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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/28/05 B A K E R S F I E L D CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE MEMORANDUM October 28, 2005 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Alan Tandy, City Manager SUBJECT: General Information 1. Our meeting with CalTans on the Cooperative Agreement and other matters relative to the TR (Thomas Roads) Project was disappointing. Acting with speed and thinking out of the box is apparently difficult for such a large organization. We are undaunted, however, and with the Congressman's help, will continue to push and move forward. 2. Selection of a mediator with Shafter on the water issues, as agreed to a couple of months ago, appears complete, and we should be able to schedule that now. 3. We continue to encourage you to meet with Dave Dow on the ward reapportionment issue. The agendas in November and December are very long. This particular reapportionment may be the most difficult we have seen, due to the large numbers involved in obtaining balance. It's likely to take work and time! 4. The five spray parks will be closed for the season after today. Use of the facilities has tapered off since the cooler weather arrived. The spray parks have proved to be very popular additions to our recreational offerings, and we look forward to reopening them next April. 5. Next month, Recreation and Parks staff will be relocating the picnic and barbecue facilities that are in the east side of Patriots' Park to the west area of the park. The revamping is being done to alleviate some noise concerns from residents who live east of the park. 6. The agenda for the next public meeting of the High Speed Rail Authority on November 1st and 2nd in Sacramento is enclosed for your information. 7. Responses to Council requests are enclosed, as follows: Councilmember Benham · Citizen concern regarding code enforcement issues on Orange Street in the Oleander area; · Police actions in response to the crime rate in the Sunset/Oleander area; Honorable Mayor and City Council October 28, 2005 Page 2 Councilmember Couch Citizen concern regarding trash rebates for seniors; · Staff action related to investigation of barking dogs on Roaring River Avenue; · Report on the City's ability to regulate adult entertainment businesses. Attachments AT:rs cc: Department Heads Pamela McCarthy, City Clerk B A K E R S F ! E' L D Department of Recreation and Parks Date: October 26, 2005 To: Alan Tandy, City Manager From' Dianne Hoover, Director of Recreation & Parks Subject: Spray Parks Winter CloSing Staff has been monitoring the amount of use the five (5) spray parks; Wayside, Planz, MLK, Jefferson and Beale, have been getting the past several weeks. There has been little use at the five sites. Friday, October 28, 2005 will be the last day of 'operation this Year. All of the sites have been posted notifying residents of its closure for the winter. The spray parks are anticipated to begin operation in April, 2006 with weather being the determining factor. B A K E R S F I E L D Department of Recreation and Parks Date: October 26, 2005 To: Alan Tandy, City Manager From: Dianne Hoover, Director Of Recreation & Parks 4.---, Subject: Patriot's Park - Picnic Areas A large number of picnic areas are located along the east side of the park near residential homes. In the past, some of the picnic group users and others have been very noisy with their celebrations, parties and music, causing neighbors from the east to complain. Beginning in November, staff will begin removing all picnic tables, slabs, barbecue units, shelters and electrical along or near the east side of the park. We will be relocating these picnic fixtures around the restroom building and near the playground area to the west. This should drastically reduce the past noise issue. We have also scheduled a contractor to trim the trees along that easterly Side to reduce the amount of leaves and other debris falling along the joint property line. This work should be completed the first week in November. CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED'RAIL AUTHORITY PUBLIC MEETING November 1 and 2, 2005 State Capitol Building, Senate Hearing Room 2040 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA AGENDA Agenda Items DAY ONE 'NOVEMBER 1~ 2005~ 3:00---6:00 p.m. Responsible Party Status 1. Approval of September 28, 2005 Meeting Minutes Chairperson Florez A 2. Authority Members' Meetings for Compensation Chairperson Florez A 3. Selection of monthly meeting dates and locations '. Chairperson Florez A 4. Members' Reports Chairperson Florez I 5. Executive Director's Report ) Mehdi Morshed A 6: Public Comment.on Fi_nal EIR/EIS Mehdi Morshed I " The Authority intends to receive public comment on the';fi~n'~l Program EIR/EIS du~ing day one of the meeting.