HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-13MINUTES
REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2003
CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER
I. CALL TO ORDER - 3:00 P.M.
Mayor Benson convened the meeting at 3:12 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
Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk
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
III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - A - (CLOSED SESSION ITEMS)
None
MINUTES
REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
IV. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
Request for Closed Session:
Conference with Real Property Negotiator pursuant to Government Code
Section 54956.8:
1) Property: Lease Property - Parkview Professional Office Complex,
73-710 Fred Waring Drive, Suite No. 100, Palm Desert
Negotiating Parties:
Agency: Paul S. Gibson/City of Palm Desert
Property Owner: City of Palm Desert
Other Parties: George Hanover
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
City Attorney Erwin asked that City Council consider adding an item to the
Closed Session Agenda pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a).
Upon a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel, second by Councilman Ferguson, and
5-0 vote of the City Council, the following existing litigation case was added to this agenda.
b) PERMA v. City of Palm Desert, et al., Riverside County Superior Court
Case No. INC 038382
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: 1
With City Council concurrence, Mayor Benson adjourned the meeting to Closed
Session at 3:14 p.m. She reconvened the meeting at 4:00 p.m.
2
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
V. RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING - 4:00 P.M.
A. REPORT ON ACTION FROM CLOSED SESSION.
None
VI. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Councilman Buford A. Crites
VII. INVOCATION - Councilman Richard S. Kelly
VIII. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - B
None
IX. AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, AND APPOINTMENTS
A. PRESENTATION OF PROCLAMATION DECLARING THE WEEK OF
NOVEMBER 16-22, 2003, AS "ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AWARENESS
WEEK" IN THE CITY OF PALM DESERT.
On behalf of the City Council, Mayor Benson presented a framed
proclamation to Alzheimer's Association Regional Director Stephen Geist.
B. PRESENTATION TO RECOGNIZE COURTNEY LINGLE FOR HER
SERVICE TO THE CITY OF PALM DESERT AND ITS
YOUTH COMMITTEE.
Mayor Benson commented that Ms. Lingle was unable to be present at this
meeting as she is going to college in San Diego, but her service to the new
Youth Committee was very much appreciated. Her gift will be forwarded to
her at school.
C. PRESENTATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL BY THE COLLEGE OF THE
DESERT FOUNDATION.
A representative of the College of the Desert Foundation presented an
engraved plaque to the City Council, recognizing the City for its extraordinary
generosity in the past year —the City has contributed $1.5 million for various
programs and projects. On behalf of the City Council, Mayor Benson
accepted the plaque and expressed appreciation for the longtime
relationship between the City and College of the Desert.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
D. PRESENTATION TO RECOGNIZE CITY OF PALM DESERT EMPLOYEES
FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE.
Mayor Benson and Mr. Ortega recognized Art Contreras, Michael Adkins,
James Lee, Craig McBride, Aaron Zamarripa, Robert Becerra,
Robert Riches, Troy Kulas, Clayton von Helf, and Doug Van Gelder for their
service. Certificates and monetary awards were presented to each
employee in recognition of this honor.
X. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. MINUTES of the Regular City Council Meeting of October 23, 2003, the
Special City Council Meeting of October 22, 2003, and the Adjourned Joint
City Council/Redevelopment Agency Meeting of October 28, 2003.
Rec: Approve as presented.
Councilman Ferguson abstained from the vote on the Minutes for
October 22 and 23 due to his absence from those meetings.
B. CLAIMS AND DEMANDS AGAINST THE CITY TREASURY - Warrant
Nos. 90, 91, 94, 95, 98, 99, 102, 103, and 106-b.
Rec: Approve as presented.
C. CITY'S/AGENCY'S PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SUMMARIES for the
Months of August and September 2003 (Joint Consideration with the
Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency).
Rec: Receive and file.
D-1. APPLICATION FOR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE LICENSE by Elias Ramirez
for El Molcajete Taco Shop, 42-215 Washington Street, Suite G,
Palm Desert.
Rec: Receive and file.
D-2. APPLICATION FOR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE LICENSE by
Giuseppe Nespoli and Lana Nespoli for 5 Star Pizzeria, 72-795 El Paseo,
Suite G2, Palm Desert.
Rec: Receive and file.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
E. MINUTES of City Committee and Commission Meetings.
1. El Paseo Business Improvement District Meeting of September 18,
2003.
2. Entrada del Paseo Steering Committee Meetings of August 7, and
October 2, 2003.
3. Investment and Finance Committee Meeting of September 24, 2003.
4. Library Promotion Committee Meeting of July 9, 2003.
5. Sister Cities Committee Meeting of September 18, 2003.
Rec: Receive and file.
F. LETTER OF RESIGNATION from Richard O'Donnell from the
Architectural Review Commission.
Rec: Receive with very sincere regret.
G. REQUEST FOR DECLARATION of Surplus Property and Authorization for
Disposal (Computer and Obsolete Office Equipment).
Removed for separate consideration under Section XI, Consent Items Held
Over. Please see that portion of the Minutes for Council discussion and
action.
H-1. RESOLUTION NO. 03-110 - A Resolution of the City Council of the City of
Palm Desert, California, Setting Forth its Findings and Authorizing the
Destruction of Files from the Office of the Director of Finance that Have Been
Microfilmed.
Rec: Waive further reading and adopt.
H-2 REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of the Destruction of Files from the Department
of Building & Safety for the Months of December 2002, January 2003, and
February 2003.
Rec: Waive further reading and adopt: 1) Resolution No. 03-111,
authorizing destruction of files for the month of December 2002;
2) Resolution No. 03-112, authorizing destruction of files for the
month of January 2003; 3) Resolution No. 03-113, authorizing
destruction of files for the month of February 2003.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
I. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION to Upgrade the City's H.T.E. Software
from "Text -based" (Character) to the Windows Version.
Rec: By Minute Motion, authorize the subject upgrade and appropriate
funds in the amount of $38,790 for same.
J. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION to Solicit Proposals (RFP) for an Artist
to Create a Mural for the Palm Desert Library Community Room (Contract
No. C22080).
Rec: By Minute Motion, authorize staff to send out an RFP for the
commissioning of an artist to create a mural for the Palm Desert
Public Library Community Room in an amount not to exceed $35,000
and appropriate said funds to Account No. 436-4650-454-4001 for
this project.
K-1. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION to Advertise and CaII for Bids for
Dust Control Improvements (P60502) (Contract No. C22090).
Rec: By Minute Motion, authorize the City Clerk to advertise and call for
bids for the subject improvements, including installation of wind fence
and application of soil stabilizers, contingent upon Caltrans
authorization to incur such costs — funds are available in Account
No. 400-4515-433-4001.
K-2. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION to Advertise and Call for Bids for
Construction of the Palm Desert High School Access Road (Contract
No. C22100, Project No. 602-02).
Rec: By Minute Motion, authorize the City Clerk to advertise and call for
bids for the subject project.
L. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION to Reject Bid for Comfort Station
Upgrades at the Desert Willow Mountain View Course (Contract
No. C21540).
Rec: By Minute Motion, reject the bid submitted by G. O. Langlois
Construction, Inc., Palm Desert, California, and authorize
postponement of the project until an appropriate date can be
coordinated with Desert Willow (Summer 2004).
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
M-1. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Change Orders for Contracts Associated
with the Community Services Building Renovation Project.
Rec: By Minute Motion: 1) Approve Change Order No. 1 in the amount of
$10,710.00 to Contract No. C20880 with Doug Wall Construction,
Inc., Bermuda Dunes, California, for additional work required to
provide consistent aesthetic treatment for the project; 2) approve
Change Order No. 1 in the amount of $9,319.98 to Contract
No. C20880Awith Seal Furniture and Systems, San Diego, California,
for additional furniture for two offices and a seating area; 3) authorize
the Mayor to execute said Change Orders —funds are available in the
respective contract contingencies.
M-2. REQUEST FOR RATIFICATION of Change Order No. 1 to Contract
No. C21680 — Installation of Fairway Bunker Sand and #5 Waste Area
Renovation at the Desert Willow Golf Resort.
Rec: By Minute Motion: 1) Ratify Change Order No. 1 in the amount
of$4,464 to the subject contract with Candy! Golf Group, La Quinta,
California, for additional bunker improvements; 2) authorize the Mayor
to execute same — funds are available in Account
No. 241-4195-495-8092.
