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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-11-17MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2005 — 2:00 P.M. CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Crites convened the meeting at 2:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmember Jean M. Benson Mayor Pro Tem Jim Ferguson Councilman Richard S. Kelly Councilman Robert A. Spiegel Mayor Buford A. Crites Also Present: Carlos L. Ortega, City Manager/RDA Executive Director David J. Erwin, City Attorney Homer Croy, ACM for Development Services Justin McCarthy, ACM for Redevelopment Stephen Y. Aryan, Assistant to the City Manager Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk Mark D. Greenwood, City Engineer Phil Drell, Director of Community Development Paul S. Gibson, Director of Finance/City Treasurer Michael J. Errante, Director of Public Works Walt Holloway, Battalion Chief, Palm Desert/Riverside County Fire Dept./CDF Grace L. Mendoza, Deputy City Clerk III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - Councilman Robert A. Spiegel IV. INVOCATION - Mayor Pro Tem Jim Ferguson V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL VI. NEW BUSINESS NOVEMBER 17, 2005 A. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) WITH THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (BLM) FOR RANGER SERVICES, PORTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS, AND LANDSCAPING COSTS FOR THE SANTA ROSA MOUNTAINS VISITORS INFORMATION CENTER (CONTRACT NO. C24150A). Assistant Planner Ryan Stendell reviewed his staff report, highlighting that one of the most important components of the subject MOU would be Ranger Services to patrol the new trails and ensure hikers and those with dogs were following all the rules. He said the BLM was asking for $55,000 per year, representing approximately one -sixth of the costs for all services, and staff recommended approval of the MOU for a three-year time period, at which time any modifications may be considered. Responding to question, Mr. Stendell said the BLM would be increasing staffing to cover the expanded seven -day -per -week operation. Councilman Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Authorize the Mayor to execute the subject MOU with the BLM for a three-year period commencing January 1, 2006, and ending December 31, 2008; 2) appropriate $55,000 from Unobligated General Fund Reserves; 3) authorize payment to the BLM for said time period in the amount of $55,000 per year. Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried by a 5-0 vote. VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF AN INITIAL STUDY AND MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT PERTAINING TO COMPLETION OF THE HOPALONG CASSIDY TRAIL, INCLUDING REROUTE OF EXISTING ART SMITH TRAILHEAD. Mr. Drell explained that this public hearing constituted the environmental/CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) process for completion of the Hopalong Cassidy Trail. It was being conducted separately at the request of the Wildlife Agencies, ahead of the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, which would have otherwise dealt with this issue. He said it was hoped that the reroute of the beginning of the Art Smith Trail would be done before the start of lambing season this year, and part of that process included the Agencies' agreeing to allow the City to process the entire Hopalong Cassidy Trail at this time. He noted that staff had been in close consultation with both the Department of Fish & Game and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on the route and proposed management of the trail, and both had agreed that the project could go forward with the 2 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 conclusion that there would be no adverse significant unmitigated impacts. He went on to call attention to and describe the colored map of the proposed route and adjacent trails. He said the main aspect of the reroute would take the Art Smith Trail off the floor of the canyon before it climbs the northern rim, with the Wildlife Agencies hoping to get hikers out of sight of the lambing sheep, which were apparently now reusing the southern side of the canyon. He described the proposed reroute, which would go around developments known as Bighorn, Stone Eagle, provide a new access to the cross on the southern edge of the City, and will intersect the existing Homestead and Hopalong Cassidy Trails, which have been constructed between Homme/Adams Park and the tennis court. He said the last section of the trail will extend the Hopalong Trail and Herb Jeffries Spur and connect them with the existing Bump and Grind/Mirage Trail, which will fulfill two functions: 1) Establish a new, public trailhead for the Bump and Grind behind the Target store in Desert Crossing and connect with the existing Bump and Grind in Rancho Mirage; 2) extend the Herb Jeffries Trail to connect at the point of the hairpin turn in the existing Bump and Grind, creating a new loop system for those hikers. He stated that based upon the City's previous experience, staff was requesting $300,000 for construction of about 10 miles of new trail, in keeping with the cost of past trail projects at $30,000/mile. Additionally, he said the goal for the first phase would be construction of the Art Smith Reroute and extension of the Hopalong Trail over to Cat Canyon, of which a portion of it may also be postponed for lambing season, but there was other trailwork could be done for the rest of the season; the last section could be finished next fall. Mayor Crites declared the public hearing to be open and invited testimony from all interested