HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-12-11MINUTES
REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2003
CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER
I. CALL TO ORDER - 3:00 P.M.
Mayor Benson convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m.
II. ROLL CALL
Present:
Councilman Buford A. Crites
Councilman Jim Ferguson
Councilman Richard S. Kelly
Mayor Pro Tem Robert A. Spiegel
Mayor Jean M. Benson
Also Present:
Carlos L. Ortega, City Manager/RDA Executive Director
David J. Erwin, City Attorney
Sheila R. Gilligan, ACM for Community Services
Homer Croy, ACM for Development Services
Justin McCarthy, ACM for Redevelopment
Mark Greenwood, City Engineer
Amir Hamidzadeh, Director of Building & Safety
Phil Drell, Director of Community Development
Paul S. Gibson, Director of Finance/City Treasurer
Teresa L. La Rocca, Director of Housing
Michael J. Errante, Director of Public Works
David Yrigoyen, Director of Redevelopment
Robert P. Kohn, Director of Special Programs
M. Gloria Martinez, Records Technician
III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - A - (CLOSED SESSION ITEMS)
None
IV. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
Reauest for Closed Session:
.__ Conference with Real Property Negotiator pursuant to Government Code
Section 54956.8:
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
1) Property: APN 625-022-005
Negotiating Parties:
Agency: Justin McCarthy/Catherine Walker/
Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency
Property Owner: Mark and Jodie Ratliff
Under Negotiation: x Price x Terms of Payment
Conference with Legal Counsel regarding existing litigation pursuant to
Government Code Section 54956.9(a):
a) Ken Weller v. City of Palm Desert, et al., Riverside County Superior Court
Case No. INC 025659
b) PERMA v. City of Palm Desert, et al., Riverside County Superior Court
Case No. INC 038382
c) Indian Springs Mobilehome Park Homeowners Association, et al., v.
City of Palm Desert, et al., Riverside County Superior Court Case
No. INC 019015
Conference with Legal Counsel regarding significant exposure to litigation
pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(b):
Number of potential cases: 2
Conference with Legal Counsel regarding significant potential to initiate litigation
pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(c):
Number of potential cases: 2
With Council concurrence, Mayor Benson adjourned the meeting to Closed Session
at 3:02 p.m. She reconvened the meeting at 4:00 p.m.
V. RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING - 4:00 P.M.
A. REPORT ON ACTION FROM CLOSED SESSION.
Action: None
VI. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Councilman Jim Ferguson
VII. INVOCATION - Mayor Jean M. Benson
VIII. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - B
MR. SABBY JONATHAN, Palm Desert, addressed the City Council to confirm that
Members had received his November 20, 2003, letter regarding the Cahuilla Hills
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
Annexation matter (now on file and of record in the City Clerk's Office). He said with
regard to the seven parcels adjacent to the Crest Project, it had always been the
desire to be annexed into the City. They wanted to protect the hillsides and were
confident that compromise could be achieved in the matter, asking the City to again
engage in such discussion.
IX. AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, AND APPOINTMENTS
A. PRESENTATION TO RECOGNIZE RICHARD O'DONNELL FOR HIS
SERVICE TO THE CITY OF PALM DESERT AND ITS ARCHITECTURAL
REVIEW COMMISSION.
On behalf of the City Council, Mayor Benson presented Mr. O'Donnell with
an engraved crystal clock, thanking him for his time on the Architectural
Review Commission.
B. PRESENTATION TO RECOGNIZE IGNACIO DEL RIO AND DEL RIO'S
RESTAURANT FOR ITS CONTRIBUTION TO A SUCCESSFUL
SISTER CITIES WEEKEND EVENT, NOVEMBER 1-3, 2003.
On behalf of the City Council, Mayor Benson presented Mr. Del Rio with an
engraved brass platter, thanking him for his contribution to the Sister Cities
Weekend.
C-1. PRESENTATION TO RECOGNIZE DAN HORN, PALM DESERT
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, FOR OUTSTANDING EFFORTS ON
THE HOVLEY GARDENS PROJECT.
On behalf of the City Council, Mayor Benson presented Mr. Horn with an
engraved brass platter, recognizing his significant contribution to the success
of Hovley Gardens.
MR. HORN stated that there would be a welcoming party this Saturday
between 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
C-2. ACCEPTANCE OF AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY'S COMMUNITY
PARTNER RECOGNITION FOR THE CITY OF PALM DESERT.
Mayor Benson presented the item that she had accepted on behalf of the
City at the American Cancer Society's Volunteer Program recently. She said
the recognition was for the City's contribution to the Relay For Life as well as
many other projects. She noted that this area's Relay For Life, held
November 15 - 16, 2003, at Palm Desert High School was the largest in the
state and raised over $400,000.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
D. REORGANIZATION OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
1. SELECTION OF MAYOR AND MAYOR PRO-TEMPORE.
Councilman Ferguson nominated Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel for Mayor. Nomination
was seconded by Councilman Kelly and carried by a 4-0-1 vote, with Maybr Spiegel
ABSTAINING.
Councilman Ferguson nominated Councilman Crites for Mayor Pro Tem.
Nomination was seconded by Councilman Kelly and carried by a 4-0-1 vote, with Mayor
Pro Tem Crites ABSTAINING.
Councilmember Benson expressed her appreciation for the year she'd just
completed as Palm Desert's Mayor, thanking Mayor Spiegel for his service as
Mayor Pro Tem and her colleagues for another successful year.
Mayor Spiegel thanked Councilmember Benson for her leadership in the past year,
noting several accomplishments that include a new Sister City of Ixtapa-
Zihuatanejo, widening of Fred Waring Drive, and parking structures at Westfield
Shoppingtown. He noted that even with a downturn in the economy, Palm Desert's
sales tax revenues were coming in quite nicely, and Councilmember Benson had
been a part of it all. He thanked staff for its significant contribution to the City's
success and his colleagues for the appointment to Mayor. He hoped that the State
could work out its issues so that Palm Desert wouldn't be financially affected too
dramatically in the coming year. He looked forward to finalizing the City's new
General Plan; developing the City's second regional park, Freedom Park, on
Country Club Drive; expanding the After -School Program; and filling empty
storefronts in Palm Desert. Additionally, he was anxious in the near future to break
ground at University of California, Riverside's, Palm Desert location and for topping
out the second building of California State University, San Bernardino's,
Palm Desert campus.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites said Palm Desert would continue to go about its business in
a quiet way, agreeing with his colleagues that this was a wonderful community in
which he was proud to begin his 18' year on its City Council. He was also proud
to work with his fellow Councilmembers and do his very best to be a worthy
custodian of the trust of each of Palm Desert's citizens.
X. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. MINUTES of the Regular City Council Meetings of November 13, and
November 27, 2003, and the Special City Council Meeting of November 10,
2003.
Rec: Approve as presented.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
B. CLAIMS AND DEMANDS AGAINST THE CITY TREASURY - Warrant
Nos. 107, 108, 112, 113, 117, and 118.
Rec: Approve as presented.
C. CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY (#511) by Marga L. Karkenny in an Unspecified
Amount.
Rec: By Minute Motion, reject the Claim and direct the City Clerk to so
notify the Claimant.
D. CITY'S/AGENCY'S PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SUMMARY for
October 2003 and Account Statements for Deferred Compensation Plans
for the Quarter Ending September 30, 2003 (Joint Consideration with the
Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency).
Rec: Receive and file.
E-1. APPLICATION FOR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE LICENSE by Esther Pelech
and Pierre Pelech for Chez Pierre, 44-250 Town Center Way, #C1,
Palm Desert.
Rec: Receive and file.
E-2. APPLICATION FOR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE LICENSE by
Atef Mohamed Taher for Picanha, 73-399 El Paseo, Palm Desert.
Rec: Receive and file.
E-3. APPLICATION FOR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE LICENSE by
Schumann Corporation for Wolfgang's Bistro, 77-932 Country Club Drive,
Unit 2-4, Palm Desert.
Rec: Receive and file.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
F. MINUTES of City Committee and Commission Meetings.
1. El Paseo Business Improvement District Meeting of September 18,
2003.
2. Entrada del Paseo Steering Committee Meeting of October 16, 2003.
3. Housing Commission Meeting of October 8, 2003.
4. Investment & Finance Committee Meeting of October 22, 2003.
5. Library Promotion Committee Meeting of September 17, 2003.
6. Public Safety Commission Meeting of July 9, 2003.
7. Sister Cities Committee Meeting of October 16, 2003.
Rec: Receive and file.
G-1. REQUEST FOR AWARD OF BID for Removal and Replacement of Sand for
Volleyball Court at Civic Center Park.
Rec: By Minute Motion, award the bid for excavation of existing sand and
placement of new sand at the Civic Center Park Volleyball Court to
Kuykendall, Inc., Thousand Palms, California, in the amount of
$12,850 — funds are available in Account No. 110-4610-453-3320.
G-2. REQUEST FOR AWARD OF BID for Replacement Sand for the Volleyball
Court at Civic Center Park.
Rec: By Minute Motion, award the bid for replacement sand for the Civic
Center Park Volleyball Court to West Coast Aggregate Supply, Inc.,
Thermal, California, in the amount of $26,288 — funds are available
in Account No. 110-4610-453-2190.
H. REQUEST FOR AWARD OF CONTRACT for the Design of Sidewalk on
San Gorgonio Way Between Monterey Avenue and San Pablo Avenue
(Contract No. C22150, Project No. 692-03).
Rec: By Minute Motion: 1) Award the subject contract to Harris &
Associates, Irvine, California, in the amount of $19,920; 2) authorize
the Mayor to execute said contract — funds are available in Account
No. 400-4616-433-4001.
1-1. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Change Order No. 2 to Contract
No. C20950 — Design/Engineering Plans and Specifications for Aztec Road
(Palm Desert High School Cook Street Access, Project No. 602-02).
