2003/01/28
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
JANUARY 28,2003
The City Council of the City of Anaheim met in special session, special meeting notice being
dated January 24, 2003, announcing the purpose of a workshop on the Underground
Conversion Program; Major Corridor Beatification/Aesthetic Program; Five-Year Capital
Improvement Plan for fiscal year 2002/03 through 2006/07; State College Boulevard Corridor
Master Plan and Median Island Concept Plan.
PRESENT: Mayor Curt Pringle, Council Members: Tom Tait, Shirley McCracken, Bob
Hernandez and Richard Chavez.
STAFF PRESENT: City Manager David Morgan, City Attorney Jack White, Assistant City Clerk
Cynthia Daniel-Garcia, Public Utilities General Manager Marcie Edwards, Public Utilities
Principal Electric Systems Designer Robert Templeton, Public Works City Engineer Gary
Johnson and Public Works Deputy City Engineer Russell Maguire.
A copy of the agenda for the meeting of the Anaheim City Council was posted on January 24,
2003 at the City Hall outside bulletin board.
Mayor Curt Pringle called the special meeting to order at 2:55 P.M. in the Council Chambers of
the Anaheim City Hall, 200 South Anaheim Boulevard.
WORKSHOPS:
1. Underground Conversion Program.
City Manager Morgan noted that some of the issues pertaining to the following workshops would
not be finalized until Council reached budget deliberations. He introduced Public Utilities
General Manager, Marcie Edwards, who presented the Underground Conversion Program.
Public Utilities Principal Electric Systems Designer, Robert Templeton, gave an overview and
update of last year's five-year plan, which had been updated as of January 1, 2003. He noted
that there were ongoing meetings with various departments prior to developing and producing
new projects and he referred to a power point presentation with the acceleration scenarios, hard
copy of which is available in the City Clerk's Office. He reported that 32 projects had been
completed and two projects, which were the Orange Avenue and State College Boulevard,
Phase I, were currently under construction. He noted that during the development of the plan
last year, it became evident through revenue projections that there would be a shortfall and to
maintain the status of the current plan and to add the two new projects, Utilities supplemented
$8.2 million with bond revenues. New projects added in 2002, he said, were Santa Ana Street,
Phase I and Nutwood/Cerritos. He presented an alternative list of projects to Council in
ascending order of dollar amount and noted that Utilities Department could pull projects from the
list or projects could be brought in through suggestions and coordination issues.
Mayor Pringle asked if the projects on that list would be alternatives, if funding permitted, and
Mr. Templeton responded that Utilities had looked at projects throughout the City and that the
alternatives could be some of the next projects pursued if there were no extenuating
circumstances that brought other projects ahead of those on the alternative list.
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
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Mr. Templeton explained that the current accelerated underground plan had approximately $33
million in corridor-related projects and were located on roads such as State College Boulevard,
Ball Road, La Palma Avenue, Harbor Boulevard and Brookhurst Street. He said an average
base line of $10 million annually had been funded for the current five-year plan.
Manager Edwards explained that the program was a pay-as-you-go program, which had
experienced a one-time transfer to augment a revenue shortfall.
Mr. Templeton noted that with acceleration scenario number 1, Utilities had looked at liability
issues and coordination with other proposed projects that Utilities had planned to do, which
included areas of Santa Ana Canyon Road, La Palma Avenue and Lincoln at Rio Vista Street
and it was to the benefit of the City, from a liability point of view, to get the transmission lines
underground. Scenario number 1 would require $29 million, he informed, and the debt service
would be approximately $1.9 million for 30-years. Scenario number 2 included scenario number
1 with several projects added, he said, including another phase of La Palma Avenue and
sections of Euclid Street in between existing undergrounding projects and would be $40 million
to implement. which would come from bond proceeds. Debt service for scenario number 2
would be $2.6 million for 30-years, he added.
Manager Edwards commented on funding alternatives and said that the scenarios accelerated
the work schedule and did so by committing some of the forward revenue strength to debt
service. She noted that the four percent transfer could potentially be changed.
City Manager Morgan stated that four percent of the utility bill went into the undergrounding
program and it was a policy that was established to help fund the program. He said what
Council had seen on an acceleration scenario involved bringing the current policy cash flow
forward to get some things done sooner than later. Council could consider changing the policy
to possibly six percent, which would increase the amount from $10 million to $15 million and
rate increases would be necessary in order to fund, he said. There was also only a certain
amount of undergrounding that the community could tolerate, he said, in terms of streets being
torn up.
Manager Edwards stated that Utilities had continued to revisit the ten-year performance
associated with operating the utility to improve efficiencies and productivity to be able to free up
.5 percent or a percent from utility revenue that Council would then have the potential to
augment the undergrounding fund.
Mayor Pringle asked if the four percent brought in approximately $10 million and Manager
Edwards said anywhere from $7 million to $10 million. Part of the reason behind the $8.2
million, she informed, was that Utilities had experienced a 12 percent drop in revenues because
of weather in January and that reflected itself in the collection of the four percent and it was then
augmented.
Mayor Pringle asked if projects were scheduled so that there were not multiple projects in the
same type of area. Manager Edwards said that there was a significant amount of advanced
planning and coordination and much of it was placed in the Public Works presentation as
opposed to the undergrounding. She informed that Utilities undergrounded at the rate of 100 to
200 feet per day and it was better to have Utilities in front of or behind, than in the same
intersection at the same time as Public Works. If Utilities only did their construction in the areas
that were already disrupted for street beautification or street widening, she said, the
undergrounding program would be cut by two thirds.
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Mayor Pringle asked how quickly Utilities could be in and out independent of any other work
being done there. Mr. Templeton said that the trenching, which was the largest impact on the
roadway, moved up the street at a fairly rapid pace and may encumber 600 feet of the roadway
with all of the coning and 100 to 200 feet of trenching. He explained that a job such as State
College Boulevard was scheduled for almost one-year in construction and that the first half of
that was 12,000 feet of trenching, which would take place over a four to six month period.
In response to Mayor Pringle, Mr. Templeton said that the length or open cut of the trench was
approximately 200 feet long and the coning was approximately 600 feet in length. He noted that
Pacific Bell (SBC) and Adelphia had a difficult time keeping up with the undergrounding
schedules.
Manager Edwards said that may result in significant delays and it sometimes took six to eight
months to catch up.
Mayor Pringle asked if Utilities had considered doing the work for the communication utilities
and then billing them for the service. Mr. Templeton explained that Utilities did what was called
joint trenching and Council had approved joint trenching agreements where Utilities built their
physical, civil infrastructure for them as part of the City's projects and there was a cost sharing
agreement that took place. The actual splicing was done through their contractors and
personnel, he said, and Utilities had never considered cutting over the high caps, even though
Utilities had given them the facilities to put the undergrounding in.
Manager Edwards said that frequently poles would be up with only telecommunication cables on
them. She said it was not entirely an issue of funding with the communication groups, it was
staffing and they had difficulties even hiring contractors and that had been the constraint factor
on Utilities advance funding and then asking for payment. She said that the communications
frequently waited until they could have their people do the work since it cost them less.
Mr. Templeton said that Utilities planned months and years in advance, in concept, and project
implementation during the design phase was approximately 13 months.
Mayor Pringle asked if there was a contract with the communication companies and they did not
deliver and was there anything in the contract that stated the City would do the work for them
and then bill them and Mr. Templeton said there was not. He said that there was the date that
Council approved, which was the completion of the project in that underground district, and they
were to hold to that.
Mayor Pringle noted he would like explore how to set deadlines for the communication groups in
the original negotiation or a means by which the City would do it themselves, even hiring outside
contractors to do it for them, and then bill them.
City Manager Morgan said that could be done.
Council Member McCracken asked if there had already been issues with former Pac Bell in
cases that the City had done the work and then tried to bill them.
