that: Don Weisenfluh is brought up on the„PG&E cutting the redwoods, I want to .make sure that they adhere to 19 whatever are the necessary permit procedures. are. Is there any replanting program, provided zo by PG&E? If you. can give the Council a memo on that he would appreciate it. If there is not zi and if'they are .cutting down ,good .sized redwood trees, then it may be time for us to find a zz way to encourage them to .replant. z3 Councilmember 1Nfichael Healy Mr. Weisenfluh's comments on tree .cutting, 'as a former za member of the Tice Advisory Committee 'I: can tell you that PG~&E is working-with our' City's zs Tree Advisory Committee on what I ,think. can 'be characterized as an experimental: program z6 replanting ,along B 'Street and_ I would :remind ;the other Council that we do have> a vacancy on z~ the Tree Advisory Committee with Teresa: Barrett's elevation to the Planning Commission. zs We need to get that seat filled: Ikon, I: hope you apply: z9 Vice Mayor.David Keller I want to support NIc: Flum's observations of Corona Creek what 3o you ace witnessing. is a change .from an engineered.,creek- to amore natural attempt by the 31 other forces of nature to recapture that as: a water :flow channel.: The vegetation _and .siltation 3z and :debris flows come along with that: The City has been working over the past. number of 33 years to develop plans with the Sonoma. County Water Agency as well as for its .own 3a operations to have what were know as drainage ways,, used to be known• as~'creeks, restored: 3s to biological as "well as hydraulic functioning. Hopefully as Corona Road and Corona Creek 36 has additional development activity we'll,get a handle on Cocoma Creek,as well and:turri,that 37 into better shape. I would like to have brought to a future.,agenda for us is that we .discuss' 3s the merits. and, shortcomings -of bring our city attorney in as a city employee rather than as _a 39 contract. employee and be able to define what that, job would' be, what kind of qualifications ao and what kind of responsibilities would come with that. I thinkk there is a likelihood•,that. we. ai could see some significant cost savings..in bringing. 'that position in house rather than ,a az contract position. as it is now. I would like us to have an oppprtunity to review that. So if a3 the Council would be interested in that I would. like to see that come to a future Council as meeting. as Councilmember 7anice Cader-Thompson :Everybody's made the same comments that. I was a6 going to make:. Thin weekend in Yosemite was `really 'great aiid next year I really hope the a~ staff and our City Manager Chamber. 'She will be happy to work, with Zone 2A on Bill as Bennett issue March 15, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 467 i PRESENTATION -FINANCIAL REPOR'T' AWARD z Finance Director David Spilman presented the CAFR Award for the quality of the annual. 3 financial report of the City. a PRESENTATION - WALIZA)BL)E CONTIVIUNITIES WORKSROPS s Wendi Kallins, Field Representative of the North Bay Environmental Institute will be 6 sponsoring a series of Walkable Communities workshops in the North Bay in June. These ~ workshops will provide information on how cities and neighborhoods can redesign their a streets to accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists. The City of Petaluma is being invited to 9 be a co-sponsor of the event. There will be a workshop in Santa Rosa on June 17 and one in io San Rafael on June 18. A local presentation on June 19 would be ideal, she said. ii Information will be provided on traffic calming, intersection and street crossings, ADA iz compliance, basic traffic and engineering principles and other techniques for increasing access 13 for bicycles and. pedestrians without compromising basic traffic flow. In-kind donations can is include room for the workshop, printing services, :graphic design, postage, audio visual is equipment, or providing lunch. Councilmembers had. suggestions for areas of interest: for 16 instance, Washington Street corridor and/or Central Petaluma specific Plan. Ms. Kallins can i~ be reached by telephone at 415-488-4101, FAX at 415-488-0925, or a-mail: is wkallins ~igc.anc:org. 19 STATUS REPORT DOWNTOWN/ PUTNAIVI PLAZA/ KELLER GARAGE zo The Keller Street Garage continues to experience problems with theft, vandalism, graffiti and zi loitering. Current police efforts in the garage are having. a positive effect on the problem. zz The associated costs are high. The department can continue to provide patrol services to the z3 garage as a regular duty of the Downtown -Area patrol program. za Problems include vehicle burglaries, theft, and. vandalism. These result in lost of a feeling of zs personal security by garage patrons. Compounding the problems, victims prefer not to use, z6 the garage and they will park elsewhere downtown. Also, compounding the problem is the z~ fact that merchants and their employees. who must ,park in the garage have been victimized zs repeatedly. Graffiti is .another problem, which if left unchecked leads to a general feeling that z9 the area is not secure and is attracting a criminal element. Loitering, drinking, skateboarding 3o and other crimes are also associated with the garage. Collectively, these activities create a 31 feeling of public insecurity. The case summary for 1998 was 51 burglaries, 28 alcohol or 3z drug problems, 9 vandalism, 6 found property, and 5 miscellaneous. In 1997 there were only 33 half that number. Chief Parks has not had an opportunity to talk to talk to Sgt. Lyons about- 3a these issues. 