* Agenda Items ~ DAY TWO - NOVEMBER 2~ 2005~ 9:00 a.m. Responsible Party Status 7. Summary and Brief Response to Comment received on the Final Program EIR/EIS Mehdi Morshed I Staff will, present a staff report on the Final EIR/EIS and will briefly summarize and respond to Public Comment on the Final EIR/EIS received during day one of the meeting. 8. Consideration of Final Program' EIR/EIS and Decision on Proposed HST System for Chairperson Florez A California The Board will determine wh~ether to certify the 'Final Program EIR/EI~, will consider and may adopt findings for compliance with CEQA, and will consider fvhether to approve the proposed HST System for California for further evaluation. 9. Delegation of Authority to Executive Director,' Administrative Record Preparation Contract Mehdi Morshed A The Board will determine whether to delegate authority to the Executive Director to take whatever steps are necessary to enter into a contract for the preparation of the administrative record for the Program EIR/EIS, including signing such a contract on the Authority's behalf. 10. Public Comment An opportunity for public comment will also be provided during each public agenda item. 11. Closed Session Closed session to confer with legal counsel, pursuant to Government Code Section l1126(e)(2)(B)(i). 12. Adjournment "A" denotes an "Action" item; "I" denotes an "Information" item. Items may be taken out of order. *Any person who wishes to provide comment on the Final EIR/EIS must so indicate to the Board on Day 1 at the meeting and be present and prepared to offer comment on Day 1 of the meeting. If the Board cannot'accommodate all those so identified on Day l, then public comment by those identified on Day i will continue as the first item on Day 2 of the meeting. Reasonable Accommodation for Any Individual with a Disability Any individual with a disability, who requires reasonable accommodation tO attend or participate may request assistance by contacting the Authority at (916) 324-1541. Requests for additional accommodations for the disabled, signers, assistive listening devices, or translators should be made no later than one week prior to the meeting. 925 L Street, Suite 1425, Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 324-1541, (916) 322-0827 fax For further information you mayvisit the California High-Speed Rail website at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov Joseph, E. Petr~llo, Chair . ARNOLD SCHVVARZENEGGER Ma~rc A~I~, Vi~-Chalr GO~RNOR Ro~ Lyn~ Ue~ M~h~, ~ec~ve D~ctor ~E~E~VE~ ' C~IFORNIA HIGH-SPEED ~lL AUTHORI~ ~ ~" October 14, 2005 OCT 2 4 ~005 Dear Stakeholder: ~TY HAN~ER'S OFF:C~ ~ The California High-Speed Rail Authority~(Authority) is proposing a high-speed train system to provide a safe and reliable mode of travel that links major statewide metropolitan areas. The Authority, With the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), has prepared a Final Program Environmental Impact Repo~/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) to evaluate a system that would extend from ~S~E~t~d-th~S~n-Fran~i~B~A~i~the-hb-~t~h~h~'t'h~C~tgFV~ll~t~'L~A~ and San Diego in the south. The Final Program EIR/EIS analyzes a proposed high-speed train alternative and compares it with a No Projec~No Action Alternative and a Modal Alternative..In the Final Program EIR/EIS, the Authority has identified and the FRA has concurred with preferred high-speed train corridors/general alignments, general station locations, recommended mitigation strategies, recommended design practices and fu~her measures to guide development of the high-speed train system at the project level to avoid and minimize potential adverse environmental impacts. The Authority anticipates sta~ing a next tier program EIR/EIS to separately address the choice of a corridor/general alignment from.the San Francisco Bay Area to the Central Valley. Should the proposed high-speed train system be advanced, subsequent project level environmental review would consider site-specific environmental impacts. The Final Program EIR/EIS has been made available to the public in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act prior to Authority and FRA's decisions at the conclusion of this program level environmental review. At the Authority's public Board Meeting, to be held in Sacramento on November 1,2005 from 3:00 to 6:00 PM and continued on November 2 at 9:00 AM at the State Capitol Building, Senate Hearing Room 2040, the Authority Board is expected to consider whether to certify the EIR/EIS. E~r`~additi~na~Jr~f~r-mati~n~n~t~e-pr~gr~am~E~R/E~-visit-the-Aut~rity~s~website-at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov. I