persons. MS. JANE UDALL, President of the Desert Trails Hiking Club, said she was joined today by Chuck Nisbet, President of the Coachella Valley Hiking Club. She read a prepared statement, which is now on file and of record in the City Clerk's Office. In summary, her comments reflected general support for the City's proposed trail extensions and rerouting; however, their groups were concerned about the City's endorsement of the California Department of Fish & Game's decisions that would be detrimental to trail users: — Closure of the Schey Trail, otherwise a connector between the new Hopalong Cassidy extension and the rerouted Art Smith Trail, eliminates a desirable, steep trail section that provides a more strenuous opportunity for some hikers, in addition to the proposed closure of the upper portion of the Bump and Grind, making two big losses for hikers. — Fish & Game's new rule prohibiting bicycles on ecological reserve land, of which a major section of the new extension falls within the boundaries of a 3 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 reserve, another major loss for bicyclists who have been active supporters of this extension up to now. — Planned erection of fences in Dead Indian and Carrizo Canyons to restrict hiker access, when it had been demonstrated that no scientific evidence existed to show that recreational trail use had a negative impact on sheep recovery. — The Hopalong Cassidy Trail extension will have limited value to hikers, given its length without a means of looping back to a logical starting or stopping point. She urged the City Council not to allow itself to be manipulated by the Department of Fish & Game. MR. MICHAEL BARRY of Palm Desert said he liked the trails; he'd been using them for 10 years, and probably the only reason he used them was because it was one of the few places he could go to get fresh air without pollen. He wanted to see as many of the trails as possible. With no further testimony offered, Mayor Crites declared the public hearing closed. In answer to Councilmen Spiegel and Kelly's questions, Mayor Crites referred to the colored aerial map that was distributed and displayed. — The aqua -colored line represented the rerouting of the existing Art Smith Trail. — The white line with small red "x's" through it was the way the Art Smith Trail ran currently. It has been an issue of some controversy between trail users and the State and Federal Wildlife Agencies over whether or not it does harm to sheep generally or specifically during lambing season. He didn't feel the case was absolute, and there were studies that give indications both ways; but the final issue was that where the Trail currently runs is BLM land, and Fish & Game and Fish & Wildlife have the final say — no matter if the City likes it or not in terms of how the Trail gets used. Therefore, the proposal for being able to use it year-round is to take the green -colored line with "x's" through it and move it to the aqua -colored line. Up the aqua line where the green line intersects and the aqua line turns right, the Art Smith Trail continues up the mountains, and hikers could use it year-round. The trade-off for year-round use was rerouting it. Upon inquiry about fencing in the area, he said there were two issues; the main issue as commented on by Ms. Udall is that there's a request for fencing down near the parking lot, which is at the bottom end of the aqua -colored line where it would go off to the left. He said that was State Fish & Game land, and they don't want people in Corrizo Canyon most of the year — strictly a Fish & Game decision and not the City's. Additionally, he said there was also a request for fencing part way up the green -colored line so that during lambing season, what is known as Dead Indian Canyon would be closed, but it would be open again 4 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 outside that season. For instance, he said people could currently hike up Dead Indian Canyon. In response to question, he confirmed that the aqua - colored line trail would be open year-round, and he acknowledged the Hiking Club's point of view that it represented a net loss in terms of its use, with which he agreed. He reiterated that it was a decision of U. S. Fish & Wildlife and State Fish & Game, which was the trade-off for securing a trail that could be accessed. Mayor Crites went on to say that on down the aqua -colored line to the right, there was a thin red line that goes to the top of the map, and in that area was an existing trail that went from the Cahuilla Hills area through BLM and Fish & Game land, called the Schey Trail. Fish & Game decided that it would not be open, which he said Palm Desert was not asked about nor does it have any control over the matter. He didn't believe there would be a fence there, and he thought they would probably "de -construct" a portion of it to make it disappear. However, he said part of the existing Schey Trail would be blended into the aqua -colored line. He explained that the mustard - colored portion of the Hopalong Cassidy Trail existed on Fish & Game land, and it will take them some period of time to complete it; they didn't want any construction occurring on it during lambing season. He felt it was an obtuse decision, given that people would be walking on it year-round once it was built; but nonetheless, it was their decision to make. From there, he referred to the purple -colored line that skirts the Stone Eagle project on two sides and then connects down toward Homme/Adams and Cahuilla Hills Parks. The rose-colored lines on the right-hand side of the map illustrated issues surrounding the Bump-N-Grind Trail, which is very popular coming out of