33 Lighting and structural changes are recommended as part of any solution. While attendants 36 and private security may be the most effective solution, they are the most expensive. Video 37 monitoring systems have the potential to deter crime and increase apprehensions of violators, 3s but that may be costly to maintain and to protect from vandalism 39 Cost recommendations are not being made due to the need for additional research and ao documentation on the proposals for consideration. The garage does have the potential of ai generating revenues for this cost by charging appropriate parking fees. Each of the possible az solutions has distinct advantages and disadvantages. All proposals will need budget .research. a3 Council wants more details on the specific garage issues, because in order to solve these as issues, you need to know the- problems. The Council asked what the incidents are and on Page 468, Vol. 32 March 15, 1999 i what floors, where on those floors, what is the cost of a security guard, what hours would be z best for a security officer, and how will. the guard communicate with `the Police to get 3 immediate response. 'The Council wants a presence there. at the garage. Staff was .requested a to look at secure parking on .top, -and on the other hand there v~ras coneern,about .securing. the s parking. on top. All of these issues could push parking into the neighborhoods: Staff was 6 asked to redouble their efforts. on pigeon. control, to look at the; possibility of a retail outlet in ~ thefree space at the garage entrance,. to. change the lights; to lighten the color of the ceiling, 8 and to look at installing: motion sensor lights.. Perhaps they could do a mural inside in the. 9 future; T.he cost of this:- is a: concern. The:. Council told staff not to charge businesses for io parking in the garage, because they pay the assessments on it now. ii Linda Buffo,-:Executive of the Downtown Association, has other ideas she obtained from. her iz attendance at a conference- of Downtown. Associations: and .she would. like to share that 13 information with the City. .She has worked with Traffic Engineer. He has some: of the is answers the Council requested. We also have -informatiorn -that is FAXed to the City is regularly. A few years ago Mayor Hilligoss asked for.lighf colored ceilings'in the garage and i6 no one paid any attention. The design for the °next parking garage. should be done very i7 differently than the Keller Street Garage.. The Council asked for the information staff has is gathered Ghat Mrs. Buffo. referred to. NL-s: Buffo said at the conference she attended, the 19 consensus was to have `on site attendants' and `enforcement.' zo The Council wants answers now. This has been going on for too many years: zi itES®. 99-631YCS zz ANNUAL INVESTMENT POI.IC z3 Resolution 99-63 NCS approving the annual investment policy for 1999: za "Investments shall be considered in the following order: (1) safe investments that protect Zs the :principal, (2) investments that are able to :meet; any cash demands of the city without z6 loss. of principal; and (3) interest rates of .the "investments are favorable. z~ "In addition, to the above it is a policy to invest City funds in a manner that supports zs socially .and environmentally responsible investment. To the extent possible, the `City z9 Treasures will not knowingly invest funds with agencies or corporations .that. do not 3o support .social or :environmental responsibility.: Specifically :disapproved investments 31 include tobacco, old growth redwood, ;nuclear power, weaponry, et cetera, or companies 3z which 'have a record of gross ecological and environmentaldegradation, gross violations 33 of workers' .rights, and countries that have shown gross violations of liuman rights, 34 "Authorized investments in money .market or mutual funds. to, the extent of'the State Law 3s if such'investments are socially or environmentally responsible investment portfolios with 36 the City Council's review and approval of the following; 37 "The fund shall meet the minimum requirements: of State Law'for such funds; 2. There is a 3a review .:available of the fund history, rate of return and types of investments for a five to 39 ten year period, 3. There. is a review of the types of investments for. hl'story of social and ao environmental responsibility.. 4. There is a. review 'of a risk analysis of the fund, and ai projections for the future earnings.. 5. The fund maintiains a weighted .maturity of,less :than. az five years. If'the :.fund has a weighted .:maturity greater than five years, then specifically 43 authorize investment of greater than five: years. And 6. Airy "other 'information necessary 44 to insure safety and liquidity of Cty`funds." March 15, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 469 ~ There was discussion about the City investing~in socially responsible mutual funds. The z Council was advised that both Calpers ($'150 Billion) and the LA1F ($34 Billion) 3 (Local Agency Investment Furid) are both reluctant to invest specifically in `socially a responsible' investments. It was suggested that the Council could consider investing. in s the Calvert socially responsible fund which earned 4.4% to 4.5% last year as opposed s to the LAIF which earned 5.64%. The City did send a letter to the state (Calpers, ~ LAIF, and State Treasurer) last year expressing their desire to invest in socially g responsible .funds. Staff was asked to do .that again this year. There was concern about 9 the risk to capital in mutual fund investments and that the City Council shouldn't be io putting itself in that risk. The City Council, for the most part, supported the above and ii added the word `weaponry' as shown in italics, above. *Councilmember Michael Healy iz expressed concern that the City does not have the resources to keep on top of this. 13 Councilmember Pamela Torliatt said the city's securities investor (Wells Fargo) will is take a look at this. Councilmember Matt Maguire said this is a classic case of trying to is turn the Titanic. It is time for such agencies as the City to state a position on these i6 investments. Introduced by Councilmember Matt Maguire and seconded by i~ Councilmember Pamela. Torliatt. 