M-3. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Change Order No. 2 to Contract
No. C17610 — Augmentation to the General Plan Update and Program
Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Removed for separate consideration under Section XI, Consent Items Held
Over. Please see that portion of the Minutes for Council discussion and
action.
N-1. REQUEST FOR ACCEPTANCE OF WORK for Contract No. C19690 —
Construction of the Widening of Fred Waring Drive Over the Palm Valley
Channel (Project No. 651-99) (Riverside Construction Company,
Riverside, 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.
N-2. REQUEST FOR ACCEPTANCE OF WORK for Contract No. C21070 —
Construction of the Sagewood Storm Drain Improvements (Project
No. 604-02) (James A. Shirley Construction, Yucca Valley, 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.
7
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
N-3. REQUEST FOR ACCEPTANCE OF WORK for Contract No. C21680 —
Installation of Fairway Bunker Sand and #5 Waste Area Renovation at the
Desert Willow Golf Resort (Candy) Golf Group, La Quinta, 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.
O. CONSIDERATION of Report on Pedestrian Countdown Signal.
Removed for separate consideration under Section XI, Consent Items Held
Over. Please see that portion of the Minutes for Council discussion and
action.
P REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Out -of -State Travel for Autodesk
University 2003 Conference.
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve the subject out-of-state travel for the
Engineering Technician II to attend Autodesk University User
Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 1-6, 2003 — funds are
available in Account No. 110-4300-413-3120.
Q. REQUEST FOR ACCEPTANCE of the Cal COPS (SLESF) Grant Funding
for FY 2003/04.
Rec: By Minute Motion, concur with the Police Department's proposal and
accept the Cal COPS (Supplemental Law Enforcement Services
Funding - SLESF) Grant Award of $100,000 to be used to cover the
proposed staffing cost for the 2003 Holiday Theft Suppression
Program and the acquisition of necessary equipment to support front
line law enforcement services.
R. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of a One -Year Office Space Lease Agreement
with the Desert Cancer Foundation at the Portola Community Center
(Contract No. C22110).
Rec: By Minute Motion, authorize the Mayor to: 1) Enter into a one-year
Lease Agreement with Desert Cancer Foundation for the period of
March 1, 2004, to February 28, 2005, at a cost of $2,340 per year for
Office Space No. 1; 2) ratify staff's approval of allowing the
Foundation to occupy the office space within the Portola Community
Center as of September 2003 at a prorated cost of $1,188.
8
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
S. REQUEST FOR RATIFICATION of Contribution Made to American Red
Cross.
Rec: By Minute Motion, ratify contribution made to the American Red Cross
in the amount of $25,000 and appropriate said funds from
Unobligated General Fund Reserves.
T INFORMATIONAL ITEMS:
1. Progress Report on Retail Center Vacancies
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel asked that Items G and M-3 be removed for separate
discussion under Section XI, Consent Items Held Over. Councilman Crites asked
that Item 0 also be removed for separate consideration.
Councilman Ferguson noted that he would be ABSTAINING for voting on the
Minutes of October 22 and 23, Item A, due to his absence from those meetings.
Upon motion by Spiegel, second by Kelly, the remainder of the Consent Calendar
was approved by a 5-0 vote, with the exception of the Minutes for the meetings of
October 22 and 23, which Councilman Ferguson ABSTAINED from.
_ XI. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER
G. REQUEST FOR DECLARATION of Surplus Property and Authorization for
Disposal (Computer and Obsolete Office Equipment).
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel said staff had asked for Council direction to sell the
surplus property, donate it to a non-profit organization, donate it to an
educational or vocational facility, or dispose of the equipment. He said he
had faxed this list to the Desert Sands Unified School District to see if there
is anything they would like to use. He suggested that staff be asked to wait
for a response from Desert Sands Unified School District before disposing
of the equipment.
Mayor Benson noted that the remaining items not wanted by the School
District could be donated to a non-profit organization.
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion, declare the items listed on
staff report Exhibit "A" as surplus and authorize disposal by one of the following: 1) Selling
the property; 2) donating the property to a non-profit organization; 3) donating the property
to an educational or vocational facility that specializes in the repair and maintenance of the
specific equipment; 4) disposing of the property — with staff asked to wait for a response
from Desert Sands Unified School District regarding its interest in any of the named
equipment. Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried by a 5-0 vote.
9
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
M-3. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Change Order No. 2 to Contract
No. C17610 — Augmentation to the General Plan Update and Program
Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel asked how much had been spent so far for the
General Plan and what the normal costs were for a city the size of
Palm Desert.
Mayor Benson stated that staff could provide this information to the Council.
She felt that additional money was being requested due to the length of time
it was taking in the General Plan process and the due diligence being
exercised by the Planning Commission.
Mr. Ortega agreed that the General Plan process had required a lot more
work than initially anticipated. He asked that Council approve the change
order, with staff to bring back to the Council a report indicating the costs up
to date plus the average cost for similarly sized cities.
Councilman Kelly moved to, by Minute Motion, approve Change Order No. 2 and
authorize an augmentation in the amount of $35,647.84 to the subject contract with
Terra Nova Research & Planning, Palm Springs, California, for additional analysis, public
participation, and work product involved with the General Plan Update, with staff asked to
bring back to the City Council a report showing the total spent on the General Plan Process
to date, including t his change order, as well as a comparison of what other similarly sized
cities have expended for their general plans. Motion was seconded by Crites and carried
by a 3-2 vote, with Councilman Ferguson and Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel voting NO.
O. CONSIDERATION of Report on Pedestrian Countdown Signal.
Councilman Crites stated that he had read the staff report and disagreed
somewhat with staff's conclusions. However, rather than getting into a
lengthy discussion at this meeting, he suggested that the Mayor appoint two
members of the Council to work with staff to bring back a formal
recommendation for Council action.
Councilman Ferguson said he would like to participate because his office is
at Highway 111 and Monterey Avenue, and it is precarious for people trying
to cross that intersection on foot.
Councilman Kelly also volunteered to sit on this subcommittee.
Councilman Crites moved to, by Minute Motion, direct staff to continue
Pedestrian Countdown Signal research prior to installation in Palm Desert, with
Councilmen Ferguson and Kelly appointed to a subcommittee to work with staff on further
study to develop a formal recommendation for City Council action.
10
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
XII. RESOLUTIONS
None
XIII. ORDINANCES
For Introduction:
None
For Adoption:
A. ORDINANCE NO. 1054 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING BY
REFERENCE, WITH CERTAIN DELETIONS AND AMENDMENTS, THE
RULES, REGULATIONS, PROVISIONS, AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH
IN THOSE CERTAIN CODES ENTITLED "CALIFORNIA FIRE CODE."
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel moved to waive further reading and adopt Ordinance
No. 1054. Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried by a 5-0 vote.
B. ORDINANCE NO. 1055 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING
CHAPTER 8.34.010 (AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 1049) OF THE
PALM DESERT MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO TOBACCO LICENSING.
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel moved to waive further reading and adopt Ordinance
No. 1055. Motion was seconded by Ferguson and carried by a 5-0 vote.
C. ORDINANCE NO. 1056 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, ADDING CHAPTER 24.12
(FUGITIVE DUST CONTROL) TO THE PALM DESERT MUNICIPAL CODE
AND RESCINDING THE CURRENT DUST CONTROL ORDINANCE.
Councilman Crites moved to waive further reading and adopt Ordinance No. 1056.
Motion was seconded by Spiegel and carried by a 5-0 vote.
D. ORDINANCE NO. 1057 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING A CHANGE OF
ZONE FROM R-2 (7) TO OFFICE PROFESSIONAL (O.P.) FOR 14 LOTS
LOCATED ON FRED WARING DRIVE, EAST OF SAN ANSELMO AVENUE
TO SAN PABLO AVENUE Case No. C/Z 03-12 (City of Palm Desert,
Applicant).
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel moved to waive further reading and adopt Ordinance
No. 1057. Motion was seconded by Crites and carried by a 5-0 vote.
