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10-26-1971 - Regular Meeting - MinutesMINUTES OF' Th1� F<_EGUL![... P/ EE'-111NG OF;' ':i IE C i:'a'Y COUNCIL CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA OCTOBER 26, 1971. The .regular meeting of the City Council was called to order at 7:32 P.M., by Mayor Ken Chappell in the West Covina Council Chambers. The Pledge of Allegiance was given; and the invocation was presented by Father Steven Lowrance of St. Christopher's Church. ROLL CALJJ P.,esent: Mayor Chappell; Councilmen Shearer, Nichols, Young, Lloyd Others Present: George Aiassa, City Manager George Wakefield, City Attorney Lela Preston, City Clerk Herman R. Fast, Ass't. City Manager George Zimmerman, City Engineer Richard Munsell, Planning Director Ross Nammar, Administrative Assistant APPROVAL OF MINUTES October 4, 1971 (Adj. Reg. Mtg) October 12, 1971 CONSENT CALENDAR. Motion by Councilman Lloyd, seconded by Councilman Young and carried, approving minutes as submitted. Motion by Councilman Lloyd, seconded by Councilman Young and carried, approving. minutes as submitted. Mayor Chappell explained the procedure of the Consent Calendar and inquired if there was anyone present that wished to speak on any item of the Consent Calendar: 1. COMMUNICATIONS a) Temple Beth Ami REQUEST permission for Junior. United Synagogue Youth Group to solicit for UNICEF on Sunday, October 31, 1971. (Staff recommends approval) b) Spanish Trails:Gir1 REQUEST permission to sell Girl Scout Scout Council Calendars from November 19 through December 13, 1971. (Staff recommends approval) c) Supervisor Bonelli's Re Guidelines for Uniform Traffic Letter Control. (Refer to Traffic Committee) d) Mrs. Garrett's Re merger of Covina and West Covina. Letter (Receive and File) e) Shirley R. O°Dell Re City's display at Los Angeles 1005 S. California Ave. County Fair at Pomona. West Covina (Refer to City Manager to work with Chamber of Commerce) f) American Indian REQUEST for permission to solicit Institute funds for their "American Indian Feather Drive". (Refer to Staff) 2. PLANNING COMMISSION Summary of Action, October 20, 1971. (Receive and File) CITY COUNCIL" 10/26/71 Page Two Con'sent:Calendar Cont°do 3 RECREATION AND PARKS Summary of`Actrona Qctober 12� 1971. COMMISSION (Adj. Mtg..)(Receive and File) 4 CITY,,, TREASURER REPORT Month of SeptemberB1971m ( Receive and F 5 ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS a)~ Junior Women ° s Club of Re use of ,Flagpole `:Area . at "Civic. West Covina Center, Sunday,; October 31, 1971, at 11:00 A.M. (St'aff,iecommends approvm al) b.- WY;lliams & Mocine $1634.. and '$94 re CBD. Statement _ (Staff recommends payment) c). ' kaffi:c Committee October 19, , i 971 .Jjkinutes (Receive and File.) 6 TOPIC;S. PROJECT Acquisition of Right_of-way at the Center.,;Stre.et and intersection.' °Re'.�iew Engineer's Vincent. Avenue report. Approve negotiations on the basis of trading right-of-way for street improvements.._ (City Engineer,_ recommendsapproval') councilman Lloyd: Mr. Mayor, Item:('d) of Communications, I thought we might send a copy of Mrs. Garrett°s;letter to the Covina City Council, if Council agrees. I would also 1ike':toJ` call up Item 38 which is Recreation and Parks Commission. I don°:t understand the naming' of . a .Spring and all of that. We named.a park after Mro Gingrich and now we are naming a Spring,after, Mr. Gingrich. What'is involved in that? Mr' Aiassa: In lieu of flo�rers there were donatin.ns made and the Money donated .._ Mrs. Gingrichthoughtit would be nice':to.erect this Spring and so the money was 'used for this purpose and.we,'are,now going to dedicate it at no cost a`o the City.: Councilman Lloyd. Okay. May I ask ::,a.,question? How was I to know that from this agenda? Mr Aiass.a,�., It was discussed 3..or.4 months ago and we robabl should have advised P y:;: Council of it again ,at this time. Councilman Lloyd: I assumed thi was, being done by the City and with.funds:of the City, and, so I don't feel. my request is un- reasonable. I would suggest on things of this '.n'ature that we deserve..a:"better briefing than we received on Jt •Item Minutes of October 19, 1971. Noo 5 (c), Traffic Committee In'there they ,.are°talking about putting some sort of a no parking situation an.the west :side of Barranca.,'I would like to see the east side of Barrarica in the same area ,inclu'ded in a no parking situation. Motion by' Councilman Nichols, that Item 5(c): be,held"over to be dis- cus;s.ed .concurrently with Item Hm2 under the City`Manager°s agenda. .Seconded>by Councilman.Young,and carried. m 2 w CITY, C.O.tTNCIL 10/26/71 Page Three Consent'::' Calendar ® Cont°do Councilman Nichols: Mr. Mayor, I would only -like to add a word of emphasis to tlie: communicate tion under.;.It66. l . (e) .'from: Mrs;..Shir:ley R. O'Dell, a 17 year resident of the;communitym She has taken,,the time without any axe to grind at .-all, to communicate her,feelings about the West Covina display at the LoAo.F'air, and I couldn't emphasize a concurrence with her ..comments sand feelings about;it,,•, more. In addition to that I would 1`dke to raise one quest}oni which is a general question relative to"these.'^items that we get correspondence on and listed in the Consent. Calendar, which formerly the Council acted on individuallyo;The;items now listed on.`the Consent Calendar of this nature simply indicate refer to staff, ;refer to City Manager, etc. I believe th's6,types of letters warrant aresponsea I believe in most.cases staff .does respond, but I. feel it would be appropriate to reassure.Council :th)at when these items are posted on the Consent Calendar the.reco:mmeridation goes beyond that of refer, but says "refer and acknowledge"'. Then we would know that these items are receiving staff response to their questions-e' I don't believe that is a commentary that needs a motion,,I�believe everyone on the Council'would,�conCur that this would be helpful to us to know routinely which 1tems:'are being acknowledged and which ones are simply being re,ferre`d®'' Mayor Chappell: Mr. Aiassa, will`<you take that into consideration.i6.:the'..future. Niro...,:Aassa: Yes, and Mr. Nichols we have followed that procedure and Mr. Strachan has received, a copy of the communication and we ,are; setting up a meeting to see if we can rectify the problem, These types of matters we personally involve ourselves in. Councilman Nichols: Then it would-be.'An order to indicate on the recommendation that it is one to refer and acknowledge. Mt..Aiass'a: Yes, and it will come back under the City Manager °..s,.'agenda. Mayor:.,Chappell: While on that. sub.3e,ct, at the last Board of Dit -'_ meeting this was discussed and they concurred with her comments and they were going to do "something about it because.they were thoroughly disappointed it .the display themselves. Councilman Young: Mr. Mayor, just -a footnote with respect to the letter from Mrs. Garrett that Councilman Lloyd referred toy_.. I don ° t'' think the letter deserves the dignity_,o'f...a.z:"Notation on the agenda.o... I suppose the letter ha's to be sentto: us because .it was addressed to Council, but we could receive it'in our general mail. I wouldn't think it deserves the dignity of a