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Meeting Date February 16, 2016
MEETING MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
LIVINGSTON CITY COUNCIL
JANUARY 19, 2016
A Regular Meeting of the Livingston City Council was held on January 19, 2016, in the City Council Chambers with Mayor Espinoza presiding.
REGULAR MEETING
Mayor Espinoza called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The pledge of allegiance to the flag was recited.
ROLL CALL
Mayor Rodrigo Espinoza
Mayor Pro-Tem Gurpal Samra
Council Member Jim Soria
Council Member Arturo Sicairos
Council Member Alex McCabe
CLOSED SESSION ANNOUNCEMENTS
No reportable action was taken.
Mayor Espinoza conducted a moment of silence in honor of Marge McFadden who passed away recently. Mrs. McFadden was an ex-Councilmember, Planning Commissioner, and City Treasurer for the City of Livingston.
CHANGES TO THE AGENDA
None.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REPORTS
Supervisor John Pedrozo Announcements and Reports.
John Pedrozo’s Administrative Assistant, Grethel Croasdale, announced that the County will host its next Town Hall meeting on February 24, 2016, at the Livingston City Council Chambers.
City Staff Announcements and Reports.
Police Chief Chavez provided crime statistics, animal control statistics, and gang enforcement statistics. He thanked those who sponsored Kops for Kids and donated toys to the community for Christmas.
Mayor Espinoza commented that there was recently a vehicle accident in town. He asked if speed bumps can be installed to discourage speeding.
Police Chief Chavez replied that his department looks at traffic counts, accident rates, calls to dispatch, and other safety related statistics before determining if speed bumps are appropriate.
A Cal Fire representative talked about incident rates within the City limits and incident rates outside the City limits. Specific incidents discussed included alarm soundings, medical aids, structure fires, and vehicle assists. There were a total of 1,418 incidents reported to the Livingston Fire Station during 2015. Moreover, the Livingston Fire Station is now Safe Surrender sites, which allows parents to drop-off their newborns and release their children to the State without repercussions. He talked about their preparation for El Nino, filling sandbags for the community to use during storms. In closings, the Fire Department will be conducting school inspections in January and February and has completed about half of those inspections to date. .
City Engineer Gouveia mentioned that Well #13 should be operating soon. Well #17 is currently being adjusted and should be operating soon.
City Manager Announcements and Reports.
Interim City Manager Ortiz mentioned that the City is working on a mid-year budget review. In addition, he mentioned that the City is receiving services from CVOC who provides staffing support at no cost to the City. CVOC’s mission for this program is to partner with organizations and help people learn skills for future employment. The agency pays for employment for a duration of 1,000 hours.
City Council Members’ Announcements and Reports.
Council Member McCabe mentioned that he recently attended a meeting with the County.
Council Member Soria reminded everyone to be aware of their surroundings during storms.
Mayor’s Announcements and Reports.
Mayor Espinoza announced that he attended a meeting with the County regarding ground service agreements. He learned a lot at that meeting and hopes to use that knowledge to benefit the City. Moreover, the City is considering extending Winton Parkway from B Street to F Street to help incentivize commercial projects. In closing, he mentioned that he would like the family of Marge McFadden to receive a plaque for her service and commitment to the City of Livingston.
CITIZEN COMMENTS
Mayor Espinoza opened Citizen Comments at 7:31 p.m.
Katherine Schell-Rodriguez. P.O. Box 163, mentioned that she viewed the last City Council meeting when the medical marijuana ordinance was discussed. During that meeting it was mentioned that the activity should be banned because there was no support for it during the public hearing. She believes that the lack of support for medical marijuana activities is due in part to lack of awareness about that meeting, because they felt that their opinion would not be considered, or because they feared repercussions for supporting a controversial activity.
Mayor Espinoza replied that this item was publicized in the newspaper and was reviewed by several jurisdictions. He believes that awareness about the subject and public hearing was not an issue.
Mayor Espinoza closed Citizen Comments at 7:34 p.m., as there were no further comments from the public.
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Waive the Second Reading and Adopt Ordinance No. 626 of the City Council of the City of Livingston Amending Title 5, Chapters 2, 3, 5 and 7 of the Livingston Municipal Code Prohibiting Commercial Marijuana (Cannabis) Activities and Regulating the Cultivation of Medical Marijuana Including Establishing an Exemption for Cultivation by Qualified Patients and Primary Caregivers.