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve Change Order No. 2 in the amount of
$9,600 to the subject contract with Epic Engineers, Redlands,
California, to mitigate the unforeseen and conflicting utilities — funds
are available in Account No. 213-4623-433-4001.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
1-2. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Scope of Services Amendment No. 1 for the
Palma Village Neighborhood Park Phase II — Construction Documents
(Contract No. C21140A).
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve Scope of Services Amendment No. 1 in
the amount of $7,550 to the subject contract with Community Works
Design Group, Riverside, California, for additional work necessaryfor
completion of construction documents for the Palma Village
Neighborhood Park.
J-1. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION to File a Notice of Completion for
Contract No. C17530A — Construction of Highway 111 and
Highway 74/Monterey Avenue Intersection Improvements
(Gueno Development, Carson, CA).
Rec: By Minute Motion, authorize the City Clerk to file a Notice of
Completion for the subject project.
J-2. REQUEST FOR ACCEPTANCE OF WORK for Contract No. C21120 —
Boxing, Removal, and Transportation of Plant Material within the Scope of
the Highway 111 Street and Signal Improvement Project (Project No. 910-03)
(Hort Tech, Inc., Palm Desert, CA).
Rec: By Minute Motion, accept the work as complete and authorize the City
Clerk to file a Notice of Completion for the subject project.
K-1. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Final Tract Map 29713 (Ironwood Country
Club, Applicant).
Rec: Waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. 03-119, approving
Final Tract Map No. 29713.
K-2. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Parcel Map 31460 (Carl Voce, Applicant).
Rec: Waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. 03-120, approving
Parcel Map No. 31460.
L. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Grant Application to the Mobile Source Air
Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC).
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve the submission of a grant application to
the MSRC Review Committee for a $20,000 funding match
reimbursement on the purchase of a new dedicated natural gas street
sweeper (Tymco 600) to be purchased in Fiscal Year 2004/05.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
M. REQUEST FOR RATIFICATION of Out -of -State Travel for Radiation Safety
Officer Training Course.
Rec: By Minute Motion, ratify approval of the subject request for the Senior
Public Works Inspector to attend the Radiation Safety Officer Training
Course in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 8-12, 2003 — funds are
available in Account No. 110-4300-413-3120.
N. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of LAFCO Administrative Requirement for
Annexation No. 37 — Palm Desert Greens and Suncrest Country Clubs
(LAFCO 2002-37-4).
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve the LAFCO Administrative Requirement
for $3,500 payable to the State Board of Equalization and appropriate
same from the Unobligated General Fund.
Councilman Ferguson ABSTAINED from the vote on this item. 4-0-1
O. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of the Purchase of Two Pieces of Artwork from
Palm Desert's Sister City of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo.
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve the purchase of two pieces of artwork
produced by artists from Palm Desert's Sister City of
Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico, in the amount of $1,600 from Account
No. 610-0000-228-2800.
P. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.
1. Report on Comparable General Plans and EIR Costs.
Councilman Ferguson noted that he would be abstaining on Item N.
Upon motion by Crites, second by Kelly, the Consent Calendar was approved as
presented by a 5-0 vote, with the exception of Item N, from which Councilman Ferguson
ABSTAINED.
XI. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER
None
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
XII. RESOLUTIONS
— A. RESOLUTION NO. 03-121 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, EXTENDING THE
EXPIRATION DATE OF ITS CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE
AGREEMENT WITH TIME WARNER CABLE FROM DECEMBER 31, 2003,
THROUGH JUNE 30, 2004.
Councilman Kelly moved to waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. 03-121.
Motion was seconded by Ferguson and carried by a 5-0 vote.
B. RESOLUTION NO. 03-122 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, SUPPORTING A GENERAL
OBLIGATION BOND MEASURE FOR THE COLLEGE OF THE DESERT.
Councilman Ferguson moved to waive further reading and adopt Resolution
No. 03-122. Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried by a 5-0 vote.
C. RESOLUTION NO. 03-123 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, SUPPORTING THE
SALTON SEA AUTHORITY AS LEAD AGENCY IN IDENTIFYING AND
IMPLEMENTING CORRECTIVE MEASURES TO PRESERVE THE
BENEFICIAL USES OF THE SALTON SEA.
Councilman Ferguson moved to waive further reading and adopt Resolution
No. 03-123. Motion was seconded by Crites and carried by a 5-0 vote.
XIII. ORDINANCES
For Introduction:
None
For Adoption:
A. ORDINANCE NO. 1058 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING ORDINANCE
NO. 107, THE PALM DESERT ZONING MAP, BY CHANGING THE ZONE
FROM PR-5 (PLANNED RESIDENTIAL, FIVE UNITS PER ACRE) TO O.P.
(OFFICE PROFESSIONAL) FOR LAND LOCATED AT THE NORTH END
OF EMBASSY SUITES, 74-700 HIGHWAY 111 Case No. C/Z 03-09
(Schmid Investments L.P., Applicant).
Councilman Ferguson moved to waive further reading and adopt Ordinance
No. 1058. Motion was seconded by Benson and carried by a 5-0 vote.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
XIV. NEW BUSINESS
A. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF CONTRACT FOR JANITORIAL SERVICES
FOR THE CITY OF PALM DESERT'S PARKVIEW OFFICE COMPLEX
(CONTRACT NO. C22160).
Councilman Kelly moved to, by Minute Motion, award the subject contract to
D. W. Nicholson, LLC, d.b.a. Desert Building Services, Rancho Mirage, California, in the
amount of $73,020 for the period January 1 - December 31, 2004, and authorize the Mayor
to execute same. Motion was seconded by Benson and carried by a 5-0 vote.
B. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT TO THE MEMORANDUM
OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) REGARDING MEASURES TO MINIMIZE
AND MITIGATE TAKE OF THE COACHELLA VALLEY FRINGE -TOED
LIZARD.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites moved to, by Minute Motion, adopt the subject amendment,
which will extend the existing Fringe -toed Lizard Memorandum of Understanding
from December 31, 2003, to March 15, 2005. Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried
by a 5-0 vote.
C. REQUEST FOR AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR PREPARATION OF AN
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR A PROJECT KNOWN AS
"CORNISHE AT BIGHORN" (CONTRACT NO. C22170) (Cornishe of
Bighorn, LLC, Applicant).
Mr. Drell reviewed the staff report and offered to answer any questions.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites noted under "terms" that this allows for 12 months to
complete this, and he could not conceive of any possible reason that should
not be cut in half.
Mr. Drell responded that this was a process that would have to be done by
the numbers, beginning with the notice of preparation, the scoping, etc., and
each of those processes had a time period attached to it. Although it could
conceivably be done in less time, they wanted to make sure they had enough
time given the potential for controversy during and after the process.
Councilmember Benson moved to, by Minute Motion, authorize the Mayor to enter
into the subject contract with PCR Services Corporation, Santa Monica, California, in the
amount of $231,500 plus a contingency of $23,150 to be paid by the Applicant. Motion
was seconded by Ferguson and carried by a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Crites voting NO.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
D. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF SPONSORSHIP OF THE SUBARU GOLF
TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD AT DESERT WILLOW GOLF RESORT IN
— MARCH AND APRIL 2004.
Mr. Ortega noted the staff report and recommendation in the packets.
Councilman Kelly moved to, by Minute Motion, approve sponsorship of the 2004
Subaru Golf Tournament in the amount of $20,500, with said funding to be paid from the
approved Marketing Budget for FY 2003/04. Motion was seconded by Ferguson and
carried by a 5-0 vote.
E. CONSIDERATION OF THE LEVEL OF SUPPORT FOR EXPANSION OF
THE AFTER -SCHOOL PROGRAM.
Mrs. Gilligan noted the staff report and recommendation in the packets.
Mayor Spiegel noted that a request was being submitted to the State for
grants for this program at Lincoln Elementary School, Palm Desert Middle
School, and Palm Desert High School. They had met with Andrea Fletcher,
who is in charge of grants, in Sacramento, and she seemed quite
enthusiastic about the possibility of Palm Desert getting these grants. He
asked for Council's agreement to continue with the application for these
grants and that another member of the Council work with him in getting other
grants from the private sector.
Councilmember Benson stated it was her understanding when the $70,000
was committed last year that before any expansion or re -funding was done,
there would be an evaluation of the effectiveness of this program over a
year.
Mayor Spiegel stated that the problem was that grants need to be applied for
in December. He noted that the cost to provide this program at a grade
school was approximately $120,000, with a cost of $160,000 for a middle
school. The grants the State will come up with is $75,000 for each case.
Because not many high schools apply for the grants, the State would fund
the entire amount of $220,000 if the grant is approved. If application for the
grants was not made now, the opportunity would be lost. He felt the program
has been very enthusiastically received, currently supporting about 80
children after school, with a waiting list for those wanting to get in. Upon
question by Councilmember Benson, he stated that these programs are
typically supported by individuals, foundations, and businesses. Last year,
the City approved a program for the middle school and paid for it out of the
General Fund. Next year, if the grants are approved, the City will then go out
to foundations (i.e., The Berger Foundation, The McCarthy Foundation,
WalMart, Robinsons-May, Macy's, etc.) and other organizations and ask for
funds because they all have children going to these schools.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
Councilman Kelly stated that the concern was how much the City would be
committing to. He said there was also the YMCA and Coachella Valley
Recreation and Park District who basically do after school programs. In
addition to soliciting funds from corporations, the City has its own agencies
that can assist with various parts of the after school program. He said there
was a possibility this could be done without any expense to the City.
Mayor Spiegel noted that the program at the middle school is run by
Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District. If Lincoln Elementary School
comes on board, the YMCA has already signed up to run that.
Councilman Ferguson stated that it seemed the City had $370,000 of
somebody's else's money that could be used for kids right here in
Palm Desert. The balance is $130,000, which the City could pay for or get
large employers to help pay for because it is their employees whose children
are being taken care of after school. He did not see any problem in applying
for that $370,000.