1s Ayes: Torliatt, Cader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, i9 Vice Mayor David Keller, Mayor E. Clark Thompson zo Nces: *Healy 21 Absent: None zz BAN'I'A1VI TERRACE I)ISCiJSSION z3 This was continued from the February 16 Council meeting. za Caroline Plugy-Hegner and Sandra Shand, both live in the 600 block of North Webster Street zs urged the Council to improve the drainage in the area. z6 Patricia Tuttle Brown is amazed at the inability between the City and the School to work . z~ something out. zs .The remaining issue is the City's desire to have a path connecting the fire access easement at z9 the bulb of a proposed public street behind a proposed. science building down a steep grade to 3o connect to another path.. near the ball field7recreation field area. 31 The School Board's opinion is that it would unsafe to have such a path that accesses the 3z campus from that corner (northeast) of the school property and then proceeds down'the steep: 33 hill (southerly). The School Board is concerned for the safety of students behind a building at 34 the edge of the school property where no supervision exists and concerned about the 3s potential liability from those using such a steep path. The proposed street referred~:to is one 36 that would connect to the approved fire access is near the ridge and connects to Bantam Way 37 north of the entrance of the school. 3s Mr. Bolman from the Petaluma School District presented the School Board's position to the 39 City Council. There was a great deal of discussion about the issue and there was no ao resolution reached on the issue at the Council meeting. Mr. Bolman noted that people are ai not allowed on .campus during school hours. The Board is willing to allow access to the az ridgeline. It is not appropriate for an access to be made on the easterly side of the school. a3 The applicant, Mr. Verriere, told the City Council that he has no leverage with the School as Board. Only the City would have such leverage. The applicant said the any more delays will as cause this project to be in a very tight time frame because of the normal processing of a a6 subdivision. In response to a Council question about the turn around time for plans, the Page 470, Vol. 32 March 15, 1999 i response was 90 days if the: plan approvals are expeditious. When'the discussion came to 2 persons being behind the ;science building, Gouncilmember Pamela Torliatt said it amazes -her 3 that in .:Petaluma there is such.. a fear' of places.. Gouncilmember Michael Healy .said he is .not a going to .second guess the School District on safety issues. That is what we elect the School s Boardfor. If the project snot approved, we lose the drainage improvements that would. help 6 the neighbors. Vice Mayor David. Keller said public. access is for the public ,good If the ~ school is'not willing to budge,. he would be willing-to :deny the application. Gouncilmember s Jane Hamilton°wanted a subcommittee of 3 Councilmembers and 3 School Board members to 9 meet with-:Dr. Wongand the City Manager to work this out.. io Mr. Verriere said if this 'is what you want to do we would want to withdraw the application tt or have it denied. Mr. Bolman said the City required additional. parkirig be installed and the iz School District has complied with that request. We do have an approved 4 lot subdivision 13 now. (This is for 3 more lots.) Mr. Vemere said he cannot: satisfy the condition that requires is that he negotiate with the School District for that .pathway, he .hereby- requested. that his is application be withdrawn. Richard Rudnansky aaid the other tentative map is still .in place. 16 The Council was advised the applicant has formally withdrawn the application. i~ With the loss of the subdivision, there will beano drainage fix, and no pathway on the i8 campus. Staff advised the drainage fix is $SU,000 but varies according to estimates.. Vice 19 Mayor .David .Keller wanted to have ,a proposal to fix the drainage .fix and a report on those Zo options. Gouncilmember Pamela Torliatt didn't want. this to go away. She: wanted the: si applicant ,to reinstate the application so that these: problems are unresolved. She is willing to Zs work with the School. District to continue to try to obtain a pedestrian. path. Mayor. E. Clark i3 Thompson asked 'the Council if':it. is willing to go with the staff alternate which would ,not za require him to .negotiate a .pathway with the School District: Planning Director Vin. -Smith Zs said with 7 .dots you get drainage improvements :and with 4 lots there aie no drainage z6 improvements. Gouncilmember Jane Hamilton it is important to make a decision tonight: 2~ Mayor E. Clark Thompson asked :Mr. Vemere if was willing to withdraw his withdrawal. za Mr. Verriere .said` he was willing to withdraw his withdrawal. :[ntroduced' by Gouncilmember z9 Michael Healy and seconded .by 'Gouncil'member Matt Maguire to.. adopt the. Negative 3o Declaration, authorize the General .Plan Amendment and approve the Tentative map adop"ting 31 Alternate- B of the Staff report .dated March l5 and including Condition 17:. Vice Mayor 3z David Keller wanted.. to make' sure that the sidewalk-'i_s all connected to the existing -sidewalk.. 33 Ayes: Healy, Torliatt, .fader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, Mayor E. Clark Thompson 34 Noes:. Vice.lvlayor David Keller 3s Absent:. None 36 .RESO.99=64: NCS 3a -,BAN~'~AIV>[ TERRACE -MITIGATED NEGATIVE: DECI,AltATION and TENTA'T'IVE 38 1VIAP 39 Resolution 99-64 NCS :approving a mitigated negative declaration. of environmental ,impact ao for the 7 lot Bantam Terrace :Subdivision which is located near the Petaluma `Junior High ai SchooL as RESO.99-65 NCS 43 BANTANT TERRACE - GENERAL. PLAN AMENT)1VTEI~TT as Resolution99-65 NCS authorizing. an amendment to the General Plari Land Use,Map for as Bantam Terrace Subdivision from. `School' to `Urban ;Standard' at'700 Bantam Way. March 15, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 471 1 * * * End of Bantam Terrace * z I2ES0.99-66 )`TCS 3 EIVI)C1yEN1' ID®1VYAIN a Resolution 99-66 NCS determining that the public interest and necessity require the s acquisition of certain easements and directing the filing of eminent domain proceedings for 6 the Payran Reach Flood Control Project on the following lots: 150 Graylawn (2 parcels) and ~ 91 