2. Resolution No. 2016-02 of the City Council of the City of Livingston Authorizing Delegation of Authority to the Interim City Manager Regarding Industrial Disability Retirement Applications.
3. Approval of Minutes of Meeting held on December 1, 2015.
4. Approval of Minutes of Meeting held on December 11, 2015.
5. Approval of Warrant Register dated January 13, 2016.
Mayor Espinoza opened Public Comments at 7:37 p.m.
Katherine Schell-Rodriguez, P.O. Box 163, asked why emergency repairs were made to Wells #12 and #13.
Interim City Manager Ortiz replied that repairs were made to Well #12 when City Manger Duque was working for the City. The reference to Well #13 in the warrants is a typo that should instead reference Well #12.
Mayor Espinoza closed Public Comments at 7:42 p.m., as there were no further comments from the public
Motion: M/S Espinoza/McCabe to approve the Consent Calendar. The motion carried 5-0 by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Council Members: McCabe, Sicairos, Soria, Samra, Espinoza
NOES: Council Members: None
ABSENT: Council Members: None
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
6. Appointment of City Representative to the Merced County Mosquito Abatement District Board of Trustees.
Mayor Espinoza introduced this item.
Mayor Espinoza opened and subsequently closed Public Comments at 7:44 p.m., as there were no comments from the public.
Motion: M/S McCabe/Samra to appoint Mayor Espinoza to the Merced County Mosquito Abatement District Board of Trustees. The motion carried 5-0 by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Council Members: McCabe, Sicairos, Soria, Samra, Espinoza
NOES: Council Members: None
ABSENT: Council Members: None
7. Resolution No. 2016-03 Appointing Odilon Ortiz as Interim City Manager and Approving a Fourth Amendment to the Employment Agreement between the City of Livingston and Odilon Ortiz
Interim City Manager Ortiz left the Council Chambers at 7:45 p.m.
City Attorney Sanchez introduced this item. He noted that a interim city manager is needed because the previous city manager resigned in December.
Mayor Espinoza opened and subsequently closed Public Comments at 7:48 p.m., as there were no comments from the public.
Motion: M/S Sicairos/McCabe to adopt Resolution No. 2016-03 Appointing Odilon Ortiz as Interim City Manager and Approving a Fourth Amendment to the Employment Agreement between the City of Livingston and Odilon Ortiz. The motion carried 5-0 by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Council Members: McCabe, Sicairos, Soria, Samra, Espinoza
NOES: Council Members: None
ABSENT: Council Members: None
Interim City Manager Ortiz re-entered the Council Chambers after City Council took action on this item.
8. Downtown Beautification Project/Street Improvements.
City Attorney Sanchez reported that Council Member McCabe left the Council Chambers at 7:49 p.m. because of his interest in property within the downtown area.
City Engineer Gouveia introduced this item. He presented the site plan for this project and talked about landscaping improvements, sidewalk improvements, parking improvements, etc. He mentioned that there will be a reduction in parking spaces (total of 8).
Mayor Pro-Tem Samra recommended modifying the tree wells to include the City’s date of incorporation (1922), centering the text, and reducing the State map.
Mayor Espinoza opened public comments at 8:04 p.m.
Katherine Schell-Rodriguez, P.O. Box 163, was concerned about the impacts of parking reduction.
Contract City Planner Hatch replied that this project consists of on-street parking only and will have no impacts on the requirements for off-street parking. Many of the businesses on Main Street are not required to provide off-street parking because they existed before the City established parking requirements.
City Clerk Tony Silva mentioned that this is one of the best projects in Livingston. He asked about the start time and the total costs for the project.
City Engineer Gouveia replied that the bidding process will begin in February and that the project will cost approximately 1.3 million dollars.
Contract City Planner Hatch talked about City Street Tree Standards.
Mayor Pro-Tem Samra suggested that downtown trees not have berries, sap, or anything that makes a mess on the sidewalk.
Council Member Sicairos recommended selecting trees whose roots do not disrupt the sidewalk.
Council Member Soria asked how far apart the trees will be from each other.
City Engineer Gouveia replied that the trees will be 40-feet apart from each other.
City Council directed the Engineering Department to plant Chinese Pistachio and the Maiden Hair trees along Main Street.
City Attorney Sanchez mentioned that Council Member McCabe reentered the Council Chambers at 8:39 p.m., after Council finished discussing this item.
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