Councilman Crites said he felt the grant applications were something that
could be handled within the scope of the $10,000 already budgeted for a
grant writer. Secondly, the City is not committing any funds, it is going out
to see what the State will approve. Thirdly, the Council might want to talk
about some kind of ongoing fundraising effort that is perhaps directed by the
various parent clubs.
Councilman Ferguson moved to, by Minute Motion, direct staff to work towards
expanding the After -School Program, as outlined, by applying for grants and trying to get
the balance of necessary funding from the private sector. Motion was seconded by Kelly
and carried by a 5-0 vote.
F. CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FROM THE FRANK SINATRA GOLF
TOURNAMENT FOR FUNDING OF THE FRANK SINATRA CELEBRITY
INVITATIONAL, FEBRUARY 13-14, 2004, AT DESERT WILLOW GOLF
RESORT.
Mr. Ortega noted the staff report and recommendation in the packets.
Councilman Ferguson asked whether it would be appropriate to shift the
funding of this tournament to Outside Agency Funding if the City is going to
continue to fund it on an annual basis.
Mr. Ortega noted that the agreement is on a year to year basis. If the
Council wishes, this can be included as an annual budget item. If the
tournament is held, the funding would then have already been appropriated.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
Mrs. Gilligan noted that last year was the first year the City funded this
tournament.
MR. RODNEY YOUNG, General Manager of Desert Willow, noted that this
was the fifth year of the tournament. There was six hours of coverage on the
Golf Channel for their derby, and the City gave $25,000 last year for that.
This year, they are not guaranteeing they will do the derby and get Golf
Channel coverage again, but there would be local coverage and throughout
California on different smaller networks. The $17,000 requested would be
to offset some additional costs they have this year.
Councilman Ferguson asked if the City would be financially participating
because of the media coverage.
MR. YOUNG responded that was the case last year, although he did not
believe that was the case this year.
Councilman Crites noted that his understanding of the staff report was that
the $17,000 was needed this year because they had decided not to have as
many players, and Mr. Young agreed. Councilman Crites asked why they
couldn't be asked to have more players, and the City would not have to pay.
MR. YOUNG stated that last year's tournament took a little over seven hours
to play a round of golf, which is not a real fun day of golf. They were
reducing the number of players in order to improve the enjoyment of the
participants. As time goes by, they can improve the field with the celebrities
and, therefore, charge more for the amateurs who are playing.
Councilman Ferguson asked what the policy objective was in sponsoring this
tournament.
Mr. Ortega responded that this is an activity that has an advertising value
and exposure to the City of Palm Desert, including its own project
(Desert Willow), and he felt $17,000 was a reasonable amount.
Councilmember Benson said it did not make a lot of sense to her that they
increase the cost to Desert Willow, they reduce the number of players, and
now they want the City of Palm Desert to make up the difference.
MR. YOUNG noted that three or four years ago, they had some really strong
sponsors such as Cadillac and Ford. They had lost those sponsors because
of the economy, although they believed they would get them back next year.
They were also going after other corporate sponsors, and hopefully that
would alleviate their dependence on the City of Palm Desert.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
Councilman Crites asked what would happen if the City did not approve this
request.
MR. YOUNG responded that he was sure they would still host the event at
Desert Willow, although he felt it would probably leave a bad taste in their
mouths for future years. Fortunately for Desert Willow, there were not a lot
of properties in the desert that could accommodate them the way
Desert Willow was able to do based on location, two golf courses with one
clubhouse, etc.
Councilman Ferguson stated that he felt the tournament was good for the
City, but it would be nice to put an end date on the financial part of it and let
them know the City would like to see them be able to stand on their own two
feet. He added that he felt Outside Agency Funding was the appropriate
process to use.
Councilman Ferguson moved to, by Minute Motion, approve funding in the amount
of $17,000 and authorize appropriation of same from the Unobligated General Fund
Reserve, conditioned upon the Applicant being told to apply for Outside Agency Funding.
Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried by a 5-0 vote.
XV. CONTINUED BUSINESS
None
XVI. OLD BUSINESS
With Council concurrence, Old Business Items A and B were continued until
later in the meeting.
A. CONSIDERATION OF THE PROPOSED PALM DESERT GREENFIELD
ELECTRIC UTILITY OPERATING AGREEMENT (CONTRACT
NO. C22180).
Mr. Kohn stated that comments were made at the last Council meeting
relative to contacting other cities, and he was aware that Mr. Ortega had
actually spoken with representatives of one or two cities himself. He noted
that he had spoken with the Cities of Cerritos, San Marcos, Corona, Irvine,
Colton, Victorville, Moreno Valley, and City of Industry about their efforts in
forming a utility. All of these jurisdictions had several reasons for pursuing
a municipal electric utility as follows:
A desire for local control of electric utility policies and rates
Potentially have lower and more stable electric utility rates
Potential to fund other city programs with revenue from the utility
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
He said funding for other city programs was one of the questions Mayor
Spiegel had asked, and he felt it was important to wait and see how much
revenue the State is going to take from the City of Palm Desert. As an
example of things that can be done from revenue derived from a utility, the
City of Riverside put in a solar ray at their water treatment plant, all funded
by the utility rather than from the general fund. Other cities offered rebates
over and above what the current rebates are for energy efficiency projects.
The next item on the Agenda, the Noresco investment grade audit report,
was something that could be funded out the utility with the excess revenues.
He said all of the cities he had spoken with had the same concerns about
risk. Staff believed this agreement had addressed those concerns of risk.
Although not all risk had been eliminated, he believed there were protections
against most of those. One of the biggest concerns for him was the supply
of power at a cost that would enable the utility to perform as projected. A
letter was included in the packets from Tom Clark from the City of Colton,
basically expressing an interest in providing power to the City of Palm
Desert. There was also a letter from the City of Corona offering a rate of
$.05 per kilowatt, and there would be several speakers at this meeting
discussing supplying power to the City of Palm Desert. After speaking with
these two cities, he said he felt comfortable the City could get power at a
cost that makes this utility work. He said if ENCO cannot provide electricity
at a rate that makes this work, the deal is off. He reviewed items listed in the
staff report.
Upon question by Councilman Ferguson, Mr. Kohn stated that his feeling
was that if the City decides to own a utility and have it privately operated by
ENCO instead of Edison, the first thing to be done would be to secure a long-
term contract for power. He said a power purchase agreement really cannot
be negotiated until the City actually becomes a utility. He stated that in his
conversations with energy providers, he had head of contract terms from
three years to twenty years. He would not recommend that the City be put
in a position where we have one sole supplier that only has natural gas
because he felt that was one of the most volatile things that you can have.
The goal would be to have several options and sources of power. He said
he was not sure where Commonwealth Energy gets their power, but they
serve 900 residents and businesses in Palm Desert right now who are
getting lower rates than other people, with residential being about 5% lower.
He said he believed there were alternatives out there. Upon further question
by Councilman Ferguson, he said all of those alternatives had been looked
at. He added that he still felt this was doable based on the proforma. He
knew there was a certain element of risk, and he had tried to minimize that
risk within the agreement. He felt this could be a very good thing for the City.
He noted he had a proposal from the Imperial Irrigation District offering green
power, geothermal, at $.02 per kilowatt. The problem was getting it here.
Green power was available, and he felt that would be part of the City's
portfolio eventually, although it would be several years before the City is big
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
enough to really do something. He stated that it was his understanding that
Edison would be going to the CPUC in 2004 for a rate increase, to increase
the distribution component of their rate. He said he was fairly certain it would
go up and would keep going up. They had averaged about 7% per year over
the last 23 years, and their labor rate alone goes up 3% per year. He said
he did not see the rates going down. He said he felt the greenfield utility was
the City's last chance to get into that type of business. Once it is built out
under Edison, the City would have to go through eminent domain. He said
another thing that had not been pointed out was the value of the spot utility
once it is built, and it was an asset that would build in value rather than
decrease.
MS. KATHLEEN DeROSA, Public Affairs Region Manager for Southern
California Edison, stated there were many issues the City would be facing if
it decided to go forward into the private business, including the cost of
natural gas, developer allowances, capital costs, customer growth,
development growth, the future of the real estate market, electrical usage,
different rate schedules by customer class, setting rates for all these
customer classes, benefit programs, maintenance issues, billing issues,
customer service calls, reliability issues, and emergency preparedness. She
said these were some of the many issues that Southern California Edison
had handled over the past 100 years. She said while the energy crisis of
2000/2001 had largely passed, we continue to hear about the next crisis,
which is the volatility of the gas market. Renewable energy is very important
to the City of Palm Desert, as it has always looked to preserve and conserve
mother earth, not just for today but for tomorrow. She said a $2 million bond
would be set aside in the event the contractor goes upside down and in the
event this venture does not work, but she asked where the funds would
come from for any shortfall after that money is expended. In the event of a
natural disaster, who will the City call to restore its power? While it might
look easy, it was not. She asked if the Council was willing to gamble the
future of the City of Palm Desert, a city all the Councilmembers had
dedicated so many years to, and she asked what legacy the Council wanted
to leave. She added that she looked forward to continuing to work with the
City of Palm Desert in the future.
MR. DICK PAULSEN, Chief Operating Officer of Commonwealth Energy
Corporation, said they were a local, Tustin -based, California corporation and
the largest electricity retailer in the state of California besides the utilities.
They had 900 customers in Palm Desert and had customers in Michigan,
Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He said one of the riskier issues the Council
faces as it makes this decision is on the commodity portion of the utility bill.
He said there was a transmission and distribution portion on those bills,
which they were not experts at because they were retailers of the commodity
electric portion. Commonwealth was one of the many vendors who would
sell to the City the commodity matching or beating the commodity rate of the
utility, and he said he would like the Council to entertain that because he felt
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
the greenfield opportunity the City had as well as some other opportunities
coming down the road with city aggregation were really good for the City. He
offered to answer any questions about his company and what they had been
able to do for residents not just in Palm Desert but in the other states he
mentioned.