Lakeville Highway. The public hearing was opened and since no one wished to speak the s hearing was closed. Introduced by Councilmember Matt Maguire and seconded by 9 Councilmember Jane Hamilton. to Ayes: Healy, Torliatt, Cader-Thompson, Hamilton, Maguire, i i Vice Mayor David Keller, Mayor E. Clark Thompson 1z Nces: None i3 Absent: None 14 is SAT'URIDAY 1VIGH'I' SPECIALS 16 The City Council considered a proposed ordinance to prohibit the sale of `Saturday Night 17 Special" handguns in Petaluma. A letter came in to the City today from Trutanich Michel, of is San Pedro regarding opposition to such an action. City Attorney Richard Rudnansky said i9 there is an appeal process to be set up by resolution at the next meeting if the Council zo chooses to take that- action. This follows the West Hollywood ordinance. This ordinance zi would also prohibit dealers from brokering sales and from gun shows from selling these zz weapons. Police Chief Pat Parks said there are a number of gun dealers that sell out of their z3 homes. He went on to say that some of these guns cost approximately $100 to $200; but, za some good guns also are in that price bracket. Of the `Saturday Night Specials' he said some zs have degradation of the firearm after it's fired repeatedly whether that's 50 times, 100 times; z6 whatever, that is the specific problem with the `junk guns' is that the alloys, zinc specifically, z~ and other materials that do degrade with heat and pressure, all of which are part of a zs firearm's functioning. iJltimately there is degradation of the weapon which endangers the z9 handler. It is hoped that Governor Davis will support statewide gun control with this 3o Legislature. The following persons spoke:. 31 Herb Williams - I've a resident of Petaluma since 1970. I'm also the President of the 3z California Rifle and Pistol Association with a membership of about 60,000. I speak as a 33 resident of Petaluma and also on behalf of the CRPA in opposition. to the proposed Saturday 3a Night Special. Over 30 .years ago, I was apprentice electronics mechanic and a wise old 3s journeyman .gave me some very good advice -when he .said, "If it's not broken, don't fix it." 36 As a professional electronics mechanic and as a hobby auto mechanic I learned over and over 37 the wisdom of those simple words. Tonight I'd like to pass that advice along to the Petaluma 3s City Council because this Council is proposing to fix a problem that doesn't exist. There is 39 no Saturday Night Special problem in Petaluma. There are many guns owned by Petalumans ao which are on the list of Saturday Night Specials, but none of them are blowing up and al injuring anyone. No Saturday Night Special is endangering the police or the citizens of az Petaluma. I'd like to suggest the Petaluma City Council table the Saturday Night Special ban a3 indefinitely and avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble, expense and ill-will from affected citizens. as There is presently pending in Sacramento a state Saturday Night Special ban SB-15 by as Senator Pellanco, Democrat of Los Angeles, which is presently before the Senate Public a6 Safety Committee. I understand that Senator Rob Wright, Democrat of Los Angeles;. is a~ drafting a Saturday Night Special bill also. Governor Davis has stated that he would like to as sign into law a Saturday Night Special ban this year and has asked the State Legislature to Page 472, Vol. 32 March 15, 1999 i get a bill to his desk. Clearly there is nothing, to be gained. by this City Council passing this z ban at this •time. Therefore the reasonable 'thing to do would be to table this issue and sit 3 back and see what the ;Legislature in Sacramento .is going.. to pass: The downside of going a ahead and. passing this. gun ban is you would: anger the citizerns of Petaluma who own these s guns: or plan to own them. Also the NRA ;and CRPA plans tc~ sue you if you pass it. As a 6 citizen. of Petaluma, I don't want to see my tax " dollars. squandered recklessly In ari ~ unnecessary :court battle. I ask the City Council to table this gun ban and 'I think you 'for this s opportunity to share my views: on this very important issue. . 9 Clayton Cramer, Rohnert Park - I am amazed at the nonsense I keep hearing- to justify the io ban on so called junk. guns: The most amazing claim of all is these "junk :guns" are so poorly u made that they are dangerous to the user. On January 26, Rohnert Park's Police Chief told iz the Rohnert.Park City Council that "junk guns'-' are so poorly.made that they explode after "40 13 - 50 rounds. This claim floored me. How could" a gun maker stay in businessif even one is gun in a thousand actually did that?. The lawyers would sue them into bankruptcy. is I located two .,standard works on firearms. product liability law to see .how many lawsuits 16 there .have been against the companies that these ordinances target. For the list: of ~~ manufacturers, I used the Santa Rosa Junk Gun Roster, which is the same one you will is probably adopt, "since: all the "junk gun" ordinances. that. have lbeen adopted in California are 19 identical... The two works I consulted were Bumann's Compendium of United 'States Product: zo Liability Cases and Turley- .and Rooks's .Fire. Arms ~ Liti ag tion .Law; Science. and. Practice. zi Bumann represents'; gun makers; Turley sues gun .makers. They. cover all'. reported :cases: from zz 1929 through 1.993: for Turley and :Rooks and Through 1994 for Bumann. Except -for one z3 out-of--court settlement, their list of suits against junk. gun. makers are identical. I also, did an za on line search on federal appellate court .cases for the years since then. " zs There was no shortage,of decisions. involving exploding :guns; and guns that went off'when z6 dropped--but none of these cases involved the "junk gun" makers. Indeed, .they often. z~ involved some of America's :most .prestigious gun, manufacturers, including .the. United States za Government's .Springfield Arsenal. A few cases involved. poor quality ,guns that the Gun. z9 Control Act of 1968 prohibited for importation. None of the makers on Santa. Rosa's Junk.. 3o Gun Roster ha$ ever been accused of making an exploding gum. None of the named. makers. 