reply`eithero Mayor Chappell: If there are no objections from my fellow Counc linen, I would like to call up under the Planning Department bulletin,. the unclassified use permit No. 155-,Revision 1, referring to a mini bike trail on Azusa Avenue. The reason I am asking for it to be called up is because I don't believe it is'`the type of project we;had.planned on Azusa Avenue when we passed. on., the North Azusa Avenue" Plano Assuming the'Mayor°s request is a motion, I will. second it, Motion carried° 3 CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 Page Four Consent: Calendar - Cont°do Councilman Shearer: On Item 1 (f� in case staff has for- gotten this was investigated a year ago and turned down: o So`°_you might pull out your files on it. Mr. Aiassa: Yes, we have already:had'one powwow with theme Mayor'..Chappell: If there are no.furthei items to be dism cussed) may we have. a' motion? Motion by.Councilman Shearer, seconded by Councilman Lloyd and carried, that Consent Calendar items 1 through 6 be approved with the exception of those being called up, 7.RESOLUTIONS FOR ADOPTION . WEST COVINA SEWER Location: Annexations No. 213 and 214. MAINTENANCE DISTRICT Updating RESOLUTION NO, 4465 The City Attorney .presented: ADOPTED "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST ' COVINA REQUESTING THE EXCLUSION FROM THE COUNTY SEWER MAINTENANCE DISTRICT OF CERTAIN TERRITORY IN THAT DISTRICT WHICH HAS BEEN ANNEXED TO THE CITY OF WEST COVINA." DRAINAGE ON WILLOW Location: Willow Avenue from North AVENUE Garvey Avenue ,.southerly to Walnut Creek Channel... RESOLUTION NO. 4466 The City Attorney presented. ADOPTED "°A RESOLUTION OF:.THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA DECLARING ITS INTENTION TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR DRAINAGE ON WILLOW AVENUE PENDING COMPLETION..OF THE 1970 BOND ISSUE STORM DRAIN IN WILLOW AVENUE." RATIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL `:PO8IT1(NS UNDER THE EMERGENCY EMPLOYMENT ACT Section 5 of 1971. RESOLUTION NO. 4467 The City Attorney presented: ,ADOPTED °"A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA AMENDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF RESOLUTION NOo .1277 RELATING TO AUTHORIZED POSITIONS AND'SALARIESo"" Motion,by Councilman Young, seconded.by Councilman Lloyd and carried, to waive.further reading of the body of said Resolutions. Motion,by Councilman Young; seconded by Councilman Shearer, to adopt said. Resolutions. Councilman Shearer: Mr, Mayor, with regard to Resolution No. • 4466, one statement in the second para- graph of the staff : report says: "" o o m The actual ;responsibility is negligiblebeta.use`the_.hawer:.torm.c�rain will be. built in time to receive waters from the freeway -according to F1ood.Control District scheduling°" What happens if the schedule isn't met? Mr. Zimmerman: The storm drain will'.be.put in under the freeway by the Division of Highways and the drain on the surface which now exists 4 CITY. COUNCIL 10/26/71 Page Five Resolutions .for.:.Adoption - Cont ° do will not be extended so that will not service the widened freeway. Therefore, there would be a problem with the handling of the drainage because it would be in the pipe under the freeway and it would not be able to reach the surface except through some proposed outlets at surface level. It would drain approximately as it does now but there might be some problem of water remaining in the drain,and becoming stagnant. Councilman Shearer: If the Flood Control does not go inthe only problem as you see it would be the water remaining in the pipes becoming stagnant? Mr. Zimmerman: Yes. Councilman Shearer: If the Flood Control drain is put in then you see no problem? Mr. Zimmerman: Yes, that is correcto Motion carried on roll call vote as follows,. AYES: Councilmen Shearer, Nichols, Young, Lloyd, Chappell NOES: None ABSENT: None CITY ATTORNEY ORDINANCE "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE INTRODUCTION CITY OF WEST COVINA REPEALING SECTION 8147.2 .OF AND AMENDING SECTIONS 81,47.3 AND 8147.6 OF THE WEST COVINA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO ELECTRICAL CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS." Motion by Councilman Lloyd, seconded by Councilman Young and carried, to waive full reading of the body of said Ordinance. Motion by Councilman Lloyd, seconded by Councilman Young and carried, to introduce said Ordinance. CO.MMUNITY.REDEVELOPMENT Mr. Wakefield., Mr. Mayor.and members of AGENCY Council/ we have no items under this Agency. The first item under the City Manager's agenda is an item which ultimately must be approved by the governing body of the Redevelopment Agency'..::',. CITY MANAGER REQUEST AUTHORITY TO Mr. Aiassa: I need authorization .from NEGOTIATE WITH the Council to negotiate JOHN F. GRAY a financial agreement with John F. Gray, Financial Consultant, in connection with the Redevelopment Agency Authority, • Councilman Lloyd:. Mr. Mayor, a question. What kind of money are we talking about? Mr. Aiassa: At this point I don't know. Councilman Lloyd: I am not fighting the system because I believe in the Redevelopment Authority, but how come we don't have more inpu.t than. that? Mr. Aiassa: Mr. Lloyd, if you read the motion it is for the City .Manager to negotiate, I don't know ® 5 CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 Page Six CITY MANAGER m Authority to_Negotiate with John F.,G.ray what his cost figure will be. I will bring the information back to Council in a written agreement. Right now I could only throw out a basic cost figure. Councilman Lloyd: All right:,I have no objection, except when you bring an item up I think it should have specifics in it. If I am in error/ please tell, me. Mr. Aiassa: The reason I brought it up is I don't want to discuss negotiations or agreements with anyone until I have the authorization from Council to negotiated Councilman Lloyd: Fine, I understand what you are saying and I agree with that. Then what you really want is the concurrence from the Council for you to go forward in negotiations wherein no dollar amounts are involved as far as we are concerned at the present moment. So the question about finances is not germane at this time. Is that it? Mr. Aiassa: Exactly. Councilman Young: A point of order, Mr. Mayor. Would this be an act of the City Council in authorizing this negotiation, or an. act of the Redevelopment Agency Authority? Mr. Aiassa: Redevelopment Agency. Councilman Young: So in order to be proper in our procedure.) should we not convene as the Redevelopment Agency for the purpose of granting this authorization to negotiate? Mr. Wakefield: Mr. Mayor and members of Council, I think it is immaterial which body actually authorizes the City Manager to negotiate the agreement. When the agreement is negotiated and returned to you for approval,/it will require the action of the governing body of the Redevelopment Agency rather than the City Council to approve. Motion by Councilman Lloyd, seconded by Councilman Young and carried, that the City .Manager be authorized to communicate and negotiate with John F. Gray, financial consultant. TRAFFIC COMMITTEE Mr. Aiassa: This is the report that REPORT Council had some previous discussion on .relative to the four-way stop signs at Service and Valinda Avenues; and Hollingworth Street and Sentous Avenue, Mayor Chappell: Mr. Ai.assa, we are being advised that the Immanuel Lutheran Church had no objections and I heard differently Sunday, I heard the Immanuel. Lutheran. Church is objecting to the removal of this stop sign. May we have some :0 clarification? Mr. Aiassa.:_:..., Mr. Zimmerman is Chairman of the Traffic Committee% he can perhaps clarify this. Mr. Zimmerman: Actually I ant a member of the Traffic Committee rather than the Chairman, I was at the recent meetings where the matter was discussed. At one of the meetings we had one of the priests from St. Christopher°s Church present and also the principal of the Lutheran Church located at the corner of Service and Valindao 6 CI'TY'GOUNC.IL 10/26/71 Page Seven CITY MANAGER:Traffic Committee Report, - Cont°a., At that..time neither representative particularl. indicated any objection to the removal, of the stop sign. That was our last contact with.them and that was several weeks ago, so probably something has changed since that time. Mayor Chappell: tion so we might put this Mr. Aiassa,. This was.just called to.my attention Sunday and the gentleman that talked to me is of the higher hierarchy of the congregam aside and get the facts. Mr. Mayor, this then'shou.ld be referred back to the Traffic Committee and they can have another meeting on it. Motion .by Councilman Lloyd, seconded by Councilman Young and carried, that Item H®2 be referred back to the Traffic Committee. Councilman Lloyd: Mr. Mayor, in the other Traffic Committee minutes which talked about the possibility of putting up no parking immediately on the east side of Barranca south of the Wash to extend to the south side of the apart- ment complex stopping at Virginia, in .reviewing the situation on Barranca at that point, I think consideration should be given to putting no parking on the east side of the street as well.. By doing this we will eliminate the congestion of traffic on both sides of the street, caused apparently by the people in the apartment house parking their cars out in front. Mr.Aiassa: I would suggest we refer this to the Traffic Committee and let them reevaluate the matter. Councilman Lloyd: I am prepared to make a motion to return to the Traffic Committee. Councilman Young: Mr.. Mayor, may I say something before Councilman Lloyd makes that motion. Why don't we pass this particular .request as it is in order to get it done and have a motion to study, rather than kick the whole thing back. Councilman Lloyd: An excellent point. Motion by Councilman Young, seconded by Councilman Lloyd., to accept the recommendation of the Traffic Committee, Mr. Aiassa: Mr. Zimmerman: of Virginia, not th.e Councilman Lloyd: Does this cover the east side, Mr. Zimmerman? The item on the agenda .ready for your approval does refer to the west side of Barranca, fo.r' a -distance of 11.01 northerly entire frontageo Well) let's pass that and go for the entire frontage. Motion carried. All in favor. Motion by Councilman Lloyd, seconded. by Councilman Young and carried, that the street continuing on up in the area described past the San Bernardino Freeway on the east side be reviewed by the Traffic Committee for a possible no parking zone. Mr. Aiassa: Mr. Mayor, the other item is Holling,worth Street at Sentous Avenue. Mr. Zimmerman, can you give us a quick rundown on that item, 7 CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 .Page Eight CITY MANAGER: Traffic Committee Report - Cont°do Mr. Zimmerman: The intersection of Sentous and Holling- worth down in the Galaxie Tract is half in the County and half in the City. There was a fatal accident there involving a bicycle and an automobile earlier this year. There was a petition signed by more than one hundred petitioners requesting that a four-way stop be installed at this location. The matter was referred to the County Road Department because of the fact half of the intersection was in the County and it was also considered by the City Traffic Committee. The Traffic Committee recommended against the stop signs and we have since received a report from the County Road Department in which they indicate the same conclusion tha;t four-way stop signs are not warranted at this location. There are existing two-way stop signs on HollingWorth` which allows the Sentous traffic to proceed without stopping. Mayor Chappell: You are also recommending that these high visibility crosswalks be put in at that location, is that correct? Mr. Zimmerman: Yes, we do recommend that some additional signing and the brightly painted crosswalks with buttons on the pavement be installed as a further protection for school children going to and from Hollingworth School and Rincon. Councilman Shearer: A question. With receipt of the letter from the County, and I am not trying to cop out by any means, but with the negative reply from the County.could the City put stop signs up legally? Mr. Wakefield: Mr. Mayor and members of Council, the City has no authority to erect stop signs outside the boundaries of the City and if half of the intersection is in unincorporated territory the consent of the County would be required to install stop signs or any other traffic control devices in that portion of the intersection. Councilman Shearer: Thank you. Lest I be accused of being a traffic -oriented person having a degree in civil engineering, I am foremost a father and have as much concern for the safety and welfare of children in this community as the parents of the boy or boys involved in this unfortunate incident° However, stop signs and traffic lights are not the answer to all questions of this type. I think the Traffic Committee made a very good statement to the effect that one of the basic requirements of any kind of traffic control is that it be understandable by the people who it is intended to control. In other words if we put up stop signs where people cannot understand why, then they lose respect for stop signs in other locations. It is a proven fact that where indiscrimnate traffic controls are installed that they lose their use and efficiency where they are warranted. I feel from the report we have, that the accident oc:c:urre_d. prma.til_y because of the youngsters running the stop sign. And I am concerned, my three children cross a two-way stop sign at Vine and Glenview, a two-way stop sign with a crosswalk. Who knows what could possibly happen? This does not justify a stop sign at every crosswalk at every major intersection with a minor intersection, And it is not the cost of the stop sign, because what is being proposed by the Traffic Committee is far more expensive than the two stop signs. So without the County°s veto power in this matter, I feel it would be unwise for the City to place stop signs at this location. Councilman Nichols: A general observation only. I concur in the portion of the recommendation which suggests the updating of the identity of the crosswalk. I would like to add a thought for the benefit of staff 8 m Ir C]WY COUNCIL 10/26/71 Page Nine CITY !IANAGER: Traffic Committee Report - Cont°d. based on my observations of some crosswalks wherV this updating has oecurred. Buttons have been installed