MS. ROSEMARIE GONZALES, Imperial Irrigation District, said she trusted
that the Council would make the right decision on behalf of the citizens of
Palm Desert. Should the Council decide to become a municipal utility, she
said IID would welcome the City to the family of public power entities. She
said they had one allegiance as a public power provider, and that was to
serve the customer and provide them the best and most reliable energy they
can at the best price. She said IID, should the Council decide it wants to
serve its constituency in the public power capacity, was open to discussions
with the City about perhaps being its wholesale power provider.
MR. GARY GREEN, Southern California Edison, addressed several items in
the staff report that he said he wanted to provide a different perspective on.
It had previously been discussed in a study session that by the time you back
out distribution costs and other fees, it was necessary to get down to a
generation cost of about five cents to meet or beat Edison's cost. The letter
from the City of Corona talked about a five -cent commodity cost, but then it
talked about what is equivalent to another half -cent to one cent in
independent system operator ancillary services and other costs. That makes
the real cost five -and -a -half to six cents. Secondly, with regard to the energy
efficiency and photovoltaic installation for the City, that rebate of $1.6 million
is coming from Edison. He said there was a piece of the proposed rates that
would provide for public purpose rebates like that, but it would take through
2011 to have accrued enough to do a rebate of that size. He said the utility
does have the ability to make those kinds of rebates and will continue to
make those for its existing customers. He said Mr. Kohn talked about the
State's Department of Water Resources contracts going down substantially
in a few years, yet he forecast that Edison's rates would go up. He said he
was one of the witnesses in the general rate case that has not yet been
decided; if Edison gets everything they ask for, which has never happened,
the rates would go up by .2 to .25 cents (or 2%), which would be in effect for
the next three years with no further increases during that time. He said the
California Energy Commission is one we've talked about using as the
independent third party for forecast, and EES and Edison had agreed to use
that number, and that did show Edison rates continuing to come down over
time. He stated that for every number, you have to dig a little bit deeper. He
offered to answer any questions.
Councilman Kelly said this was one of the biggest decisions the Council has
had to make since he joined the Council. He read a prepared statement,
noting that in discussions, he had only heard testimony from people who
have some vested interest on one side or the other. Each participant
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seemed to have their mind made up and refused to offer any form of
balanced reasoning. He said the reasoning for his decision was based on
his previous remarks, but the most important of his reasons for not being in
favor of moving ahead was that he did not believe the City of Palm Desert
should use governmental powers to compete with private business. The
Council had a responsibility to look into the possibility of forming a power
utility, and they did that.
Councilmember Benson said she felt staff had done a magnificent job of
looking into all aspects of this, and she was open-minded to look at this.
However, no one had convinced her that city government should be in the
utility business. She did not believe the City should be anything other than
city government, and she was not in favor of moving forward.
Councilman Ferguson thanked Mr. Kohn for his work on this matter. He said
he had heard many residents urge the Council to proceed with caution, and
there were other cities watching to see what Palm Desert is going to do.
Fundamentally, he said he did not believe Palm Desert should get into the
electric utility business. He said he believed the Council can help by
adopting an ordinance where we get development to incorporate energy
efficiency standards through its partnership in the Clean Cities program and
by working either with matching grant or other types of programs for existing
residents. He said if we don't like utility rates, we're the master of our own
destiny...we simply don't use it.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites stated that he had never had anyone grumble to him
about service and about whether or not Edison is responsive, etc. He said
this was not an issue of competency. He said he had felt for a long number
of years that Edison, as a corporation, was hand in glove in part of the
deregulation fiasco, and he felt the California public was defrauded by that
deregulation, which was unanimously voted on by the State Legislators and
the Governor. He felt Edison had done a disservice, and he had very little
trust in its corporate policy. However, punishing corporate policy was not a
Palm Desert public purpose. He felt Palm Desert could be successful in this
business, although it was counter to what Palm Desert normally does as a
"contract city." Because of that, he felt it was important to make sure this
was something the public wanted the City to do and was perceived by the
residents and businesses as being something valuable for the general public
good. He said if four Councilmembers had been ready to vote in favor
tonight, he would be ready to vote to sit down for a long time to go through
the contracts because it was the risk factor that gave him personal
discomfort because the Council is the guardians of the public good. He said
he could not vote in favor at this time because he still had a lot of questions
and areas where he was not comfortable in understanding.
Mayor Spiegel said he was worried about the risk factor. Two meetings ago
he asked a question that if the City gave the anticipated savings back to the
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residents, about how much would it be annually, and he was told $70. He
said he did not personally think it was worth the risk and the kind of money
the City would have to put out for this to give our current residents on
average of $70 per year.
Councilman Kelly moved to, by Minute Motion, decline the opportunity to move
ahead with Palm Desert's own public utility. Motion was seconded by Ferguson and
carried by a 5-0 vote.
B. PRESENTATION OF NORESCO INVESTMENT GRADE AUDIT REPORT
FOR CITY OF PALM DESERT FACILITIES.
Mr. Kohn reviewed the staff and said there was also a Powerpoint
presentation if the Council wished to see it.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites stated that staff anticipated an 8.2-year return on
investment, and he asked at what level of comfort and/or certainty staff could
say that. He said the City's investments were currently not garnering giant
interest rates, and he wanted to be sure that after a certain number of years
the City would have its capital back and would be making money on its
investments.
Mr. Kohn responded that he felt comfortable that 8.2 years was close based
on the analysis and if the rebates are received as defined in the report. If the
gas or electric rates change, it may swing it two or three years, but he felt
even a 10- or 15-year rate of return was not bad for a governmental agency.
Councilmember Benson stated that this proposal benefits the entire City, and
Mr. Kohn agreed that it was a direct benefit to everyone, noting that General
Fund tax dollars pay the utility bill, maintenance, etc.
Mr. Ortega noted that some of the costs included have already been spent;
i.e., it talked about building certain structures, basically automobile shade
structures, on which the City would put some of the photovoltaic.
Councilman Kelly said he had read in The Desert Sun that the Agua Caliente
Band of Indians had put a co -generation plant in their new casino. He asked
if the City would be doing a similar co -generation such as they have.
Mr. Kohn responded that there was a co -generation micro -turbine proposed
for Desert Willow, and he believed that NORESCO completed for
Eisenhower a co -generation system. There was not one planned for
City Hall because the electric load and the amount of savings would be too
much to amortize, and it would be too long a period to pay and to justify a
micro -turbine for just City Hall. Upon further question, he said the Sheriff's
Department had not been included because it was separate. He said this
was basically Phase I of the thought process, and the second part would be
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to see what can be done for this entire 82-acre site (Civic Center) and all its
facilities. Discussion had also been held with College of the Desert relative
to doing a joint venture, but that would all be the next phase. He said what
was being done now could be easily integrated into any system expansion
for this whole facility.
Councilman Ferguson asked if Redevelopment funds could be used to build
this infrastructure and if the dollars returned would be General Fund monies
or Redevelopment funds.
Mr. Kohn responded that they had discussed how RDA could play a part in
this, although they were not yet sure what that part would be.
Mr. McCarthy added that certain aspects, i.e., some of the capital
expenditures, could be borne by RDA; it would need further discussion with
Agency Counsel. It wasn't creating an enterprise but making some
investments that would result in some passive savings that would accrue to
the City's General Fund, which is how he felt it would be reviewed.
Mr. Ortega pointed out that preliminary indications from Agency Counsel
were that RDA funds could be used, but the specifics would have to be
looked at.
Mayor Spiegel said the City had cells on top of its parking structure for about
a year, but he had never been able to receive a report relative to how much
money has been saved.
Mr. Kohn responded that the system was working and was producing about
a third of what was anticipated because of the design and the fact that it is
shaded part of the time. He said it was doing about three -and -a -half
kilowatts per day at $.13 per kilowatt. He noted that the new facilities were
guaranteed for three years that they would work and that they would produce
the energy savings they say will. Upon question by Mayor Spiegel, he said
the plan was to put solar panels on the entire roof of the parking structure
that is in the north 40, and they would work very well.
Councilman Kelly asked if staff was going to make sure that it works and
provides that kind of savings before putting in another.
Mayor Spiegel agreed this was a very good point because Council was being
asked to approve a lot of different projects, one for Desert Willow, one for
City Hall, etc. He asked what would happen if just one of those was done to
see how it works.
Mr. Kohn said this could be done, but it may have economic impacts that are
not included in this proposal.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
A representative of NORESCO said the proposal was for an integrated
project for both facilities, City Hall and Desert Willow. He said it was possible
to do just one of the projects, but they would have to adjust the costs.
Councilman Ferguson asked if the performance guarantee period
commensurate with the capitalization period to get the City's money back.
The representative responded that the guaranteed savings would be starting
from the successful completion of the project for three years, and they would
guarantee the savings associated with each different component of the
project. The electricity would be produced, the lighting would be performed
the way it was designed.
Councilman Ferguson asked how long it would take the City to get back its
investment.
Mr. Kohn responded that it would approximately eight years.
In response to Councilman Ferguson's concern that the City would then be
on its own for about five years, the NORESCO representative stated that the
first year is typically to work out the bugs, and the second and third years are
just to provide a comfort level because there was no reason for the project
not to continue to perform.
Upon further question by Councilman Ferguson relative to the existing solar
panels on the City's parking structure, Mr. Kohn responded that NORESCO
had indicated it could be fixed to where it works properly. It would mean
reconfiguring them, building new brackets, reorienting them so they face the
sun in the right direction, etc. He said NORESCO had not run a cost
analysis, but he could ask them to do so. In response to Councilman Kelly's
previous question, he said they could separate and do City Hall first if
Council so wished, although it would change the economics a little bit.
The NORESCO representative noted that they had been putting in these
photovoltaic projects all over the country. One was in San Diego, and he
invited the Council to take a trip to the naval facility to see how it is
performing.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites moved to, by Minute Motion, authorize the City Manager to
develop a funding plan and return it to the City Council for consideration at its meeting of
January 8, 2004 — project is estimated at $4,669,548 with the potential of $1,600,000 in
rebates, resulting in an out-of-pocket expense of $3,069,548. Motion was seconded by
Ferguson and carried by a 5-0 vote.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING ITEM WAS LISTED ON AN AGENDA ADDENDUM POSTED
72 HOURS PRIOR TO THE MEETING.
C. CONSIDERATION OF A PROPOSAL FROM THE DESERT SUN RELATIVE
TO SPONSORING A NEW PALM DESERT MAGAZINE.
