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HomeMy WebLinkAbout111594AM_CCv0001.pdf MINUTES of an adjourned regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Redlands held in the Council Chambers, Civic Center, 35 Cajon Street, Suite 2, on November 15, 1994, at 9:00 A.M. PRESENT Swen Larson, Mayor Jim Foster, Mayor Pro Tem William E. Cunningham, Councilmember Gilberto Gil, Councilmember Pat Gilbreath, Councilmember Gary M. Luebbers, City Manager Daniel J. McHugh, City Attorney Lorrie Poyzer, City Clerk Ted Thomaidis, Redlands Daily Facts Steven Church, The Sun ABSENT None Lease Purchase Agreement - Fire Truck Equipment - City Attorney McHugh presented a memorandum regarding the lease purchase agreement for fire truck equipment. Noting that the need to take action was immediate, Councilmember Gilbreath moved to add the following item to the agenda which arose subsequent to the agenda being posted: "Discussion and possible action - Lease purchase agreement - Fire truck equipment." Motion seconded by Councilmember Larson and carried by AYE votes of all present (Councilmember Gil was not present). Mr. McHugh explained that on May 17, 1994, during a budget study session, the City Council authorized staff to expend a portion of the proceeds of the utility user's tax on new fire trucks. Since that time, staff placed an order for the trucks and entered into lease-purchase negotiations with Municipal Services Group for acquisition of the vehicles. All of the documents to consummate this transaction were reviewed and agreed to by the City and Municipal Services Group. However, late Monday, November 14, 1994, the City received word that the trustee bank which had proposed to fund the acquisition would not do so without further documentation evidencing formal action by the City Council approving this specific lease-purchase agreement and authorizing the Mayor to sign the lease on the City's behalf. The City was further told that if the City Council did not take action today, the financing would not close and the City would lose a favorable interest rate. Councilmember Larson moved to approve this lease purchase agreement (Agreement No. 1080) for the purchase of said fire truck equipment and authorized the Mayor and City Clerk to sign said documents on behalf of the Adjourned regular meeting November 15, 1994 Page 1 City. Motion seconded by Councilmember Gilbreath and carried with Councilmember Gil abstaining. Surface Mining Operations - Santa Ana Wash - Community Development Director Jeffrey L. Shaw introduced Warren Coalson who has been hired by the Cities of Redlands and Highland to do the CEQA review for the proposed projects for surface mining operations in the Santa Ana Wash. Mr. Coalson briefly reviewed his goals and objectives. Mr. Shaw reported the Santa Ana Wash is a State designated Mineral Resource Zone for aggregate materials. Existing mining activities were mostly permitted by the County of San Bernardino via conditional use permits. The CUP process would also be how the City of Redlands would permit mining and processing activities. Sunwest Materials has filed a Draft Development Agreement that includes the future mining and reclamation of 1,300 acres (600 in Redlands). Circulation of a Notice of Preparation has not occurred; Sunwest is preparing the document and has not yet submitted it. Redlands has a Memorandum of Understanding with Highland that gives Highland CEQA lead agency status. Robertson's Ready Mix has filed a Draft Development Agreement that is not as clearly defined. The applicant is requesting that the area and depth of mining in the Old Webster Quarry be increased to approximately 140 acres and that approximately 31 acres in Redlands'jurisdiction within the Cone Camp Quarry be mined. An additional 229 acres in the Cone Camp Quarry that are proposed to be mined are located within the County's jurisdiction but are proposed to be annexed to the City of Highland. The applicant is requesting that the City of Highland be designated CEQA lead agency. These Development Agreements represent the applicants input and the City has not yet responded to the proposals. Mr. Shaw explained the roles of the Surface Mining Subcommittee and the Santa Ana Wash Coordinating Committee noting these are advisory bodies and the City Council is not bound by any of their recommendations. Entering into development agreements is a serious matter for the City and Mr. Shaw identified issues, such as duration of the agreements, vesting of the Alabama Street operation, reclamation plans, and traffic, which are some of the major concerns to discuss. His written report did not look at the specifics of each proposal but identified broad-based concerns of staff. Speaking from the audience were: Karen Grip, on behalf of the Redlands Association, who expressed concerns about traffic and the duration of the development agreements; Steve Cortner, Vice President of Sunwest Materials, expressed their willingness to discuss these issues; Albert Kelly who expressed health concerns with the pit reclamations; on behalf of Robertson's Ready Mix, Adjourned regular meeting November 15, 1994 Page 2 Craig Phillips urged the City Council to determine who will be the CEQA lead agency; Gertrude Hagum asked questions about current technology that could address noise and dust problems in the processing plant. Councilmembers Cunningham and Foster engaged in a heated exchange of words about the recommendations of the Santa Ana Wash Coordinating Committee. Mr. Cunningham felt that Mr. Foster could have voted against the Wash Committee's traffic distribution recommendations which would have reflected what he felt were the citizens' desires. Mr. Foster pointed out this was not his plan; that the entire Wash Committee approved the traffic pattern recommended; and asked staff to refresh everyone's memories of the composition of the Wash Committee. Council recessed at 10:06 A.M. and reconvened at 10:18 A.M. Following the recess, Mr. Shaw responded to Council's questions and reported that the citizen participation was eliminated from the Wash Committee's representation following adoption of the Memorandum of Understanding in December, 1992. Councilmember Cunningham complained that the City Council representatives did not make reports to the City Council and that he was not receiving minutes nor announcements of the meetings. Councilmember Foster informed him the meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 1:00 P.M. in the Water Conservation District's office. CEOA/MOU Lead Agency - Robertson's Ready Mix Project - Community Development Director Shaw said that staff requested and received information on the scope of Robertson's Ready Mix's project to include mining activity proposed by their development agreement that would occur in the respective jurisdictions. It is staffs understanding that the mining activity proposed will occur primarily in the Old Webster Quarry and Cone Camp Quarry. Currently much of the area identified as being in Highland in the development agreement application is presently in the County of San Bernardino. While staff understands the applicant proposes to annex the area into Highland, it is an area currently not in their jurisdiction. It would appear that many of the potential impacts may have a more direct impact on Redlands rather than Highland. Given that the majority of the mining activity is proposed to be in Redlands, and that the project's impacts are in Redlands, staff recommended that the lead agency for this project be the City of Redlands. On behalf of Robertson's Ready Mix, Craig Phillips and Dennis Troesh urged the Council to designate Highland as the lead agency. Councilmember Foster moved to grant lead agency status to the City of Highland noting that Redlands will have a final say on all land use issues and this will allow us to move forward. Motion seconded by Councilmember Gil and failed with Councilmembers Larson, Cunningham, and Gilbreath voting NO. Councilmember Cunningham moved to designate the Adjourned regular meeting November 15, 1994 Page 3 City of Redlands as lead agency with the understanding we would agree to the use of common consultants. Motion seconded by Councilmember Larson and carried with Councilmembers Foster and Gil voting NO. ADJOURNMENT Noting that Councilmembers have had many opportunities to disagree during his tenure, Mayor Larson indicated he will endeavor to maintain courteous treatment for each other at these meetings. Councilmembers Cunningham and Foster apologized for their earlier confrontation, with Mr. Foster asking that there be no further personal attacks. There being no further business, the City Council meeting adjourned at 10:55 A.M. The next regular meeting will be held on November 15, 1994, at 3:00 P.M. City Clerk Adjourned regular meeting November 15, 1994 Page 4