Rancho Mirage. It's been a constant source of conflict, and Rancho Mirage has the problems that: a) there isn't any dedicated parking for a trailhead in Rancho Mirage; b) part of the trail goes over private property, and that landowner could, at their wish, simply close the trail — be it right or wrong. The idea is to give people another way to access the Bump-N-Grind Trail, and there was no other way to do so from Rancho Mirage except for some very steep property, in addition to no parking; the nearest place for it is to start from behind the Target Store where Palm Desert has a rarely used street with lots of parking. From behind the Target Store, the trail would swing up behind Moller's Nursery and then connect with the existing Bump- N-Grind Trail. One issue mentioned in other venues but not here today is that trail will be considerably narrower than the existing Bump-N-Grind, which is an old road; the new one will be trail width rather than road width, and some who like to walk three and four abreast will be unable to do so — it's a trail and not a road. Further, he said the speaker noted that the existing Bump-N-Grind Trail has part of it that goes onto Fish & Game property, and they have noted that they intend to close all or a portion of that trail, whether the City builds an alternative or not. He said it was possible that Fish & 5 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 Game could be persuaded not to take that action, but it will be unrelated to whether or not the City builds those pieces of the Trail, and he felt that was unlikely to be true. He summarized by saying the bottom part of the rose- colored line provided an access to that Trail, and the top part of the rose- colored line connects the Bump-N-Grind with the City's existing Trail System. This meant that eventually, a person could start in Rancho Mirage and end up all the way up on Highway 74 at the Visitor Center past Bighorn, creating a complete Trail System along that side of the City of Palm Desert to provide a variety of hiking opportunities. Additionally another issue mentioned by the speaker earlier, which he was not aware of, was that Fish & Game has now said there are no bicycles allowed on Fish & Game Reserve Land. He felt the City would want to discuss that issue, because it would mean a person could go on the Hopalong Cassidy Trail all the way to the mustard -colored line but couldn't ride their bicycle on that portion of the trail; although, he presumed they could carry the bicycle without its wheels touching the ground. Then they could let the wheels touch the ground where the trail turns into the aqua -colored line, which, for the record, he felt was remarkably stupid, reiterating that the City would definitely want to discuss the matter with Fish & Game. Councilman Kelly appreciated the explanation, adding that a constituent, who couldn't be present at this meeting, contacted him regarding the bicycle issue. Given the above, he wondered how today's action and dealing with Fish & Game later should be handled. Mayor Crites replied that anything not on Fish & Game land can have bicycles, meaning all of the rose-colored new trail, all of the City's existing trails are bicycle -friendly, and all the other parts of the Cassidy Trail are too. He felt the City should immediately go to work with either the State Commissioner or Director of Fish & Game to see what can be done about the mustard -colored section. Further responding, he said that was the only area where bicycles would not be allowed in the new construction area. But he also assumed that "No Bicycles" would also affect the very upper end of the existing Bump-N-Grind Trail; however, it was not in Palm Desert nor did it have anything to do with the City building trails. Only the mustard -colored section was potentially affected. Councilman Kelly stated it was somewhat confusing that Palm Desert was not worrying about some things that aren't within the City; but on the other hand, the request also included spending money and building things outside Palm Desert. Mayor Crites answered that Palm Desert was going to work with Rancho Mirage to pay for its portion of the rose-colored trail there. Further 6 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 responding, he said the City was paying for portions of trails in its jurisdiction only and some within the County area. The aforementioned piece was the only exception; there was no other portion in any other city's jurisdiction. He added that the City has an informal agreement with Rancho Mirage to contribute significantly to the building of this alternate. In response to Councilman Kelly's question about how to respond to the constituent concerned over the bicycle issue, Councilman Crites advised that the City of Palm Desert would do everything it could to work with the appropriate parties (i.e., Department of Fish & Game) to reverse that decision, at least as it affects existing trails anywhere near Palm Desert. He affirmed that it was not the City's intent to eliminate the use of bicycles on any trails it controls, adding that the City could also work with its colleagues in Rancho Mirage to achieve change on the other part of the trail. He believed people ought to be able to ride bikes up there, it was equestrian, it was for hiking. As for dogs, he said they were limited to the existing trail area — there was an area for off -leash dogs, one for only on -leash on trails, then there are areas where dogs are prohibited — all delineated and marked by signage. Answering Mayor Pro Tem Ferguson's comment about having a problem with fences and his question of whether or not the City was paying for them, Mr. Drell said he understood the