and it has always been my impression that the buttons have been placed'on the street so that the wheels of vehicles will tend to come in contact with them and provide an assistance to the motor vehicle operator in recognizing a.crosswalk. If that is erroneous, I would stand to be corrected. But I note in my travelling on roadways where buttons are placed) th4py do not particularly add identity but they do add recognition. One of the problems we have on these highly used crosswalks is that the motorist is simply not conscious of the fact he is crossing an area of intensive pedestrian use. I would suggest that the thought be given to place additional buttons as might cause the average vehicle crossing that area to r�ome in contact with those buttons. If they have not recognized the crosswalk at that timelthey will likely do so in the future. The vast majority of our internal city traffic patterns are created by repeat vehicles. I note that the buttons they have been placing on a number of crosswalks to create higher identity are placed in such a fashion that a vehicle would have to work against the average in order to contact the buttons. I feel this is a very helpful thing, if placed properly, and will cause people in that area to come to recognize those crosswalks for what they are, but I feel it could be helped more by a greater intensity of buttons along the line of the crosswalk. Motion carried. Mayor Chappell: One further comment while on this subject. In my travels through the City I note some of the ;crosswalks are very hard to see, probably due to the fact they are wearing out. Especially along Azusa south of Cameron, there are two crosswalks there that I see people time and time again driving through and I.think it is because they can't see them. A lot of these are beginning to show wear and are hard to see. Mr. Aiassa: Mr. Zimmerman, will you make a note to notify Mr, Wolff. Motion by Councilman Shearer, seconded by Councilman Nichols and carried, to accept the Traffic Committee's recommendations. RESOLUTION FOR Mr. Aiassa: We have had a death, JAMES BRIGHAM one of our City employees who was with us since 1958. I think it would be appropriate that we give a Resolution in memory and I further would.recommend that we adjourn the meeting in memory of James Brigham. So moved by Councilman Lloyd, seconded.. by Councilman Young. Councilman Shearer: A question, Mr. Mayor. :I feel like Simon Legr_ee® however)we have tonight acted previously on a Resolution to this deceased employee under the Recreation and Parks Commission, to be perma plaqued and now we as the Council are redoing this. • Mr. Aiassa: This will be the same Resolution. You are just accepting the Resolution of the Recreation and Parks, Commission. Councilman Shearer: Not the way I read it and it is not the money involved, but the idea of giving two perma-plaqued resolutions from the City. Councilman Lloyd: I concur with Councilman Shearer. There - 9 - CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 CITY MANAGER: Resolution for James Brigham Page Ten is no point in giving two resolutions. Mr. Aiassa" who can give resolutions? Mr. Aiassa: I believe the City Council. Mr. Wakefield? Mr. Wakefield: Yes" the City Council has the authority to authorize and adopt the Resolutions of the City. Various Boards and Commissions of the City could adopt resolutions honoring individual employees however.) that would simply be the resolution of that individual body and couldn't be perma plaqued without the express advice of the City Council. Councilman Shearer: In reading the minutes of the Recreation and Parks Commission - and I don't want to belabor the point" but I hate to see us giving two resolutions" particularly in the case of a deceased employee, and in reading the minutes I am sure they intended the action they took - this is summarized in Item 3 - was to be a resolution from the Recreation and Parks Commission designed by the Recreation and Parks Department" perma plaqued and presented at a Recreation and Parks Commission meeting" of which I personally have no objection" but I hate to see two identical resolutions being given to the family of the deceased and I think the City might look a little further. Councilman Lloyd: The way I understood it�you cannot have this because one is a recommending body and the only body that can make that issuance is the Council itself. Am I correct" Mr. Wakefield? Mr. Wakefield: Only the City Council has the authority to adopt resolutions in the name of the City. If there is a title of a Resolution on your agenda and appropriately the City Council would adopt the resolution and take such further action as it would deem.appropriateo however individual Board or Commissions of the City could adopt a resolution expressing appreciation of that body for the services of a particular employee who may have worked in the Department in which that Board or Commission is concerned. It would simply be the resolution of that Board o:r Commission and.not the resolution of the City Council. Councilman Young: May I suggest/Mr.. Mayor" that item H-3 be adopted and that we then adopt a further motion to the effect that this item supercedes the action of the Recreation and Parks Commission. That should solve the problem. I think it would be appropriate then to be worked out by staff with Mrs. Plesko for the Recreation and Parks Commission to make the presentation on behalf of the City Council. Councilman Shearer: I think that is the preferable solution to a rather unfortunate situation. I think the Recreation and Parks Commission should have this explained to them" the action we took and why we took it and that we were not trying to upstage them or interfere with any action by them in their expression of appreciation . Mr. Aiassa: If this man had not been such a long time employee/we probably would not have had this duplication. Normally" and I would like to recommend to Council as your City .Manager and Personnel Officer" that the Commissions give a letter to whoever is retiring or deceased acknowledging their services in that particular Department and only the City Council give resolutions. The employee is hired and fired by the City Council through the City Manager and not by the Recreation and Parks Commission" or any of the other Commissions or Boards. I think you are right IMr. Shearer. - 10 CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 Page Eleven CITY MGR: Resolution for James Brigham Motion carried in favor of a Resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 4468 "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE ADOPTED CITY OF WEST COVINA EXPRESSING ITS APPRECIATION FOR THE SERVICES OF JAMES BRIGHAM TO THE CITY OF WEST COVINA AND • EXTENDING SYMPATHY TO HIS FAMILY.' Motion by Councilman Young, seconded by Councilman Lloyd and carried, to waive further reading of the body of said resolution, Motion by.Councilman Young, seconded by Councilman Lloyd, to adopt said resolution. Motion carried on roll call vote as follows: AYES: Councilmen Shearer, Nichols, Young, Lloyd, Chappell NOES: None ABSENT: None Motion by Councilman Young, seconded by Councilman Shearer, that said resolution be perma plaqued. Motion carried on roll call vote as