Manager Edwards said that a project had been done that Pac Bell had said they felt was outside
of the criteria as defined by Council's outline on undergrounding and the City paid for it and tried
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 4
to collect on it. The City had actually paid for it under protest and took Pac Bell to court, she
said.
City Manager Morgan stated that this had also happened in the Arrowhead Pond area where
the City chose to move ahead and get it done because of the overriding priorities that they were
trying to accomplish.
Mayor Pringle asked if there were any instances in a coordinated undergrounding plan where
they work with the City for one or two years and then they don't fulfill that time window.
Manager Edwards said that this had more to do with projects that they did not believe fit the
criteria as opposed to those that they had agreed to.
City Attorney White said that those were projects that the City had attempted to force Pac Bell to
underground without their cooperation or agreement and if the City had an agreement with Pac
Bell, remedies could be built into that agreement to allow the City to underground.
Mayor Pringle asked to find ways to move forward faster. Manager Edwards stated that part of
it was jurisdictional and some controlled by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
There had not been a great deal of receptivity in the last couple of years at the CPUC about
taking dollars either out of telecom or out of the investor-owned utilities and cause them to use it
for undergrounding, she noted. She said that Utilities had not had much success in developing
the leverage necessary to be able to move the communication groups into a more formalized
agreement and Utilities desired to support Council in the long-range objectives of the City under
the structure of the undergrounding districts. Utilities would review whatever potential leverage
they may have to move forward.
Mayor Pringle noted that in looking at the southern California service area, there was not all that
many areas that were aggressive in undergrounding and Manager Edwards stated that there
was a protest in at Public Utilities Commission with respect to trying to cause Edison to
underground to a greater extent than Rule 20 currently allowed. The California Public Utilities
Commission had presently not shown the willingness to have them spend dollars in that area,
she added.
Mr. Templeton said that staff recommended proceeding with the pay-as-you-go proposed plan
for fiscal years 2003/04 through 2007/08 and either acceleration Scenario number 1 and borrow
$29 million or Scenario number 2 and borrow $40 million.
City Manager Morgan said that in terms of the recommendations, Council may wish to wait until
they see the Public Works presentations on beautification programs that relate to the
undergrounding and to understand how they are linked together. Council may wish to make
decisions to either change what the priorities were under the pay-as-you-go or to move to one of
the accelerations scenarios as part of the budget deliberations, he finalized.
Council Member McCracken asked what the average cost per mile was and Manager Edwards
said it was a little over $1 million per mile. Council Member McCracken said if the City
borrowed $29 million over 30 years it would be about $57 million and the $40 million for
Scenario 2 would be $78 million and the cost would almost double per mile.
Manager Edwards stated that there were costs associated with acceleration and it was
important to understand that borrowing money was never going to look any better since interest
rates were low. She suggested, given the current economic structure and where Utilities was in
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 5
terms of available leverage for other participants and what the acceleration did in terms of
impacts to the community, that for this planning year, Council retain the pay-as-you-go focus
and start to potentially move forward other projects that might have a greater desirability from
Council's perspective and move them higher up into the overall planning process. She said she
did not discount the potential to borrow in subsequent years since she believed that there might
be some benefit.
City Manager Morgan stated that the City's utility was still 30 to 40 percent under Edison and
that Council had options and if the priority of Council was to move the undergrounding along,
there were other ways to fund besides borrowing.
Mayor Pringle asked to move forward aggressively in the undergrounding plan and he said that
this was a window of opportunity for the community. He questioned some areas in terms of
priority and he looked at the north/south streets as major corridors that were not receiving much
attention. He mentioned Magnolia and said that the investment of the public dollar in the streets
improved the private dollars in the streets and there was not even a median on the street,
nothing in the parkways and every power line crossed over the street. He added that he would
like to see Magnolia, Brookhurst and Euclid Streets expedited since they were all entry points to
the City from the 91 Freeway.
Council Member Tait noted that the program beautified corridors and he said that the benefit of
borrowing would be that the City would have them for people to enjoy for the next 20-years. He
said that there would be added cost and risk but it would have a very large benefit by improving
the corridors now, especially with the rates being so low. He asked to get the projects done
quickly.
Manager Edwards said that Utilities would bring another capital borrowing plan that the
acceleration could be bundled with.
Mayor Pringle asked what the present rates were on this type of borrowing and Manager
Edwards stated that the last borrowing that Utilities did was 4.97 true interest cost and the
interest was less for water. The concept of being able to pull out a percent of operating
expenses and reallocate one percent was something that Utilities was striving for inside the
agency, she said.
Council Member Hernandez asked what type of provisions had been made for expansion and
growth and Manager Edwards responded that engineering reliability was largely ruled
underneath that and Utilities was structured with a series of ten substations within the City's
territory. Transmission lines were the connectors between the ten substations and growth
requirements and transmission and distribution-related requirements were on a parallel path
and they looked for ways to grow. A gas insulated substation would be brought forward and
would be a piece of equipment made architecturally appropriate for a neighborhood, she said,
and Utilities wanted the undergrounding to connect to that substation so that there would be no
visible lines.
At 3:35 P.M., Mayor Pringle moved, seconded by Council Member McCracken, to adjourn the
special meeting and convene the regular meeting of January 28, 2003. Motion carried
unanimously.
2. Major Corridor Beautification/Aesthetic Program; Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan;
Fiscal Year 2002/03 through 2006/07.
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City Manager Morgan introduced Public Works City Engineer, Gary Johnson, who presented the
Corridor Beautification.
Director Johnson stated that the Utilities Department had been cooperative and flexible in
working with Public Works where grant-funded projects had short time lines and the
coordination between the departments had gone well. He reviewed some of the work done over
the last five years and by Council policy, Public Works had been heavily involved in projects
such as elimination of unnecessary signs and consolidation of signs on signposts in the public
right of way. Public Works had developed and improved standards for construction; revised the
street tree master plan; created new standards to locate and screen utility devices in the public
right of way; designed the new bus shelter and bus benches had been introduced in the
community, he informed. The comprehensive venue sign program had been completed in the
Stadium Resort area, which would allow Public Works to take out all of the smaller signs
throughout the area and entryway monuments and signs had been introduced into the City, he
noted. He spoke about the freeways and said the State work on 1-5 was complete and there
was a project in progress to landscape all of the arterial crossings of 1-5 and the City was
partnering with CalTrans on a few projects on the 91 Freeway where there was landscape
restoration, which would be enhanced through Community Development and redevelopment
efforts.
Mayor Pringle asked about the 91 Freeway participating with landscaping work and Director
Johnson said that CalTrans was doing a restoration of existing landscaping project on dead or
dying landscaping. The City had been working with CalTrans at certain locations where the City
had projects or where the City wanted CalTrans to enhance landscaping. CalTrans had allowed
the City to participate financially by providing additional funding so more work and
enhancements could be made. He said he did not know that a non-compete clause had
prohibited CalTrans from planting a tree or placing a decorative wall in the area. He noted that
there were certain areas in Anaheim hills that had nothing and it was the most stark freeway in
the entire Orange County system. He asked where CalTrans was participating and he asked to
have details regarding the enhanced landscaping and funding and Director Johnson responded
that he would provide the information at a later date.
Director Johnson stated that Public Works had a five-year program that would be updated
annually through the five-year capital improvement program and a facility would be added this
year as the budget was adopted. He said that all planned Utility Department funding was
dependent upon a combined and continued interpretation that the expenditures were qualified
public benefit expenditures under Assembly Bill 1890. He said there would be nine miles of
landscaping under the five-year plan as funded under the $2.5 million per year and
supplemental to that, through the grant program, Orange County Transportation Authority and
federal funding; Public Works believed that they would be able to add another seven miles,
which would be 16 miles of corridor beautification that would be implemented over a five-year
period. The condition of all the major corridors was reviewed in connection with the
beautification program update and the Lincoln Avenue and State College Master Plans were
presented, he informed. In August 2001, Public Works provided an update on their progress
and did so again in September 2002 and introduced the five-year plan.