11
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
XIV. NEW BUSINESS
A. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF RESOLUTIONS, APPROVING PAYMENT
FOR ALL OR PART OF THE COST OF THE INSTALLATION OF CERTAIN
LANDSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS BENEFITTING PROJECT AREA NO. 1, AS
AMENDED, PROJECT AREA NO. 2, AND PROJECT AREA NO. 3 (JOINT
CONSIDERATION WITH THE PALM DESERT
REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY).
Redevelopment Finance Manager Dennis Coleman reviewed the staff report
and offered to answer any questions. Upon question by Mayor Pro Tem
Spiegel, he said this action allows the City to use Redevelopment money,
although it would go to a vote of the various assessment districts before the
improvements are actually done, and the money would not be used unless
the assessment districts are approved by the voters.
Mayor Pro Tem/Vice Chairman Spiegel moved to waive further reading and adopt:
1) City Council Resolution No. 03-114, approving payment by the Palm Desert
Redevelopment Agency for all or part of the cost of the installation of certain landscape
improvements benefitting Project Area No. 1, As Amended, Project Area No. 2, and Project
Area No. 3; 2) Redevelopment Agency Resolution No. 485, approving payment by the
Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency for all or part of the cost of the installation of certain
landscape improvements benefitting Project Area No. 1, As Amended, Project Area No. 2,
and Project Area No. 3. Motion was seconded by Crites and carried by a 5-0 vote.
B. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF THE UNDERGROUNDING OF UTILITIES
AND RELATED ACTIONS FOR THE PALMA VILLAGE NEIGHBORHOOD
PARK.
Mr. Ortega reviewed the staff report.
Councilman Kelly moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Approve the undergrounding of
utilities for the Palma Village Neighborhood Park: a) Verizon Work Order #547-8P001 QW
in the amount of $8,942.59; (Contract No. C22120A) b) Southern California Edison
Work Order Nos. 6779-7178, 37110 and 6479-2341, 32306, totaling $41,904.35 (Contract
No. C22120B)— said funds are available in Account No. 430-4649-433-4001; 2) authorize
a Grant of Easement for Southern California Edison for said undergrounding path. Motion
was seconded by Ferguson and carried by a 5-0 vote.
12
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
C. REQUEST FOR DIRECTION RELATIVE TO PALM VALLEY CHANNEL
ACCESS ROAD.
Mr. Ortega noted that communications had been received from property
owners in the area, and staff had written a report and recommendation
relative to the access road.
Councilman Crites stated that he would abstain from discussion and voting
on this matter, due to the possible location of part of this improvement which
may run near land he owns.
Councilman Ferguson noted that the report indicated this is being done so
that it is consistent with a new rural street section in the General Plan. Since
the Council has seen neither that section nor the General Plan, he felt this
was putting the cart before the horse.
Mr. Ortega agreed and said this could be held until such time as a decision
is made on the General Plan, although this would be delayed two or three
months at least.
Councilman Ferguson said he felt the Council had probably not split on one
issue more times than on this one in the entire time he had been on the
Council. He said it seemed the difference of opinion was that either
everything west of that channel should be treated like everything east of the
channel or things west of the channel ought to be treated more like rural
residential. With Councilman Crites not voting, he felt the decision would
again be split 2-2.
Councilman Kelly stated that if it is treated like the rest of the City, that would
mean the developer would pay for the road. He also felt that $750,000 was
a lot of money, and the Homme/Adams Park is going to be the most
expensive park in the City. He said he did not feel this park would get a lot
of use, and he felt spending so much money there for no value did not make
sense to him. He also questioned why the road would go all the way north
to the end rather than just from Thrush south when there are no residences
north of Thrush and no need for anyone to drive north of Thrush. Another
question was why the City was going to spend money to make the road a
fancy color when what was needed was just a road without potholes.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel suggested, if this is going to be continued, that two
Councilmembers work with staff on this matter in the interim.
Councilman Ferguson moved to continue this matter until following the decision on
the General Plan, with Councilman Kelly and Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel appointed to work
with staff on this matter in the interim. Motion was seconded by Spiegel and carried by a
4-0 vote, with Councilman Crites ABSENT.
XV. CONTINUED BUSINESS
A. CONSIDERATION OF A PROPOSAL FROM THE DESERT SUN RELATIVE
TO SPONSORING A NEW PALM DESERT MAGAZINE (Continued from the
meeting of October 23, 2003).
Mr. Ortega recommended that this matter be continued and that two
Councilmembers be appointed to talk to Mr. Robert Dickey about this
proposal.
Councilman Ferguson stated it was his understanding Mr. Dickey had asked
for this matter to be continued so that he would have an opportunity to speak
with Councilman Kelly and Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel.
Upon question by Councilman Kelly relative to the Marketing Committee,
Mrs. Gilligan responded that applications were currently being received, and
interviews would be scheduled in December, with the Committee to be up
and running the first of the year.
Councilman Kelly moved to continue this matter until following the process of
interviewing and appointing the new Marketing Committee in December so that its input
could be considered on this proposal. Motion was seconded by Spiegel and carried by a
5-0 vote.
B. CONSIDERATION OF ASSISTING LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING
DISTRICTS WITH FUNDS TO RENOVATE OUTDATED LANDSCAPE
AREAS (Continued from the meeting of October 23, 2003) (JOINT
CONSIDERATION WITH THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT
AGENCY).
Mr. Ortega noted the staff report and recommendation in the packets.
Upon question by Mayor Benson relative to whether the property owners in
these landscape areas will know the costs when the ballots are sent out,
Senior Management Analyst Martin Alvarez responded that, individually,
districts will know what their costs will be.
14
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion, that the: 1) City
— Council appropriate the amount of $369,476 from Fund 400 Unobligated Funds to redesign
and renovate Landscaping and Lighting Districts with efficient landscaping and irrigation
systems; 2) Agency Board appropriate the following funds to redesign and renovate
Landscaping and Lighting Districts with efficient landscaping and irrigation systems, as
follows: a) $96,634 from Project Area No. 1 Unobligated Funds; b) $252,845 from Project
Area No. 2 Unobligated Funds; c) $16,304 from Project Area No. 3 Unobligated Funds;
3) City Council authorize staff to proceed with initiating balloting for those Landscaping and
Lighting Districts that are willing to modify their annual assessment to match new
maintenance costs after renovation; 4) City Council authorize the City Manager to enter
into a contract with MuniFinancial to prepare Engineer's Reports, budgets, and ballot
proceedings for those Districts willing to modify their levy. Motion was seconded by Kelly
and carried by a 5-0 vote.
XVI. OLD BUSINESS
A. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION, REGARDING APPEAL OF
PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION, APPROVING A SECOND UNIT IN A
SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL ZONE AT 44-536 PORTOLA AVENUE
Case No. CUP 02-15 (Jerome M. Beauvais, Applicant) (Douglass & Kathleen
Kopp, Appellants).
— Following is a verbatim transcript of this matter.
Kgs
JMB Mayor Jean M. Benson
CLO Carlos L. Ortega, City Manager
JB Jerome Beauvais
BAC Councilman Buford A. Crites
PD Phil Drell, Director of Community Development
RSK Councilman Richard S. Kelly
JF Councilman Jim Ferguson
AH Amir Hamidzadeh, Director of Building & Safety
KH Kim Housken
RAS Mayor Pro Tem Robert A. Spiegel
HC Homer Croy, ACM for Development Services
DJE David J. Erwin, City Attorney
RDK Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk
JMB Next is Old Business...Consideration of a resolution regarding appeal of a
Planning Commission action approving a second unit in a single-family
residential zone at44-536 Portola Avenue, Case No. CUP 02-15 (Jerome M.
Beauvais, Applicant) (Douglass & Kathleen Kopp, Appellants). Staff?
15
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
CLO
Madam Mayor, A, B, and C are all related, so the discussion may involve all
three of them. You do have a recommendation from staff. This is something
that has been held over for several months pending the resolution of several
building matters and, of course, code matters. You did not finalize the action
at your last time.
JMB I have one card from Jerome Beauvais to speak on this. Do you want to
speak now?
JB Thank you, Madam Mayor. My name is Jerome Beauvais. I live at 74-060
San Marino Circle. I just wanted to tell the Council that I have been moving
forward diligently trying to accomplish what the Council asked me to
accomplish at the May 22"d meeting. I went before the ARC and had the
various carports and other things approved by ARC. And I would also like
to say...I would like to thank Building & Safety. They have been working
diligently with me to help me make progress in this. I know that Mr.