Desert Riders group is discussing making a grant to the City to help do the whole program. Part of the grant would go for construction of the one fence being proposed where the City is involved. He explained that the City was only involved in the fence closing off the old Art Smith Trail at Dead Indian Canyon; he didn't think anyone had talked to the City about building the fence on Corrizo Canyon. He pointed out that area was land over which the City had no control — City does not own, and it's not within the City limits. However, he affirmed that building that portion of the fence would probably be included in the money from the Desert Riders. Mayor Crites added that they have proposed it be done as a mitigation measure for getting to build the rest of the trail. He and Mr. Drell agreed that it was somewhat of an unfair trade-off, and he went on to say that he would be quite happy not to have a fence there. Mayor Pro Tem Ferguson remarked that destroying the environment to save the environment didn't seem logical. Mr. Drell responded that there was a lot of give and take in this process before today's meeting. He emphasized that it was Federal land over which Fish & Wildlife Service has control, and they can install a fence. Responding 7 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 to question, he said as part of the agreement to allow the City to build the entire trail, the City is in the best position to contract for putting up a fence, but the City would not end up paying for it. Money for the fence is coming from the Desert Riders, a Valley -wide equestrian organization, and will not come out of the $300,000 being appropriated for the trail. He added that Desert Riders was making a general contribution, not just for the fence, but for the re-route and toward completion of the entire trail. At first, he said the fence was proposed to go across the breadth of the valley; it's now at the shortest possible length. Mayor Pro Tem Ferguson observed that the paperwork reflected that they reserve the right to go back to eight feet for the entire length of the fence. Responding to Mayor Crites' comment, Mr. Drell noted that it was still mainly a psychological -reinforcing barrier to use the new trail. In further response, he confirmed that the amounts of $183,979 and $120,000 were specified for building the trails only. The $183,979 comes from the General Fund, which has already been set aside for trails in past years; the $120,000 comes from the Homme/Adams money, paying for trails in the vicinity of Homme/Adams Park. He explained this was part of the $600,000 donated to the City by the Homme/Adams Family as part of the real estate transaction for that property, and some of it had already been spent doing trail work, landscaping, and buying more real estate. He estimated there was a $260,000 balance of that money. Mayor Crites proposed that if the Council wished to act favorably on the recommendation, it could note that no City monies would be used to pay for any fencing. Councilman Spiegel moved to: 1) Waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. 05-107, approving the Initial Study and the Mitigated Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact; 2) by Minute Motion, appropriate $183,979 from Fund No. 430-4636-454-4001, approve expenditure of $120,000 from Homme/Adams Park Fund No. 800-0000-239-9100, and authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with Mike Schuler for trail construction services (Contract No. C24610), with specific direction that no City funds be used to construct the fence required by the outside regulating agencies (i.e., U. S. Department of Fish & Wildlife and the California Department of Fish & Game). Mayor Pro Tem Ferguson further requested that the motion include conveying the Council's general disdain for Fish & Game and that the City's approval of this matter should in no way be deemed as approval of their policies. 8 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 Mayor Pro Tem Ferguson seconded the motion with the aforementioned addition, and it carried by 5-0 vote. Mayor Crites asked Mr. Drell to contact Ms. Udall regarding the bicycle restriction issue to find out all the particulars so that the City could go to work on it. With City Council concurrence, the Agenda was suspended at this point in order to take up Section IX - Old Business. VIII. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION Request for Closed Session: Conference with Legal Counsel regarding existing litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a): a) Indian Springs, Ltd. v. City of Palm Desert, et al., Riverside County Superior Court Case No. INC 053903 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 Public Employee Performance Evaluation pursuant to Government Code Section 54957: Title of Position: City Attorney NOTE: THE FOLLOWING ITEM WAS LISTED ON AN AGENDA ADDENDUM POSTED AT LEAST 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE MEETING. IX. OLD BUSINESS A. POTENTIAL RECONSIDERATION OF THE CURB RED -LINING ON DEEP CANYON ROAD. Following is a verbatim transcript of the testimony and discussion for Old Business Item A. 9 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL Key: BAC Mayor Buford A. Crites CLO Carlos L. Ortega, City Manager JF Mayor Pro Tem Jim Ferguson MG Mark Greenwood, City Engineer MR Mike Rover, on behalf of Sacred Heart Church and School HL Father Howard Lincoln, Sacred Heart Church and School RAS Councilman Robert A. Spiegel RSK Councilman Richard S. Kelly JMB Councilmember Jean M. Benson HC Homer Croy, ACM for Development Services RDK Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk NOVEMBER 17, 2005 BAC Under Old Business - Potential Reconsideration of the Curb Red -lining on Deep Canyon. CLO Mr. Mayor, let me give you some background. This item is on the agenda, result of my call to Father Lincoln...regarding...City staff's...to start the work to red-line...the curb, as per the Council direction. He has asked that the...Council reconsider that directive again, and that's why it's on the agenda. We would not, of course, make a decision today, because the...folks that are involved in that decision have not been notified. So if the Council wanted to reconsider it, staff's recommendation would be to...reconsider it at your next meeting. That way, we would be able to give all interested parties a chance to...be heard. The Council has made a decision. You can leave the decision as is, or you can choose to set it for a future time to reconsider it. BAC Okay. Are there questions? I have one. JF Yeah, I would like...there seem to be tremendous mis-communication on this issue. And when Dick Kelly made the motion to red -line north of the Church property and east on Deep Canyon, there was no objection from the Church. I assume that their issues had to deal with the red -lining of the curb on the Church property. As I understand Mark, his original recommendation was hold off on everything until the Church was constructed. And I guess the purpose for that is there were "x" number of cars that park on Deep Canyon that don't have parking that will have more than adequate parking when the construction's done. And by red -lining at this point, we're gonna' push all those cars from a six-foot wall that doesn't really affect anybody into neighborhoods where there are no walls and just compound and exasperate the problem exponentially. And I didn't realize that. And so, could you elaborate on that a little bit more (unclear)? 10 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL BAC Well, I have a question, a procedural question. NOVEMBER 17, 2005 JF Well, no, my question is what is the impact and what number of cars are we displacing? BAC Right. Well, I have one just about what we did. Didn't we, right or wrong, vote to do this twice? CLO Yes. BAC When everybody had an opportunity to be heard? CLO Yes. MG As to the...question of the impact, I think...Councilman Ferguson addressed it perfectly — that the Public Works Department's concern is and has been that if we...paint the curb red on Deep Canyon now while the Church has more parking need than they have supply, which is evidenced by if...you go out to Deep Canyon on...any Sunday morning, you see a great number of cars parked on Deep Canyon. If we paint that curb red now, those cars still have to park somewhere, and we believe they'll choose to park on Moss Rose and on Coral Bells in front of people's houses, directly in front of their houses, rather than on a collector street. Well, that's why our original recommendation, and it continues to be our recommendation, was to not paint that curb red yet. That we...acknowledge there is some impact to the neighbors now; fearful, though, that...painting the curb red will just increase that impact and spread it to more neighbors. So our recommendation continues to be hold off on painting the red curb. JF Follow-up question. What burdens are experienced by the Palmira people by having cars parked outside their gated community on Deep Canyon? MG You know, I believe there's some nuisance factor of...people... JF Just car doors... MG ...slamming doors and setting alarms. JF Okay. BAC Any other questions of Mr. Greenwood? Okay, this isn't a public hearing, but we have someone here to offer a comment, so now's the time. MR Just briefly...Mike Rover for Sacred Heart. At the last meeting when this matter was voted on...we had had a meeting with City staff that afternoon regarding what the 11 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 staff recommendation was, which was to red -line following...the...completion of the parking lot improvements at Sacred Heart. That was discussed in, at length. I...think...you were absent that day, Mr. Mayor. At any rate, the discussion was held, we had been heard; yes, we had the opportunity to be heard on that issue, and then the motion was made at that point, not per City staffs recommendation or our engineer's recommendation, but to red -line immediately. At that point, my understanding was the public hearing was closed. I was here to comment. The vote was taken, and it was passed, you're correct. But as to, as far as being heard on the immediate red -lining, there was no discussion held at that time prior to the motion being made and voted upon. BAC We also came back and visited it at our last Council Meeting. MR That's...the meeting I am referring to (unclear), your honor. JF Actually, I don't think it was on the agenda — under Oral Communications a gentleman came and said, "When is it gonna' happen?" MR That is correct, your honor, and then...or I guess I shouldn't say your honor. JF You're not in court. MR Sorry. Hard to break that habit. Mr. Mayor and Councilmembers... BAC No, no, your honor's fine. (Laughter) MR There was...a correspondence from the...City, or Councilmember Ferguson regarding the red -lining, and I guess if you went back and parsed words and tried to figure out what exactly was said, you could look at it and say it was just...the portion in front of Sacred Heart. But the intention was...taken by the people who received it, including Father Lincoln and myself, and it being read from the pulpit at all eight masses, that red -lining was not going to occur until the completion of the parking improvements. So that is the general impression among the Sacred Heart community at this time, for better or worse, and that is what we would hope to avoid the appearance of a complete reversal, even...if we did unwittingly participate in that, but I think that the mis-communications are...in good faith. And I think that it just needs reconsideration at this point or at the next meeting, if that's what's required. BAC Thank you, sir. Is there anyone else who wishes to offer a comment? 