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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPrelim - CC-UPC - 02-24-2011 PRELIMINARY MINUTES DRAFT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE (CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SAN BERNARDINO, PALM DESERT CAMPUS) (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE, PALM DESERT CAMPUS) Thursday, February 24, 2011 — 2:00 p.m. Administrative Conference Room - Palm Desert Civic Center 73510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, California 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Tanner convened the meeting at 2:01 p.m. II. ROLL CALL (Introductions) Van Tanner Present: Absences: Councilmember Cindy Finerty Fred Jandt, Dean, CSUSB Palm Desert Councilmember Jan C. Harnik Pamela Langford, Dr. Alumni Affairs, CSUSB Councilman William R. Kroonen Gretchen Bolar, Vice Chancellor, Bus.-Fin.,UCR Mayor Pro Tem Robert A. Spiegel Mayor Jean M. Benson Robert Gardner, VP Administration & Finance, CSUSB Jenny Zorn, Assoc. Provost - Academic Programs, CSUSB Dr. Doris Wilson, Assoc. Dean, CSUSB Palm Desert Tamara Hedges, Chief Operation Mgr., UCR-Palm Desert Graduate Center Van Tanner, Committee Chairman Also Present: John M. Wohlmuth, City Manager/RDA Executive Director David J. Erwin, City Attorney Steven Y. Aryan, Asst. to the City Manager Bo Chen, City Engineer Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Mark Greenwood, Director of Public Works Martin Alvarez, Redevelopment Manager Tim Ralston, Assoc. Vice Chancellor, Capital and Physical Planning, UCR Lars Walton, Asst. Vice Chancellor, Government and Community Relations, UCR David W. Stewart, Dean, School of Bus. Admin., UCR Jeff Kraus, Dir. of Local Government and Community Relations, UCR Jerry R. Patton, President, College of the Desert Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk 111. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None PRELIMINARY MINUTES D R A F T SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 24, 2011 IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. MINUTES of the Meeting of June 12, 2009. Upon a motion by Spiegel, second by Benson, and 7-0-3 vote of the University Planning Committee, with Finerty, Harnik, and Kroonen ABSTAINING, and Jandt, Langford, and Bolar ABSENT, the Minutes were approved as presented. V. NEW BUSINESS A. INFORMATIONAL REPORT ON MEMBERSHIP OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE. Mr. Wohlmuth commented that the Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) with California State University, San Bernardino, for the Palm Desert Campus (CSUSB), identifies the University Planning Committee Members as being five(5)from CSUSB, two (2)from University of California, Riverside(UCR), one (1) at-large member, and the five (5) City Councilmembers, for a total of 13. Staff wanted to be sure that it is communicating with the appropriate members from each institution, having sent invitations forthis meeting to those named in the accompanying report. He noted that several changes had occurred in the past couple of years, such as Dean of the UCR-Palm Desert Graduate Center no longer being there, and it was important that the University Planning Committee Roster be current. Therefore, this time City staff included UCR Chancellor Timothy White and UCR Dean of the School of Business Administration David Stewart on the invitation list, and he asked if that was appropriate. Chairman Tanner noted that UCR staff had today provided a letterfrom Chancellor White. Mr. Wohlmuth read from UCR's letter, identifying that their representatives would be Gretchen Bolar, Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance Operations, and Tamara Hedges, Chief Operation Officer, UCR-Palm Desert Graduate Center, from this point forward. He said staff would make the roster change immediately and confirmed that it included voting rights at today's meeting. In answer to Councilmember Benson's question about whether or not Chancellor White would participate in the future, Mr. Wohlmuth said UCR had identified its two representatives, and Chancellor White was not named. UCR Asst.Vice Chancellor Walton affirmed that Vice Chancellor Bolar's and Chief Operation Manager Hedges' names had been given; Chancellor White would try to attend meetings in the future. But going forward, Chancellor White felt that Vice Chancellor Bolar was the best representative to the Committee. 2 PRELIMINARY MINUTES D R A F T SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 24, 2011 Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion, accept UCR's named representatives,Vice Chancellor Bolar and UCR-Palm Desert Graduate Center Chief Operation Manager Hedges, as voting members on the University Planning Committee. Motion was seconded by Benson, and carried by unanimous vote. Upon question by Mr. Wohlmuth, CSUSB representatives affirmed that the roster was accurate for their five (5)voting members (Vice President Robert Gardner, Palm Desert Dean Fred Jandt, Alumni Affairs Director Pamela Langford, Associate Provost Jenny Zorn, and Palm Desert Associate Dean Doris Wilson). B. CONSIDERATION OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SAN BERNARDINO - PALM DESERT CAMPUS MASTER PLAN. Mr.Wohlmuth stated that in his discussions with CSUSB-Palm Desert Dean Jandt, City staff has been working with him to locate a future Residence Hall and an Autism Centeron campus. Last week Dean Jandt provided the Citywith proposed locations of those two facilities. City staff has had input on the identified sites and concurs with them. (Copies of an aerial map with the proposed locations identified was handed out to Committee Members.) He went on to say that the two uses were proposed on current CSUSB-Palm Desert Campus land;all that was required was a look at the Master Plan, but they did not require the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency or City of Palm Desert to modify ownership. Therefore, this item was informational for the University Planning Committee. He said that to the best of everyone's ability in plotting it on the map,the Autism Center was not within the View Corridor, as that was more of