Hamidzadeh, Director of Building & Safety, had wished that I had moved
faster. I have finaled one of the projects and have plan and will be going
before them on Tuesday that my engineer is finishing on the second
property. I'm working this project by myself because of a lack of funds and
it was a long, hot summer and I was digging all my ditches and pouring all
my own concrete, and it did take a little bit of time. But I would just like to
state that I am moving forward, and I thank the Council for your time. Were
there any questions from the Council?
JMB If we do, we'll call you back.
JB Thank you.
BAC Let me ask a couple of quick questions, if I may. My reading seems to
suggest that Item A, which is the Portola residence, is now, in essence, free
and clear of any violations and anything else.
PD Correct.
BAC What I read for Items B and C, both note we still have illegal second units.
Those are the very words in the staff report. I assume the staff report is
correct.
PD They're in existence. The health and safety issues have been addressed.
BAC I didn't ask that. We have illegal second units in both addresses, is that
correct?
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PD They exist today. I guess the feeling was that if they were going to be
— approved, it didn't make sense to tear them all out as part of the approval,
which was allowing them to be reinstalled. So, again, I'm not sure what
you're....
RSK Are you trying for a yes or no?
BAC I was trying, but I'm not getting...
PD But, again...
BAC Have you read this staff report?
PD Yes.
BAC And so we still have units that aren't legal.
PD They would be legalized with your action tonight.
JF But would they be consistent with our ordinance?
PD Yes.
JF Why'd you say...
PD Wait, let me take that...the way our process works, we approve a project, we
put conditions on it, those conditions have to be fulfilled. We typically don't
require all the conditions of...all the requirements of a project to be fulfilled
before we approve them. We approve a project, we set the ground rules for
the...which have to be fulfilled by the applicant, and then, once that approval
is set, then he implements them. We typically don't force them to implement
before we approve. Obviously, the whole sequence of events has been
scrambled in this project, but I don't believe it's reasonable to require him to
fulfill all the requirements of his approval before we actually approve him. So
what we're doing with these actions is setting up the conditions for the
implementation of our second unit ordinance, and once those are set, then
he has the ability to fulfill those conditions, fulfill the requirements, complete
the requirements.
JMB We have a time element on completion?
PD I guess Mr. Beauvais could answer that question.
BAC That's my...
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PD Okay...
BAC Let me bring that question more specifically to this. Mr. Beauvais has said
he's doing all this by himself. We have on both Items B and C, we haven't
uncovered the walls and done all the stuff that was necessary to complete
the major issues that may require complete renovation of these projects and
may be required to be pulled apart or anything else. We're, in essence, over
a half year beyond when we started that process. I have a real good feeling,
being that it will get hot again next summer, that we're looking at a multiple
year process of getting what might be major building hazards tended to, and
I don't think we would normally allow that kind of set of hazards to exist for
multiple years because somebody wants to do it themselves.
PD If you feel a time line is appropriate as part of the conditions of approval,
then set those time lines out.
BAC Because we're looking at stuff of building permits and this and that, you
know...
PD Again, if you feel those are appropriate, then those can be added as
conditions of the approval.
BAC Am I correct that in some cases, we still do not even know what things will
have to be done?
PD I believe the Building & Safety Director can better answer those questions.
RSK Can I make a comment before (inaudible)
AH Yes, sir.
RSK I understand staff says when we have a project, we approve it with
conditions, but if somebody had 50 acres out there and dug an illegal pit,
gravel pit, we wouldn't deal with it until they corrected the illegal...covered the
illegal gravel pit up or something. This is a completely different situation than
somebody who comes in with a piece of raw land and gets an approval with
conditions. This is a whole different ball game. That's one humble opinion.
AH
Well, the question, if I understood it correctly, is whether all the hazardous
conditions have been met and whether the remaining conditions on the two
units are still not met. Is that the question you're asking?
BAC I read...the things that you knew that were highly hazardous, they're fixed.
AH Absolutely.
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BAC But we don't know what else is there yet on units B and C, is that correct?
AH No, what we did...we did an inspection on all the units, all the three units.
BAC And we pulled everything apart that we wanted pulled apart, and everything
is out, because that's not what the staff report says.
AH Correct. On the observation, we have done that. On the observation, we
have asked Mr. Beauvais to remove...Iet's say, if it was a drywall to be
removed for us to see what else needs to be addressed and so on, he has
done so. And then on...one thing that hasn't been done on the two
remaining units is actually submittal of the plan on the third unit. On the
second unit, the second plan has been submitted. We're just going through
the corrections of the plan review. Those are the two remaining. Whether
we find anything in addition to what we observed out in the field, we're also
reviewing the plans to see if it's concurrent with the code and requirements.
JMB I do have one other speaker. Kim Housken.
KH Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, City Councilmen. My name is Kim
Housken. I live at 73-237 Somera here in Palm Desert. And there are really
just three issues I'd like to briefly highlight with you. I know we discussed this
ad nauseam. As I previously stated to you, I disagree with the Planning
Department interpretation of the old second unit ordinance. I do not believe
it was ever the intent of Council in 1983 to allow someone to basically split
an R-1 home in half, effectively turning it into a duplex. If a person wants to
provide this form of housing, there are several areas in the City specifically
zoned for duplexes. I can think of numerous duplexes in the area of
Washington School that can certainly use a facelift, some nice landscaping,
to go on if this is what someone would like to pursue. Secondly, Planning
staff claims the applicant or any homeowner is allowed to expand a home
and then at a later time come in, convert a portion of that home to a second
rental unit. That is the explanation I have received regarding the whole thing
about ten percent...you can enlarge it to any size, as a single-family home,
somewhat of a loophole, and then come back in and add the second unit at
a later time, which is what appears to be happening with the Portola house.
Be that as it may, I, as well as Councilman Crites, seem to be confused as
to why Planning staff could be recommending the approval of the conditional
use permits for the two San Marino properties when there are still illegal
second units existing at those sites. It still doesn't meet Palm Desert
Municipal Code. It's a single-family home which could then at a later time be
added on or converted into a second unit. Finally, to paraphrase Planning
Commissioner Tschopp from the February 18th, 2003, Planning Commission
meeting, he thought Mr. Beauvais should realize that he made victims of his
tenants by renting them an illegal unit and that he shouldn't create a problem
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and then go to everyone else and ask them to fix it. This wasn't the City's
problem. Mr. Beauvais created the problem. To me it seems the problem
has been resolved at the Portola house and that the couple that was living
there has purchased a home down the street, and I believe the other tenant
that lived in the other unit has also moved as well. I would certainly expect
that the applicant not move new tenants into any vacated units until these
cases are resolved and that if that particular CUP is granted, that the
applicant will stick to his word to the Planning Commission that any
subsequent tenant in the second unit would be over the age of 60, which was
one of the requirements of the old second unit ordinance. It is my
understanding that a young couple has moved in to the Portola, the vacated
Portola house. I'm not sure which side of the house they live on, but I would
certainly home that it is not the side that might be the second unit side since
they do not meet the age limit. I thank you for your time, and I certainly hope
you'll consider the things I mentioned. Thank you.
JMB Mr. Ferguson?
JF Sorry, I was reading an alert that I was just given. I'm going to go back to my
first question. As proposed, do all the second units on these three
properties, or two properties, meet our Palm Desert second unit ordinance?
PD As proposed, they do.
JF So in the case where the Planning Commission, you're asking us to reverse
their decision (inaudible) covered parking spaces.
PD Subsequent to that decision, there were other solutions for the parking which
went back to the Architectural Commission and were approved. So a
solution to the parking issue has subsequently been arrived at and the
design of it has been approved by the Architectural Commission.
JF And did the Planning Commission find those changes acceptable?
PD They were not sent back to the Planning Commission. Remember, the way
appeals work...I guess one of the goals was to try and finally resolve these.
We can continue to process them through the...we could send it back to the
Planning Commission if you'd like.
JF Well, if you take Councilman Crites' viewpoint, and there's work yet to be
done, now I don't feel bad about us taking a little bit longer given that he's
had over a year to start tending to these things but hasn't gotten around to
it.
PD We can send it back to the Planning Commission.
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BAC But it won't be hard for me to cast a ballot.
PD Again, it's your choice.