31 had. ever been accused of making a gun that fired when dropped. Indeed pretty typical. was 3z Shipman vs Jennings:Firearms, Inc.. 1.986; where thee. plaintiff admitted `that the pistol had no 33 design defects and:performed exactly as intended.' 3a Only two cases allege an unsafe .gun from .these .gun makers. One: was an out of court 3s settlement with F.I:E The gun in question lacked a magazinF: safety, which prevents a ,gun.. 36 from. being fired. when the magazine _s out of the gun:. It turns out that lots of, high quality 37 .pistols lack.:magazine safeties, including, the Clocks 'issued by many Police Departments in 3s this area. The other case :involved Bryco; one of their guns misfired ,damaging the hearing of 39 the shooter, who wasn't wearing hearing ;protection. ~ . ao The targeted manufacturers have made-millions of~guns.since 1968, and there is only one case ai that.even alleges a real .defect. Now, L.would agree there are probably cases that. didn't .make az it into the law books. But .if they happen, they must be .exceedingly rare--either ,that,, or the 43 lawyers who devote their Gives to suing gun manufacturers. have decided not to sue ,Saturday as Night Special makers. as There have been °more than a dozen surveys that measure how often guns :are used in self a6 defense in the U. S., ranging .from as few as :108,000 per year (from the National Crime. a~ Victims Agency Survey estimate), to as. much as 2':45 Million uses per .year (the Kleck and as Gertz study). It is clean that in the vast majority of defensive gun uses, the gun is not even March 15, 1999 Vo1.32, Page -473 i, fired. The mere sight of it causes violent. criminals to submit or leave. Even a "Saturday z Night Special" is sufficient for the purpose of threatening a criminal's life, thus protecting his 3 victim from rape, robbery, murder or aggravated assault. a Is there a value in keeping Saturday Night Specials off the market in the hopes of preventing s criminals of using them? Keep in mind it is already a felony for convicted felons to possess s guns of any sort. It is already a misdemeanor to transfer a firearm without a background ~ check and waiting period to anyone but a family member here in California. It is already a s crime to transfer a hand gun to anyone under 21 in California. Banning the sale of cheap 9 hand guns in the hopes of disarming criminals is a waste of time. A local ban on sales is far io less restrictive than the existing state laws that apply to all guns. ii Handgun Control, Incorporated's, second. chairman, Pete Shields, directly stated in a 1976 iz New Yorker interview that their strategy was to ban hand guns a slice at a time, until hand 13 gun ownership is legal only for Police, Military and Security Guards. That's why this is ordinance has a broad definition of "junk gun"--so broad that it needs a section that exempts is police officers from its provisions, allowing them to purchase. these "dangerous guns" --but i6 only adds inexpensive hand guns to the Junk Gun Roster. Cheap hand guns today, expensive i~ hand guns tomorrow. is Please vote No on ties ordinance. These guns are not unusually dangerous, and they allow 19 poor people, those who are most likely to be victims of violent crime, to defend themselves. zo Now let me also .give you the copy the materials that I provided to the Rohnert Park City zi Council. For some odd reason, theyhaven't even raised the subject .again since I handed this zz to them. So I presume they have learned something.from the experience. z3 Doug Peacocck - I'm a resident of Petaluma. I also would urge you to vote no on this za proposition. banning "junk guns". I believe that it would adversely affect the affordability for zs low income citizens who also have a right to bear arms who may not be able to afford more z6 expensive fire arms. I also believe that trying to make this law into ,effect would not be cost z~ effective and it would be a waste of taxpayer revenue and to produce the results that are zs essentially non-existent. I urge you to vote no on this proposition. Thank you. z9 Donald Kennemer - I have here a copy of the letter from Smith and Wesson, the name 3o probably some of you :have heard of. It mentions ;among other things the fact that the Smith 31 and Wesson design standards including material selection should be left to those entities that 3z best assess and fully evaluate the appropriateness and ramifications of decisions. Thee 33 firearms industry,. like. all modern .manufacturing industries, is constantly evaluating. materials 3a and manufacturing processees. The selection of modern metal alloys and polymers in no way 3s reflects an inferior product that is `cheaply made, inadequately designed, - ,and poorly.. 36 manufactured.' It does, in fact, reflect a modern evolutionary- industry that utilizes the latest 37 technology and modern metallurgy to produce better and safer products that meet the needs 3a of law enforcement and law abiding citizens. Then they go on to list a number of rather 39 expensive fire arms they make that would be encompassed by this proposed ban. For ao instance, they .even mentioned all 22 calibre pistols including the high end target model 41 ai used by national and international competitive shooting teams. Oddly enough, it just happens az to have an ..aluminum frame, but I wouldn't call it a cheap gun. The last time I saw a used a3 one it was $650 with nothing to go with it. No accessories, just the gun. Another thing that as is mentioned is in the bans proposed they mentioned copper units of pressure, as a technical as reference. To bring us up to speed .that hasn't been used in the industry since the 1970's. a6 We use pounds per square inch of pressure just like all of the rest of the engineering types. a~ Basically, what you're attempting to put out is something that will alienate the thinking, law as abiding citizen, and give the criminal a good laugh. And if you want to see .some "junk guns", Page 474, Vol. 32 March 15, 1999 i you ought to see the stuff the kids made during the `50's. .And they would kill you just as z dead as any gun from a factory. Thank you. 3 Peter Patrakis -the previous speakers regarding the .gun issue spoke eloquently and I won't a take up .too much.. of your time. I would like for you to think of the working poor that: can't s afford thousand; dollar guns, five-six hundred dollar guns, three hundred and fifty dollar guns. s They can't- afford, those kind of guns: So I urge you to consider the working- poor. 