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1993 02 09 CC Minutes LA QUINTA CITY COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 9, 1993 Special meeting of the La Quinta City Council was called to order at 3:00 P.M. by Mayor Pena. PRESENT: Council Members Bangerter, Mccartney, Perkins, Sniff, Mayor Pena ABSENT: None CONFIRMATION OF AGENDA Confirmed PUBLIC COMMENT None CORRESPONDENCE a. Letter from La Quinta Chamber of Commerce regarding Capital Improvement Program. b. Letter from Paul Quill regarding improvements in the Yucatan Peninsula area. C. Letter from Boys and Girls Club of Coachella Valley regarding funding request. Council concurred on discussing these letters during the Study Session. STUDY SESSION 1. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF DRAFT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. Mr. Genovese, Interim City Manager, advised that on January 11, 1993, the Council received the Draft Capital Improvement Program, at which time the City's consultants walked the Council through the document. At that time, the Council identified their priorities which include the following: 1. Senior Center 2. Yucatan Peninsula 3. Widening of Washington including intersection and bridge) 4. Phase V Cove Improvements 5. Fritz Burns Park 6. North-South Streets Also, included are other projects which staff believes could be funded, in addition to the above-mentioned projects. He BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 2 February 9, 1993 then reviewed the improvements that have been authorized for FY 1992-93 and improvements to be authorized during FY 1993-94 and FY 1994-95. In response to Mayor Pena, Staff proceeded to review the status of the projects listed as follows: 1. Avenue 52 Bermudas/Washington Completed 2. La Quinta Retention Basin Not completed. 3. Phase IV Improvements Area A is complete; Area B is almost complete; Area C is complete 4. Civic Center Construction 75% complete. 5. Calle Tampico Under construction projected completion is mid-March. 6. Community Park North Design Design is complete. 7. Fritz Burns Park Design Design is complete. 8. Murphy Property Master Plan Will be presented to the Council at the next meeting. 9. Avenue 50 Median Landscape: Channel/Park Completed. 10. Senior Center Plans are at the County level for approval. 11. washington St./Whitewater Bridge Widening Bridge Widening is under design; Washington St. widening design is completed we're hung-up on right-of-way acquisition south of Highway 111. 12. Washington St. /Whitewater/Simon Same as previous report. 13. Adams St: Highway 111/Avenue 47 Design; and rough grading is done. Actual connection has not been done we're waiting for a report on the Federal funds. 14. washington/Miles Street Improvements County intends to call for bids in March. 15. Sports Complex Design Should be coming before the Council shortly. 16. Palm Royale Design Should be coming before the Council shortly. 17. Traffic Signal at Washington/Tampico Design and waiting for report on Federal funding. Council Member Bangerter questioned the status of the Senior Center. BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 3 February 9, 1993 Mr. Herman, Planning Director, advised that the County is preliminarily reviewing the bid documents and floor plans. County Counsel and the City's Attorney are still trying to negotiate the agreement and once that's done, we can utilize the CDBG Funds. Council Member Sniff asked if the funds for the Senior Center are available and Dan Miller with Rosenow, Spevacek Group advised the funds are available in both CDBG Funds and the Infrastructure Funds. Mayor Pena commented on the loss of State monies cities are experiencing. La Quinta has lost $1.5 million from the Redevelopment Agency and stands to lose another 20% this next year. Mr. Genovese advised that the State is looking at other mechanisms besides the 20%. However, the State's raid" on City funds should not affect the current schedule before the Council. Council Member Sniff asked if the Wymer situation could impact the Senior Center funding. Ms. Honeywell, City Attorney, advised that the Wymer case will not affect the two funding sources proposed for the Senior Center. Council Member Perkins asked if there is anything the cities can legally do about the State raiding the Redevelopment Agency, property tax, etc. Perhaps the cities could get together to do something about it. He noted that when the State was raiding the PERS fund, the public employees got together and got legislation passed to prevent that from happening. Council Member angerter advised that at the recent League of California Cities Conference they suggested enlisting all the cities to get involved in this effort. Mayor Pena agreed that there must be a united effort and perhaps this is something that should be raised at CVAG. Ms. Honeywell advised that the California Redevelopment Association considered a lawsuit on the theory that the tax increment that goes to the Redevelopment Agencies is a constitutionally set-up fund and that the legislature really doesn't have the authority to re-direct it. However, they have agreed not to do that, but rather try to educate the legislature that if they want to help get the State get back BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 4 February 9, 1993 on good fiscal footing, that redevelopment is one of the tools that can do that. Mr. Genovese advised that Phase V Improvements is critical in terms of time-frame. He noted that Phase V as presented does not include Westward Ho area nor the Bottlebrush area. Staff would like for Council to advise if they wish to have the listing modified. Staff will be asking for action from the Council at the next meeting. Mayor Pena felt that in light of the current economic situation throughout the Country, we need to stretch out the 5-year Capital Improvement Program and make the projects a little smaller so that we can proceed on a smaller scale, but still proceed. He suggested stretching out the 5-year plan to a 7-10-year plan and when the economy turns around, we can step up