JF We can ask Mr. Beauvais what he would (inaudible)
JB I had a conversation with Mr. Hamidzadeh and Alex who runs the desk at
Building & Safety as well as Francisco from Planning. This conversation
took place about two weeks ago. We sat down and spoke for about an hour
over the table, and a time frame was put on the table by Mr. Hamidzadeh,
what his expectations were, and I told him that I would meet that time frame,
that all the plans would be in by December, that the process would go
forward now, and I would like to say that the properties, according to City
code, are in compliance. There was no variances that were required and
that I do have great tenants living in these places. It was never my goal to
get rich. I don't have money. It was my goal to restore that neighborhood,
and I feel like I was successful, and I...
JF Mr. Beauvais, with all due respect...
JB Yes, sir.
JF ...we're aware of all of that.
JB I understand, but I...we are moving forward. There was no variances
required. I am in City code, and I sat down with Building & Safety two weeks
ago, we came up with a plan that moves forward at good speed.
JF Could I talk for a moment?
JB Certainly.
JF We have one of...and this is my question to you, we have a recommendation
that we overrule our Planning Commission, and we're generally loathe to do
that without sending it back to them, if something's changed, to see if they
have changed. That hasn't happened in this case. You haven't finished
doing your work yet either. If the Planning Commission approves this and it
doesn't get appealed, you're done. If you want a vote tonight, I think a
couple of colleagues have indicated that they're prepared to vote and I think
have already made up their minds. So would you prefer to have the
Planning Commission take a look at your progress to date and make a
recommendation at least as to this one case that they denied you on or have
us vote on it right now?
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JB I'm sorry, I thought that if the ARC...I must have misunderstood because I
thought the process was if the ARC approved, that...
JF It did.
JB ...it did...that it wasn't necessary for it to go on to the Planning Commission.
If the ARC didn't approve, then it was necessary to go on to the Planning
Commission.
JF But they're co -equal bodies. They look at different things.
JB Okay.
JMB So if it was sent back now, it would go to the Architectural?
JB It was sent back to go to Architectural, and it passed.
PD Okay, so, again, if you wanted to direct the now revised plan back to the
Planning Commission, that's an action you can take on that particular case.
There are three separate cases.
BAC
I would also note, at least to me, that I think Mr. Beauvais, we had the option
seven months ago of simply, in essence, shutting this process down. We
didn't do that for what I think we thought were good reasons. But we're over
a half year later and at least as one Councilmember, I'm not satisfied that the
pace of rectifying what was done illegally and repeatedly illegally is being
reversed with the proper speed that needs to happen. These were, at least
in my opinion, egregious violations, repeated times, over numbers of
properties, and, darn it, they need to be fixed.
JMB May I ask what the timetable was that you agreed to?
AH As you're aware, on May 22nd we didn't set any time table. In the meeting
that Building & Safety, myself, Alex (inaudible), and Francisco had with Mr.
Beauvais, for each of his remaining properties, on the two remaining, we
have set a timetable, and they are in your staff report. Basically, for both of
them to be completed...on the second unit, which is in the plan check stages,
it will be til the end of this year, December 30th will be the completion of
construction of all the building improvements. That means all the plans, all
the approvals, permitting, and all the construction to be done. On the last
unit on San Marino, which is address 74-041, which Mr. Beauvais has not
submitted the plans yet on that one, we're anticipating him to finish on
January 30`h, a month later. Those are the time limits that we set a couple
of weeks ago.
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RAS Isn't it inappropriate for us to even look at this (inaudible) the plan checks are
done?
AH Possibly. I believe we wanted to inform the Council (inaudible)
HC You asked that it come back to the Council, and we're bringing it back on a
progress, but at the same time we have to close out these...we have to
continue with these cases because they are open resolutions, and we have
to either conclude them or continue them, at your pleasure, or...
JF
PD
JF
PD
Question. Couldn't we send all three of these back to the Planning
Commission at a time after January, and he can get a clean bill of health on
all three properties from Planning and from Code Enforcement, and we can
effectively dispose of all three of these cases?
Okay, the complication is, the improvements that he is doing are the
improvements that are fulfilling the requirements of the second unit law.
Those are the improvements he is doing. He's submitting plans to convert
these to second units under the ordinance. It is somewhat unreasonable to
require him to complete all those improvements prior to getting approval of
the second unit. But those are the plans that are going through...you know,
maybe there was confusion back seven months ago, but the plans that are
being reviewed by the Building Department, and the permits that are being
issued, are pursuant to the conversion to legalizing the Building Code
requirements relative to those as second units. The work hasn't been
completed yet.
But, Phil, for me personally, I'm not willing to give him conditional use permits
until I know that the work is finished because it has been long. And it came
to us as a Code Enforcement matter initially, not as a Planning issue, and if
it were purely a Code Enforcement issue, he would be required to come into
compliance before we gave him a permit for anything. So it seems to me
we're getting the cart before the horse (inaudible)
No...and there's no question in this case the cart was before the horse. The
issue here, and my understanding was, and maybe there's some confusion,
the impression was that it was not the goal to evict these tenants unless it
was absolutely necessary, and the goal was to bring and correct the code
violations...and again, there might be confusion on the staff's part of what the
outcome of that last meeting was...unfortunately, I was on vacation during
that last meeting...I wasn't there, and the minutes were less than clear, but
the impression that was left in many minds was that three of these units...if
all the code violations were corrected, would be approved, okay. Now,
again, the cart before the horse problem is created that if he corrects all the
code violations relative to his conversion to second units, and all the second
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RSK
unit improvements are completed, then hopefully when he is done...you
know, what happens if you then deny...don't act on these appeals and then
suddenly he has second units that he's built pursuant to building permits and
then he doesn't have approval...so I think at some point in time there needs
to be direction from Council...and that's what these resolutions do, that
assuming he complies with all aspects of the code, he can have the second
unit.
I need to clear, maybe, a misconception you have about what I have been
voting, and that is there were all these violations, and the units were not
approved for second units, and to take it back where it belonged, they should
have gone back to single-family house and no code violation, and then they
would have to apply for a permit to add a second unit or change them to
second units. So from my standpoint, all you're doing here is, you're
proposing, is that he illegally turned them into two units without permits and
a lot of illegal construction, and then the idea is to come here and get us to...l
didn't say you clean them all up and you've got two units. That's not what I
was voting for...I've been voting no right along. But from my concern, I'll
keep voting no until they meet the codes of our city, and that's single-family
residence there, and then ask for approval to have a second unit. I don't
know that I would approve that, I doubt I'd approve that. To split...to take a
rental and split it into two units...Mr. Drell, you may not agree with me, but we
have spent hours and hours and hours because somebody broke the law,
and to me, it's ludicrous. And I'm not going to sit here and reward somebody
for breaking the law. So, I think the staff has helped create the problem, and
as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to vote no until it's a single-family
residence, and I'm not sure I wouldn't still vote no.
JF Well, Phil, your argument that it's a hardship to force them to build homes
that are already illegally built is a non sequitur. The homes have already
been built. There's no new construction. There may be some fiddling
around and doing some stuff, but whatever incremental hardship that is for
him to have to wait for us to say yes, we've been waiting for him to move for
a year. On the balance of the equities, that doesn't trouble my conscience
a bit. Thank you.
BAC I would move that we, then, direct these matters to the Planning Commission
for their consideration, for their recommendations...
JMB That's on the two...this one has been...
?? All three?
BAC Might as well let them look at all three.
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PD And then you want them to come back here again.
JF Only if they get appealed.
PD No, remember, the appeals...Planning Commission acted. There were
appeals to the Council. The Council has to act on those appeals, I believe.
DJE Council would normally act on appeals. I would suggest, if you're sending
them to the Planning Commission, that you ask for their recommendation
and they come back to you for final action.
BAC That's fine. Thank you. That is the motion.
JF Second.
(Inaudible)
JB Am I...Mr. Ferguson, did I understand you correctly when I agreed with you
that I understand what you were saying in that I will move forward on this and
go before the Planning Commission for their final assessment?
JF Hopefully with a clean bill of health from Code Enforcement and Planning,
that all the things that are needed to be tended to have been tended to.
Planning Commission can look at it and make their recommendation, and
then we simply act on these resolutions.