'That's ~ about :all, Thave to .say. That's very important. Some people .can afford. $800' shotguns, I saw s one the other. day, a 1.0 gauge pump was '$800: A beautiful gun, but what .poor person could 9 .afford that`to defend himself? When you stop and think of it, the poor people really need the io weapons. Around here you don't notice it, but if'youu d_ rive in an area where there are low ii income homes, I won't menton:ghettos, butt went through one one time in.San Franeiso and iz it scared me to death. And I wouldn't want `to live in an area like that. But those people 13 need guns more than' we do, so, I. urge you to think about that: In fact I urge. you. to: disregard is this junk-gun ban because there are a lot of guns in there that are not "junk guns". Some of is them in there are two inch barrels, Policemen use those guns. 'They don't have hammers and i6 they keep them in their boots: They `keep them in their' pockets. And you can fire 'it :from a i~ pocket. An Policemen: need those guns and from what I understand the Police were exempt is from these junk; guns": What's going to happen if a,Polceman shoots somebody with that- i9 junk gun that you have on that list? You're going to pay, the citizens of this community are zo going to pay big time. And lawyers don't care who they sue. So, thank you very much. zi Don Weisenfluh - a lot of .you. folks know what my career was,.. I retired 10 years ago :from zz the Armed Forces and "for twenty years.Main Infantry. I got'to tell you that regarding your z3 Saturday Night Specials, don't limit law abiding citizens folks fi`om their choice of hand-guns. za Criminals, as these gentlemen said,, will always ;have guns and. get a gun.. I can get a clean zs guns. I won't have to get registered, I can do than. under the table. It's, so easy. Some law z6 abiding folks can't afford your midrange price hand. guns.- If you pass an ordinance against z~ sale or possession of the ess expensive hand guns-;you maybe interfering with their ability to zs protect themselves. Despite your' best intentions, .and it sounds very good, you identify z9 criteria,. this metal will break. here„ this barrel will blow here, this is a junk. gun, it is 3o dangerous... that's smoke, that's smoke.. This: is a second amendment ,problem and it truly is 31 because this is just the nose of another camel. getting: underneath the tent Now, there's 3z already several noses of several camels underneath that tent.. Ism serious, I'm as serious as a 33 heartbeat: I really don't 'want to see my twenty years spent running around to the. Armed 34 Porces doing what I had:to. do, just. to watch my Bill of'Rights slowing; be eroded:, =That's all. 3s thin is. You start_corrung in with .other ways to infringe upon the rights, our Constitutional 36 Rights. .Any of the .laws that 'have been passed to` date infringing or impeding American 37 citizens- who haven't committed felonies to get a firearm, `I -feel. ins unconstitutional. That';s my 3s opinion; but there's a lot of laws out there that just make. the Second Amendment junk. I. can 39 " g0, Pat' can you .issue me a:permit tomorrow?, Pat, don't. answer that question, T already have ao the Second Amendment. ~I can carry.. But, you'll-say, `No, you'll go to jail." That's the, way ai I feel about- it: So, don't do this. This is a law you can't even enforce. You can go az someplace else pick up another one of these guns. and you'll still :have them in town,. a3 regardless of what's or. that .list: So, don't go there. It's really a Second Amendment as problem and you're' `infringing on that again. as Richard `Squalid -I've had a residence'in town-maybe 16 years and I'm note a public speaker a6 if I seem ~a little nervous, I apologize: I do take this very seriously and the- reason I do is a~ because I have seen a lot of things go on in this country and the. reason I bring it to this as meeting. is because United States is built up of small towns dike this and. together :make a a9 state, the states gigot together and formed 'a contract between them to have; a. central so govemment, if they :did certain hings. Now I hear talk: about'well there may be marshal law, si fthis Y2K doesn't work' or-something doesn't work: Well, what they don't. seem to realize March 15, 1999 Vo1.32, Page 475 i is marshal law is unconstitutional because it states in the Constitution, I'm sure you`ve all z read it but not recently, but if the Federal government can't rule by the laws written down in. 3 that contract, the power to govern reverts back to the states, and the people, respectively. a Now, if the Federal government wants to ban guns, they are in violation of the Constitution: s Now, because we are not subjects like they are in England where they are subjects to the 6 crown, we are free American citizens and I know people that have died for this Constitution ~ which I hold in my hand and I get a little emotional about it because dying is a reality. Now I a don't know if you know this or not, but if you call 911, say there is an emergency and 9 someone is breaking in and -they say sure we'll be right there, we're going to stop them right. io now, and on the way the Police officers or whoever comes out says, "Let's have a cup of u coffee, first," and they do that and something terrible happens to you or your family; iz somebody steals your child, and they get there two .hours later and you try to sue them for 13 negligence of