follows: AYES: Councilmen Shearer, Nichols, Young, Lloyd, Chappell NOES: None ABSENT: None Motion by Councilman Young, seconded by Councilman Lloyd, that this action on Resolution No. 4468 supercede the action of the Recreation and Parks Commission and further that the presentation be arranged with the Recreation and Parks Commission. Motion carried. Mr. Aiassa:. versus Council, but tell five Commissioners. Councilman Lloyd: If Council -has no objections I would like to advise the Commissions that we should not go into resolutions by Commissions them just to send a letter, signed by the I so move Councilman Young: I will second it to get it on the floor. Why do we have to go to all that trouble? Idon't think there is any great faux pas established here, I don't see any reason to curtail the desire of'the Commission. We have the review anyhow. Mr. Aiassa: The only advantage is I am afraid that sometimes the damage is done by a Commission meaning well and it sometimes causes a conflict. Councilman Young: I don't see that that is present here. Mr. Aiassa: I believe they adopted the resolution and it could have been perma plaquedo Councilman Young: Supposing it didn't come before the City Council we would have approved and reviewed their action, which we did, not realizing . that- it would be on the agenda further down, which it was and so we corrected the situation. Why do we have to consider that a whole pronouncement of policy? It could well have been that this further recommendation would not have been made. Mr. Aiassa: Well the only thing is)as I look at it, is it will save us a lot of paperwork. The Commissions will be advised by their staff liaison that this is what is followed and it will save us a lot of paperwork. It simplifies it for the administration. Motion carried. • CITY"COUNCIL 10/26/71 CITY MANAG:ER _ Cont °do ..PARKING SUB -LEASE WITH Mr. Aiassa: LO.S ANGELES COUNTY We have some technicalities that will have to counsellor's office. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Page Twelve We are asking that this be held over to the.meeting of .November 80 be cle.are,d with the County - Alexander Pacifico Gentlemen, I would like to reopen the dis- 3227 QuinnellDrive cussion on the four-way stop sign at West Covina Sentous and Hollingworth. I would like to ask the members of the Council a question. First of all, are you aware because of the crowded school conditions that many children that should be attending the Hollingworth School are now going to Rincon? And this will probably continue because the bond was denied and it appears there will be double sessions and thereby more children using this crossing. I am sure you have all been there, however there is a considerable amount of building going on in that area. Especially on the west side of Sentous. While I am not completely familiar with the school system set-up)I am convinced there will be students from the west side of Sentous crossing to the east side to,go to Hollingworth where they have the primary grades and there will be those crossing to go to Rincon. I would also like to pose this question to you - gentlemen. You made mention of the.-f-act that_West Covina could not put up signs in County territory. Is it possible however to receive permission from the County to put up the signs at the City of West Covina°s expense? I believe there are two different questions here. One is arbitrarily stepping on the County°s toes and the other is receiving permission. I -don't believe we are really talking about the dollars and cents in this case. Also in the report, the one put out by the Traffic Committee, I believe you have two letters. One from the principal of Rincon and one from the principal of Hollingworth, who both recommend the action that w.e,as parents".request of the City Council. I would like to reiterate the last time this came up I made a point of statistics and I have a copy of the Traffic Committee report and I realize we don't meet the statistics that is called for to put up a stop sign. I believe we are supposed to have at lea.st 3 children killed before we get a stop sign. I don't believe in statistics, in that regard. I believe we have a situation; the situation is unhealthy and somebody must do something about .it. We, as.pare.nts, have been doing what we think .is right and unfortunately I just.can°t go along with the statistics as we have them. What we.are.saying is that we must have so many people killed in order to get.stop signs or so many nonfatal accidents before we get a stop sigria and I just can't buy this type of reasoning. If you think about it, I don't think you can buy it either. I would like to have you. reopen this thing and rediscuss it, if necessary,put .it back to \the Traffic,Committee, but we as parents are rather adamant in. our request and we feel that something should be done other than putting the white or yellow stripes down the line. We think that stop signs may, m May - prevent another accident like that and as, long as it may andthe.possibility exists, we think it should be done, It is easy.to. sit back and discuss it,but it is hard to look at the body of a dead child and say well maybe we should have done it and didn't. I'would appreciate it if you would reconsider it. Legally I don't know. where we stand,but morally I think we are obliged to do something about it. Evelyn G.,:.Gut ie.rrez. I don't know if you are familiar or have 3"7.40.:2orga.nfield Avenue been to the corner of Hollingworth and Ga.la.xie Tract Sentous in person to know this, but there is a blind spot here and the crosswalk is back 12 CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 'ORAE COMMUNICATIONS m Cont°d. ,Page Thirteen here. To stop your car you stop behind the crosswalk and you still have. to. ooze out on Sentous to see the oncoming traffic. There is no police report that these kids actually went through that stop sign. In my opinion they did stop behind the line and then oozed out onto Sentous and that is where they got hit. Because I,myself/have never received a traffic ticket but I got one there because I,, 16 according to the policeman�didn.°t stop behind the white line. It is, impossible to stop behind the white line and see the traffic on Sentous and that is the main reason we need a stop sign there .is because of that blind hill. It is not a street where you can see the oncoming traffic. Thank you. Pat Mead Gentlemen, I have talked to Mr. Zimmerman 3833 Nearport on the phone and to several of you on the Galaxie Tract phone about this because my concern. is very deep. I took a conclusion from talking to one man that the matter was closed before we opened it. That possibly a crossing guard might be a good. idea or painting the white lines - is true because the white lines are not very visible. Are you aware, gentlemen, that .in our Galaxie Tract there are 597 homes? And in the Sunshine Tract 300 more homes? All these children cross that street. We have Hollingworth, Rincon and Nogales High School so that is a busy corner. And if you are there at 7.1.5 in the morning you can see :for you,rsel.f . how busy it is. Now if any of you have teenagers that drive that is a fantastic street for dragging. Believe me! We need a stop sign there. I believe if a