JB
Okay. And my final point was that nobody gave me a time frame. There was
never...I was moving as fast as I could. Had somebody said Mr. Beauvais,
when you come...we're going to give you this much time, I would have
probably worked inside of a heart attack to do it, but...
JF Did you understand by the end of January was what we were told for you to
have all this work done?
JB Absolutely. I worked with Building & Safety...
JF And you can do that?
JB And I can do that.
JF Great.
JMB Thank you.
JB Thank you.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
RDK Motion carries 4-1, with Councilman Kelly voting NO.
CLO For clarification, that was a motion for all three?
JF Yes.
RSK It's not that I think...(inaudible) vote no (inaudible) tonight because I don't
think what we're doing is right.
JMB Next item...
For clarification purposes, Councilman Crites moved to, by Minute Motion, directed
the matter to the Planning Commission for its consideration and recommendation back to
the City Council. Motion was seconded by Ferguson and carried by a 4-1 vote, with
Councilman Kelly voting NO.
B. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION, REGARDING APPEAL OF
PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION, APPROVING A SECOND UNIT IN A
SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL ZONE AT 74-041 SAN MARINO CIRCLE
Case No. CUP 02-16 (Jerome M. Beauvais, Applicant) (Douglass & Kathleen
Kopp, Appellants).
See verbatim transcript for Item A above for Council discussion.
For clarification purposes, Councilman Crites moved to, by Minute Motion, directed
the matter to the Planning Commission for its consideration and recommendation back to
the City Council. Motion was seconded by Ferguson and carried by a 4-1 vote, with
Councilman Kelly voting NO.
C. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION, REGARDING APPEAL OF
PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION, APPROVING A SECOND UNIT IN A
SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL ZONE AT 74-060 SAN MARINO CIRCLE
Case No. CUP 02-17 (Jerome M. Beauvais, Applicant/Appellant).
See verbatim transcript for Item A above for Council discussion.
For clarification purposes, Councilman Crites moved to, by Minute Motion, directed
the matter to the Planning Commission for its consideration and recommendation back to
the City Council. Motion was seconded by Ferguson and carried by a 4-1 vote, with
Councilman Kelly voting NO.
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D. CONSIDERATION OF THE PALM DESERT "SPOT" MUNICIPAL
ELECTRIC UTILITY FEASIBILITY STUDY COMPLETED BY EES
CONSULTING.
Director of Special Programs Robert Kohn, stated that he felt there had been
a lot of good questions and items brought up at the earlier Study Session,
and he felt that most of those issues, such as power supply, share of
revenue, and other concerns and risks, would be addressed as the operating
agreement is negotiated. He said the recommendation was that Council
authorize staff to move forward and negotiate that agreement. He said
various options could be brought back to Council by staff at a later date.
Councilman Kelly asked whether the "point of no return" had been reached
yet and said he felt the Council would really want to do some serious
deliberation when it comes to the point where it makes the decision and
there is no return.
Mr. Kohn stated that the City had filed for an interconnection agreement, and
that process is moving forward. Negotiating the operating agreement and
bringing it back to Council would be the point of no return if Council decides
to go or not go. If Council decides not to go with it and waits until January,
he said he was not sure whether or not that delay would kill anything.
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel said he had talked to Mr. Carver on the telephone
today, and he will probably not be breaking ground on his Gateway project
until April. Secondly, he questioned how much money had been spent so
far, besides Mr. Kohn's time and the City Manager's time.
Mr. Kohn responded that once the feasibility study has been completed and
approved, the City will have spent approximately $60,000.
Councilman Ferguson noted that the City of Irvine had done an RFQ for the
operator of its municipal utility; they received 21 responses. With 20 other
companies that can do this, he questioned why the City of Palm Desert had
not done an RFQ process to find out who can make the City the best deal
and why the City was jumping straight into negotiations without doing this.
Mr. Kohn responded that it was his understanding there were three basic
companies in this type of business which typically bid. Although there may
have been 21 responses, there were a lot of companies that had formed that
were looking to get into the business, especially with the community choice
aggregation and those types of alternatives. In his discussions with other
cities that had done this, ENCO typically comes out on top.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
Councilman Ferguson said the things that need to be negotiated are
apparently the heart and soul of whether the City does this or not. He said
the risk allocation on the power purchasing was a huge component. The
exposure to the City's General Fund will be determined by whether the City
is going to be indemnified by the operator or the power purchase entity,
whoever the City selects.
Upon question by Councilman Kelly, Mr. Kohn responded that there would
be no additional cost to negotiate with ENCO or any other operator.
Mr. Gary Saleba, President of EES Consulting, responding to question by
Councilman Ferguson, stated that they had done RFP's for operators on
behalf of the City of San Marcos. He said they were also involved in Irvine,
Indian Wells, and Moreno Valley. In all those situations, ENCO was by far
the superior operator. For that reason, he had discussed with the City
Manager and Mr. Kohn about whether to do an RFQ here, and he had
advised that this could certainly be done, although it does take several
months and a lot of staff time to go through the process, plus $25,000 to
$30,000 in consulting fees. He said he had suggested if a reasonable deal
could be worked with ENCO, that would cut quite a bit of time and expense
out of the process and would end up in about the same place as doing an
RFQ.
Mayor Pro Tem noted that the City of Indian Wells had decided against this.
Mr. Saleba agreed and stated that Indian Wells was considering
condemnation, which was the primary focus on the Indian Wells study. With
condemnation, they would take over all the existing Edison facilities plus
serve all the new load, and that was a much more formidable task than what
the Council has in front of it now. He said there were political and money
reasons, but condemnation generally takes two to three years to be
successful, and usually there is $1-2 million in legal and expert fees. Indian
Wells decided for that and other reasons that they did not want to proceed.
MR. GARY GREEN, 6042 B Irwindale Avenue, stated that negotiating an
operating agreement does not address the power costs. He said he did not
believe anyone, including ENCO, was interested in indemnifying the City on
power risks. He said the energy crisis of 2000/2001 was all about power
generation costs and natural gas costs. Electric costs tripled in a matter of
a few months and stayed high for about 12 months. Gas costs went up by
400% that winter and stayed up for six months. Currently, gas costs are still
50% higher than they were three years ago. He said that crisis was never
about the cost of overhead and underground distribution facilities; it was
about generation. As stated in the Study Session, generation is two-thirds
of the total delivery cost of electricity. This large portion is not fully
addressed in the feasibility study. Instead, the statement is made that power
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
costs will be the same or lower than Edison's costs, but no supporting
information is provided. He said that was an area he felt the Council needs
to investigate, not negotiating an operating agreement. He urged the Council
to vote against proceeding with this municipal utility. He said the opportunity
for overall savings was small, while the downside risk was significant. He
said a ten percent increase in the assumed power costs, coupled with some
corrections to assumptions in the study, would cause the City to lose money,
and that assumption of ten percent rise in power costs was actually
conservative when put against a backdrop of 300% and 400% increases. He
said the lure of possible profit or excess revenue has to be examined in Tight
of the risk of losing millions of dollars as the market fluctuates up and down.
He also pointed out that the latest draft of the study assumes double the
commercial development as the previous study a month ago, a full ten million
plus of square feet in the development area, and this was with a General
Plan that has not yet been adopted. He said it also assumed larger homes
in the average for Palm Desert, and eight percent higher usage per home,
again without a General Plan that has been adopted for that area, and higher
commercial usage per square foot than similar uses in the rest of the City.
Until the General Plan is adopted, he said it was hard to tell what uses will
ultimately be approved; in the meantime, it did not seem wise to assume
double the commercial space and larger homes, as this draft does, while the
General Plan is still under review. He said a comment was made earlier
about the cart before the horse. With no supporting information on power
costs, and a General Plan still in flux, moving forward with a municipal utility
seemed to hold more risk than the City Council would normally be willing to
bear.
MR. CHARLEY WILSON, Southern California Edison, said he would like to
give a very short but pertinent history example post -deregulation electric
utility business. He said that as soon as AB1890 was passed, they saw a
series of consultants and a series of cities all studying and looking into what
community aggregation might hold for them in terms of revenue, savings,
and benefit to the local constituencies. He said three examples came to
mind specifically: ABAG (Association of Bay Area Governments), SANDAG
(San Diego Association of Governments), and Palm Springs. All went
through this process, studied the issues, and thought the risk was within their
scope of manageability. In all three cases, history has shown they got
burned badly. He commended the City of Palm Desert for the process it is
going through. He said there were a number of communities looking at this
particular concept following the energy crisis, a crisis that is now substantially
behind us, and one where Southern California is well on its way to healing.