a wedge-shaped or parallel-lined area through the intersection of Cook Street and Frank Sinatra Drive, expanding slightly onto the UCR Campus site with their pupfish pond, then widens out past the Heckmann Center. He related that finro-thirds of the View Corridor Land was on CSUSB-Palm Desert, one-third was on UCR-Palm Desert. He pointed out that this represented a slight change to the Master Plan, and it was desirable for the Committee to be aware of the two uses and considertheir location as Palm Desert proceeds with update of the Disposition and Development Agreement with CSUSB. Upon inquiry about whether or not CSUSB had someone to build the Residence Hall, Vice President Gardner responded that he believed Dean Jandt was in the process and having conversations with officials, but they were not that far along in the process. Further responding regarding the Autism Center, he said the same applied. He added that both facilities were contingent upon funding,which is what they were working on presently;therefore,they didn't have anything more specific with regard to contractors until the funding was secured. In answer to question about the existing Autism Center located on Cook Street, he affirmed that operation did exist in leased space, and it was now desirable to have more space and bring the program on campus. 3 PRELIMINARY MINUTES D R A F T SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 24, 2011 With University Planning Committee concurrence, the CSUSB-Palm Desert Master Plan Report was received as presented. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. UPDATE ON RING ROAD-CONTRACT NO. R28830 FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE BERGER CIRCLE AND BERGER DRIVE SOUTH RING ROAD JOINTLY ON THE REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCILIREDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING AGENDAS FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2011. Mr. Wohlmuth recalled for the Committee that a little over a year ago at a University Planning Committee Meeting there was discussion about constructing the Ring Road, but only two Councilmembers were present. The matter then went to the full City Council to authorize going out to bid for the project; City Council did not authorize going to bid and requested City staff work with CSUSB and UCR to develop a plan for the Landscape View Corridor and its funding. However, much has changed in the past year. While a lot of hard work was done on the View Corridor, and ultimately, its Landscape Plan was approved by the City's Landscape Beautification Committee, funding for the Landscape View Corridor has evaporated. Although, UCR has been able to implement a couple of phases, including the pupfish pond and landscape around their existing building. Estimated costs of $2 million - $4 million for the Landscape View Corridor is not funded. Landscaping along Cook Street and Frank Sinatra has been completed and is being maintained by the Universities. Several factors were affecting the View Corridor Project: 1) The current budget climate; 2) lack of funding for the View Corridor Landscape; 3) current attack on Redevelopment Agencies by the Governor's Budget Proposal. Since design on the Ring Road has been complete for over a year, staff solicited bona fide bids for the project in an attempt to obligate those funds prior to the Governor taking Redevelopment. Today the City learned about legislation introduced yesterday that would eliminate Redevelopment 60 days after the.January 10 announcement of the Governor's Budget Proposal. Therefore, Redevelopment Funds needed to be obligated prior to March 10. City has the bids, and City Council will consider awarding the subject contract later this evening. Mr. Greenwood commented that the engineer's estimate for the project was approximately $1.5 million; the bid came in at $1,058,441, so it was well within budget. He agreed with Mr. Wohlmuth's statement that action needed to be taken at tonight's Council Meeting in order to secure the funding to complete the project. In response to question, he said the project had been in the budget for quite some time. Further responding to question about who would maintain the roadway, he said CSUSB had indicated it would provide maintenance. He went on to say that of the $1,058,441 bid, approximately $27,000 was for lighting. There was no lighting included on previous phases of the Ring Road, so CSUSB agreed to pay 4 PRELIMINARY MINUTES D R A F T SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 24, 2011 100% of the lighting component of the bid ($27,540). That would make the City's portion of the contract just slightly over$1 million. Mayor Benson asked about the Berger Circle/Berger Drive South (the "Ring Road") relationship with Frank Sinatra Drive. Mr. Greenwood answered that the Ring Road will connect to Frank Sinatra Drive where there is an existing traffic signal—built but never turned on—and this construction project will include activating the traffic signal. He further confirmed that it would mean that what was now the"back" parking lot at UCR would become the "front" parking lot. Councilman Kroonen moved to, by Minute Motion, recommend approval of the contract and award of same jointly at the Regular City Council and Redevelopment Agency Meetings of February 24, 2011. Motion was seconded by Spiegel and carried by unanimous vote. B. INFORMATIONAL REPORT ON VIEW CORRIDOR LANDSCAPING. Mr. Wohlmuth noted comments he provided during discussion of the preceding agenda item. Additionally, he called attention to the accompanying staff report and said that until it's landscaped according to the plan approved by the City's Landscape Beautification Committee, staff recommended keeping the existing vegetation in the View Corridor. Hopefully, he said with the winter rains that have been received, it will lead to sand verbena and desert flowers coming up in that area, but active planting of landscaping through the View Corridor will not be completed until adequate funding was identified. In response to question about enrollment at both Universities, CSUSB- Palm Desert Assoc. Dean Wilson answered that they were running about 1,000 FTEs