City Manager Morgan said that there was the assumption of Utility participation through the
public benefit fund made on financing for the $2.5 million per year and also that the Community
Improvement Fund, which was currently appropriated at $3 million per year, assumed that $1.5
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
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PAGE 7
million of the $3 million went into the corridor five-year plan. The Council had options to do that
differently during the budget deliberations, he said.
Deputy City Engineer, Russell Maguire, presented highlights of the current five-year plan. He
said that the major elements of the current plan were along Lincoln Avenue, west of the 1-5
Freeway, along State College Boulevard, along Lincoln Avenue, east of East Street, along Ball
Road, west of Euclid Street and Katella Avenue, west of Ninth Street. Deputy City Engineer
Maguire referred to a power point presentation, hard copy available in the City Clerk's office.
Deputy Engineer Maguire explained that Lincoln Avenue West was the median island and
beautification project, which was from the 1-5 Freeway to the westerly City limits and was being
done in conformance with the 1999 master plan. Phase I of the project, Magnolia to Gilbert,
was completed in September 2000 and accepted in January 2001; Phase II, east of Euclid to
Gilbert, was basically completed and was ready to go into its landscape establishment period;
Phase III, Magnolia to Beach, was just completed and had gone into its landscape
establishment period; Phase IV, Beach Boulevard to the westerly City limits, was currently
under construction and expected to be complete in April 2003 and Phase V, east of Loara to
east of Euclid where the railroad crossing was, and the project was being coordinated with a
highway and railroad crossing project, which was tentatively scheduled in 2006/07, depending
on a grant application being successful, he informed. The last part of the corridor was at the 1-5
Freeway, east of Loara and was included in the freeway landscaping project currently under
construction and was scheduled for completion in the summer. He explained that State College
Boulevard originally had a 1998 master plan, which was currently being updated and what
would be developed would be alternative landscape concepts for the median, based on what
had been previously included and the alternative, which would include turf. He said currently
scheduled projects to be implemented per the updated master plan were Phase I, SR-91
Freeway to La Palma Avenue, which was currently under design and was planned on being
awarded at the end of the fiscal year; Phase II, La Palma Avenue to Lincoln Avenue, which was
also currently under design and would be awarded in the beginning of the next fiscal year;
Phase III, Lincoln Avenue Ball Road, was planned to start design and be awarded towards the
end of the next fiscal year. The projects were being planned with current and planned
undergrounding as well as intersection and highway widening projects, he informed. The
Lincoln Avenue, East Street to east City limits, master plan was currently scheduled to be
developed this fiscal year and would include alternative landscape concepts and was scheduled
to be presented to Council in the middle of this calendar year. Once Public Works had the
master plan, the implementation was for Phase I, East Street to State College in 2004/05, and
Phase II, State College to Sun kist, in the same year and planned to go in conjunction with a
currently budgeted highway project, which would handle the north parkway and median island
and beautification program. He said that Ball Road west, Euclid to the westerly City limits,
master plan was scheduled for 2004/05 and should come to the Council in the beginning of
calendar year 2005. Once Public Works had the master plan, the current implementation
program would have Phase I, Euclid to Brookhurst Street, and Phase II, Gilbert to Magnolia, in
the 2005/06 fiscal year; Phase III, Magnolia to Beach and Phase IV and Beach Boulevard to the
westerly City limits in 2006/07. He mentioned the Katella Smart Street project, Ninth Street to
westerly City limits, coming into the years where the next segment of the smart street funding
through Orange County Transportation Authority had begun and Public Works was working on a
landscape concept plan that would be presented to Council in the next few months. Public
Works would be implementing the roadway project for the Smart Street Program and the
landscaping per the concept approved by Council. He noted that the first concept was Ninth
Street to Humor and construction was planned for 2005/06.
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
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Mr. Maguire said that in addition to the five-year beautification program, Council was given a list
of the major budgeted and probable budgeted capital improvement projects that included
beautification or aesthetic elements over the five-year period of 2002/03 through 2006/07. In
addition to that, he informed, there was a map in the attachment that showed Citywide and
mainly listed the proposed beautification and aesthetic projects and the related budgeted or
probable budgeted capital project that included aesthetics.
Mayor Pringle pointed out the north/south entrances to the City, such as Magnolia, Brookhurst
and Euclid Streets. Deputy Engineer Maguire said that those streets were listed in the program
and were part of the approximately 39-miles of major corridors that were in need.
Director Johnson asked for input from the Council and said that if Council had a desire to start
focusing more on the north/south arterials in the central and west part of the City, there was
another year of programming and the Ball Road program had not been started and would be an
option for Council. He noted that the Public Utilities General Manager had mentioned the
potential to accelerate undergrounding and more beautification projects were being conducted.
There were always rehabilitation projects on arterial highways and the community accepted the
projects when they were completed, he said. Public Works continuously tried to upgrade
contract specifications and tried to fit those requirements with the specific project, whether they
were dealing with strip commercial with a lot of driveways or residential in the project area, he
added.
Mayor Pringle said Lincoln Avenue east was an area that had been undergrounded previously
and now the City was going in to do the landscaping. Deputy Engineer Maguire said part of it
was and that they were also working on State College on the north/south portion. He reported
that the east/west portion had previously been completed and north/south was under
construction and the beautification project, both on State College and on Lincoln was
considered, coordinated and followed their undergrounding and was coordinated with the
intersection widening project at State College and Lincoln and the Lincoln widening project from
State College to Sunkist.
Director Johnson stated that one of the concepts used when doing a master plan and starting a
corridor, Public Works would like to finish it and go to another one and that they could move
around. The current plan and vision was doing long stretches of corridors to get continuity, he
informed.
Mayor Pringle asked if Public Works had ever followed up in a survey context with some of the
businesses within the area. He said that one of the disadvantages of the strategy was that
Public Works would be there longer and when a project was in a corridor for a long period of
time, it was inconvenient for residences and they did not visit those areas. He said he believed
that there had been a dramatic drop off in business services in certain areas where there was
an extended period of time of roadwork.
Director Johnson stated that Public Works had not gotten much feedback and had not gone out
to do scientific survey work and it was a strategy to consider. He said that Public Works could
do a mile, skip one-year and then come back and do work in a subsequent year. He said that
people liked the project once it was completed but it had disrupted traffic since they worked on
major thoroughfares and it shifted traffic to other parallel arterials.
In the original coordination and consideration of State College, Deputy Engineer Maguire said
that the decision to work on the undergrounding first and follow it with a median island project
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
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PAGE 9
was to minimize the impact. While Utilities was doing the undergrounding, they shifted traffic
into where the median would be and then when the median was being built, traffic would need
to be shifted where the undergrounding work was, he informed. By doing the work in this
sequence, it left each operation enough room to have enough traffic lanes left to have traffic
volumes continue down the corridor. State College and Lincoln projects conflict with each other
rather than complimenting each other.
Mayor Pringle asked what was done with the businesses along the streets so that they know
ahead of time and what was done in terms of street notification signs. Mr. Maguire said that
signs were done on every project to let the public know what the project was, how far it ran and
when it would be completed.
Council Member Chavez said that with the bond money, schools were doing quite a bit of
infrastructure work such as on Harbor Boulevard between Vermont and Ball Road. He asked if
there had been communication with the school districts on what they were doing so that the City
could coordinate and Mr. Maguire said that the City did. There was a project planned to follow
them immediately to widen from their school project up to Vermont, which was also coordinated
with the undergrounding, he informed.
Council Member McCracken asked if there were any financial opportunities in redevelopment
areas to do some landscaping and intersections. Director Johnson stated that the Brookhurst
Street segment south of 1-5 Freeway was an example of a project that the Redevelopment
Agency had an interest in and had done design work for so it would be possible for Public
Works to leverage or enhance the $2.5 million program as they found outside opportunities as
well as within City government.