stop sign had been there this boy would be alive now3 because this poor boy.that killed the child on the bike feels terrible. He didn't seethe child He was only going 30 miles an hour. If he had to stop/it would have been avoided. If the bus with the retarded children had to stops.i.t would have been avoided. It turned over, 10 children were sent to the hospital.. It could have been avoided if there had been a stop sign there because the bus would have had to stop and then proceed. I don't know if you have been down there, I know when you are called and asked to attend a meeting at Hollingworth School, several of you said - where is Hollingworth School. Now we voted you in and I would like to see you come down there someday. I will greet you and let's take a good look at it before we vote it down because this is a necessity. Also we have three more tracts going in and ,foundations have .been laid for them. We have kindergarten children crossing that street to go to Hollingworth, that we never had before. We now have sixth. graders going to R.incon that never went there before. Yes, children do funny things: they walk in front of cars o they play around, etc., but we are talking about lives. Please call me and I will go down and we will observe it together. You are our councilmen. We voted you in and we would like to see you more. Thank you. Don Mead I don't know what your traffic survey 3803 Nearpoint report said, so I would appreciate Galaxie Tract receiving a copy of .it so I might :read it. We feel very strongly about this stop -sign. In this particular area the road runs without a traffic stop sign. from Puente Road to Valley Boulevard. In the same identical tract just two blocks east where Morganfield runs from Valley Boulevard to Forcastle there is one stop at Hollingworth and Morganfi.eldo I. can't see why there should be a stop sign at that .intersection and not at the other. I would appreciate a review of this. I know from my experience c,,.in'.A, County and City Government that coordination can be had,bet�aeen County and City agencies and this has been. brought to your attention and it is my feeling that you people are there to represent us, We feel we are an adequate proportion of people and should have that consideration and we would appreciate your re- considering the matter. 13 CITY COUNCIL 1.0/26/71 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS .- Con.t°d, .Page .Fourteen Councilman Nichols: Mr. Mayor, the respondents under Oral Communications have asked that this item be reopened,, I would move that this item be reopened for further discussion at this time. . Seconded .by Councilman Lloyd and carried. Councilman Nichols-. I am .impressed by a couple of points that have :been made by the people present which were not clearly explained to my satisfaction in the presentation of the Traffic Committee .report. Let me say that I am familiar with the neighborhood and the Tract and I was on the Council when we did have a meeting at Hollingworth School and we all knew how to get there but none of you came - it was very lonely. I understand sort of the feeling of orphanage that you express and convey. I appreciate that. How much we can do to counter that I don't know, but we should. We do have your concern. One of -the points .made .seemed to be .in direct contradiction to the recomm.endat.icn in the report. The condition of warrant states in Item 4 that in the opinion of the Traffic Authority adverse physical conditions of which poor sight is one listed and the report indicates this is not met, yet in testimony of the citi.zenryf indications are that there is a sight distance problem very definitely at that intersection, So I think without belaboring the matter we have an element of opinion in testimony that is directly contradictory to the report. So for that reason I feel this should be referred. back to the Traffic Committee for a further investigation. Although I am familiar with the area and I have driven in the area many times, just as you probably cannot tell me a certain fact at this very hour, I cannot tell you that I have a clear visual,impression of that intersection and therefore I cannot have in truth the feeling that you have, so I intend to refresh my memory of the intersection and I would. like to see further evaluation by staff in terms of the sight distance problem. .For that reason, I would offer a motion to get it on the floor to bring this matter back and refer it back to the Traffic Committee. Seconded by Councilman Lloyd, Councilman Young: Mr. Mayor, a. question. The pedestrian volume warrant on ,Page 3 (a) of the report - and :i,:nc.identally/ M.ro Mead I will be happy to let you have my report whets we are through discussing tonight - these are average figures, is that over a 24 'hour period or what period, Mr. Zimmerman? Mr. Zimmerman: Mr. Mayor and members of Council, there is an 8 hour .restriction as the timing during which, this particular average occurred. The daytime is the heaviest travel, time in the area. Councilman Young: And you average that out over the 8 hours, so then you may have school, children and volumes of traffic coinciding or you may not, because the average doesn't tell us a lot? Mr. Zimmerman.- That is correct. Councilman Young-. Is that a machine count or what? ® 14 CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - Cont°d Page .Fifteen Mr. Zimmerman: The automobiles are counted by machine-, however the children are handcountedo Councilman Young: I am still going to continue my lobbying for the automatic mechanical crossing - guard, the kind where you press the button and the lights turn redo Based on a. recent bid we established for the Fire Station/something like that could be installed in the neighborhood of four or five thousand dollars and would quickly pay for itself in savings on crossing guards in a lot of locations and would upgrade over a period of time many locations where we have this type of problem. Where I have seen it, it is very effective and I think we should give that serious consideration as a capital outlay item. I am sure it will pay for itself. Councilman Lloyd. I happen to be fundamentally for kind of relieving the pressure situation on parents having children going to school and at a crossing area if a light or stop sign is indicated that it will make them feel better,I think we ought to do it automatically. I know that Mr. Shearer has expressed himself and would probably dis- agree with that and perhaps with good professional reason. I may demonstrate my lay approach to the whole thing-, however, I would remind these people something that ought to be brought before many people making a presentation to this Council. I would remind you that we)too/ are parents and that we sit up here and listen to the cries and pleas of the people that come forward to make a presenta- tion, We are very mindful of your area, as we are of all areas in the City. I,too., have been down there on a City Council meeting and as Councilman Nichols indicated, it - wasp ° t -exactl.y-i:�41dly attended. I would remind you in making a presentation to this body that we are very strongly interested in the safety of children. There was no presentation specifically that I remember