and actively recruiting—about 100 new students were received forthe Winter Session. The Spring Quarter begins on April 6, with active recruiting underway, and another 100 new students so far. Paper applications are still being accepted, and each student who has applied was receiving a personal phone call to remind them to come in for an advising session. They'll start going online to select classes next week. She added that CSUSB-Palm Desert was very pleased with its relationship with College of the Desert (COD). In answer to question about the ratio of night students to daytime, she said the majority of their students attended in the evenings, with the heaviest time of day being around 4:00 p.m. However, there are classes every day on campus, including Saturday, for both Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. She went on to say that starting with Fall 2011, CSUSB- Palm Desert has actively recruited across the six districts it serves with two informational sessions, and their intent was to start the first Doctoral Program in the Coachella Valley with an Educational Doctorate (Ed.D.) available as of the third week of September. It would represent the beginning of a three-year program and wonderful opportunity for educators and leaders to get that terminal 5 PRELIMINARY MINUTES D R A F T SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 24, 2011 degree. Further responding, she said CSUSB-Palm Desert offered a Master's Degree for Education,and every class necessarywas available at the Palm Desert Campus. UCR-Palm Desert Chief Operation Officer Hedges reported that for their Master of Fine Arts Program and Creative Writing, Writing for the Performing Arts, 70 students were expected in the spring, picking up 10-13 new students for the session. She said there were a couple of rolling admissions, with enrollment occurring each quarter, and it was looking very good for that Program. UCR Dean-School of Business Administration Stewart added that for its MBA Program, UCR reset and replaced the full-time program, which was not attracting students, with an Executive MBA Program. He said there were 23 students presently in the Program, which starts tomorrow, and the University was very pleased. They felt they were on the mark to admit a class of 25 for next fall, with hopes of building it out to 50/class or a total of 100 students at the end. He related that UCR-Palm Desert was drawing students from northern San Diego County, Santa Monica, Pasadena, as well as Inland Southern California—a fairly wide region. Students seemed to be having a good experience;the first class of 10 will graduate this year. As far as student profile, the average age was 37, there were finro physicians in the entering class, several business owners, a couple of CPAs, and a couple very senior government officials(one from the Defense Department from Norco); it was the desired profile, now the desire was to make it bigger. Upon a motion by Harnik, second by Tanner, and unanimous vote of the University Planning Committee, the Informational View Corridor Report was received and filed. In response to Mr. Wohlmuth's inquiry about UCR-Palm Desert's Solar Project, UCR- Palm Desert Chief Operation Officer Hedges said they were very excited about the Solar Demonstration Project that is in the final stages of completion. It will be located on UCR- Palm Desert Campus property,a partnership with Spanish firm Affirma. There will be two systems side by side, one being fixed, the other being a tracking system that will move much more efficiently. She said UCR would be doing research on how the tracking system performs compared to the fixed system, which is the current technology being used worldwide. She added that the new technology was very innovative, with UCR students being involved in the research. It was hoped that high school students and people interested in Green Technology would also visit the site and learn from UCR's Graduate Students. UCR Assoc.Vice Chancellor Ralston added that they'd just executed the required access permit for some of the geotechnical work, and they were also in the process of drafting the site license necessary for operation. He said Affirma's interest was in seeing how their systems perform in this environment to benefit their work. Affirma has partnered with research universities throughout Europe; UCR is the first research university in the United States that they're partnering with and is very excited about it. 6 PRELIMINARY MINUTES D R A F T SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CiTY COUNCIL SITTING AS MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 24, 2011 UCR-Palm Desert Chief Operation Officer Hedges commented that the premise was if their system can perform here, it can perform anywhere. Conditions in the Coachella Valley were pretty harsh—blowing sand, high winds, etc. Councilman Kroonen noted that one of the most productive activities that UCR- Palm Desert was involved with in the past several years was the Coachella Valley Lyceum, which, among other things, has spun off the Business Blueprint for the Valley. He asked about the future for this program. UCR Dean-School of Business Administration Stewart responded that in many ways CVEP (Coachella Valley Economic Partnership) and the Lyceum seemed to have overlapping missions. He believed there was a need for UCR to have a conversation with CVEP about this, and those conversations have begun about coordinating the two. He said UCR was still very interested. Councilman Kroonen commented that CVEP was largely revived as a result of the Lyceum activity. UCR Dean-School of Business Administration Stewart agreed and reiterated that there were some ongoing discussions about the relationship befinreen the two organizations. UCR-Palm Desert Chief Operation Officer Hedges stated that Dean Stewart represents UCR on the CVEP Board. VII. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Harnik, second by Tanner, and unanimous vote of the University Planning Committee, Chairman Tanner adjourned the meeting at 2:30 p.m. VAN TANNER, CHAIRMAN ATTEST: RACHELLE D. KLASSEN, CITY CLERK/SECRETARY CITY OF PALM DESERT/UNIVERSITY PLANNING COMMITTEE 7