look forward to seeing you in Sacramento. at our Board Meeting. Sincerely, Mehdi Morshed, Executive Director 925 l'Street, Suite1425 Sacrament°,.CA 95814 916.324.1541 ~ fax 916~322.0827 v~,vw.c~ighspeedrail.ca.gov BAKERSFIELD POLICE MEMORANDUM TO: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER .' ~j ' ~r I ~ ~ } FROM: W.R. RECTOR, CHIEF OF POLICE ~ , =1 DATE: October 24, 2005 , .. ~ q ^ ~ ~ e =~'.q O~F'Cr- SUBJECT: Crime Rates in Sunset/Oleander Area '::¥Y ......... ....... Council Referral No. 1238 (Ward 2) Council Member Benham requested police staff assist in responding to correspondence received from a citizen in the Sunset/Oleander area regarding its crime rate. I In the later part of September 2005, the Oleander area was experiencing a rash of thefts from vehicles and residences. The Investigations Division noticed this increase of thefts and requested Crime Prevention staff go door to door in the Oleander area, to place fliers notifying residents of the theft issue. Detectives also contacted various people living in the area, not only to warn them, but in attempt to gather suspect information related to the offenses. Additionally, the Patrol section, specifically beat officers, increased their presence in the area to deter crime and attempt to locate possible suspects. Based on the above efforts several arrests were made in and around the area of Oleander. We believe these suspects were responsible for some of the criminal offenses. Since the time of the arrests, we have noticed a decline in theft related activity. The police department coordinated efforts of three different divisions to help locate suspects and prevent further thefts. However, one of the key ingredients was information we received from residents in the area. This only further supports the concept of Neighborhood Watch and establishing more neighborhood watch groups. This is the perfect vehicle to get information to the department about suspicious activities/crime and for the department to r. elay information back to the residents to prevent crime and advise them of the steps taken by the department to apprehend suspects in their neighborhood. WRR/vrf B A K E R S F I E L D OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER MEMORANDUM October 24, 2005 TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Alan Christensen, Assistant City Manager ~ SUBJECT: Code Enforcement Issues on Orange Street Council Referral #001296 Councilmember Benham requested staff respond to a complaint from Mike Martinez regarding code enforcement issues on Orange Street in the Oleander area. I spoke with Mr. Martinez the phone on October 20, 2005. Our conversation was a fairly positive one. Mr. Martinez indicated that he'd had dealings with code enforcement staff since 2000. The issues were garbage in the back alley, overgrown weeds, and an abandoned vehicle. Mr. Martinez claims to have had personal conflicts with one particular code enforcement officer, which resulted in complaints from him to the department. Although when pressed, Mr. Martinez said the last contact he had with that staff person was 11,~ to 2 years ago. Mr, Martinez feels picked on by code enforcement because he claims that others are the cause of the problems in his alley. He lives next to an apartment complex which he believes are the source of the garbage problems. I explained to him that I knew that there had been a number of complaints for the alley area for neighboring properties and that we had treated them the similarly. Mr. Martinez acknowledged that he had had surgery a few years back and was unable to maintain his lawns during that time. He admitted that they might have gotten long during that time. After my contact with Mr.' Martinez, I spoke with the Code Enforcement supervisor about his case. Code Enforcement has taken action against his property. The code enforcement officer accused of harassing him attests to never meeting Mr. Martinez and that all his personal dealings have been through the mail. Records indicate that four different code officers have visited the area and made note of code problems at his residence. Since 2003, at least 38 calls have been generated for that entire block of Orange Street. Pictures confirm that the calls to Mr. Martinez' property were legitimate code enforcement complaints that needed to be corrected. Since that time, it appears things have improved. I inspected the property myself last week and found that it was in good shape. I have no doubt that Mr. Martinez had a conflict with someone, perhaps one of our staff, but I can only conclude that Mr. Martinez was mistaken about that person's identity. Mr. Martinez did have one outstanding code violation