3. State College Boulevard Corridor Master Plan and Median Island Concept Plan.
Director Johnson presented two options for the State College Boulevard median island; one was
turf and the other was primarily ground cover, both with canopy trees.
Deputy Engineer Maguire said that there was a contract to design Phase I and Phase II of
median project with regard to the State College corridor, from the 91-Freeway down to Lincoln
Avenue. He said that the master plan was completed in 1998 and Public Works had been
requested to present to Council the original and current concept and an alternative concept for
the median island, which included turf. He said Public Works used the same joint staff and
consultant group that developed the current concept to develop the alternative concept. He said
that RJM Consulting had worked on the original and alternative concepts.
Bob Mooning, RJM Consulting, said that the current State College master plan was an
implementation plan that illustrated an elevation of the parkway planting. Based on the current
State College Boulevard master plan, the parkway planting was consistent with the alternative
and consisted of alternating the golden trumpet tree with a very slender palm tree, he noted.
The trees would occur directly behind the curb in a continuous parkway planter about four and
one half to five-feet wide and the ground plane would consist of a variety of evergreen and
flowering shrubs, he said, and was consistent with the proposed alternative. The median was
illustrated with camphor trees down the entire length of State College Boulevard, he informed,
and the ground plane would consist of a variety of evergreen and flowering shrubs in the current
master plan. In addition to the camphor trees, the use of crape myrtle trees would be located at
the ends of the medians and would announce the location of a turning pocket. There would also
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 10
be evergreen flowering shrubs at that location and the remainder of the median, between the
two ends, would be slightly mounded turf.
Mr. Maguire reported that the unit cost was provided for construction and maintenance of either
the current or alternative plan. He noted that there were three distinctive areas along State
College and the first was the Stadium, from south City limits roughly to Cerritos; an intense
commercial area called the "tile zone", which was from Cerritos to Ball Road and then from Ball
Road to the 91 Freeway and was a mixture of commercial, office and residential areas. He
pointed out that the Stadium area was covered by the Stadium area land use master plan,
which included a landscape element that integrated all of the streets, including State College
Boulevard, within the Stadium area. If Council desired to proceed with the alternative, he
suggested that the alternative be applied from Cerritos north and leave the Stadium area per the
current master plan. If Council considered the alternative from Cerritos north to the 91 Freeway,
total construction costs for the median landscaping were presented for both the alternative and
current plans and he noted the difference between the alternative and current plans for annual
maintenance. He asked for Council direction regarding the preference for the alternative and if
Council decided to do the alternative, Public Works was suggesting that it not be applied to the
Stadium area or if there was a different direction altogether.
Council Member McCracken asked if the foliage in the medians on the ground level in the
current master plan was drought tolerant. She said that turf needed to have a lot of water and
she asked if the City was in a position, since the water table was at the lowest it had been in
years, to look at a long range plan that would not use a great deal of water.
Consultant Mooning said that the plant material selected for the shrubs and ground cover for the
current plan were low water use and not considered drought tolerant but required a moderate
amount of water as opposed to the heavier use plant material that would require significant
amounts of water. He said that the turf plan would require higher water use and higher
maintenance.
Council Member Tait noted that the maintenance on the alternative plan was $.11 higher per
square foot per year than the current plan and Mr. Mooning said it would be a combination of
watering and the amount of time on mowing. The figures were based on actual current
maintenance contract bids on having turf versus the islands with shrubs and ground cover.
Council Member Tait noted that the cost for construction on the current plan versus the
alternative plan was almost the same price and Mr. Mooning said it was a push because of the
change in the irrigation system and more control regarding water run off and it was equivalent to
landscaping and irrigation costs. The establishment period was substantially greater since they
went through more effort in that establishment mowing, he said, and turf would be planted, not
rolled out because the expense would really go up.
Council Member Tait said he was a fan of planting turf and he noted that the City of Santa Ana
had made a remarkable difference on Seventeenth Street and in looking at areas such as Tustin
Ranch and Fashion Island, he noticed it was all turf. He said he was concerned with the
shrubbery collecting trash and said that turf would send a signal to the residents that the area
was well maintained. It cost more in water for turf and he said it was a small price to pay to
send a signal that the City cared about the corridor.
Mayor Pringle said that he had a business where there was drought resistant shrubbery out
front and the drought resistant shrubbery on Lincoln, between Gilbert and Brookhurst Street, for
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 11
ten to fifteen years, was not attractive and regardless of the cost of installation or maintenance,
it never looked good. He said he hoped to make State College a strong entry point to the
community and the City should have a high level of appeal in everything that was done. He
asked to have the same look all the way along the island.
Council Member McCracken said there was a high school and an elementary school in the
median area and she was concerned about children crossing the medians with turf and that
there would be no deterrent. There was an issue with brush and bushes and it kept people from
standing in the median, she said, which was another issue to look at.
Council Member Tait noted that the City would be spending millions of dollars and should make
it look the way they wanted, even if it was another $9,000 more per mile for turf and not make
the decision based on a few cents per square foot difference in watering costs.
Council Member McCracken said her decision was not on water costs, it was on the availability
of water and with the cutbacks at the Colorado River, there would be more cutbacks across the
line for using water. The Water District was already talking about conservation and limited use,
she said, and there was not a process yet to use reclaimed water and she would rather have
bushes that were discolored than burnt grass.
City Manager Morgan said that staff was looking for direction and he said that the water was not
much difference, it was the mowing that was most significant. He said if Council was looking for
turf in key locations, it was the opinion of staff that this would be one of the better opportunities.
Council Member Chavez said he believed that turf looked clean when mowed on a regular basis
and would enhance the area since it was a prominent part of the City.
Council Member McCracken stated that turf was not in the Stadium area specific plan and
Director Johnson said it had a streets cape plan already to coordinate with Katella Avenue and
the other streets and they wanted to separate it since turf was not considered in that specific
plan. He said that the direction on turf was fine and staff could move ahead with the design on
that basis.
ADDITIONSIDELETIONS TO CLOSED SESSION: None.
PUBLIC COMMENTS - CLOSED SESSION ITEMS: None.
Mayor Pringle moved to recess to Closed Session, seconded by Council Member McCracken.
Motion carried. The Council recessed to Closed Session at 4:25 P.M.
1. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT
CODE SECTION 54957.6:
Agency designated representative: David Hill
Employee organizations: Anaheim Municipal Employees Association: Nonrepresented
Managerial Employees.
2. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION
(Subdivision (a) of Section 54956.9 of the Government Code)
Name of case: Parkin v. City of Anaheim, United States District Court Case No. SA CV-
01-422 DOC (ANx).
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 12
3 CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION
(Subdivision (a) of Section 54956.9 of the Government Code)
Name of case: Gammoh v. City of Anaheim, Orange County Superior Court Case No.
736182.
4. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - EXISTING LITIGATION
(Subdivision (a) of Section 54956.9 of the Government Code)
Name of case: City of Yorba Linda v. City of Anaheim, Orange County Superior Court
Case No. 01 CC09320.
AFTER RECESS:
Mayor Pringle called the regular Council meeting of January 28, 2003 to order at 5:25 P.M. and
welcomed those in attendance.
INVOCATION: Moment of Silence
FLAG SALUTE: Mayor Pro Tern Tait
PROCLAMATIONS AND DECLARATIONS: None.
At 5:26 P.M., Mayor Pringle recessed the City Council meeting until after the Redevelopment
Agency meeting.
Mayor Pringle reconvened the City Council meeting at 5:29 P.M.
ADDITIONS/DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA: None
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
James Robert Reade said he believed that City government owed a debt of justice and he
spoke about situations with the Police Department.