any kind, it's been. established in the Courts that they are not responsible for is protecting you as an individual. Now I am sure not a lot of people know that because it's not is common knowledge. These are the things you need to remember. Now, I am so concerned 16 about this Constitution that I want to know who presented this to the Board and who wants i7 to violate my Constitutional Rights? I spent six years in the military. I know people have is died to uphold this. I see instead of being concerned about "junk guns", which is obviously 19 not the concern because there is nothing in there that I've heard you mention about a test, Zo you're going to test if this thing works or it doesn't work. That would be something of Zi meaning. All I want to do all it said in there is we'll give it a heading - "junk guns" -okay zz then let's throw this under the heading, let's throw this under the heading. Well it has. 23 .nothing to do with safety. If it had something to do with safety they'd pull it off the market za and would be able to sell it. It obviously has to do with something else. And as the zs gentlemen before me stated, it has to do with the Constitution. Because right now I spend s6 over 60% of my ..salary over my lifetime it's .going to be over 60% is going to go to pay for s~ some kind of fee, some kind of tax. The people behind. me, the kids, I have no kids, but I'm ss sure some day somebody's going to have to fight for this thing again. That's why I'm not, z9 giving up my gun. I'm keeping it oiled. Even. ifI have to leave it to some kid in the street. 3o Because, this is being eroded and it's not being eroded from up above, it's being eroded right 31 here. This is where the power is. When you forget that, you're going to be spending 80% to 3z 90% of everything you -make in taxes and if they get the guns you're not going to be able to 33 say `boo' about it. Look at other countries. Now if you want to be concerned about 34 something, be .concerned about how our present administration has seen China steal secrets 3s for multiple warheads and gone ahead and upgraded their missile delivery system. They can 36 drop it on us and Berkeley. If you're worrying about not being in the Military or not 37 supporting the Military, look what they did in .San Francisco. San Francisco said, no nukes. 3s So what did they do, the Pentagon closed down the port, they closed down ..I could go on 39 and on about ,it, but it seems to me quite evident, either you believe in this and you're an ao American or you're a traitor like they have in the White House. And you could say "what is ai is" until you are blue in the face. Now the first battles of the Revolutionary War were over az guns. Please don't forget that. Because I am trying not to have to make that decision when a3 they knock on my door. If you don't. want a gun in your house, fine. Don't get one: If as somebody comes around my house, I'm going to say don't rob my house, because as somebody'll get hurt. Go to his house or your house, they don't have a gun. And that'll be a6 just like they did in Florida with people that had. come in from out of the state, they buy a a~ rental car and because they have a carry law in Florida they picked on those people because as they didn't have guns. They were easy targets. If you want to destroy the Constitution and 49 leave your progeny to a revolution, go ahead, because you are well on the way. That's so happened in other countries: People have been slaughtered by the millions, Russia, China. si The major makers of guns make some kind of polymer gun, they all do it. You as a citizen. sz have a right to arrest somebody whose committing. a misdemeanor or felony in your presence.. s3 You have that right even if it wasn't in your presence. You are the authority. The authority 34 to rule comes from us. You can give it away or pretend you live in Disney Land or pretend Page 476, Vol. 32 March 15, 1999 i like the rest of the world,aren't building bomb shelters, which they are in Russia and' they are z putting grain in them..It has to do-with the Constitution. Read this (Constitution): 3 Lack Draggit- Citizen of Petaluma for 22 years. I only torught saw the right up of the a proposed ordinance but I had previously sent a list of questions which it appears have been s totally ignored. I have seen none of them covered. After reading the ordinance it has s answered to some extent some of them, but not all of them. It has :generated at least as many ~ questions and do you really want to go into all of these.. questions individually tonight or is s there some other way to handle it? You should have.received -rny letter long before today. Is 9 it only questions that .are presented verbally that. are consderecl. The additional. questions he io had were in handwriting and had been generated by reading i;he ordinance and hearing. the ii discussion tonight. 'The Council wished to see the new questions in writing. iz Bruce Henning - from a ong time local family, most of these people .are talking the truth 13 here. A couple of bumper stickers I brought .along - .Criminals prefer unarmed victims - ia Guns don't kill people, ,people: kill people. -this year will., go dawn in, history for: the first time is civilized nations have full gun registration, or streets will be safer, our police more efficient i6 and the world will :follow our lead into the future,. Adolph Hitler 193`5 - I :hope we don't go i~ than. route: L did spent two years in the Marine Corps and a year in Viet Nam.. If they want is to come and take my gun I'll give them a bullet first. 19 Councilmember Matt- Maguire move we introduce the ordinance and seconded bg Vice zo Mayor David Keller. zi Vice Mayor David Keller used to be a member of NRA, is familiar with fire: arms, very zz familiar with safe ;gun practices. The letter from this. attorney puts right on the nose, nearly z3 half of all American; households possess guns yet according to FBI statistics well over 99% of za the 230 .Million guns in the country are never used in crime. Dne percent is 2.3 Million. guns zs used in crime. Enough. Crime has a lot of :causes. 