tonight, but I am .really tired of being admonished on the fact that if a child is killed,.it is my f aulto I do the best I can. I approach the City Manager and find out do we have money for whatever it may be and if there are no more funds in the coffers then the answer is simply - we are going to raise taxes, If that is what the majority of the people want, which again is fine with me, I am not going to equate taxes with the life of a child, but I think this body pays very close attention to what is going on, We are really very receptive to anyone who wishes to make communication with us and the only thing I am saying is that I am speaking on a policy or philosophy area and not to this particular situation. I have already indicated by my second to the motion that I approve sending this back to the Traffic Committee and I hope sincerely the Traffic Committee finds the possibility of putting in a stop sign, as you people seek. Councilman Young: One further point. I think irrespective of any further findings that the Traffic Committee might make, that it would be a good idea to go ahead with the upgrading recommended. There are quite a few of these rather dramatic crosswalks around and they do arrest your attention as you drive down the street. They have them at West Covina High School and at Cameron School. I think that should be done. That certainly would not detract from any further • efforts made in the area to satisfy the needso Mayor Chappell., That is a very good point. After'we vote on this motion, that recommendation would be in order. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Young, that the immediate recommendation of the Traffic Committee with respect to the Sentous - Hollingworth inter- section be carried out as rapidly as possible. Seconded by Council- man Lloyd and carried. 15 CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 Page Sixteen ORAL-' COMMUNICATIONS G Cont°d. Charles L. Wheeler Last year we submitted a request to 850 W. Mission solicit funds in your City for the Ontario American :Indian Institute which is a • American Indian Institute school for all American Indian children, I understand last year it was turned down on the grounds there was a lack of information and a lack of tangible evidence that there was a school in e.ckistence at all. I have been in contact with. Mr. Nammar for the past 3 months giving him new information. We opened as of September 15th this year. We have 22 students attending at present and have 31 registered. We hope by the end of the Christmas vacation we will receive the rest of the students. We received communications from some of the families stating their children could not attend because they didn't have clothes to go there and we wrote back promptly and told them to come anyway that we do have a source of getting clothing for them. I actually came here not prepared to speak. I talked to Mr. Nammar earlier this month and he told me to give him the information and staff would review and bring it up to Council, So I don't want a B9aye" or 0enay" until, you do have the full information that I have given to Mr. Nammar. I would like to stress that the operation of the school depends solely on the contributions from the public. We have conducted Feather Drives in your neighboring cities, La Habra, Anaheim,, Fullerton, Pasadena, etc., where the American Indian in native costume solicits with the feathers. This is where the funds come from for our school. I have requested permission to be in your City from November 15th through December 31ste I had hoped to have this before you atyour last meeting but there was a breakdown in correspondence and we didn't get on the last agenda. Mayor Chappell: We have taken this and referred it to staff so the best thing to do is continue to coordinate with staff and they will. in turn study it and bring it back to us with a recommendation, if possible at our next meeting. Mr. Wheeler: Thank you, it will be greatly appreciated. Councilman Young: Mr Mayor m a question of Mr. Wheeler. Has this school materially changed or accelerated its operation in the past 12 months? Mr. Wheeler: It has been going through a change for the last five years. The last two years have been the biggest boon, 'My mother, Mrs. Wheeler, came up with the bright idea of utilizing the American Indian in their native costumes and these kids that come off the reservation and solicit funds it gives them a chance for employment which otherwise they would not have. We have taken them on tours across the United States. The biggest improvements have been in the .last fifteen months on the property. Outside appearance. There was a great indebtedness on the property to begin with and some people don't understand how great of a deal it is to grab on to something and try and get it out of debt and then proceed by opening the school. We have given it an honest effort and opened the school by the grace of God and we want to keep it open and see the student attendance grow. Councilman Young: Thank you, Mr. Wheeler. ® 16 CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS _ Cont°do .Page Seventeen Mr. Mead: Mr. Mayor and members of Council, I want to express our gratitude to you for your consideration. We know that you don't get extremely high pay as Councilmen and we understand that you all have other -businesses and endeavors and that you do give time to the • City, and we want you to know that we appreciate your decision to reopen this matter and give it further consideration. We thank you very much. Councilman Nichols: That was a very generous thing to say, we hear it so rarely. Mayor Chappell. Yes)indeedo Thank you. MAYOR ° S REPORTS PROCLAMATION Mayor Chappell: I have been asked to proclaim B°CATHY" Week, November 1 m 5, 1971, If there are no objections by Council., I will so proclaim. (.No objections.) COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS Councilman Shearer: During our recent budget discussions we talked about a bond election for park improvements. We discussed the continuation of the 10(,' property tax which was discontinued and at that time I made the statement that I .felt park improvements should be made through a bond issue. We have an election coming up in April and nothing has been said since August on this matter. If we are interested in a bond issue to be put on the April ballot, I would suggest that staff work with the .Recreation and Parks Commission to prepare a list of projects they feel are needed in this City and as soon thereafter as possible that a joint meeting be arranged with the Commission'to discuss the feasibility and practic bility of a bond issue for park improvements. Councilman .Nichols: I will second that motion, Mr. Mayor. Councilman Lloyd. I don't know that I .fully understood your motion.. One was that you wanted a bond issue on the April ballot and the other part was that you wanted. a meeting with. the Recreation and Parks Commission. Is that correct? Councilman Shearer. Yes. Councilman Lloyd: You may call for s, meeting anytime you would like to meet with a Board or Commission, I don't believe it requires a formal motion. Councilman Shearer. Yes, I realize that but I don't want to sit at a meeting and ask them about things and they say we don't know, I wanted them to work up somethingfirstsuch as is a swimming pool a priority item, a recreation building or whatever. Councilman Lloyd: Okay. You just picked up my vote on it. Councilman Young: I am with Mr. Shearer all the way on the motion. made. I also know there is interest in other areas such as a civic auditorium and the like. I suppose it would be far too short of a time to reactivate all the Blue Ribbon Committee reports - although I do feel we should have a fresh study of goals in the area of capital outlay improvements - but I will certainly support this motion. 