He urged caution on the part of the Council and said those communities that
have studied this have spent, in some cases, years and hundreds of
thousands of dollars. He said those communities that had done their
homework in large part had passed on this concept. Those who did not do
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
their homework or who tried to cut corners had exposed themselves to very
significant downside risk. He again urged extreme caution.
MR. DENNIS EASTMAN noted that in the Study Session, he was
commenting on the issue of energy and felt it was generally accepted that in
the height of the energy crisis, when PG&E went bankrupt and Edison nearly
went bankrupt, the root cause was that those utilities were effectively forced
to purchase their energy from the spot market, buying from the spot market
at a time when there were generation shortages, energy consumption in the
state was significantly up, and this resulted in a supply and demand problem,
and the price went up several hundred -fold. He said his firm recommended
to its clients that they do not purchase energy from the spot market but seek
out contracts with third party providers to secure the energy over a period of
time in line with the City's appetite. He said they had been successful
working with their other clients to secure energy in that five -cent range, and
he believed that was feasible and appropriate here. He said they would not
recommend that the City simply go on the spot market, although it was very
attractive today. It was their view that municipal entities are more interested
in security in that energy environment as opposed to gambling on the spot
market.
Councilman Ferguson noted that the Study Session earlier in the day had
been very informative. He said he would not vote for the staff
recommendation tonight and did not know that he had a final opinion yet
about whether the City of Palm Desert should be doing this or not, although
he was leaning against it. He said it seemed that everyone has a hard
opinion one way or the other on this; it's either so good that you can't find a
worse case scenario, which he found difficult to believe, or neighboring cities
that are partners with Palm Desert in clean energy and other types of things
spend a half million dollars and two years studying it and say the risks are
absolutely unacceptable. He said he asked them if they thought they were
different than Palm Desert, whether the kilowatt hours were different,
whether the purchase prices were different, and spent many hours with them
on the phone. He said they don't think Palm Desert is different. He asked
Edison, who was a partner with them in that process and who has been
following Palm Desert's process, if Palm Desert is different, and they do not
think that is the case. Yet there are polar opposite recommendations, and
their City Manager at least feels this is not a good idea for them to do. He
said if Palm Desert wasn't talking about buying a half a billion dollars worth
of power and being personally responsible to deliver it the residents for the
next 20 years, it might not be that big an issue. What concerned him
objectively was when he thought Palm Desert's staff and the consultant, who
is independently retained, should be more of a watchdog for the City, should
be pointing out areas of caution to the Council, should be telling the Council
how to modify and structure this model; yet, whenever he asks a hard
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
question, he just gets "it's too good to be true". He said whether or not the
Council moves forward on this tonight, he would implore staff to sit down with
staff in Irvine and find out whether Palm Desert is the same or different, what
it is that Palm Desert knows that they don't, and what makes this proposal
for Palm Desert better than the proposal they had before them two months
ago. He added that he felt negotiating with a power operator at this point
was way premature.
Councilman Crites said he would vote in favor of a motion to look at this
because the City had taken the time to go down this path. He said he would
like to see what the final analysis is and then decide whether or not to do it.
He felt the issues about supply costs and generation issues and risk analysis
were all things that, unless they are all remarkably positive, should lead a city
to say no. He said he found it remarkable through the years that Edison
always finds that this is an awful idea, and every idea that does not leave you
subject to their rates is an awful idea. He said he liked the people at Edison;
however, their business is not necessarily to be forthright with the Council,
their business is to keep the City with Edison. They are not in any way
necessarily looking at the City's best interests because their best interests
are those of Edison. He said he would vote to finish this process, take one
look at it, and decide yes or no.
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel said it was his understanding from staff that there
would be no additional funds necessary from the City to complete this
process. He also assumed that the Council must decide on December 11th
whether or not to go ahead with this. He said he felt the Council should
continue the process.
Councilman Kelly said he had heard a lot of facts and figures from the
consultants, and he wanted to take a last look to see what the final figures
are. If the Council is going to look at cities that decided not to go with this,
he felt they should also look at Moreno Valley, which just signed up and has
made the determination that this is a good thing to do.
Mayor Benson said it had been her conviction all along that city government
should not be in the utility business. She said she felt there were better ways
to direct the City's energy and money. If it would benefit the whole City, she
said she would say yes. However, all the residents who need a reduction in
their power costs are not going to benefit by $6 per month. She said the
rebate she just received from Edison was $70, and it did not cost her
anything. She added that she would vote against continuing with this.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion, direct staff to continue
negotiating an Electric Utility Operating Agreement and present the various options to the
City Council at its meeting of December 11, 2003. Motion was seconded by Crites and
carried by a 3-2 vote, with Councilman Ferguson and Mayor Benson voting NO.
E. REQUEST FOR AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR 2003 CITYWIDE SLURRY
SEAL PROGRAM (CONTRACT NO. C21210, PROJECT NO. 751-03).
Mr. Ortega noted the staff report and recommendation in the packets.
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel stated that it was his understanding that the City is
not really doing anything over in Palm Desert Country Club.
Staff responded that the Palm Desert Country Club area was not scheduled
for the 2003 program; however, this program does allow for flexibility since
it will be done in-house. In addition, staff would be doing an analysis and
would look at that area.
Councilman Kelly said he would vote in favor of this contract; however, he
wanted to make the point that Palm Desert's success was based on
contracting when possible.
Director of Public Works Michael Errante stated that PetroChem Marketing,
Inc., will be supplying product to the City and will help spread it, and the
identified streets will take approximately a week. The reason staff is trying
this in-house this year is that the last two times the City contracted for the
slurry seal, there were difficulties where changes were made on the road
closures, and residents were not notified. That caused some problems, so
staff decided to try the program in-house for one year to see if the problem
can be rectified.
Councilman Crites stated he noticed that Monterey from Highway 111 to the
entrance to the College was not on this list.
Mr. Errante responded that slurry seal was usually limited to residential, while
staff preferred to overlay the heavily traveled arterials. Upon additional
question by Councilman Crites, he said Monterey was up for the overlay
program.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
Councilman Crites moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Award the subject contract to
— PetroChem Marketing, Inc., Santa Ana, California, in the amount of $149,100; 2) approve
a 10°A) contingency for the project in the amount of $14,910; 3) authorize the Mayor to
execute said contract — funds are available in Account No. 110-4311-433-3320. Motion
was seconded by Spiegel and carried by a 5-0 vote, with staff advised to, for future
reference, closely consider the manner in which this contract is administered and the
streets to be included in the program.
F. REQUEST FOR AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL AT
HOVLEY LANE EAST AND OASIS CLUB DRIVE (CONTRACT NO. C21900,
PROJECT NO. 610(T)-02).
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Award the subject contract
to Sierra Pacific Electrical Contracting, Riverside, California, in the amount of $135,000;
2) authorize setting aside a 10% contingency for the project in the amount of $13,500;
3) authorize the Mayor to execute said contract — funds are available in Account
No. 234-4366-422-4001. Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried by a 5-0 vote.
XVII. PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF A GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT
FROM RESIDENTIAL (MEDIUM DENSITY, 5-7 UNITS PER ACRE) TO
OFFICE PROFESSIONAL, A CHANGE OF ZONE FROM PR-5 N.S.P.
(PLANNED RESIDENTIAL, FIVE UNITS PER ACRE WITH A NATURAL
OVERLAY AND SCENIC PRESERVATION) TO O.P. (OFFICE
PROFESSIONAL), AND A PARCEL MAP WAIVER, RECONFIGURING
TWO LOTS FRONTING ON VILLAGE COURT AT THE NORTHERLY END
OF THE EMBASSY SUITES PROPERTY LOCATED AT
74-700 HIGHWAY 111 Case Nos. GPA 03-06. C/Z 03-09. and PMW 03-05
(Schmid Investments L.P., Applicant).
Mr. Drell reviewed the staff report and offered to answer any questions.
Mayor Benson declared the public hearing open and invited testimony in FAVOR
of or in OPPOSITION to this request.