MR. BOB DICKEY, President and Publisher of The Desert Sun, said he had
met individually over the last few months with the Council. He noted the
packet in front of Council that showed design elements and content plan as
well as the proposal for which they were asking Council support. This would
allow the City of Palm Desert and its residents to benefit from a high -quality,
top-quality publication that would be published ten times per month and
would be delivered to each resident of Palm Desert. Residents would
receive a copy either with a copy of The Desert Sun newspaper or, if they
were not a subscriber, they would receive a mailed copy. Seasonal residents
would be provided a copy mailed to them at their out of town address, which
would allow them to continue to stay up on what is going on in the City. He
said he had explained the content previously to the Councilmembers, but he
noted that it was really to highlight the people and businesses of
Palm Desert, the amenities, and the specialness of the City. It would be very
much a lifestyle publication, not one that would be focused on any type of
hard news approach. It would be more a celebration of the lifestyle of
Palm Desert and its residents, and it would feature everyday citizens as well
as prominent business and entertainers who call Palm Desert their home.
It would focus on businesses, restaurants, etc., and he believed it was a
great opportunity for both Palm Desert residents to be showcased and for
businesses to advertise their services and help them further their businesses
throughout the year. He said their sponsorship was for one year, at which
point they would carry on the magazine, and it would be their intention to
carry on this magazine for years to come. He said they had experience in
producing magazines, and they had a separate department that specializes
in this area. They were very proud of their Desert Magazine, which had been
in production for a number of years, and it currently was the number one
read magazine in the marketplace. Research confirmed that six months ago,
and Desert Magazine held an 18% rate of readership over its nearest
competitor in that type of magazine in the marketplace. He said that most
interestingly when they were looking at this project, they found that
Palm Desert residents read Desert Magazine and have shown they
appreciate the quality of the work they are currently putting out in that
publication by a 33% increase over the other publication in the marketplace.
On top of that, they believed it made sense because Palm Desert is their
number one base for readership of The Desert Sun. Their growth had been
consistent over the years, and Palm Desert residents had been supportive
of the newspaper. They believed as a result, they would also be supportive
of a magazine that came along with their newspaper. They currently
projected that in the first six months of 2004, up to 64% of the households
in the City of Palm Desert would be subscribers to the newspaper, and he
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
felt that was a vote of confidence in the publication by the residents in the
community. He said they were very proud that the City of Palm Desert had
the largest number of readers and subscribers of The Desert Sun. He added
that they were committed to a dedicated staff, and they would hire a
separate staff for this publication. He believed it would be able to stand on
its own with the Council's support through the first ten issues. He hoped to
publish the first issue in February and run the sponsorship through January
of 2005. There would be one summer issue, which is why they came up with
the ten-month publishing cycle. He noted that Desert Magazine started that
way, and their hopes were that as the magazine grows in popularity, it will
become a monthly publication. He said it took three years to get to that
publishing cycle with the Desert Magazine some eight years ago when it first
started, although it started under a different name and was renamed three
years ago. He offered to answer any questions.
Councilman Ferguson asked what the capital contribution was, including
employees and staff.
MR. DICKEY responded that they were asking for the City to contribute one
dollar for every $3.25 that they are contributing. Upon additional question by
Councilman Ferguson, he responded that the publication was slated to start
at 48 pages, and they felt they could get it to 60 pages. He said they would
commit to a certain page count for the editorial features that are outlined,
regardless of whether the advertising support is there or not. He believed
with the proper editorial content and flavor the advertising support would
catch up if it is not there in the early going.
Councilman Ferguson asked how long they had been working on this
proposal, and Mr. Dickey responded that it was originally an idea that started
early in 2003 through a retreat at the newspaper with some executives. He
said he believed he first approached Councilman Ferguson some time in late
August or early September. Councilman Ferguson noted just to be clear that
Mr. Dickey approached the City, and the City did not go out to bid for a
magazine. Mr. Dickey agreed and said he approached Councilman
Ferguson first and through his guidance it was suggested that he meet with
other members of the Council and staff, and that was done.
Mayor Spiegel asked if the distribution would be only to Palm Desert
residents. Mr. Dickey responded that originally it was Palm Desert only.
There was some conversation about possibly including Indian Wells; after
discussion with staff, the proposal before Council was that it would be 100%
Palm Desert only publication. If the Council wished to reopen the idea of
looking to the neighboring city of Indian Wells, they would do that, but that
was not what they were suggesting with the current proposal in front of the
Council.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
Mayor Pro Tem Crites noted that the staff recommendation was that the City
not participate, and he asked what staff's recommendation was about
whether or not the City would purchase the magazines for either the Visitors'
Center and/or the major hotels orwhetherthis had even been discussed. He
said he was not aware of any "Palm Desert Magazine" in the hotels.
Mrs. Gilligan stated that she was not aware of any such publication in the
hotels either. She said she and Mayor Pro Tem Crites had this discussion,
and she felt this is something the City would want to do. She said in the
conversations with Mr. Dickey, they had talked about if the City did not
participate as a sponsor, whether or not the City could purchase advertising
space in the magazine, which the City would certainly avail itself of through
the marketing program. She said this is already done through Palm Springs
Life and other local community magazine, but placing them at the Visitors'
Center and hotels would definitely be something staff would support.
MR. DICKEY stated that part of the proposal did identify what they believed
was the cost of purchasing those magazines as well as costs associated with
an Internet site and the value of the advertising that the City would receive
in each issue. Upon question by Councilman Ferguson, he said the proposal
was to put 4,000 of the magazines in the Palm Desert hotels. He said they
would go out and secure hotels that would carry them, and the idea with the
number is they would want people to pick them up and take them with them,
and they would have to be replenished. He said this would be 4,000 per
month or 40,000 per year, plus they would provide the City with 2,000
separate copies to be used for special events, for economic development to
showcase the City, etc., however the City wanted to use those publications.
He said he knew from previous conversations that the City has a lot of
requests for different types of information, and this could be a keepsake type
of piece to send to people. Upon further question by Councilman Ferguson,
he said anyone who owns a home in Palm Desert would receive the
publication. People who are away for the summer months or other times
would be tracked, and they would be mailed copies of the magazine to
wherever their away home is located.
Mrs. Gilligan noted that Mr. Milton Jones was in the audience, and the
Council had been provided with copies of the letter he had submitted.
MR. MILTON JONES, President of Desert Publications, Inc., noted they were
celebrating their 45`h year of publishing magazines in the Coachella Valley.
He said if the Council was going to be spending taxpayer monies to
subsidize a community magazine, he would like the opportunity to bid on
that. He said it was his understanding there has not been a written proposal
except today, and he did not know what the ramifications are. He said they
had published a Palm Desert magazine in the past and, due to economic
problems and the dot com situation three or four years ago, they had to
discontinue that. They started their first magazine in 1981 and published
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
through that period. He said they were the owners of the Palm Desert
magazine name, and he asked for Council's consideration of his request.
Councilman Ferguson said if it was true that imitation was the sincerest form
of flattery, then Mr. Jones should feel flattered because it had long been his
desire to market Palm Desert as a premiere destination resort on its own two
legs and not as an asterisk next to the name "Palm Springs." With the local
folks here, he felt the City had been very successful in doing that. He said
he had long wanted to have a "Palm Desert Life" that would rival the quality
and character and composition of Palm Springs Life, which he felt was an
excellent publication. He said he was originally approached by Mr. Dickey
last August and learned that he had put approximately six months into
putting together a proposal whereby The Desert Sun would commit close to
a half million dollars of its money on a permanent publication and was
basically looking to the City for start-up money. He noted that when he sat
on the City's Promotion Committee, it routinely funded programs for up to
two years, with the program originator putting in the majority of the cost and
the City putting in a little bit of seed money in the hopes that it would get
going and perpetuate itself and promote the City of Palm Desert. One
example of that tonight were the Frank Sinatra Golf Tournament, which
brings celebrities to the Valley and promotes Palm Desert to them. They
then take that impression of Palm Desert back to their walks of life, and
hopefully it stimulates Palm Desert's tourism. Another example is the
Subaru Golf Tournament. The City gives money and, as a result of that, the
City receives exposure because it is aired on television. He said Councilman
Kelly indicated he had seen it, and he had heard from hundreds of people
over the years that they see Desert Willow and see what a great "municipal
golf course" it is. He said he felt the City receives a great dividend for that.
He said he looked at this as 48-60 pages of advertising a month and 480-
600 pages on an annual basis in perpetuity for relatively little money, as little
as $75,000. He looked at other programs Palm Desert has done to try and
promote the City, such as spending $86,000 for the Palm Springs Museum
to have a dinosaur exhibit and a comparable amount of money for a bug
exhibit and a S.C.R.A.P. gallery for recycled trash, etc. He said he was not
denigrating any of those things, he just thought it was very much in the
history of the City to promote things for all aspects of Palm Desert, and the
thought of having a publication similar to Palm Springs Life in all 800 rooms
at the Marriott and the other hotels that people can take back and show their
relatives he felt was a tremendous promotional benefit to the City for a one-
time grant of some seed money. He said he felt his colleagues should at
least have a chance to hear the proposal, see examples of it, and have a
chance to vote on it. He stated that it was not a RFP situation, and he
suspected if Mr. Jones had come to the City with a similar proposal, the
Council would have given him the same consideration.