12 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 HL My name is Father Howard Lincoln, I'm the pastor of Sacred Heart. And Mr. Mayor, the reconsideration is...vital to Sacred Heart. We had at this last weekend an honest 6,000 people (I'm saying "honest," because pastors exaggerate numbers). That will peak in February at up around 8,000. They certainly do park on Deep Canyon. We are now, we began on Monday the demolition of La Paz; and that, of course, has to be done before we can put a parking lot in. People do park in La Paz, a few; they park on the school playground — that also will eventually have to be closed. If you — for construction purposes — if you red -line Deep Canyon now, it will absolutely [sic] devastating to our parish. The arteries are gonna' be clogged — older people cannot walk that far to get to the Church. And...we tried to cooperate with the City. We have a new site plan. We...have...we put in a new mass schedule. We...have parking lot attendants. You asked us to ca-, stop calling the City three weeks ago, and we did. You asked us to stop writing letters to the City last week, and we did, and we did that based on Mr. Ferguson's letter, which was...read to those 6,000 people. So...it is our plea that we be given time to complete that parking lot. I am told, and granted, this is an estimate, the parking lot would be done between the 15th of February and the 1st of March; and we desperately need it for...people to be able to come to mass, to be blunt. RAS Question, Father. What did Mayor Pro Tem Ferguson's letter say? HL It said that, I don't have it in front of me, it said "We will not," and he underlined not, "be red -lining Deep Canyon until your comp-, your project is completed; and it is my personal view," I'm quoting his letter... JF Mmm-hmm. HL "...that it will be reevaluated upon completion." JF There's one, mi-, critical missing piece there. I said the curb at Sacred Heart Church. HL "Please be assured that the City will not be red -lining the curb until after Sacred Heart is complete with their expansion." JF Okay (unclear). HL "Even then, my personal preference" — that's how it reads, Mr. Ferguson. JF Then the mis-communication is mine; and when I got your letters and phone calls, the Mayor was out of town, they came to me. I met with Dick Kelly, said, "Did your motion include Sacred Heart Church?" And he said, "No," and that was the basis upon which that letter went out. 13 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 HL Yeah. And that's why we were not here for the last meeting, because we took this letter, and we (unclear)... JF I understand. HL ...no need. RAS Well, as I understand it, it didn't include Sacred Heart Church, but it included the east side of Deep Canyon. JF And north of the Church. RAS North of the Church, which was still the plan now that...we approved. JF It's what we did approve twice... RAS Yeah. JF ...as Buford pointed out. MR That parking area includes 85 spaces. I have a...draft report from our traffic engineer, which you may know, I have several copies. It's dated October 14th, but it was not supplied or provided based upon the fact that we thought the issue was resolved at that time. I'd be happy to provide it now. BAC Mr. Kelly. RSK The motion was very clear, could not be missed -understood that it would be the east side and the property, or curb north of...the Church. And so my question is, is that...couldn't be more clear. JF Mmm-hmm. RSK You don't have copies here, though, today. CLO The...minutes reflect... RSK I have one in my office, but it can't be more clear that it's the east side and the curb north. But then my question is, you're telling us that it's gonna', you're gonna' be devastated if anything on...Deep Canyon is...red-lined, is painted red, and so...you also are telling us you didn't realize we were gonna' make any decision like that at that meeting. And so my problem today is I know there are folks out there that will tell us the same thing when we get, if we made a decis-, another decision today, is they...didn't know we were gonna' make a decision today. So...l know some of 14 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 those folks in the neighborhood are not here and do not know that we're considering it, and so...it seems to me we have to have both sides together... JF Right. RSK ...if we reverse the decision. HL Mr. Kelly, it's fine with us if we, if you address it at the next City Council Meeting. We were not here on Thursday because of Mr. Ferguson's letter that you would not red -line the curb. JF Well, comment, because I wanna' make sure that we're crystal clear here today. Are you saying that the new parking lot that will accept all of the parking on Deep Canyon will be ready by February 1st? HL The estimate of our architect, and Mr. Fergusons [sic], it is an estimate, is between the, no, the 15th of February and the 1st of March. JF So at best, you're asking the residents who are opposed to keeping Deep Canyon open for parking to just hold off 'til March 1st? HL Yes. Yes. JF Then I guess that would be the question we would raise at our next Council Meeting, if we so desire. JMB Well, at the...meeting that we said to red -line it now, it was a question of two years from now, and they were of, Palmira was objecting to waiting two years. JF Right. JMB And if