MR. RICHARD SCHMID spoke as the applicant and asked the Council to
approve the project. Upon question by Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel, he
responded that the project would be Office Professional. He said the
property to the north was presently Office Professional, while to the south
were the tennis courts of Embassy Suites.
With no further testimony offered, Mayor Benson declared the public hearing
closed.
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel moved to waive further reading and: 1) Adopt Resolution
No. 03-118, approving GPA 03-06 and PMW 03-05; 2) pass Ordinance No. 1058 to second
reading, relating to C/Z 03-09. Motion was seconded by Ferguson and carried by a 5-0
vote.
B. OPENING OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD REGARDING THE CITY'S
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) ONE-YEAR
ACTION PLAN FOR FY 2004/05 AND OPENING THE CDBG APPLICATION
PROCESS FOR FY 2004/05.
Management Analyst Frankie Riddle reviewed the staff report and offered to
answer any questions.
Councilman Kelly said he would like to have a list of all the agencies denied
and why they were denied, and he would like to receive this list in advance
of the Council meeting so that he can contact those agencies if he wishes to
do so.
Councilman Spiegel stated that once the applications are reviewed by the
Outside Agency Funding Committee, staff can put together a listing of all of
the applicants, what they requested, and whether they were approved or
denied. This list can then be distributed to Council for comment before being
scheduled for consideration by the Council.
Mayor Benson noted that notice will also be included in the newspaper
advising that applications are now being accepted.
Councilman Kelly said he would like to see the recommendations of the
Outside Agency Funding Committee and have an opportunity to comment
before the recommendations are finalized for Council decision.
Mayor Benson opened the public comment and application period for Fiscal Year
2004/05.
MR. DAN TENOLD, Executive Director of FIND, said he would be filing an
application by the deadline in February, 2004. He noted that FIND had just
celebrated its 20th anniversary in the Coachella Valley and had served over
3.5 million pounds of food to over 600,000 people. They were also involved
with assisting the firefighters recently, and they had 53 sites where food was
provided, including St. John's in Palm Desert. He said they took care of
medical in some cases and helped senior citizens, homeless, and AIDS
patients who are home -bound. They also worked with Mizell Senior Center,
which served 110 people through FIND with home deliveries every week,
and there was another home delivery set up by senior ladies serving about
200 home -bound individuals. The City of Palm Desert had helped FIND in
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
the past, and he asked that the Council consider assisting his organization
again in accomplishing this tremendous project.
Councilman Crites said he hoped in the information sent out to applicants
about this program, there is something that notes there are multiple avenues
for which to ask for funding.
Ms. Riddle responded that the letter could be changed for the next cycle to
include information about outside agency funding; however, this year's letters
had already gone out and were written specifically for the CDBG funds.
Councilman Crites said he felt a followup letter should be sent to applicants
noting that if their program does not fit in the CDBG program, it might fit in
another funding program.
Mrs. Gilligan suggested that, rather than clouding the issue with the CDBG
funds, perhaps a supplemental letter could be sent to all the applicants who
received the original letter, with an application for the outside agency
funding. She said in the past there had been occasions where the CDBG
funds had not been approved but recommendations had been made to
Council that funding come from outside agency funds.
Mayor Benson suggested instead that as applications for CDBG funds are
received and reviewed, those not qualifying for CDBG should receive a
second letter explaining they do not qualify and including an application for
outside agency funding. She expressed concern that two applications would
be received from each organization if the supplemental letter and application
are sent out, one for CDBG and the other for outside agency funds.
Councilman Ferguson suggested leaving the details to Mrs. Gilligan and Ms.
Riddle to work out, and Council agreed.
No further council action was required or taken.
XVIII. REPORTS AND REMARKS
A. CITY MANAGER
None
B. CITY ATTORNEY
None
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
C. CITY CLERK
1. Discussion on December 2003 Meeting Schedule and the
General Plan Update.
Council directed that the customary practice of holding the first meeting in
December, with a break during the holidays, also be the schedule this year; the General
Plan would be taken up beginning in January.
D. MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
o City Council Reauests for Action:
None
o City Council Committee Reports:
1. Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel commented that the Parks &
Recreation Commission was considering two plans that would
provide additional open space for Freedom Park, and they
would be coming to the City Council for approval. Secondly,
he said the Commission had nominated Gene Mauch for
induction into Legends Field.
2. Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel reported that this morning he,
Mr. Kohn, and Dr. Doris Wilson met with Dr. Andrea Fletcher
from Sacramento. Dr. Fletcher was in charge of grants for
After School Programs, and with the agreement of the City
Council, it was hoped that the program at the Middle School
could be increased, along with beginning programs at both
Lincoln Elementary and the High School. He said the City
would be working on this program in the next year.
3. Councilman Crites reported from today's CVAG Energy &
Environment (E & E) Committee that the City of Palm Springs
had just informed CVAG that it intended to pursue and build its
own waste transfer station, working with Burrtec to locate such
a facility right next to Desert Hot Springs' municipal boundary.
He said both the County and CVAG, as well as the neighboring
cities, will be commenting on their concerns for this
announcement.
Secondly, he said by unanimous vote of the E & E Committee
today, the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat
Conservation Plan was forwarded to the CVAG Executive
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
Committee for opening of the public comment period that will
begin January 1, continuing through March 2004. He said the
approval process would then begin in late spring. He
welcomed his colleagues to review his copy of the document.
o City Council Comments:
1. City Council Liaison Reports.
See above.
2. Mayor Benson complimented staff for the excellent work it had
done to organize and carry out the numerous events involving
the City in November. She said it began with the Golf Cart
Parade and Sister Cities Weekend, with guests from Ixtapa -
Zihuatanejo, Mexico, to celebrate signing of the newest Sister
City relationship. This week the City put on a well -attended
Veteran's Day program, which included dedication of the
Rotary Clubs' clock in Civic Center Park. She said the month
was not over, additional activities were yet to come, and she
reiterated her appreciation.
Mayor Benson encouraged everyone to see the "Fins,
Feathers, and Fun" exhibit at the Children's Discovery Museum
in cooperation with Animal Samaritans. She noted that it was
an excellent display of caring for animals both personally and
professionally, with a complete animal shelter set-up including
cages for cats and dogs, as well as grooming and veterinary
care. She felt it was an excellent outreach and suggested it
would be a great activity during the upcoming holidays.
3. Councilman Ferguson echoed Mayor Benson's comments,
complimenting City staff for its work on the recent lxtapa -
Zihuatanejo visit, believing it was a shining moment for the City
with extensive press coverage. He especially enjoyed the flag
raising ceremony for the Mexican flag to be flying next to the
United States and New Zealand flags.
He noted that the other shining moment for our City happened
yesterday. He said Palm Desert National Bank President
Randy Miller called him earlier in the week, concerned about
the numerous recent bank robberies. Mrs. Gilligan and
Lt. Thetford quickly went to work and held a very good meeting
yesterday with representatives from every bank in
Palm Desert, some with branches also in La Quinta and
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REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2003
Rancho Mirage. He said Lt. Thetford explained how the police
were handling the cases. There had been seven robberies
since April, and there were certain similar elements in each
case, which were being closely examined to solve them and
prevent future incidents. During this City Council meeting he'd
been handed the first e-mail notification that there was a bank
robbery in La Quinta, and the suspects had been stopped and
arrested near Verbenia Avenue. It was felt that these arrests
would solve a number of the previous robberies. He
commended Mrs. Gilligan, the Palm Desert Sheriff's
Department, Public Safety Commission, and the banking
community for their quick response, willingness to participate,
and a successful result.
4. Councilman Crites agreed with both Councilman Ferguson and
Mayor Benson about staff's excellent work for the Sister Cities
visit. He requested staff look into expressing appreciation to
Ignacio Del Rio at the next Council Meeting. Mr. Del Rio made
a significant contribution at his restaurant on El Paseo during
the event and should be recognized for it.
Mrs. Gilligan reminded the City Council of the City's 30th Anniversary
Open House to be held this Sunday, November 16, from 2:00 -
5:00 p.m., including a time to reminisce with former City Council and
staff members.
XIX. ADJOURNMENT
With Council concurrence, Mayor Benson adjourned the meeting at 6:10 p.m.
ATTEST:
s
RACHELLED. KLASSEN, CITY CLERK
CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA
4144-61
N M. BENSON, MAYOR
38