that he had been served a letter to attend a hearing to correct. He indicated that he was not attending it because of his frustrations in the past. I encouraged him to do so, that by representing his interests he would be better off in the long run. B A K E R S F I E 1., D CITY OF BAKERSFIELD PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Raul Rojas, Public Works Director DATE: October 24, 2005 SUBJECT: TRASH REBATE FOR SENIORS Referral No. 1310 COUNClLMEMBER COUCH REQUESTED STAFF CONTACT ROSEMARY MCGUIRE REGARDING TRASH REBATES FOR SENIORS. At the request of Councilmember David Couch, staff contacted Rosemary McGuire and clarified the policy on senior rebates for refuse fees. Ms. McGuire did not qualify for last year's rebate. She occupied the home for only a portion of the year, and thus paid less than a whole year's service fee. The program requires that the home be owner occupied and the whole annual fee be paid in order for senior citizens to qualify for the rebate, which is for 50% of the annual fee. C:\DOCUME-1\lskinner~LOCALS~1\Temp\Re~1310 Trash Rebate for Seniors.doc BAKERSFIELD POLICE MEMORANDUM TO: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER FROM: W.R. RECTOR, CHIEF OF POLICE ¢~- DATE: October 26, 2005 SUBJECT: Dogs and Odor at 11908 Roaring River Avenue Council Referral No. 1306 (Ward 4) Council Member Couch referred to staff for investigation correspondence from Roaring River neighborhood, River Oaks Community, regarding a complaint of loud barking dogs and odor on the property at 11908 Roaring River Avenue. Councilmember Couch requested a response to a neighborhood complaint at 11908 Roaring River Avenue involving barking dogs and animal waste odor. Animal control officers responded to the residence on October 25th and made contact with the owner. The owner said she had recently moved to the area and placed her dogs in kennels on the east side of her property because neighbors were afraid they might break through the residential fencing. There are two dogs at the residence a German Shepard and a Pit Bull mix in 5x5 chain link kennels. The Pit Bull barked for about five minutes when the animal control officers conducted their inspection and stopped. The German Shepard never barked while animal control officers were there. The kennels had not been cleaned for about one day and both dogs had large containers of food and water. The kennel area does have a urine odor, but they are housed on dirt and the smell is hard to cover. Both dogs had expired licenses, but vaccinations were current. The owner was issued a citation for the licensing violation. Animal control officers informed her of the barking dog nuisance and governing municipal code as well as electronic barking control devices she could purchase. Animal control officers will continue to monitor the residence for future violations. MEMORANDUM CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE October 27, 2005 TO: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER ~ ./ /~_~' FROM: VIRGINIA GENNARO, CITY ATTORNEY~)~ ~ j~ SUBJECT: STRIP CLUBS ALONG FWY 99 COUNCIL REFERRAL NO. 001307 Councilmember Couch referred to the City Attorney correspondence from Karen Champness regarding a letter to the editor, dated September 26, 2005, in opposition to strip clubs placed along Fwy. 99, and requested staff prepare a response. As the Council is aware, the Courts have determined that the regulation and zoning of adult entertainment businesses impact issues of constitutional law under the Ist Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Freedom of Speech) and the 14th Amendment (Equal Protection). Numerous Court cases have restricted a local entity's ability to regulate these types of businesses. The law also requires that a reasonable number of sites be available for establishment of adult entertainment businesses. The City of Bakersfield has implemented zoning restrictions on adult entertainment businesses which require them to be separated from other such businesses as well as from residential properties, schools, churches, etc. While some of the available locations are located near the freeway, the City has taken a very conservative approach in establishing the amount of available sites where adult-related businesses can be established. The City, therefore, regulates these businesses to the maximum extent allowed by law. VG/RMS:dll cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council S:\COUNClL\Referrals\05-06 Referrals\Couch\05-06\StdpClubsFwy99.doc disturbing 'Strip clubs .... ~wn, why oa ~o~ ~ ~ ~ ~e ~ ~~a~°~ie~ ~e OE~e ~ , s~o~~~ea ~eme~~d~ ~e~ ...** .... ~. :... *:......; .~-....~.:.'.***;:. ', ..,......,. :., .-.. ~'..:. 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