it's only a matter of four months, that's a big difference. BAC Tagging onto Councilwoman Benson's comment, if we choose to at least have this for another discussion, it would be remarkably helpful if someone came in here and said, on February the 15th, we're going to red -line that curb, because the parking is done. If I were a neighbor, the second I heard this is an estimate, and we think, and this and that, I would, correctly or not, have suspicions that have nothing to do with...you, that have to do with... HL I know, Mr. Mayor. BAC ...the general nature of construction, and... 15 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL HL Exactly. NOVEMBER 17, 2005 BAC ...this was gonna' be done. I mean, the Animal Campus is how many months behind when we said it would be done? I mean, it just, the nature of a lot of stuff, and this should be something that if we choose to reconsider, at least as one person... HL Uhh-huh. BAC ...you guys should have a... HL A specific date. BAC ...a come -to -a -higher -power meeting with your contractor and everyone else. HL Okay. I understand. I just think it's disingenuous for me to say, you know, it'll be done because of that...matter, so... BAC Well, you would have between now and the next Council Meeting for it to not be disingenuous. HL You see what I'm saying. Maybe that was a poor choice of words, but because of construction, I, that is our estimate. RAS Let me comment on what the Mayor said. Every time this has come to us, we've had a lot of people on the other side of the table, as you well know. And there's not been, you've not been able to get a meeting of the minds and say okay. My suggestion would be before this is heard again that you meet with the leaders of the other side, and you tell them it will be done by a certain date or it's gonna' be red -lined anyway. And then everybody comes together, and you come here and say it's all decided, because it'll just be the same... (Unclear) RAS ...thing all over again. HL Okay, Mr. Spiegel, we certainly will...try to do that. We're certainly willing to discuss it with them. JF Well, and I...don't, I wouldn't imply, at least from my viewpoint, that there's any indication of bad faith on your part. It's just that Councilman Kelly and I excluded the Sacred Heart property proper because Mr. Rover said people couldn't walk that far, and I didn't dream that they'd be parking north of the Church property. 16 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 HL Well, they do, sir, they do. Absolutely. JF Well, that's, I think, why we crafted the motion... HL So I, you know it... JF ...the way we did. HL ...if...you wanted to red -line just Palmira. Anyway, Mr. Spiegel, we will get with... Mr. McCutchen. JMB Well, there's a sign on Palmira, a lot of that is red -lined now. HL Yes, yes, some of it is red -lined. RAS How many...handicap parking spaces do you have inside? JMB There's red -line from Fred Waring down to the first entrance of Palm-... JF I saw them doing it last week. JMB (Unclear) JF Well, there was somebody out there spraying. HL Yeah, there was somebody out there spraying on Tuesday. HC They were recoat-, repainting as part of the start of the project before they (unclear). HL (Inaudible) RAS My suggestion, and you don't have to tell me how many, is you might want to increase the number for your elderly parishioners. Because I would assume that most of 'ern either have the little blue tag, or they got the license plate, and they can then go inside and park close to your church. Because you might be finding that people are parking closer to your church are the people that can walk further. HL Yes, sir, but the average age of our parishioner is over 70, so it isn't just a matter of 10 or 12, it's a great number. Regardless, we will meet with Mr. McCutchen and Mr. Eastwood. BAC Okay, and you might look at the issue of not doing north of the Church but doing the rest on the other side, as... 17 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 HL Okay. BAC ...Councilwoman Benson said, and getting in time, well, you've...heard... HL Thanks, Mr. Mayor. MR So we will be on agenda for the next (unclear), is that correct? RAS We haven't voted. BAC We haven't voted, so don't assume, don't go out the door yet. When, now this would have to be a public hearing? CLO Not necessarily. I think if we...notify those folks that have commented before... RAS Will there be a time line on the notice? CLO We will...set it for the 8th. We'll say we're gonna' recon-, the Council intends to reconsider it, if you vote today, and be here to...express your comments. Hopefully, by that time, the...Father and they will have gotten together and have an understanding... RSK Whe-, when are we planning to do that? BAC The 8th. RAS Of December. CLO The 8th of December. RSK Eighth of December? CLO That's correct. RAS Could, would, could we tell 'ern in the notice that this is an extension until, or it's the 15th, or whatever? BAC It...could note that a potential Council action extending the time line for... CLO Not...to go beyond... RSK I...think that's a.. CLO ...March 1st 18 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 RSK ...dangerous thing to do. BAC Fair enough. RSK I think you've caught on quick, it's dangerous. (Unknown) Fair enough. RSK And we're that, yeah, okay, I don't need to... BAC Nope, fair enough. All right. Craft whatever you believe to be the appropriate notification, if there is, indeed, a motion, and it passes. RSK That we're gonna' address, the notice should be that...we're gonna' consider... revisiting. BAC Actually, that we will revisit. RSK Yeah. BAC Yup. JMB Well, are we, we're actually reconsidering the time line to do it. RSK I think that's a good point. JF Right. JMB That's what we're reconsidering. We're not reconsidering whether it's gonna' be done or not, but the time line, so... RSK That's a good point. BAC Okay. JF Well, and I...would like Father Lincoln, if you could, talk to the couple of those people, because I agree with Jean, I don't think they had it in their mind that this was a couple of months. They were looking at a couple of years. JMB They thought we were gonna' forget it. JF And I don't doubt they could bring all their homeowners here, and you could bring your 8,000-... 