Duane Roberts spoke about an incident at the Unitarian Church of Orange County, 511 South
Harbor Boulevard. He said that police officers shut down a small event that had been organized
by a political prisoner support group and was being held on church grounds. The event had
proceeded without incident until a code enforcement officer arrived and ordered that the sound
be shut off under threat of citation. He said he believed that the crowd never became unruly,
disruptive, combative or violent and the field sergeant lined up police for a show of force. He
said that this motivated most of the 70 people at the church to walk across the street to the
Police Department to obtain forms to file a complaint and they were prevented from going
inside. He said he would prepare a written complaint and submit it to the Chief of Police and
that there were others that would send complaints to the Police Department since he believed
what had happened was unconstitutional.
Alma Ramirez spoke about racism and civil rights violations and the North Justice Courthouse
and that she had been denied access to records at the Courthouse.
Lori Galloway said that Council had approved a housing project a few weeks ago on Loara
Street and that this would provide over 260 affordable units. She said she believed that the City
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ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
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PAGE 13
was positively moving forward to address its mandated affordable housing element. Families in
crisis situations were seeking safe and affordable housing used to safely transition into
permanent housing within 45-days and now it was a great challenge to do that for her clients.
Many of her families had received housing vouchers from the City and many of the vouchers
had expired before the families had even found housing, she said. She noted that support of
affordable housing projects by Council offered hope of a new and better life for families that
needed it most.
MOTION: Council Member McCracken moved to waive reading in full of all ordinances and
resolutions, seconded by Council Member Chavez. Motion carried unanimously.
CITY MANAGER/DEPARTMENTAL CONSENT CALENDAR A1 - A28: On motion by Council
Member McCracken, seconded by Council Member Chavez, the following items were approved
in accordance with the reports, certifications and recommendations furnished each Council
Member and as listed on the Consent Calendar. Items A12 and A21 acted upon separately.
Council Member McCracken offered Resolutions Nos. 2003R-10 through 2003R-14 for
adoption. Motion carried unanimously.
A 1. Receive and file the Investment Portfolio Report for December 2002; minutes of the
Investment Advisory Commission meeting held May 21, 2002 and August 20, 2002;
minutes of the Deferred Compensation Committee meeting held August 29, 2002,
October 9, 2002 and November 5, 2002; minutes of the Golf Advisory Commission
meeting held October 24, 2002; minutes of the Redevelopment and Housing
Commission meeting held December 18, 2002; the Notice of Prehearing Conference
relating to gas and electric revenue requirement and base rates, No. A.02-12-028; and
the Crime and Analysis Report for December 2002.
A2. Accept the bid of Municipal Maintenance Equipment, in the amount of $36,750 (plus
applicable tax), for the purchase of six mobile vehicle column lifts in accordance with Bid
#6323.
160 A3.
Accept the bid of The Mattman Company, in an amount not to exceed $125,649 (tax
inclusive), for one custom forensics van in accordance with Bid #6325.
A4. Accept the low bid of McCain Traffic Supplies, Inc., in the amount of $20,362.10 (plus
applicable tax), for the purchase of eleven complete solar powered school warning
flashers in accordance with Bid #6338.
A5. Accept the bid of Wests ide Building Material, in the amount of $94,000 (plus tax), for
ceiling tiles for the Convention Center in accordance with Bid #6343.
A6. Accept the low bid of Manley's Boiler Company, in the amount of $31 ,985 (including tax),
for boiler repair at the Convention Center in accordance with Bid #6352.
A7. Approve the agreement with Electronic Data Systems, in the amount of $5,815,938, for
the first year's contract for three years with options for three one-year renewals, for the
support and maintenance of the City's information services, authorize the Finance
Director to execute all service enhancement requests with Electronic Data Systems and
to take all the necessary actions for implementation and amend the Finance
Department's budget by increasing expenditure and revenue appropriations by $308,259
for the balance of fiscal year 02/03 information technology services.
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JAN UARY 28, 2003
PAGE 14
Mayor Pringle recognized General AI Edmonds, Electronic Data Systems from Washington DC.
He explained that EDS was the low bidder in the process and that he felt the City faced a
different economic situation from last April when the staff prepared the RFP. He explained that
he spoke with General Edmonds and City Manager Morgan to see if there would be
opportunities where the level of service the City presented in the RFP were not necessarily the
levels the City needed to proceed with at this time and if there were areas where EDS could
direct the City in terms of opportunities where the City may be able to raise income or
participate with EDS in some degree of service. He thanked EDS for being open to the
discussion and seeing how, not just through the extent of this contract but for a long period of
time, the City could build a long-term favorable relationship.
Council Member Tait noted that he wished to pursue other options that EDS may have done in
other parts of the country, maybe outside the RFP, as far as innovative ways to handle the IT
contract.
City Manager Morgan said that staff would and that there were many possibilities in that regard.
123
A8. Authorize the Amendment to Agreement with Edison ESI to increase the length of the
refresher course for rubber gloving training from four hours to two days and authorize
the Purchasing Agent to increase the not to exceed amount for the period of June 2001
through June 2003 from $160, 000 to $260,000 and to increase the not to exceed
amounts for two optional year renewals from $38,500 to $122,200, for the first optional
year, and from $42,350 to $127,200, for the second optional year.
123
A9. Approve the Administering Agency-State Agreement for Federal Aid Projects No. 12-
5055, Program Supplement No. M107, for the Tustin Avenue Overcrossing Widening
Project at the SR-91 Freeway.
158
A10. Approve the Acquisition Agreement with Grover Escrow, in the payment amount of
$280,000, for property located at 2113 West Katella Avenue for the Katella Avenue
Smart Street Improvement Project.
170 A 11. Approve the Final Map and Subdivision Agreement of Tract No. 16254 with D.R. Horton
Los Angeles Holding Company, Inc. for property located at 5801 East Santa Ana
Canyon Road.
123
A 12. Approve the Second Amended and Restated Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement
creating the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency to establish the legal
authority for possible consolidation of the existing transportation corridor agencies.
Item A 12 acted upon separately.
Director of Public Works/City Engineer, Gary Johnson, reported that the staff recommendation
was to approve, on the basis as a regional network, and that it was in the City's best interest to
support and approve the agreement. Concerns had been stated in the workshop, he said, and
a number of those concerns would be addressed by subsequent studies and Council did not
have the benefit of full disclosure and information at this time. He said that approval of the
agreement did not bind the Council to approve or enter into the consolidation effort and that
would occur at a subsequent time and the Transportation Corridor Agency staff had made that
clear.
158
158
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123
153
153
153
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
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PAGE 15
Council Member Hernandez said that there were reservations about combining the two
agencies and he did not feel comfortable about making a decision on the item.
Colleen Clark, Chief Financial Officer for the Transportation Corridor Agency, said that moving
for a continuance was fine with TCA since Council was not comfortable. TCA needed an
affirmative vote from ten out of thirteen agencies and would be back to address any questions.
Council Member Hernandez moved, seconded by Council Member Tait, to continue Item A12 to
February 4,2003. Motion carried unanimously.
A13. RESOLUTION NO. 2003R-10 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ANAHEIM accepting certain deeds conveying to the City of Anaheim certain
real properties or interests therein (City Deed No. 10577).
158 A14. RESOLUTION NO. 2003R-11 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ANAHEIM accepting certain deeds conveying to the City of Anaheim certain
real properties or interests therein (City Deed Nos. 10573, 10574, 10575, 10580 and
10581 ).
A15. RESOLUTION NO. 2003R-12 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ANAHEIM accepting irrevocable offers of dedication of certain property and/or
facilities [Tract Numbers 14078,15500 (in part), 15837, 15861 and 15422].
A16. Approve an agreement with d.d. Pagano, Inc., in the amount of $101,680, for consultant
services for the planning, design, installation and staff training for a citywide central
control computerized irrigation system.