Councilmember Benson noted that the 48 pages would not be entirely
devoted to Palm Desert. She said if that was the case and it was only
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
Palm Desert advertising and nothing else in it, she might be a little bit more
sympathetic. She said she did not think it was a good use of the taxpayer
money to have Paim Desert's name on a publication that is going to sponsor
other restaurants all over the Valley and to direct them out of the City for
shopping and eating and that sort of thing. She felt there was enough going
on now with the Bright Side newsletter that reaches all of the residents. She
said there was an advantage to being in the hotels, but Mr. Dickey said they
would do it with or without the City's participation, and if they do, fine. She
said she did not see that the City should put taxpayer money in with any one
publication like this, and she would be against it.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites said when appropriate, he was going to put forth an
alternative motion. He said he suspected what the publisher of The Desert
Sun was offering Paim Desert was a good deal as far as price, but he was
also aware of the perception of being in business with organizations that are
part of the media and who are part of the watch dogs of who the City is. He
said The Desert Sun chastised the City during the millennium for doing that
with a television station, rightly or wrongly. His perception would be to not
participate as a sponsor but instead to direct staff to look at both advertising
opportunities in it and having copies of it for both the Visitors' Center and,
because there is nothing right now that is oriented toward Palm Desert that
goes to hotel guests, to also look at it in terms of the quantities that would be
appropriate. He said he felt this was a step in the right direction. If in the
future there is another group or another magazine that wants to say they are
the one the City should have, that is something that should be looked at by
the Promotion Committee. He said he felt doing those things was money
well spent for the City. He said it supported the concept but did not have the
City sponsoring the concept.
Councilman Kelly said if the City decided it needed such a magazine, that
decision should be made separately. If that decision was made, an RFP
should be put asking for bids to do it. He agreed with the comment made
that The Desert Sun was kind of a watch dog of elected officials, and that
was okay. If Council does not do what it is supposed to do, they should be
chastised. If an RFP is not put out when it should be put out, The Desert
Sun might just chastise the City. He said he was inclined to agree with
Councilmember Benson and was not sure this was something that was
needed right now. A $100,000 expansion of the City's Bright Side would go
to Palm Desert residents and would promote Palm Desert. He said he felt
if the Council decides it wants something like this, there should be an RFP
so that everyone gets a crack at it.
Mayor Spiegel noted that the City was in the process or reorganizing the
Promotion Committee for the City, and potential candidates would be
interviewed next month. It will be made up of retailers, hoteliers, people who
really would be able to tell the Council what the potential of something like
this might be. He said he could not vote to spend $100,000 without knowing
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what is going to happen in Sacramento. He did agree with Mayor Pro Tem
Crites that if such a publication were developed, the City should participate
in the advertising and possibly purchase copies for the hotels.
Councilman Ferguson said he liked the approach suggested, and he did not
suspect the custom publishing house of The Desert Sun really cared one
way or the other how Palm Desert assists them in getting this magazine off
the ground. He said he was not sure it made a difference whether the City
buys copies as opposed to becoming a sponsor except that under the
proposal given, the City's contribution was capped as a one-time deal, and
if the City buys magazines up to that cap and makes it clear that is the City's
contribution, he would be fine with that. He said he did not want to be
saddled with buying 4,000 copies per month for the hotels in perpetuity in
coexistence with the duration of the magazine. He asked if Mayor Pro Tem
Crites would be willing to put a cap on what the City would purchase from
them as part of this understanding in getting the magazine under way.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites said the City would have the Promotion Committee
starting in January. He suggested that the Council place to them the issue
of advertising and also the issues that Councilman Kelly has talked about.
He said he did not think expanding the Bright Side would do what he wanted
in terms of hotel guests. He also felt the City should look to the market and
see who will provide the City with something that is useful, both to the
Visitors' Center and to the hotel guests, and that will potentially increase
business for the community. The Promotion Committee could then bring
back its recommendation to the Council for consideration.
Councilman Ferguson said as he understood it organizationally, this is not
a publication of The Desert Sun but rather is a publication of a custom
magazine, a subsidiary for lack of a better word, that is physically in the
same building as The Desert Sun.
MR. DICKEY agreed and said the editor of the custom publishing does not
interact and is not under the responsibility of Executive Editor Steve
Silverman who is responsible for the daily newspaper, The Desert Sun. He
said he was not and does not direct the activities of the magazine division,
and those editors do not report to the news organization that Councilman
Kelly was referring to.
Councilman Ferguson said he did not think the City was wrong four years
ago in taking Channel 3 to New Zealand either. He says he winces every
time he hears someone suggest that the City may have been wrong and that
is the reason for not doing this. He said he felt in both instances the City was
well within the mission and the history of Palm Desert in promoting itself. If
that was criticism of The Desert Sun, so be it, but it had nothing to do with
this magazine.
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Councilmember Benson said she would move to decline the request of The
Desert Sun and pursue the other options in January with the Marketing
Committee.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites asked if this would be to look toward potential
advertising and purchases for the Visitors' Center and for hotel guests.
Councilman Kelly said it would be to also look at any other options to
accomplish what that is. He said it might be just Palm Desert getting all of
its own restaurants and hotels and creating its own publication for a hotel
that has them all listed in there.
Councilmember Benson moved to decline the request from The Desert Sun, with
staff directed to pursue all other available options. Motion was seconded by Kelly.
Councilman Ferguson said he did not think the City should be getting in the
magazine publishing business.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites agreed but said that was why the Committee should
make a recommendation as far as what they think should be done.
Councilman Ferguson noted that the City had disbanded the Promotion
Committee because it was basically "useless" and all of a sudden it is being
put back together because it has a utility. He said he thought the City was
going to get marketing people together, and he was talking about a
promotional idea rather than a marketing idea. He expressed concern with
putting this off and effectively killing it for this season because a group of as
of yet unnamed individuals has not been put together with a mission
statement that has not yet been defined.
Councilmember Benson said this would not kill the magazine because
Mr. Dickey had indicated when he met with her that he was going to do it
anyway.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites said he was not talking about waiting until the end of
the season to do something. He said he had originally asked staff to look at
it, and if that is a more expeditious way to do it, he did not need to have a
committee to do it. He said he would was more comfortable with the
potential of doing something that is good for the local economy, visitors, and
residents.
Councilman Ferguson suggested setting a time certain to bring it back. He
asked when staff could get the Committee together.
Mrs. Gilligan responded that as soon as the Council sets a date to interview
applicants, staff will get it done and have the matter on the Agenda for the
meeting of January 8' for appointment. She said there were also other
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vacancies occurring on other committees and commissions with terms
expiring on December 31, and these vacancies would also need to be filled.
She noted that the reason the Promotion Committee was disbanded and the
Marketing Committee formed was that the City needed to be more
specialized and focused in the marketing and promotion efforts. She said
the categories of membership will give the City that, and she felt this was a
great opportunity to send this matter to the Marketing Committee as its first
task. She believed the quality of applicants was such that there would be
some good response and input from them, no matter who is appointed.
Councilman Ferguson asked if this could be done by the second meeting in
January, and Mrs. Gilligan responded that the matter would be considered
as soon as the Council makes the appointments to the Committee.
Councilmember Benson amended her motion to include directing staff to return with
a report from the Marketing Committee at the City Council meeting of January 22, 2004.
Councilman Kelly amended his second, and the motion carried by a 5-0 vote.
With Council concurrence, a 10-minute recess was observed following this item.
XVII. PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. CONSIDERATION OF A ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT TO ADD
— SECTION 25.56.510 TO THE PALM DESERT MUNICIPAL CODE,
GENERAL PROVISIONS CHAPTER, REQUIRING APPROVAL FOR ANY
SIGNIFICANT CHANGE OF AN APPROVED COLOR OR TEXTURE ON AN
EXISTING BUILDING, STRUCTURE, SIGN, WALL, FENCE, OR OTHER
IMPROVEMENTS TO REAL PROPERTY Case No. ZOA 02-01 (City of
Palm Desert, Applicant).
Mr. Drell reviewed the staff report and offered to answer any questions.
Councilmember Benson asked how residents and businesses would be
notified of this amendment.
Mr. Drell responded that articles had been included in the Bright Side
newsletter in the past, and this could be done again. In addition, notification
could be sent through the Business License Renewal process.
Councilman Ferguson stated that the ordinance says a permit is only needed
if there is a significant change of color, and this leaves it up to the individual
to decide if they are significantly changing the color and whether or not they
are going to come in for a permit. He asked what would prevent people form
just painting and saying they felt it was insignificant.
Mr. Drell responded that with a lot of the City's codes, there is a grey area as
far as what can be done and what requires a permit. The prudent course
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that most property owners take is that they ask the City. People have been
repainting their buildings routinely over the last 30 years, most of which have
not been significant.
Councilman Ferguson noted that staff has been making those decisions over
the counter on a routine basis.
Mr. Drell agreed but said if staff is at all uncomfortable making that
determination, the matter would be taken to Architectural Review
Commission. Upon question by Councilman Ferguson, Mr. Drell stated that
decisions of the Architectural Review Commission are appealable to the City
Council.
Councilmember Benson said this was something she felt needed to be done.
In the case of one of the businesses on Highway 111, a comment was made
that the painting was done to call attention to the business because of the
increase of restaurants in the Valley. There are a lot of stand-alone old
buildings in the City and if one gets away with calling attention to itself, it will
not be long before there are many others. She felt even one was an eyesore,
let alone having them infiltrate the community in order to stay in business.
She said she did not think this was a business incentive the City needs to get
into. She felt there needed to be some kind of control.
Mayor Spiegel declared the public hearing open and invited testimony in FAVOR
of or in OPPOSITION to this matter. With no testimony offered, he declared the
public hearing closed.
Councilmember Benson moved to waive further reading and pass Ordinance
No. 1015A to second reading, approving the Zoning Ordinance Amendment to add
Section 25.56.510 — Exterior Modifications, to the Palm Desert Municipal Code, General
Provisions Chapter, with staff directed to notify businesses of this Municipal Code
Amendment through the Business License Renewal process and notify residents through
the Bright Side. Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried by a 5-0 vote.
Upon question by Mayor Spiegel, Mr. Drell responded that it is staff's position
that this is a clarification of our existing ordinance and policy. Certain
buildings in the community were approved pursuant to conditional use
permits, which had specific conditions relating to modification of exteriors.