our phasing. Council Member Mccartney agreed to stretch out what can be stretched, but wasn't sure that stretching out a 5-year plan to 7 years is the answer. He wished to look at the revenue side and see where the balances are see where the revenue strategy plan is. If we're going to make prudent decisions, we need to figure out exactly where we are on the revenue side as well as the cost side. He believed that a 5-year look is manageable and felt comfortable with it. He also suggested a Citizen's Committee to look at the revenue raising opportunities and perhaps cost-reductions. Council Member Sniff also agreed that we should stay with a 5- year plan, noting that it can be modified as we go along. He also felt that Phase V needs to have a determination made so that we can proceed to the May 11th public hearing. Council Member Perkins pointed out that this document is not set in concrete and felt that it's important to let the people know that these are only goals. He felt that most of the projects presented could probably be done at least 50%-60% now and with the rest later on to show that we are moving and progressing. Council then discussed Phase V. Mayor Pena and Council Member Bangerter left the dias due to conflicts of interest. Mr. Reynolds, Public Works Director, advised that the original Phase V had a total expenditure of $11 million in construction costs. Of that amount, approximately $7 million was in RDA funds. Staff has come up with an alternative to doing the BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 5 February 9, 1993 entire lower end of the Cove by concentrating on the major streets Montezuma, Eisenhower and Sinaba, which is the extension of Ave. 52 and picking-up the Yucatan Peninsula. The total cost including sewers and under-grounding electrical in the Yucatan area is about $6.4 million. Of that amount, about $4 million would be RDA funds. If Federal funds are forthcoming, we can could get that amount down even more. In answer to questions by Council, Mr. Reynolds advised that the construction time would be nine to ten months. The Yucatan area would be completed last because it's farthest from th& source of the sanitary sewers and storm drains. It would take another $3 million to complete the remainder of this area. With regard to Phase VI, Council Member Sniff questioned the next logical step and Mr. Reynolds advised that the area between Montezuma and Nogales and could take in The Village or The Village could be a Phase VII. He noted that the area between Desert Club and Washington also has to be considered. He added that the problem with designing The Village is that a decision hasn't been made as to the Specific Plan is in the process of being reviewed. Council concurred on giving staff direction to proceed with the modified boundaries for Phase V for the May 11th public hearing. Discussion of Fritz urns Park. Mayor Pena left the dias due to a conflict of interest. Mr. Genovese advised that Phase I includes the south parking lot on old Avenue 52, swimming pool, aquatic building, and landscaping improvements around the frontage on Bermudas. It would not include the passive area, playground equipment, basketball courts or any renovation of the courts or new tennis courts or the recreational building. The total cost for Phase I is $1.9 million. In response to Council Member McCartney, Council Member Sniff advised that Landmark Land Co. made a $1 million mitigation payment for the loss of Jefferson Street to be used for parks and recreation. Some of those funds were used for the re- furbishing of the tennis courts and clearing of the park. That fund currently has $1.1 million. Council Member Sniff felt that Council needs to give some indication at this time whether or not to move forward with Phase I as it's been long-promised and long-needed. He was BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes February 9, 1993 very supportive of seeing something happen on that park site. He noted that it is designed so that it can be developed over four phases. Council Member Bangerter agreed that there is a need to get started on the park. Mr. Genovese advised that the funding sources for this park includes $500,000 in Quimby Act Funds; $1.1 million of Landmark Land Co. funds; and $291,000 in RDA funds. Council Member McCartney was concerned about using the Landmark monies in one area and wished to see it spread around. He supported the Fritz Burns park, but suggested that perhaps 80? of the funds could be used there with the remainder to some other community project that would have a like benefit. Council Member Sniff felt that spreading it around would lessen its impact. Following discussion, Council concurred on proceeding with Phase I of the development of Fritz Burns Park during 1993-94 with the exact funding to be determined as we move forward. Discussion of status of Westward Ho area. Council Member Sniff asked what the residents of Westward Ho could expect within the next year or so with regard to their street improvements. Mr. Reynolds advised that staff plans to survey the streets to see what can be done to make them maintainable until the funds are available to reconstruct the streets. Once he has that information along with a cost estimate he will request funding in the 1993-94 FY budget. In response to questions by Council, Mr. Reynolds advised that most all of the streets in that area need rebuilding although some are not as bad as others. Regarding the high school, he advised that its only impact would be on Dune Palms and Westward Ho. Staff is urging that they keep their buses on Adams Street rather than Dune Palms or Westward Ho. He pointed out that only half of Westward Ho is in La Quinta the other side is in Indio. Council encouraged staff to obtain that information as soon as possible. BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 7 February 9, 1993 Council Member Sniff asked what the possibility is of a low- water crossing like on Fred Waring. Mr. Reynolds advised that the Fred Waring crossing cost about $3.5 million, but it's longer than what we would be