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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/30/05 B A'"K E R S F I' E..L D C~TY ~ANAGEIR'$ ©FF~CE December 30, 2005 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council AT FROM: Alan Tandy, City Manager by rks SUBJECT: General Information 1. Construction of the City's new animal kennel adjacent to the County animal shelter on Mount Vernon is complete; it will go into operation in January. The additional space will be of substantial help in alleviating the overcrowding of animals at the facility. We will be coordinating with the County to hold a ribbon cutting ceremony next month and look forward to a continued cooperative relationship with them for animal care services. 2. Congratulations to Public Works Engineer Art Chianello, who has successfully passed the state exam to become a Certified Grade V wastewater treatment plant operator! 3. .As you may have noticed, the Kern River is flowing again through town. DUe to strong storm activity to the north, the state has declared that surplus water is available from the Sacramento Delta. The surpluses are expected to last through mid-January. Locally, the recent spat of storms has helped the Kern River watershed. Although still early in the season, the weather patterns are encouraging. 4. We received the attached notification from Cox Cable this week that they will be raising their rates as of February 1st. The majority of their customers will see an approximate 3% increase. As you are aware, the telecommunications laws do not give us any authority to regulate cable rates. 5. Responses to Council requests are enclosed, as follows: Councilmember Carson · Report on possible options for phasing repayments of sewer connection fees for property owners, and the possible use of grant funding; Honorable Mayor and City Council December 30, 2005 Page 2 Councilmember Couch · City Attorney's response to citizen concern regarding code enforcement concerns at 2918 Bucknell Street; Councilmember Sullivan · Tree removal at the shopping center at 4801 white Lane; Councilmember Scrivner ~· Status report on comparing Bakersfield's noise ordinance pertaining to vehicle stereo noise to that of Los Angeles and Fresno. AT:rs cc: Department Heads Pamela McCarthy, City clerk State Water Resources Control Board Alan C. Lloyd, Ph.D. Division of Financial Assistance Arnold Schwarzen~gg~r Agency Secretary 1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814 Governor P.O. Box 944212, Sacramento, California 94244-2120 (916) 341-5700 -· FAX (916) 341-5707 · www.waterboards.¢a.gov December 23, 2005' Art R. Chianello 8514 Eagles Landing Drive Bakersfield, CA 93312 WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT OPERATOR CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION We are pleased to report that you have passed the written grade V wastewater treatment plant operator certification examination you took on October 1, 2005. The examination is graded on a pass/fail basis. You have attained or exceeded 70% of the total points available in the examination. YOU ARE NOT A CERTIFIED GRADE V OPERATOR. To become certified, you must submit a completed application form (copy enclosed) to document that you meet the minimum experience requirement for grade V operator certification, along with the appropriate certification fee before December 31, 2009. Currently, the fee for a grade V operator certificate is $190.00. Qualifying experience for operator certification is full-time employment in the operation of a municipal wastewater treatment plant while in possession of a valid, unexpired operator certificate or operator- in-training certificate. Upon approval of your completed 'application form with the appropriate certification fee BEFORE DECEMBER 31, 2009, you will be issued a grade V operator certificate, which will include the date of issue and date of expiration. If you have any questions regarding operator certification, please contact the Office of Operator Certification at (916) 341-5985: sincerely, Sarah C. Fong. Certification Analyst Office of Operator Certification Enclosures California Environmental Protection Agency Recycled Paper RECEIVED 22 PO Box 787 Goleta, CA 93117 December 29, 2005 DEC 3 0 Z0O5 CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE Alan Tandy City Manager City of Bakersfield 1501 Truxtun Avenue Bakersfield, CA 93301 CO~ Dear Mr. Tandy: COMMUNICATIONS This letter is to officially inform you that Cox Communications will be implementing a price increase in Bakersfield as of February 1, 2006. This increase is necessary to keep . up with the rising costs of operating our business, a large part due to increasing programming costs, plus the expenses needed to maintain a state of the art network and a high level of customer service and support. We have attempted to keep the impact on our valued customers to a minimum. The increase ranges from 1% to 6% depending on the level of services one receives. In fact, 91% of our customers will receive only a 3% increase. Limited and Expanded Basic customers will see a $1.50 increase and customers with Digital Packages will see an additional five (.05) to thirty (.30) cent increase depending upon their package level. Attached please find a matrix that outlines our rate increase by category of service delivered. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly. Sincerely, David Edelman Director of Public Affairs Cox Communications 805.681.3605 david.edelman(~_,cox.com Digital Basic $57.70 $59.50 $1.80 3%~ Digital Choice Hits $66.95 $68.50 $1.55 2% Digital Greatest Hits$73.95 $75.50 $1.55 2% Digital Total Hits $78.95 $80.50 $1:55 2% Digital Deluxe $82.95 $84.50 $1.55 2% Standard Service w/HS$84.45 $85.95 $1.50 2% Digital Basic w/HSI $94.70 $96.50 $1.80 2°/~ Digital Choice Hits w/H $101.95 $103.50 $1.55 1% Digital Greatest Hits w/ $108.95 $110.50 $1.55 1% Digital Total Hits w/HSI $113.95 $115.50 $1.55 1% Digital Deluxe w/HSI $117.95 $119.50 $1.55 1%  RECEIVED_ B A K E R $ F ! E ]., D DEC 28Z005 CITY OF BAKERSFIELD PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Raul Rojas, Public Works Directo~_..~ DATE: December 16, 2005 SUBJECT: REPAYMENT OF SEWER CONNECTION FEES Referral No. 1348 (1113o/o$ Meeting) COUNCILMEMBER CARSON REQUESTED STAFF EXPLORE OPTIONS FOR PHASING REPAYMENTS OF SEWER CONNECTION FEES FOR STOCKDALE HWY AND THE FEASIBILITY OF USING CDBG FUNDS. The City has had a policy to allow the property owner to spread out their sewer connection fee payment to the City over three years via their property taxes. However, on this project, the property owners' payments to the City will be much higher as the owners will also be responsible for paying their share of the project's construction costs. City Attorney's Office staff is preparing an ordinance provision to allow these property owners to spread their payments on this project over five years. Economic Community Development Department is working towards having grant funding available for those property owners who do meet the HUD requirements. Those property owners can use this grant to pay for their share of the project's construction costs and the sewer connection fee. This grant funding will be in place and available for the qualifying property owners after July 1,2006. G:\GROUPDAT1Referrals\2005\I 1-30\Reft1348 Repayment of Sewer Fees.doc MEMORANDUM CITY A TTORNEY'S OFFICE December 22, 2005 TO: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER FROM: VIRGINIA GENNARO, CITY ATTORNEY !J ~/ SUBJECT: 2918 BUCKNELL STREET COUNCIL REFERRAL NO. 001363 Councilmember Couch requested staff respond to a letter from J. W. Kemp concerning an assessment to property at 2918 Bucknell Street from the Code Enforcement Division. The City Attorney's Office has prepared the attached letter to Mr. Kemp. VG/AMS:Isc Attachment cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council S:\COUNClL\Referrals\05-06 Referrals\Couch-2918BucknellStreet.doc ~CITY ATTORNEY Virginia Gennaro DEPUTY CITYATrORNEYS Allen M. Shaw CITY OF BAKERSFIELD OFFICE OFTitE CITYAITORNEY 1501 TRUXTUN AVENUE BAKERSFIELD, CA 93301 TELEPHONE: 661-326-3721 FACSIMILE: 661-852-2020 December 22, 2005 J. W. Kemp, C.P.A. 2200 19th Street Bakersfield, CA 93301-3609 '. Re: Your letter dated December 13, 2005 .. 2918 Bucknell Street, Bakersfield, California Dear Mr. Kemp: The City Council recently received your letter dated December 13, 2005. Councilperson David Couch referred it to this office for response. Your letter complained' of lack of police support in removing Mr. Moring from the property at 2918' Bucknell Street and accumulation of "clean up" assessments against the property. Court documents show that the predecessor to Frances Mustain's ownership of 2918 Bucknell Street was Mabel Reynolds who died in 2000. Court documents also show that Frances Mustain did not petition to make herself the legal, owner through a proper probate until October 11, 2005. Commissioner Vega granted his Order Determining Successor in Interest to Francis Mustain on November 17, 2005. According to the probate attorney's office, that order was recently recorded at the County Hall of Records, effectively transferring title from the Estate of Mabel Reynolds to Ms. Mustain. Without that recorded order, legal title to the property resided in the decedent or her estate. The delay in the probate is important in answering your questions. In this instance there was not a live legal owner for a number of years. Mr. Moring took advantage of that situation by occupying the property and accumulating trash and other public nuisances on the property. Typically, a party moving to evict someone from a house must be able to show some right to possession if not superior right to the property usually accomplished by simply being the legal owner. A person who is not the legal owner can still accomplish the eviction, but the process can become more time consuming. If Ms. Mustain attempted any legal action against Mr. I~loring before she gained legal title she might have encountered these difficulties. J. W. Kemp. C.P.A. December 22, 2005 Page 2 An action for criminal or civil trespass is similar in that the court typically wants to be sure that the complaining person possesses some rights in the property and the trespasser possesses no rights in the property. When the legal owner is deceased, the issues of who the legal owner is and whether or not the alleged trespasser might in some way be entitled to be in possession of the property complicate the matter for an individual police officer called to the scene. First, the Kern County Sheriff's department, not the police, handles all evictions in the City. Typically the Sheriff will insist on being given a court order that he'remove the occupant from the premises to better insulate his office against civil suits for damages. Again, obtaining such an order is more protracted when the complaining party is not the legal owner. Second, the Bakersfield Police Department responds to "trespass" calfs, but when the issue is the contested occupancy of a house, the department