Staffs position was that in the approvals by the Architectural Review
Commission, including colors, no aspect of exteriors could be changed.
Mayor Spiegel asked whether Redevelopment Agency facade enhancement
monies could be used to help people repaint their businesses. Mr. Ortega
responded that funds had been used for that purpose. Mr. Drell added that
staff had suggested that to various business owners to start that process.
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Councilman Ferguson said he had asked the City Attorney before the
meeting if this was a prospective only ordinance, and he said it was. He said
he had participated in the discussion here based on that premise. Now staff
is saying it is clarification of existing policy. He said he had a client who he
was aware may be the subject of one of these retroactive cleanups, and he
did not want to be participating in discussion if in staff's view the Council was
now setting existing policy through this new ordinance. He said he wanted
to be sure this was prospective in nature.
Mr. Drell said it was his position that the City has always had this
requirement, that significant changes to exterior buildings has always been
subject to review by the City. The language in the ordinance was not as
explicit as both staff and the City Attorney would have liked, and this
amendment makes it explicit.
Mr. Erwin stated that this is prospective in nature.
B. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF A CHANGE OF ZONE;
DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT ADDENDUM TO DEVELOPMENT
AGREEMENT 97-2, EXPANDING PLANNING AREA #3 OF THE
WONDER PALMS MASTER PLAN, A PRECISE PLAN OF DESIGN FOR
122,000 SQUARE FEET OF GROSS LEASABLE OFFICE SPACE, 110,880
SQUARE FEET OF GROSS LEASABLE RETAIL, INCLUDING ONE
— DRIVE-THRU RESTAURANT ADJACENT TO GERALD FORD DRIVE; A
THREE-STORY HOTEL WITH UP TO 130 ROOMS; AND A NEGATIVE
DECLARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AS IT RELATES
THERETO, FOR 23.6 ACRES AT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF
COOK STREET AND GERALD FORD DRIVE (37-001 COOK STREET)
Case Nos. C/Z 03-10. PP 03-11. and DA 03-03 (Rick Evans, Applicant).
Planning Manager Steve Smith reviewed the staff report in detail. He said
the Planning Commission had considered this in public hearings held on
September 2, October 21, and November 4. On a 4-0 vote, with
Commissioner Jonathan absent, the Commission recommended approval.
Upon question by Mayor Spiegel, Mr. Smith responded that Council would
be approving the entire project, perhaps with the proviso that the Council
might want to see the hotel development come back through Council at
some future time. He said staff did not have final preliminary architectural
plans on the hotel because the applicant did not have an operator for the
hotel.
Councilman Crites said there was a planning area, and this application seeks
a change of zone to a little bit more than double that. Mr. Smith agreed.
Councilman Crites asked if, from a planning perspective, there was any
reason this could not have waited until the General Plan process has been
completed to see its fit with the adjacent areas.
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Mr. Smith said that perhaps it could have waited. He said the plan before
Council was consistent with the current General Plan.
Mr. Drell said there was no planning reason to either do it or not do it. It was
based on discussion during the moratorium, and there was some feeling that
projects where this was a commercial corner were at least worthy of review
and judgment if they were substantially consistent with both the existing
General Plan and all of the conceivable alternatives and were also consistent
with the Planning Commission judgment. In this case, because of all of
those factors, it was felt it was appropriate to bring it to Council at this time.
Mayor Spiegel declared the public hearing open and invited testimony from the
developer.
MR. RICK EVANS, 71-800 Highway 111, SuiteA224, Rancho Mirage, spoke
as co-owner of The Evans Company, developer of the site. He said they had
been diligently working on this project for the last year and had worked
through all of the issues faced with staff, Planning Commission, and
Architectural Review Commission. With regard to Councilman Crites's
question about if there was any planning reason this project could not have
waited until completion of the General Plan process, he said they had
brought this forward with the spirit that this site has consistently been thought
of by staff and everyone else they had spoken to in the City as a commercial
park. It was also consistent with all the other planning alternatives, even
those being reviewed in the future. He said the project was originally
inspired to be a six -acre project at the corner of Cook and Gerald Ford, and
with much discussion with staff and the landowner they are purchasing the
land from, they determined it was better to expand the project into a major
planning area as opposed to one single corner. That was another reason
they felt the planning of the project was consistent and sensitive with what
the City's desires and wishes are in the planning area, notwithstanding the
fact that the General Plan amendment had not been approved. They had
named this project University Village at this point in time, and he urged the
Council to see that name as a placeholder as opposed to a name that they
saw as a consistent long-term name. He said they had picked that name to
be consistent with what they saw on the General Plan amendment where it
currently has the name "university" in it. He reviewed the site plan, noting
that with regard to the rear of the buildings, they had endeavored to make
them attractive and feel more like store fronts than the rear of buildings.
Landscaping was consistent with the requirements of the City with the new
water calculation ordinance. The project would have the feeling of an old
town main street, although the buildings would be a little tighter. The
concept of the project was a little contrary in retail because they would not
be using traditional anchors like WalMart or Robinsons May or Macy's.
Instead they were using a condo/office project and a hotel as anchors to the
retail. He described the hotel with the two restaurants to the west, and the
main street would go right down the middle, parallel to Cook Street. There
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would be one single entrance in and out along Cook Street. The main plaza
would be the heart of the project and it was intended to integrate at the edge
of the parking lot driveway. Across that driveway was the end of the spine
of arbors that lead to the entrance to the office project. The center feature
that was an odd -shaped star was intended to be the project's art in public
places statement. They were asked by staff and had agreed to consolidate
the art and public places for the entire project into one major location as a
major statement.
Councilman Kelly expressed concern because he has seen situations where
areas are office complexes and then someone moves in with several delivery
trucks; next thing you know the area is covered with utility vehicles and
delivery vehicles, and this is not really what he would call an office complex.
He asked what could be done to prevent that from happening here.
Mr. Drell said if Councilman Kelly was referring to areas on Cook Street, they
are, in fact, industrial zones that offices infiltrated into for various reasons.
He said there was no comparable office project like this in the City.
Typically, there are small isolated office buildings, and he did not think there
was a problem with delivery vehicles or semi -industrial things going on in
them. He said this particular area is an office zone and it will not allow those
sort of uses.
Councilman Ferguson noted that at his office building, there is a UPS box,
a mailbox, and other types of things so there are no FedEx or UPS trucks
parked out there and instead they pick up once a day. He asked if there was
any type of consolidated delivery of service points for this project.
MR. EVANS responded that they had not yet gotten to that level of planning.
He said he did feel there needed to be a consolidated zone for those
traditional UPS, FedEx, California Overnight, etc. There were several
locations they had discussed for this, one of them being on the main street
of the office. Another alternative would be at the end of the arbor spine that
goes up to the office so it can be shared. He added that they needed to get
into design development to consider it more seriously, but they felt from a
customer convenience standpoint, they needed to be very serious about
providing convenience services such as that.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites noted that where there are entrances to the main
street, he did not see any acceleration lanes.
MR. EVANS responded that as you exit off of the property on Gerald Ford,
there is no acceleration lane at that location, and this had been agreed up
by both the developer and Public Works staff; however, on Cook Street,
there is a combined acceleration/deceleration lane that is further set back
along that street.
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Mayor Pro Tem Crites noted that on the graphics he had, it showed a
deceleration lane on Cook Street but no acceleration lane.
Mr. Drell said it was his understanding that acceleration lanes are not well -
used and that in essence people were encouraged to start entering traffic
before it is clear.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites said he felt it was important to have an acceleration
lane on Cook Street because traffic is traveling at 60 miles per hour, and
people would be trying to enter the traffic from a standing still point.
MR. EVANS said the design was intended to be an acceleration/deceleration
lane combined that doesn't require people to weave out early than they need
to.
Councilman Kelly agreed with Mayor Pro Tem Crites.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites said it was his understanding that the restaurants
across the street from the hotel would both have patio areas facing the
street, and Mr. Evans agreed. Mayor Pro Tem Crites addressed the trellis
which the graphics showed as having leafy vines which would be comfortable
and cool. Mr. Evans noted they felt it would be a product like bougainvillea
because it is a thick, fully -blooming plant. Mayor Pro Tem Crites suggested
that the developer reconsider because there had been other commercial
projects with similar plans, and the bougainvillea had not done very well.
MR. EVANS said they do want the trellises to be covered and if they find the
landscaping will not be sufficient to give good shade for that promenade,
they intend to double up the baffles in the arbor to accommodate that so
there is shade. He said their feeling was that it should be a wood baffled
product, even though it requires a little more maintenance.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites asked whether staff had discussed with the developer
a space for City entry signage on the property, and Mr. Evans said they had
not. Mayor Pro Tem Crites noted there was a category that allowed the
developer to grow the project by 15% without coming back in, and Mr. Evans
responded that they had agreed to 10%. Upon further question by Mayor
Pro Tem Crites as to why the City would want to do that, Mr. Evans
responded that currently in the Wonder Palms development agreement, it is
allowed to be 15%. They said they may find they have a small tenant who
wants to be in a building that is too big, and it would be advantageous to
make that building a little smaller and then make the other building next to
it a little bit bigger. The biggest hitch in that would be parking because they
were still required in the agreement to meet the parking requirements over
all the project. With regard to public art, Mayor Pro Tem Crites said it was
his understanding the developer intended to concentrate all the public art in
one spot. Mr. Evans agreed and said they had had several conversations
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with the City's public arts staff and discussed both that opportunity and
different artists. He said they were currently in the artist selection process
and were trying to determine the best direction to take.
Councilman Kelly said he felt this was a large area to have only one piece
of public art, and Mayor Pro Tem Crites agreed.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites noted that the developer was also asking for height
exceptions, and he asked the developer to justify that request.
MR. EVANS said they saw the two towers at Cook and Gerald Ford as
architectural statements, and they were not intended to be anything more
than that. Because of the way the buildings sit on the land and the way they
look from that angle, they felt they needed a monument kind of look to them.