17 CITY COUNCIL 10/26/71 Page Eighteen CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS Motion carried. Councilman Lloyd: There seems to be a great deal of discussion about some proposed • suggestion that we take some posture with regards to a certain plan regarding a merger of cities. It comes as no shock, I am sure, to all of you that I have proposed such a thing. To carry it one step further /I noted with a certain amount of consternation that a member or members of the City Council of Covina, quote: °"I had no support from my own Council in suggesting this study' And I remembered the 5-0 vote of last year which ,.in essence) said if the Council in Covina were interested in any discussion that we would be more than willing to discuss. I am prepared then to place another motion before this Council, notwithstanding the many comments made by other people and certainly by the Covina Council, about West Covina. But I am trying to take it out of any personalities or comments towards the City of West Covina, which I think has acted in good faith and I would like to add, Mr. City Manager, that I really don't �elieve deep in my heart that we are in financial trouble. I think we are in very good shape and someone has failed to recognize the very capable presentation in our redevelopment situation. I move that the West Covina Council will consider any study plan that is reasonable in conjun<ction. with the City Council of Covina regarding any merger of any facilities at anytime. And that includes Fire, Police, Recreation and .Parks, total cities, whatever they would like to discuss, I recognize we cannot go on our own because it takes two to tango® Seconded by Councilman Young. Councilman Nichols: I had forgotten that it was as recent as a year ago or a year and a half ago, bu t at least, it was sometime during your term of office Councilman Lloyd, that the motion was made and adopted unanimously that the West Covina Council wanted to indicate to the Covina Council that the West Covina Council would be receptive to the investigation into the feasibility of merging the two cities. I had sort of 'just been sitting out Councilman Lloyd's recent intercessions in this area, but I have my own dander up a bit when the Covina Council indicates that West Covina°s Council has never shown any interest in this area. I recognize that when "big brother" attempts to show an interest in this/there is always this robbing the cradle type of attitude expressed or that you must be interested only because you will gain by it and the City will gain by it. I think that every City Council should always be interested in anything that might result in greater efficiency and less cost to the taxpayers. I am not at all sure just how deep an investigation might go 'in this area, or what facilities might be reached. Maybe it is one street sweeper or maybe it is two cities, I don't know that. But I think West Covina should always stand ready to talk about this typ✓of thing® So I firmly support and advocate the concept that continued dialogue occur between our communities towards the goal that any type of joint sharing of • facilities or equipment might occur. So'I would third the motion and simply say we stand ready to discuss at any level, at any depth, depending on the feelings of the Council of Covina. If they are not interested then they should say so, but I don't particularly appreciate their response being "well nobody else is interested.", I have always been interested .in this possibility for the 8 years I have been on Council and continue to be interested in it. What the feasibilities are or the depth might be, I don't know. But I think this Council should continue to say we are receptive to discussing and researching and studying these matters in these areas at a.ny'time. 18 CITY COUNCIL, 10/26/71 Page .Nineteen COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS - Cont°d. Councilman Young: We might say�for example, a good counter-measure to the temptation to place our Public Safety under the County might be the combination of the Fire and Police Departments of the two cities, which would have nothing to do with the tax base or interference of the tax base but might well result in greater • efficiency and continued home rule in these vital areas. Just a thought. Mayor Chappell: Of course)we are all aware that there are a number of areas that we do work very closely with Covina in exchange of equipment and things of that nature. So it is not something new being presented at this time, but something that has been going on prior to the time I came on Council. We did have a motion a year and a half ago and I don't believe our position has changed, at least it hasn't changed from where I sit, and that motion is just being reiterated at this time. I think it should be mentioned though that we have been working with them on joint ventures, and it is not just something brand new and out of the blue. Motion carried. All voting in favor. Councilman Young: Mr. Mayor, two things. Did we bury the honor for the Methodist Youth Organization and forget it? Mr. Aiassa: No, it -is coming. Councilman Young: I get edgy about these things. And the other thing is that I have given the City Attorney a suggested amendment to the Municipal Code in furtherance of a drastic change in Council procedure which would save us at least 42 seconds at each meeting. I suggested we change the Municipal Code to have the City Clerk note attendance rather than call roll at the beginning of each meeting. Mayor Chappell: Last Saturday I represented the Council for the banquet of the World°s Championship American Legion Team and.in keeping with Council instructions presented them with a plaque with the appropriate engraving. It was very well received and the boys were very happy to receive the plaques because it is something they can keep. A jacket would wear out in time and this will, not wear out. Also,I would remind you the Chamber of Commerce is conducting a banquet this Saturday night and Will -be'', making some presentations. It would be nice for as many of the Council and staff to turn out as is possible. DEMANDS Motion by Councilman Young, seconded by Councilman Shearer, to,approve .Demands totalling $471,127.10 as listed on Demand Sheets B503 through B506, total including two payroll periods. Motion carried on roll call vote as follows: AYES: Councilmen Shearer, Nichols, Young, Lloyd, Chappell NOES: None ABSENT: None ADJOURNMENT ATTEST: Motion by Councilman Lloyd, seconded by Councilman Young and carried, to adjourn meeting at 9:04 P.M. in memory of James Brigham, a deceased employee. APPROVED: MAYOR CITY CLERK - 19 -