'Violent crime has multiple causations. z6 The solutions are multiple. There is no one solution, and I don't think anyone is under the z~ delusion or elusion that any one action taken by this body is the. answer. There needs to be zs controls on manufacture, training, ownership,. education, alternative dispute resolution. If the z9 answer to everybody, have a dispute is to shoot, we've got a bip, problem. Domestic violence 3i im rovement d improvements in the criminal justice system; what we have here 'is one 3o repvention an n the supply. Lethal, weapons that :are designed to do nothing but kill: These 3z are not target weapons despite: your claims that target weapons would fall on this, they do 33 not. Would like to have this voted on. 3a Councilmember Michael Healy the draft ordinance in addition 'to setting fines that have not 3s yet been determined. but there has been some discussion of that, also allows violations to be 36 punished by imprisonment -in the County jail for a period. not exceeding six months'. 'The 37 question is, if people are being remanded' into. custody for violation of a city misdemeanor 3s where do the costs of lie. City Attorney Rudnansky the.prosecution would.tie that of the'City 39 and the cost of= incarceration would :be; that of the County. The,. District Attorney would look ao to the City, Attorney's office to prosecute violations of the, Code. There are exceptions :and ai this maybe one of them but at this point :I :have not discussed this with, the District. Attorney. az Councilmember Michael Healy went on tb say this ordinance that is primarily of symbolic as value because all it does is prevent. the sale of "junk, guns" within fhe Cityaimits. It does not as purport to outlaw the ownership of those kinds. of'guns. So it is perfectly legal .even if this as passes is to go into a neighboring junsdiction where it is legal tq buy them and when :have. a6 them here.. It eems to me the real issue is the state legislation that has been referred fo, Last a~ session of he Legislature passed legislation on -this issue but it was vetoed by the ,governor. as Gubernatorial candidate Davis criticized the veto of that. It is likely ~we are ;going to see 49 legislation on the state level on this and the most. meaningful thing we can do is to ask March ls, 1999 Vo1,32, Page 477 t Sacramento to do that because the real issue is the sale statewide and quite .frankly the z manufacture of these weapons and many are manufactured in' Southern California. A 3 resolution of the City Council requesting the state legislature to pass legislation of that type. a Send the resolution to our representatives and perhaps to the entire state legislature. We do s have letters and threats of litigation. The West Hollywood case certainly resolves one issue, 6 a jurisdictional issue, a preemption issue. There appear to be other issues which are live. We 7 facing potential litigation with one set of individuals with a very strong agenda and limitless s resources and we know what that process feels like. If that passes, I'm not particularly 9 interested in spending money to defend it. io Councilmember Matt Maguire what do we typically do in crafting an ordinance like this i t about putting in the fine amount. I did ask that they be graduated fines. For a fine of not less tz than, Pat typically do ,you know what the know what a misdemeanor fine starts at? He 13 concurred with Councilmember Michael Healy it is appropriate to send the message -upwards is because it certainly the most effective. The legislature has been notoriously spotty to its track is record. It is appropriate to adopt this here. 16 Councilmember Janice Cader-Thompson I don't support this and I actually go along with Mr. t7 Healy to send correspondence. I just don't support it. I don't really like people come up and is put the fear in why we should not pass this. I don't particularly .like guns, I don't own a gun. 19 I have a dog. That's fine with me, but I'm not interested in taking people's rights away zo because people who want .guns are going to have guns. I don't think this is going to make zi much of a difference. I do find it .kind of interesting. People are talking about poor people zz and making gun access easier for people, I'm not a gun person so maybe I don't understand z3 that concept. I would rather the Council send a letter to the State requesting their action. on za this issue. _ She asked Mr. Williams -you brought this up -the SB-15 -would you go to the zs State and lobby .for SB-15 or are you just bringing that to our attention. He responded that z6 he was just bringing that to the Council's attention. He is opposed to SB-15 but he thinks it z7 is going to pass. zs City Attorney Richard Rudnansky I'm not sure we have a bail schedule on this at this point z9 but what we could do is at this point indicate a fine consistent with state law. 3o Councilmember Matt 1Vlaguire amended his motion to include that. 3t Councilmember Pamela Torliatt I concur with Councilmember Janice Cader-Thompson. I 3z will not be supporting this. I believe we do as. citizens have a right to bear arms no .matter 33 what they maybe and I'm not going to allow some folks to have them that may be illegal and 34 others not to. 3s MOTION FAII,ED 36 Ayes: Hamilton, Maguire, Vice Mayor David Keller 37 Nces: Healy. Torliatt, Cader-Thompson, Mayor E. Clark Thompson 3s Absent: None 39 Vice Mayor David Keller would like to .see a letter sent to -the legislature and the governor in ao support of a ban on "junk guns". Council concurred. at Councilmember Michael Healy noted that he doesn't buy into the Second Amendment az analysis: It's illegal to own a machine gun, a bazooka. The government can regulate these a3 kinds ofthings. as ItEP®I2T ON CL®SEID SESSI®N as Nothing to report out of closed session. Page 478, Vol, 32 March 15, 1999 1 AIDJOURN z At the rtleeting was adjourned. 4 S 6 ~ E. Clar ompson, `Mayor g ATTEST: 9 10 11 lz Patricia E. Bernard,. City-Clerk