They were handsome buildings, and they were afraid if they stayed down too
low, they would look to squatty and really not stand up to the test. Another
reason they felt they would work well in this location was that the site slopes
upwards, and the elevation difference between the corner at the plaza level
and at the rear of the site was about 25 or 30 feet.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites said if the project did not have those two towers, it
would have a more open view scape back toward the remainder of the
property.
MR. EVANS said that could be so, but he would like to go back and redesign
the buildings a little bit more if they did not have the towers. With regard to
the hotel, the height exception would actually put a little "hat" on top of the
building, which they thought was nice. It made for a much more pleasing
elevation. He noted that the Architectural Review Commission had not yet
seen the rendering he was just showing the Council, but it would be taken to
that body once the developer has a hotel operator. Upon question by Mayor
Spiegel, he said this would be in Phase II, and it was also subject to some
further review by Architectural Review Commission. Upon question by
Councilman Ferguson, he responded that there would be approximately 400
to 500 office workers and 275 retail employees at the project. For the hotel,
he estimated 26 workers.
Councilman Ferguson asked if Mr. Evans would be amenable to discussing
participation in the City's after school programs as discussed earlier in the
meeting, and Mr. Evans responded that he would.
Upon question by Councilman Kelly relative to the southwest corner of
Berger, Mr. Evans responded that no acceleration lane is currently planned,
although there is room to allow for it. Councilman Kelly asked whether there
were any SunLine requirements for bus stops. Mr. Evans responded that
several meetings had been held with SunLine, Public Works staff, and
Planning staff. Currently the bus stop locations being planned for the area
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included one along the spine road at the rear of the project closer to the
office and a second on Cook Street.
Mr. Drell added that it was staff's position that the appropriate location for the
Cook Street bus stop would be past the Berger intersection, and it would
serve both the college and the project. They had also discussed with
SunLine ultimately having the bus route run through the spine road which
eventually connects to Portola and would serve both the residential
development on one side and the commercial on the other side.
Councilman Kelly stated that acceleration and deceleration lanes along the
whole length of Cook and this project, it will give a lot of flexibility if there is
a need for bus stops later. He said he would not vote in favor of the project
if it did not have that.
Upon question by Councilmember Benson, Mr. Evans responded that the
parking was scattered, and they felt it was balanced very well throughout the
entire site. He said they had worked hard to not have one major parking lot
except in the center zone. On the office side, it was parked four to one, and
about 75% of those were assigned parking for the office employees and
were covered parking. In the evenings, they could be used by retail,
although he did not think it would be used that much because it was so far
away.
Mayor Spiegel invited additional testimony FAVORING or OPPOSING this project.
With no further testimony offered, he declared the public hearing closed.
Councilmember Benson stated that with some modifications, she felt this
would be a good project. However, she felt it was important to wait until after
the General Plan process has been completed.
Mayor Spiegel said he did not feel Council should vote on the entire project
at this time. Phase I could be considered now, and when the hotel is ready
to come on board, then the Council can look at the rest of the project.
Councilman Kelly stated that the Council is the body that will give final
approval of the General Plan, and this is probably what is going to be
recommended. If there are modifications made to take care of the traffic
problems, he felt this would be an ideal project for this area with its mixture
of retail and office. It would also be easy to modify this project to change
over time to pick up the needs of the University.
Councilman Ferguson said he felt this was a great project, and he liked the
planning and thought that went into it, although he felt it needed to evolve a
little bit more with things like acceleration/deceleration lanes, child care
issues, etc. However, it was just a piece of a puzzle. No matter how great
the piece looks, unless you have the balance of the puzzle, you don't know
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how it fits. He said he did not know what the other commercial designations
were going to be and whether it would alter the mix. He said the spine road
looked great for the project, but he did not know how it would fit in with the
potential road work for the balance of the project. He said he would be
willing to vote to approve the project subject to final passage of the General
Plan and consistency between that General Plan and this piece of the
puzzle.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites said one thing that might be done is to have first
reading of the ordinance for the zone change and hold the second reading
until adoption of the General Plan. In the meantime, all the issues discussed
at this meeting could be refined.
Upon question by Councilmember Benson, Mr. Drell stated that there was
currently no hotel operator. When a hotel operator comes and actually
designs a hotel, it will be subject to a separate precise plan. What Council
would be doing with regard to the hotel at this point would be to consider the
number of rooms and whether from a design point of view tower elements
could be 42 feet in order to give a prospective hotel designer/developer the
physical parameters for how to design a hotel. The actual design would then
be reviewed through the normal City process. Upon further question
regarding three stories, he said the request was for three stories, and it
would not be possible to accommodate 125 rooms on that pad with only two
stories. Three stories was what the City had been approving in hotels of this
type, such as Hampton Inn, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, etc. He said Council
could reserve any judgment on the hotel if it so chooses until it can actually
see the real design; however, it would be a lot easier for the developer to talk
to prospective hotel developers if he could indicate what the parameters are
for the building.
Councilman Ferguson said he agreed with Mayor Spiegel's suggestion to
approve Phase I because the developer is ready to go and there is a sense
of urgency for that phase. He also liked Mayor Pro Tem Crites's idea of
passing this on first reading so that the developer can tend to the "little clean-
up issues." With regard to the City's moratorium, the Council and the City
Attorney had tried to assure people that the moratorium was not anti -growth.
He felt this was a good project, and although he would still like to see how
it fits with the rest of the puzzle, he did not want to hold up private sector
development.
MR. EVANS noted that with regard to the Phase I limitation, the project had
been designed as an integrated project. Phase I of the retail was the corner,
and there were other phases of the retail and two other phases of the office.
He said they really could not go forward until they receive complete approval.
Upon question by Councilman Kelly, he said the spine road would probably
go in with an assessment district. The current owner of the land, American
Realty Trust, was currently going through the process of creating an
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assessment district in that area. Upon further question, he said their plan for
Phase I was not to put in the spine road but to put in the street elevation from
Technology to Gerald Ford up to Berger.
Mayor Pro Tem Crites said he was still willing to pass a first reading of the
zone change and continue the precise plan and second reading until the
General Plan process has been considered for this area. He also wanted to
see the issues discussed at this meeting refined, including adjacency of
other developments.
Councilman Kelly noted that an assessment district was formed for Gerald
Ford, Frank Sinatra, Cook Street, and Portola with four lanes and medians
because of growth factors. He said it seemed to him if that was the right
philosophy, the right philosophy here would be to put in Technology Drive
and the spine road and Berger Drive in the first phase of this project.
Mr. Drell noted that completion of those roads involves other property owners
and other projects, regardless of what happens with the General Plan.
Those property owners are currently in the process of trying to pool their
resources and install those roads.
Councilman Ferguson moved to waive further reading and pass Ordinance No. 1059
to second reading and continue Resolution No. 03-124 and second reading of the
ordinance until such time as the General Plan process has been considered for this area,
asking the applicant in the meantime to refine the issues discussed at this hearing (i.e.,
height, acceleration/deceleration lanes, setbacks, public art, areas for entry signage, bus
stop[s], spine road, hotel design, and adjacency to future projects in the vicinity. Motion
was seconded by Crites and carried by a 5-0 vote.
C. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AND
MARK AND JODIE RATLIFF (CONTRACT NO. C22190) (JOINT
CONSIDERATION WITH THE PALM DESERT
REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY).
Mr. Ortega noted the staff report and recommendation in the packets.
Mayor/Chairman Spiegel declared the public hearing open and invited testimony
FAVORING or OPPOSING this request. With no testimony offered, he declared the
public hearing closed.
Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Crites moved to waive further reading and adopt:
1) City Council Resolution No. 03-125, approving the sale of property by the Palm Desert
Redevelopment Agency to Mark and Jodie Ratliff for development pursuant to the
Redevelopment Plan for Project Area No. 1, As Amended; 2) Redevelopment Agency
Resolution No. 486, approving a purchase and sale agreement and escrow instructions
38
MINUTES
REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
with Mark and Jodie Ratliff for development pursuant to the Redevelopment Plan for
Project Area No. 1, As Amended. Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried by a 5-0 vote.
XVIII. REPORTS AND REMARKS
A. CITY MANAGER
None
B. CITY ATTORNEY
None
C. CITY CLERK
1. Consideration of Scheduling Presentation on SCAG Regional
Transportation Plan.
Mr. Ortega noted that the presentation would be made at CVAG
(Coachella Valley Association of Governments).
2. Discussion of Scheduling January 2004 General Plan Hearing.
With Council concurrence, General Plan Hearings were scheduled for:
— Thursday, January 15, 2004, 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.
— Thursday, January 29, 2004, 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.
D. MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
o City Council Requests for Action:
1. Mayor Spiegel requested a Study Session at 2:30 p.m. on
Thursday, January 8, 2004, for discussion on property located
on the north side of Interstate 10.
City Council concurred.
2. Marketing Committee Interviews — City Council's secretary is
looking at schedules to identify a time when Members are
available.
3. Mayor Pro Tem Crites requested an update on repainting of
the new Staples building.
4. Mayor Pro Tem Crites asked for a status report on the former
Shell Station located at the intersection of
39
MINUTES
REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2003
Highway 111/Monterey Avenue, with a recommendation that
the City tidy it up at the property owner's expense.
5. Mayor Pro Tem Crites requested looking into a realignment of
the sidewalk at the intersection of Highway 111/Plaza Way, as
it now takes three times the amount of time for a pedestrian to
cross that intersection as presently configured. It was noted
that this would be part of the discussion for the Council
subcommittee on pedestrian countdown signals.
o City Council Committee Reports:
None
o City Council Comments:
1. City Council Liaison Reports.
None
XIX, ADJOURNMENT
With Council concurrence, Mayor Spiegel adjourned the meeting at 8:32 p.m.
ATTEST:
RA HELLS D. ASSEI CITY CLERK
CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA
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ROBERT A. SPIEGEyL M OR
40