A 17. Approve the Ninth Amendment to Agreement with Taormina Industries, Inc. to haul tree
waste for recycling purposes.
123 A 18. Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement with South Orange
County Community College District for provision of paramedic training during clinical
perceptorship phase.
A 19. Approve the 2003 renewal rates for the Kaiser "Q" Health Plan, in the amount of
$222.86, for single coverage and $592.81 for family coverage, effective March 1, 2003
and authorize the Human Resources Manager to execute the renewal agreement.
A20. RESOLUTION NO. 2003R-13 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ANAHEIM establishing rates of compensation for classifications assigned to
the Utilities Unit represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local
47.
A21. To consider a resolution providing for additional temporary partially paid military leave of
absence and continuation of benefits for City employees called to active duty with the
armed forces.
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28,2003
PAGE 16
Item A21 acted upon separately.
City Manager Morgan stated that the item would authorize wage supplements for City
employees called in voluntary active military service with the armed forces of the United States
in support of actions to prevent terrorism against America. He said that this was an item that
was consistent with prior City policy where the City had employees called up to military service
and this was a provision that the City would have a wage supplement. Whatever the military
would pay that employee, they would be made whole to what they would be making if they were
here, he informed. The estimated cost was approximately $23,000, he added.
Council Member Hernandez said that beyond the monetary appreciation that the City had for
those employees, he wished them God speed.
Mayor Pringle asked Council Member Hernandez to prepare a resolution in tribute to those
Americans and particularly, residents that were in the armed services.
Council Member Hernandez moved, seconded Council Member Tait, to approve Resolution No.
2003R-14.
RESOLUTION NO. 2003R-14 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ANAHEIM providing for additional temporary partially paid military leave of
absence and continuation of benefits for City employees called to active duty with the
armed forces.
Roll call vote: Ayes - 5; Mayor Pringle, Council Members Tait, McCracken, Hernandez and
Chavez. Noes - O. Motion carried.
174 A22. Accept a grant award from the State of California, Office of Traffic Safety to participate in
its DUI Grant Outreach Program and amend the Police Department's fiscal year 2002103
budget by increasing revenues and expenditures in the amount of $254,063.
123 A23. Approve the First Amendment to Agreement with Northrop Grumman Electronic
Systems, in an amount not to exceed $50,000, annually, for maintenance and repair
services for the Police Department's mobile data computers.
123
A24. Approve and authorize the Public Utilities General Manager to execute the Wireline
Crossing Agreement with Union Pacific Railroad Company for a wireline crossing within
Underground District No. 45 - State College Phase II.
123
A25. Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families Subrecipient Agreements with Anaheim Union High School District, in an
amount not to exceed $260,000, and North Orange County Regional Occupational
Program, in an amount not to exceed $100,000, for implementation of a youth job
training program.
179
A26. ORDINANCE NO. 5849 (INTRODUCTION) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF
ANAHEIM amending the zoning map referred to in Title 18 of the Anaheim Municipal
Code relating to zoning (Reclassification No. 2002-00068, 2143 West Broadway).
105
A27. Accept the resignation of Anthony Bedolla from the Budget Advisory Commission and
instruct the City Clerk to post the Notice of Unscheduled Vacancy.
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 17
114 A28. Approve minutes of the Council meeting held January 7,2003.
END OF CONSENT CALENDAR
105 A29. Consider appointing/re-appointing four citizens to serve on the Mother Colony House
Advisory Board for terms to expire December 31, 2006 (Continued from the Council
meeting held January 7,2003, Item A21).
Council Member McCracken nominated Douglas Renner, Marion Harvey, George MacLaren
and Rod Wallace.
Mayor Pringle said he looked to find ways to bring forward people who had not served on
boards and encourage their participation. He said that this was a unique board that involved a
City asset where people had nurtured and personally participated and given effort for a long
time.
Mayor Pringle closed the nominations.
Roll call vote: Ayes - 5; Mayor Pringle, Council Members Tait, McCracken, Hernandez and
Chavez. Noes - O. Motion carried.
Mayor Pringle asked to revisit the issue of overall commission structures and how Council could
work to bring additional individuals forward to serve.
Items 81 throuah 82 From Zonina Administrator Meetina of January 9. 2003: (No action by
City Council required unless expressly indicated. Council may consider and act upon such
matters at its discretion. Items requiring a public hearing may be set for hearing at a later date
upon the request of any two Council members.) APPEAL PERIOD ENDS JANUARY 31, 2003:
B1. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 2002-04644
179 CATEGORICALLY EXEMPT - CLASS 1:
OWNER: Amana Corporation, Jack Nussry
8383 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 532, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
AGENT: Steven Le, 5636 East La Palma Avenue, Suites E & G
Anaheim, CA 92807
LOCATION: 5636 East LA Palma Avenue. Unit G. Property is 3.2-acres located
south and west of the southwest corner of La Palma Avenue and Imperial Highway.
To establish on-premises sales and consumption of beer and wine in conjunction with an
existing full-service restaurant within an existing commercial retail center in the SP94-1,
D.A.-5 (SC) (Northeast Area Specific Plan, Commercial Area: Scenic Corridor Overlay)
Zone.
ACTION TAKEN BY THE ZONING ADMINISTRATOR:
Conditional Use Permit No. 2002-04644 approved (ZA2003-02).
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28,2003
PAGE 18
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION:
179
B2. ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUSTMENT NO. 2002-00231:
OWNER: Angelica Mejia, 1744 West Catherine Drive
Anaheim, CA 92801
LOCATION: 1740-1744 West Catherine Drive. Property is 0.21-acre having a
frontage of 60 feet on the south side of Catherine Drive and is located 98 feet east of the
centerline of Mohican Avenue.
Waiver of maximum fence height to construct a 7.5-foot high perimeter block wall along
the interior property line of an existing multiple family development in the RM-1200
(Residential, Multiple Family) Zone.
ACTION TAKEN BY THE ZONING ADMINISTRATOR:
Administrative Adjustment No. 2002-000231 approved, in part for a 6 foot 4 inch to a 7
foot 6 inch fence (ZA2003-01).
Mayor Pringle requested having Council Members informed of the Planning and Zoning items
and not having them placed on the agenda.
6:00 P.M. PUBLIC HEARINGS:
C1. WAIVER OF CODE REQUIREMENT
179 CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 2002-04590
CATEGORICALLY EXEMPT - CLASS 1:
OWNER: Efren Gutierrez, 1750 West Lincoln Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92801
AGENT: Micaela Munez, 1816 North Broadway
Santa Ana, CA 92706
LOCATION: 1750 West Lincoln Avenue. Property is approximately 0.6-acre having a
frontage of 140 feet on the south side of Lincoln Avenue located 640 feet west of the
centerline of Euclid Street (EI Conejo Feliz Restaurant).
Request to permit a public dance hall with a cover charge as an accessory use to a
previously approved restaurant with on-premises sale and consumption of alcoholic
beverages with waiver of minimum number of parking spaces.
ACTION TAKEN BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION:
Approved Waiver of Code Requirement pertaining to the minimum number of parking
spaces for the restaurant expansion only (5 yes votes, Commissioners Boydstun and
Koos absent).
Conditional Use Permit No. 2002-04590 granted, in part, approving the restaurant
expansion and denying the public dance hall (PC2002-170).
(Planning Commission's decision appealed by Applicant Elizabeth Helguero).