facing. He noted that some improvements were made to the Jefferson crossing a few years ago and since then it doesn't always fall apart. Dune Palms is irreparable at this time. The low water-crossings would be between $1.5 $2 million in each location. Council Member Sniff felt that with the high school going in, we should do at least one street and Mayor Pena suggested that we look to CVAG for some of the Measure A funds. Council Member Perkins noted that the Measure A funds are available, but a formal request has to be made. Discussion of Written Correspondence a. Letter from La Quinta Chamber of Commerce regarding Capital Improvement Program. Mayor Pena commented that Highway 111 and Washington intersection appears to be on everyone's priority list. Council Member Perkins believed that there are some improvements that could be made and he has asked Steve Speer to take a look at some possible modifications that could assist taking into consideration that eventually there will be major improvements taking place there. Council Member Sniff felt that it's also important to move forward with the completion of Adams. Mr. Reynolds advised that there is no reason why that section of street can't be completed. b. Letter from Paul Quill regarding improvements to Yucatan Peninsula area. This concern was previously discussed. b. Letter from Boys and Girls Club. Mayor Pena asked how many children the La Quinta Club is BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 8 February 9, 1993 serving and Mr. Mark Simon advised that there are 600. They have to be members, but there are scholarships available for those who cannot afford it. Council Member Sniff supported the request because it will provide something promptly. It's a sizable amount of money, the need is great and this is a worthy organization. He questioned how long a construction time they anticipate and Mr. Simon advised that a contract has been let to R. D. Pillow and it is an 8-month contract at a cost of $1.9 million. They have an annual operating budget of about $690,000. Council Member Sniff asked if the adjacent sand-dune could be used for fill and Mr. Simon advised that they would look into it. Mr. Genovese advised that staff will work with the Boys and Girls Club on the use of that sand-dune. In response to Mr. Genovese, Mr. Simon advised that there are three different areas of the building which can be accessed from the outside, which could be made available to the City. In answer to further questions, Mr. Simon advised that the site improvements will take about two months, so they would need the funds in two monthly payments. Council concurred on this request being agendized for action on March 2, 1993. BUSINESS SESSION 1. CONSIDERATION OF RECO??ENDATION FOR INVESTMENT FORMATION Mr. o'keilly, Finance Director, outlined some background for the formation of an Investment Committee. During discussion, Council concurred on the following: 1. Stressed that residents will be given priority, but residency will not be a requirement. 2. There will be two-year staggered terms with a limit of two consecutive terms. 3. Compensation should be $50 per meeting. 4. That qualifications of members should be more specific, perhaps stating such things as a background in banking, and/or finance and/or investments, etc. BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 9 February 9, 1993 Ms. Honeywell, City Attorney asked if Council wished her to prepare an amendment to the Code to delete some of the general requirements including residency for other boards/commissions in order to have specific criteria for each board/commission and they concurred in the affirmative. Council Member Sniff felt strongly that the Community Services Commissioners and Planning Commissioners should be residents of the City. Council Member McCartney felt that there should be a requirement for a background check and/or include an ethics section. Council Member Perkins suggested that the use of the terms advisory board or commission" should be used to denote whether or not residency is required. Mr. O'Reilly advised that this matter will be agendized for action at a subsequent meeting. STUDY SESSION....continued.... 2. DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF SPACE ALLOCATIONS, SPACE CONFIGURATIONS AND OTHER MATTERS RELATIVE TO THE CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX. Council Member Sniff advised that he had asked that this matter be agendized following a recent tour of the Civic Center because a number of concerns were expressed. Some of those concerns included space allocations and configuration of the partitions. Because of the time constraints, any changes desired need to be expressed as soon as possible. Council Member McCartney stated that he would like to know the total office space and the number of vacant office space, as it appears to him that there might be 25% vacant office space. If that is correct, he suggested that possibly the office spaces could be allocated differently and lease it out the remaining 25%. Council Member Bangerter commented that if this Council had been involved in the planning of the Civic Center, it naturally would have been different because it's like moving into someone else's home that they custom-built and you want to change everything. Her two concerns included the space allocation and the high partitions. She was concerned about the projection of that and the unfriendliness of it and the affect on the employee. BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 10 February 9, 1993 Council Member Sniff stated that one of the issues that surfaced was the size and configuration of the City Council office spaces, as he felt they are inadequate. He also agreed with the concern about the partitions. Council Member Perkins agreed that the Council offices are inadequate. He felt that with looking at the configuration of the conference room, the Mayor's office, the caucus room and the Council's two rooms, those can be reallocated in a different fashion. He felt that it would be very uncomfortable to sit in one of the Council offices