19 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL HL All of our, yeah... NOVEMBER 17, 2005 JF ...member parish, and...I'd like to avoid that and just get a gentleman's agreement with the neighbors that... HL Okay. JF ...March 1st is the... HL I will...do my very best. JF Okay. BAC All right. Is there a motion to reconsider the time line for the action approved by the Council at a previous meeting? JF So moved. JMB Second. BAC There's a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? There being none, please cast a ballot. RDK Motion carries 4-1, Councilman Spiegel voting no. For purposes of clarification: Mayor Pro Tem Ferguson moved to, by Minute Motion, direct that consideration of an amended time line for the previously approved red -curbing along Deep Canyon Road related to the Sacred Heart Church Parking Lots, 43-775 Deep Canyon Road, be taken up at the regular City Council Meeting of December 8, 2005. Motion was seconded by Benson and carried by a 4-1 vote, with Spiegel voting NO. Prior to Adjournment to Closed Session, the following informational reports were provided: 1. South Beach Restaurant and Nightclub — City staff was awaiting the final analysis of a sound study conducted in that vicinity and working with the City Attorney's office on a course of action. 2. Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention & Visitors Authority (CVA) — Councilman Spiegel reported that he'd attended his first meeting this week. He distributed copies of the rendering of a proposed redesigned name/logo, which he said the new President and CEO presented at the meeting. He 20 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 went on to say that Mr. Beckelman was also preparing an annual marketing plan for all the Valley cities, which would be ready in February, as well as the CVA's preliminary budget for next year. He noted that membership income from all the Coachella Valley hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers amounted to $425,000, commenting that The Gardens On El Paseo was one of those members for $800 annually, the Marriott paid $14,000. Additionally, he said that Rancho Mirage Councilman Dana Hobart proposed a bylaws change to provide additional voting rights for members that had given a notice of intent to withdraw. He said it would have required a two-thirds vote for passage but did not garner the necessary support, and the motion was withdrawn. He also provided a report showing number of room nights booked through the CVA and its 10 member agencies, commenting that Palm Desert was by far the lowest in comparison to Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, and Indian Wells. Mayor Crites hoped it was clear that a potential name change (California Desert Resorts) for the organization didn't mean that the Authority shouldn't still try to capitalize on city names in its various advertising campaigns (Palm Springs, Palm Desert, or Indio, whatever is appropriate for the matter at hand). 3. Desert Sands Unified School District Bond Oversight Committee — Councilman Spiegel reported that he'd attended the meeting last evening where the following project updates were given: — Darby Middle School (east side of Washington Street) would be opened next year, which should help alleviate some of the crowding at Palm Desert Middle School. — Renovation of Washington Charter School would be finished by the beginning of next school year. — Lincoln Elementary is pretty much complete. — Playground remodel planned at Carter Elementary. — Updates for Palm Desert High School were a couple of years out. 4. SunLine Transit Agency — Councilman Kelly noted that there were reports in both The Press -Enterprise and The Desert Sun today about the new hydrogen fuel cell bus unveiling yesterday. He said the Agency had been running a bus with a hydrogen combustion engine; however, the new bus was a hydrogen fuel cell engine that only creates mere drops of water as emission. He remarked that the bus would soon be on the route producing revenue, pointing out that this was one of only four of these buses in the world. He went on to say the unveiling was part of an international conference being held in the Valley, and participants took tours of SunLine's offices and its own hydrogen production facility. He said SunLine was definitely a world leader in alternative fuel vehicles for public transit. 21 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 17, 2005 5. Committee/Commission Annual Process — Mayor Crites noted that following Closed Session, City Councilmembers needed to find a second date for scheduling of the Committee/Commission interviews. Prior to the final meeting adjournment, it was announced that Committee/Commission interviews would be conducted all day on Friday, December 2. X. ADJOURNMENT With City Council concurrence, Mayor Crites adjourned the meeting to Closed Session at 3:10 p.m. He reconvened at 4:34 p.m. and immediately adjourned with no action announced from Closed Session. ATTEST: ars, of,. pialo. iAp RA HELLE D. KLASSEN, CITY CLERK CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA BUF D A. CRITES, MAYOR 22