Executive Director of Planning and Community Development, Joel Fick, said that the property
was originally granted a conditional use permit by Planning Commission in 1975 to permit the
on-premise sale of alcohol in an existing restaurant. The applicant was requesting approval to
retain a public dance hall with an admission charge, as an accessory use to the restaurant, he
said. Alcohol would continue to be sold and served in connection with both the restaurant and
public dance activity, he said. The applicant had informed the Planning Commission that the
accessory dance hall had been operating at the location for a number of years and that the
facility operated daily as both a restaurant with a cocktail lounge and a dance hall from 11 :00
A.M. to 1 :00 A.M. and included live bands with dancing and full meal service, he informed. In
addition, the applicant was requesting approval to retain approximately 2,000 square feet of
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 19
additional office and storage space that was added to the facility, in addition to floor plans
approved in 1975. A parking waiver was also requested and Code required 100 parking spaces
and there were 41 that were currently available on site, he noted, and the applicant had
indicated that by re-striping, two more spaces could be added. The only way that the Traffic
and Transportation Manager believed that the site could adequately accommodate the parking
needed, would be to have valet, tandem parking on the weekends, he said. He noted that there
was a 43-unit apartment complex that was immediately south of the property and depended
upon the property for access through the site and the apartment project obtained access
through the subject property. The owner of the apartment complex submitted a letter and
provided testimony to the Planning Commission and had complained about some rather
significant, negative effects of the dance hall, which included vandalism, noise disturbances,
beer and wine bottles and other litter, urination in the parking lot and overflow parking that
spilled out into the apartment complex. He said that the Police Department had recommended
denial of the dance hall due to the late night disturbance to the adjacent complex and that there
had been 45 police calls for service over an approximate 17-month period. The Planning
Commission unanimously denied the request for a public dance hall, approved the 2,000 square
foot expansion of the office and storage area for the restaurant and approved the parking waiver
to accommodate the restaurant. The restaurant would continue to operate with alcohol sales
but an admission fee could not be charged at the door to enter the facility for purposes of the
dance hall, he informed. Planning Commission concerns in the denial was the unique, close
proximity and access to apartment complex and that the site was not large enough to
accommodate the parking and vehicular circulation, he informed. The restaurant was
conditioned by the Planning Commission to close by 11 :00 P.M., Sunday through Thursday and
midnight on Friday and Saturday, he noted. In the event that the request was approved, he
suggested conditions of approval regarding operation that were included in the Planning
Commission staff report. He stated that there were two additional conditions that the Police
Department suggested relating to added security measures and security officers, he informed.
He said that in the applicant's appeal letter to Council, there was reference made to EI Patio
Restaurant, 1750 West La Palma Avenue, which had involved a similar request before Council
in October 2002. Council denied the request for the accessory dance hall because of close
proximity to residences and had approved the extended hours of operation for EI Patio with
alcoholic sales and conditioned it for a one-year time period.
Mayor Pringle asked what the duration would be on the conditional use permit. Director Fick
stated that conditional use permits typically ran with the land and they were limitless unless
there was a specific time period imposed by Council. The Planning Commission had approved
the restaurant on this conditional use permit and the applicant's request was for the dance hall,
he said, so that they could charge patrons coming in and there was a conditional use permit for
the expansion of the restaurant facility of 2,000 square feet.
Mayor Pringle opened the public hearing.
Vincent Sarmiento, representative of the owners and operators of the restaurant, said that he
did not dispute the way the matter had been described. The applicant had requested that the
original conditional use permit be amended and that the matter be remanded to the Planning
Commission so that the issue could be revisited in a more limited view. Designating the
restaurant and business to have an accessory use as a public dance hall would be difficult to do
and they asked to revisit the issue with specificity of Condition 25, which dealt with hours of
operation. He asked to discuss it further with staff and Planning Commission and also with the
neighbor to the south, which was the owner of the apartment complex, to see if there was
common ground to be met and then approach Council with further information and data. The
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 20
history of what had happened with EI Patio Restaurant made him reconsider amending the
request to leave off the public dance hall request for a cover charge and address the issue of
limited hours of operation.
Mayor Pringle said the request before Council was to support the Planning Commission action
with modifications to Condition 25 and that condition was to limit the hours of operation until
11 :00 P.M., Sunday through Thursday, 8:30 AM. to midnight on Friday and Saturday and that
the present hours of operation were until 1 :00 AM.
Mr. Sarmiento said that the hours of operation were presently until 1 :30 AM., Thursday through
Monday, and the establishment was closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. He said that the
applicant would like the hours of operation to stay as they were and he asked to meet with
Planning staff and find out if the hours were feasible. When previously meeting with staff, he
said that the issue of the public dance hall had been addressed.
Mayor Pringle mentioned the two additional security issues that staff had mentioned and he said
he assumed that staff would still have a degree of additional security protection in the parking lot
if the business were to address staying open later.
Mr. Sarmiento said the applicant had assured them that if the conditional use permit was sunset
for one year, they would see if the calls for service increased or decreased and see how diligent
his clients were. He said that the applicant was amenable to hiring additional security staff or
City approved security.
Mayor Pringle asked about additional proposals and Director Fick said that security measures
would be provided to the satisfaction of the Anaheim Police Department to deter unlawful
conduct on the part of employees or patrons and promote the safe and orderly assembly and
movement of persons in vehicles and to prevent the disturbance in the neighborhood by
excessive noise created by patrons entering and leaving the premises and that any and all
security officers provided would comply with all State and local ordinances.
Stephanie Doyle stated that she managed the 1 06-unit apartment community at 1780 West
Lincoln Avenue and she had signatures from approximately 75 percent of the adult residents in
that community. She said that the complex was approximately 50 yards to the west of EI
Conejo Feliz and that the tenants had been dealing with the nighttime activities for some time.
The music and activities went on in her parking lot along with foot and vehicle traffic and over
the last few months there had been an increase with the courtesy patrol guard that operated on
her property dealing with patrons from the restaurants that had wandered into the premises, she
said. She said she was embarrassed to report that she had dealt with situations that went from
drug activities to sex acts in vehicles on the property. She noted the conditions that currently
existed at EI Conejo Feliz had seriously impacted the quality of life of 106 families. She
submitted the signatures for consideration and she asked that Council consider the large
number of people who were a very short distance away from the establishment that did not wish
to be impacted by the kinds of elements that would be introduced and continue to be available
in the neighborhood.
Mayor Pringle asked Ms. Doyle if she had heard the discussion of the distinction between the
public dance hall activity taking place there and the reduced activity that was supported by the
Planning Commission. Ms. Doyle said she believed that a decrease in the hours of operation
would cut down on the amount of time that the apartment tenants would have to deal with it and
she said she would not like the people to loose their business or be impacted financially. She
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 21
was concerned that her tenants needed to be asleep at 10:00 P.M. since they were
professionals and business people and there were families with children. She said she was
concerned and that the Police Department had picked up people who were unconscious from
alcohol, in the driveway, outside her bedroom window. She felt 1 :30 AM. to 2:00 AM. was too
late and if they closed the doors at 1 :30 AM., it was another 30 to 40 minutes before the traffic
cleared the area and she was concerned about the families in the apartment complex.
Dolores Thomas stated that she had lived at the Bella Rio Vista before becoming the property
manager and she said that the way they parked at EI Conejo made it difficult for the tenants of
her complex to enter into the apartments. She was concerned that emergency vehicles could
not get through to the apartment complex. She mentioned that low rents were offered in the
front of the complex because of the music and vibrations and those units were right behind EI
Conejo with only one wall there. She said she was going to have the block walls repaired
because they had accidentally been hit by cars that had tried to park. She had called the police
when she felt that the parking lot was over capacitated and their initial response was that it was
private property. She had patrolled her own area to make sure that no one came into the
complex that was not supposed to be there and she had taken measures, such as having to
have a remote, to come through the gates and once the gate was closed, there was no sensor
and one would need a remote to get back out, she said. She noted that when the restaurant
closed at 2:00 AM., the people were still hanging around and making noise. She said that EI
Conejo was using the neighboring parking lots like the old Smart and Final, a liquor store next to
that and Mexicasa.