and try to talk to a constituent. He also questioned the reason for 14 seats at the dais in the Council Chamber. He also commented on the beautiful patio and the employees sitting behind the high partitions he would rather see them replaced with glass. Council Member McCartney felt that the beauty of the building is that it brings in a lot of natural light and it needs to reach as many people as possible. He was concerned with the inflexibility of the partitions. The message is that everyone has their place and it doesn't have an openness to it. He agreed with the idea of using glass in the partitions to open it up. He was surprised at the size of the City Manager's office with a shower. He could see some changes that could be made there. Mans Peika pointed out that at one time, the Chamber of Commerce had been programmed into the building. The way it's designed, it's going to be hard to slice off a section to lease out. Regarding the partitions, he believed that incorporation of glass is definitely an option, although there would be some degradation of the acoustical element. Regarding the administration area, the previous City Council did not think there would be a lot of time spent in their offices. Council Member Perkins suggested making the Council offices into one room and using the caucus room as a second office to be shared and use the conference room as a caucus room. In response, Mr. Peika advised that the wall between the two Council offices is not a bearing wall. In response to Council Member Perkins, Mr. Peika advised that at the time of design, it was felt that the staff would also be sitting at the dais. Regarding the ability to spread out, he advised that each of the Council seats have a video screen and then there is one video screen for each two seats. Also, there are baffles built into the dais for support, which will make it difficult to spread out. BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 11 February 9, 1993 Council Member Sniff advised that there was a suggestion to move the City Manager to a smaller office and use that office for all four Council Members, which seemed viable. Council Member McCartney said that he had made that suggestion because of the size of it. Council Member Perkins suggested placing two Council in the caucus room and two in the existing Council offices with the wall removed. He also suggested that only ten chairs be placed at the dais and that we get a cost estimate for the glass in the partitions. Council Member Sniff noted that the other solution of placing all four Council in the City Manager's office would not require any structural changes or costs. In response to a question about furniture, Scot Free, Construction Supervisor with Lusardi advised that most of the offices have built-in furniture and all the free-standing furniture has already been ordered for the entire building. Mayor Pena agreed that we need to determine how much unused office space we will move in with and determine what the options are. Council Member McCartney felt that at the time we look at vacant space, we should look at records management and storage and whether or not records should be stored off-site. Mr. Genovese advised that staff is currently working on a surplus furniture plan to determine what other facilities it can be used in. Mr. Peika commented that the allocation of Council office space is a decision of the Council. Regarding the glass partitions, he can develop a drawing and ask the contractor for an estimate and come back to the Council with a report in a week or two. He pointed out the front partition is already planned to be glass. He will also get a price for removing the wall between the Council offices and making it one room. Also, regarding the use of the caucus room and the City Manager's office, they need to be looked at in terms of furniture layout and electrical outlets. Council Member Perkins disagreed with using the City Manager's office as he felt that it and the Mayor's office should be something nice. He felt that it would be simpler to convert the caucus room and the Council offices. BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 12 February 9, 1993 Council Member Bangerter said she could not support the cost of removing the wall between the Council offices just put one Council Member in each room. Council Member McCartney agreed with Council Member Perkins about the City Manager's office, that it's too large and shouldn't have a shower. Council Member Perkins felt that the Civic Center is very beautiful and unusual and that it will be a showplace which La Quinta should be proud of. He did ask that a cost be obtained for placing glass in the first two partitions. Council Member Sniff was not in favor of removing the wall in the Council offices he continued to favor using the City Manager's office as there is no need for it to be so large. If he's going to meet with people, he can use the conference room. Mayor Pena suggested that the City Manager could be moved the Ass't. City Manager's office and move other people around. He felt that space can be allocated in-house. Council Member Bangerter reiterated that she was not in favor of removing walls. Council Member McCartney reiterated that he believed that we should look to sub-dividing the City Manager's office. Council Member Perkins said he would like to get a figure on what it will cost to remove the wall. Council Member Sniff had no problem with getting cost figures, obviously it's going to cost something just to get this information. Mr. Peika advised that he would be back within two weeks with a report. Council concurred. CLOSED SESSION a. Discussion of on-going litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a) International Treasury Management/Denman Iowa Trust BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02 City Council Minutes 13 February 9, 1993 Council reconvened with no action being taken. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Res%ctfully submitted SAUNDRA L JUP?OLA City Clerk City of La Quinta California BIB] 01-20-96-U01 11:09:03AM-U01 CCMIN020993-U02