policy is to advise the parties to use civil legal processes to sort out the rightful possessor. Again, successful civil suits against law enforcement agencies which insert themselves into this type of civil dispute reinforce the wisdom of the policy. Regarding the accumulation of assessments, please understand that generally, nuisances are activities or omissions on property that interfere with neighbors' legitimate enjoyment of their own property. Most public entites' codes, whether municipal or county, whether Bakersfield or Redding, prohibit many of the typical nuisances arising from non-maintained property. Neighbors may call on the public entity to enforce their prohibitions against the typical nuisances. One of the enforcement' tools is an administrative hearing and order to "clean up" the nuisance followed by court authorized "clean up" of the property and statutorily authorized assessment of costs against the property. The Bakersfield MuniciPal Code contains these .type provisions and further provides for multiple, notices and hearings to the owners of the complained-about property. Pursuant to code and authorized procedure including notices to the owner, City officers obtained court authority to "clean up" the property at 2918 Bucknell Street on three occasions between 2002 and the end of September 2005. The "clean ups" must be performed by licensed and bonded contractors. Following state and local law, the City assessed the cost of these "clean ups" against the property. The .total cost exceeds $6000.00. Ms. Mustain or any other claimant to title to the property possessed the opportunity to control these costs by earlier probating the title to the property and dealing legally with Mr. Moring's illegal trash accumulation by civil suit and an enforceable "stay away" order. In fact, Code Enforcement. officers advised Ms. Mustain J. W. Kemp. C.P.A. December 22, 2005 Page 3' "early on" to probate the property in order to get control of the situation. We understand Ms. Mustain to be elderly. To be sure, we sympathize with Ms. Mustain's plight but initial control was with Ms. Mustain and her family. When, for whatever reason, she did not 'control the situation, the problem passed to the City when neighbors started complaining. Then, as between City taxpayers bearing the cost of public nuisance "clean ups" versus the individual property owner bearing the cost, the overwhelming majority of citizens of Bakersfield have politically supported the latter. Finally, it is not accurate to say the property was "condemned," as Frances Mustain is still the owner (with all the powers of an owner), not the City of Bakersfield. Rather, Code Enforcement posted the house as not habitable until the utilities were turned back on and other state code violations were cured. This is to protect potential future occupants of the house. Very truly yours, ALLEN M. SHAW Deputy City Attorney AMS:Isc cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council Alan Tandy, City Manager Virginia Gennaro, City Attorney Bill Rector, Chief of Police Bryan Lynn, Assistant Police Chief Lt. Greg Williamson Randy Fidler, Chief Code Enforcement Officer Dave Paquette, Code Enforcement Officer Larry R. Cox, Esq. (Young Wooldridge, LLP) Ms. Frances Mustain S:\COUNCIL\Referrals\05-06 Referrals\Couch-~918BucknellStreetLtr.doc MEMORANDUM CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE December 28, 2005 TO: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER FROM: VIRGINIA GENNARO, CITY ATTORNI~~'~'~ -- ROBERT M. SHERFY, DEPUTY CITY ~T~0RNEY'/~ SUBJECT: TREE REMOVAL AT WHITE LANE AND ASHE COUNCIL REFERRAL NO. 001367 Councilmember Sullivan requested staff investigate the removal of trees from the shopping center on White Lane, and requested information regarding control of tree removal. City staff investigated the removal of trees from the shopping center located at 4801 White Lane (the southeast corner of White Lane and Stine). While it is true that trees have been removed from the shopping center, a number of palm trees have been planted. Unfortunately, these palm trees do not meet City requirements that tree canopies in parking areas are to have the potential to attain shading over 40 percent of the total area of all parking stalls, loading areas, drive aisles and maneuvering areas (Bakersfield Municipal Code § 17.61.030 (H)). The Planning Department has contacted Code Enforcement for the purpose of issuing a correction notice to the owner. City staff will work with the property owner to ensure that additional trees which meet City standards and that provide the proper shade canopy will be planted. VG/RMS:Isc cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council S:\COU NCIL\Referrals\05-06 Referrals\Sullivan.Tree RemovalWhiteLnAshe.doc MEMORANDUM CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE December 22, 2005 TO: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER /~ ~ FROM: V!RGINIAGENNARO, CITYATTOR.~ [¢~ ' SUBJECT: VEHICLE STEREO NOISE COUNCIL REFERRAL NO. 001360 Councilmember Scrivner requested the Legislative and Litigation Committee compare Bakersfield's noise ordinance pertaining to vehicle stereo noise to that of Los Angeles and Fresno. The City Attorney's Office acknowledges receipt of this assignment. We will be comparing the ordinances, researching the issues and reporting in due course to the Legislation and Litigation Committee. VG/AMS:Isc cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council S:\COU NClL\Referrals\05-06 Referrals\VehicleStereoNoise-Scrivner. doc