Mayor Pringle noted that the approval of the Planning Commission was on the continuing of the
operation with the exception of the dance hall component. He asked Ms. Thomas if she was
concerned with that. Ms. Thomas responded that it was already a dance hall and there were at
least 100 people that visited the restaurant over the weekend. She said it did not seem as if the
restaurant was doing what they said they were doing.
Mayor Pringle noted that the procedure that the restaurant was going through had 32 conditions
with the potential of two more on the operator of the business and it was a tool to make sure
that certain standards were met.
Director Fick said that there had been a conditional use permit since 1975 for the restaurant
portion, not for the dance hall.
Mayor Pringle said that conditions were being set for the business so that they could operate.
Ms. Thomas said security was an issue as well as controlling the parking since the apartment
tenants needed access to their homes. She said that on the weekends, the restaurant blocked
one entrance of their driveway and they double and triple parked, which made it more difficult
for the tenants.
Alex Picar said he was the owner of apartments behind EI Conejo and had been charging less
rent up front because of the noise that people had complained about. He said that there was a
lot of noise until at least 2:00 AM. and there were many condoms found and people urinated on
the wall outside after they came out of the restaurant. He said Ms. Thomas mentioned that
three times the walls were hit with cars and he was repairing one of the walls, which was again
hit by one of the cars from the restaurant. He said that he had not increased rents because of
the noise and his rents were below the rent guidelines.
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28, 2003
PAGE 22
Elizabeth Higuera said she was the applicant and that a lot of the apartment tenants parked in
her parking lot and she had not complained. She had talked to many of the tenants in the
apartment complex who said that they would be willing to write letters for her since a lot of them
were her customers. The tenants used her parking lot, she informed, because the apartment
complex charged an extra $40 for an extra car to park so if her parking lot was full, it was
because she was not towing away their cars. She had known the owner of EI Conejo Feliz for
years and she had never heard of him having any problems and she said she was trying to run
a clean business. She mentioned she had not investigated whether the apartment complex
owner had the right to enter through her property and had never towed a car away. She said
that someone had complained about a noise problem over the weekend and it was the tenants
that were making the noise. She usually asked her band to leave by 1 :30 A.M. to 1 :45 A.M. and
she asked them to stay until she was out so that nothing would happen to her.
Mayor Pringle closed the public hearing.
Council Member Chavez asked if EI Conejo was operating as a dance hall in the years prior to
her purchase and Director Fick said that it was.
Council Member Chavez asked if the City had been involved and if there had been a lot of
problems prior to 1997 when the people purchased the apartment building. Director Fick stated
there were statistics from the Police Department over a 17 -month period and there had been
approximately 45 calls for service.
Council Member Tait noted that out of the 45 calls for service, only 13 calls related to the
business itself.
Mayor Pringle asked about the other 32 calls for service.
Police Officer Thomas J. Smith said that during that time period, the Police Department had 45
calls for service, which meant that the Police Department responded to that location 45 different
times. Out of the 45 responses, not all of those were severe enough to generate a police report
and 13 police reports were generated, he explained.
Mayor Pringle asked to have the distinction presented to Council regarding the 45 calls to the
location and the 13 calls that generated police reports.
Council Member McCracken said that Mr. Sarmiento started out with a request to go back to the
Planning Commission and work with neighbors and staff to come up with some kind of an
agreement and she asked if that was a possibility. Director Fick responded that it was and
Council could establish that time frame if they chose to do so.
Council Member McCracken stated that she believed that it could be worked out between the
neighbors and staff to come up with an agreement.
Mayor Pringle said that there were days that people were lined up to go to EI Conejo Feliz early
in the afternoon and it had been crowded all through the 1990's. There were huge burdens
because of the property, he noted, and the limitation on parking that was presently there. He
said that the drawing that had been submitted showed that the restaurant patrons were trying to
provide some degree of stacked parking on the property just to get as many cars off the street
and out of the neighborhood as they could. It was a popular place and people were looking for
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28,2003
PAGE 23
parking in the general area, which was what they were trying to do on the Smart and Final
property.
Council Member Hernandez asked if the two sides could make a deal and he recommended a
continuance so that they could mediate.
Council Member Chavez said that it seemed the applicant was eager to work things out and the
hours were an issue. The hours at the establishment had been until 1 :30 A.M. for years and he
said he felt that it would be reasonable to have hours where they would be open until 1 :30 A.M.
on a Friday and Saturday.
Ms. Higuera said that the business had been there for 16 to 17 years and all of the patrons of
the establishment were older and mature and went for lunch and dinner. The night crowd was a
lot younger, mostly 21 years and older, and she asked to work out something with the
apartment complex. She said she was willing to place steel bricks in the front and she was
willing to share her parking lot with them.
Council Member Chavez recommended extending the hours to 1 :30 A.M. on Friday and
Saturday and he asked that the applicant and apartment owners work together on the details.
He said that this could be mediated without being at a disadvantage of not having extended
hours on Friday and Saturday.
Mayor Pringle said that the recommendation of the Planning Commission was for modification
for Friday and Saturday hours to close at 1 :30 A.M. instead of midnight and addressed the
additional condition regarding safety and security on site. He said that there was still the issue
of trying to work with the neighbors.
Mr. Sarmiento had requested information on the easement that existed across his client's
property in order to access the apartment complex directly south. The issue had never arisen
until applying for the conditional use permit and before discussing accessibility he said he
wanted to know the legality of it.
Mayor Pringle moved to continue Item C1 to February 4, 2003, seconded by Council Member
Hernandez. Motion carried unanimously.
Report on Closed Session Actions:
City Attorney White reported that Council unanimously authorized the City Attorney to file a
petition for hearing with the California Supreme Court in the case of Gammoh vs. City of
Anaheim, Orange County Superior Court Case No. 736182.
Council Communications:
Mayor Pringle noted that Council Member McCracken had been serving as a representative on
the Orange County Transportation Authority and Council Member McCracken had been asked
to serve on a 91 Freeway Committee that served both Orange and Riverside Counties to
oversee the future of the 91 Freeway issues now that OCTA had purchased the toll lanes.
Council Member McCracken said that February 1, 2003 was a new year for many people in the
community and she wished them a happy new year.
ANAHEIM CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 28,2003
PAGE 24
Council Member Chavez thanked the Convention Center and Police Department for the success
of the National Association of Music Merchants convention.
Mayor Pringle noted that that the National Association of Music Merchants had held an Elton
John tribute concert and raised $50,000 for Anaheim public school music programs.
Mayor Pringle said that the California State Assembly had paid tribute to the Anaheim Angels.
He also reported that he had represented the City at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in
Washington D.C. and noted that the President had spoken about having money in the budget
for States and first responders in the area of homeland security. He said that there was much
discussion as to ensure that those dollars were brought directly into cities where there were
specific needs, especially those of high profile cities.
Mayor Pringle announced he would be meeting with League of Cities representatives to ensure
that the State Legislature and Governor lived up to their commitment to local government that
the level of funding from the vehicle license fee was maintained. He said there had been a
commitment by the Governor and State Legislature that local government would maintain the
same level of funding as the car tax was being reduced. Some local governments were asking
for taxes to go up to fulfill that commitment, he noted. He was not asking for that and said he
believed that when a commitment was made, it was kept. The State Legislature needed to deal
with their specific fiscal condition and the City should not be calling for tax increases and should
be calling to be sure that government was living up to their expectation, promise and
commitment. He shared that message with the League of Cities as well as the ten largest cities
in the State and representatives from some of those ten cities would be going to Sacramento to
meet with the Governor. He said that their message may be to raise taxes and he informed he
would not participate in that discussion since he did not believe that was the direction the City
needed to go.
Council Member Hernandez asked to have a resolution prepared to take a stand on those
issues.
Adjournment:
There being no further business to come before the City Council, Mayor Pringle adjourned the
meeting at 6:56 P.M.
Respectfully submitted:
~~ J-L~.J~
Sheryll Schroeder, CMC/AAE
City Clerk