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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/03/04 B A K E R S F I E L D CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE MEMORANDUM September 3, 2004 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Alan Tandy, City Manager SUBJECT: General Information 1. The most recent red light enforcement camera went into operation at Ming and South Real Road on April 30th. However, the signage to notify the public of the enforcement system's presence was, inadvertently, not posted. When the Police Department became aware of the problem on May 13th, the required signage was posted the following day. During that period of time, 613 citations were issued for violations at that intersection. 321 of those were dismissed when the signage technicality came to light, leaving 292 to be rectified. The Police Department is seeking a dismissal from the court for those citations and will be contacting those individuals to inform them what will be done to correct the situation. As the process moves forward, more details will be placed on the website and a special telephone recording will be. set up to provide information for the affected individuals. A press release on this matter was issued by the Police Department today and Chief Rector has made himself available for any media inquiries. 2. On Monday afternoon, a depression in the pavement at White Lane and DoVewood Street (just east of Stine Road) was reported. Staff secured the site and began investigating the cause of the problem, assisted by California Water Service. A leak was discovered in an irrigation pipe, which was subsequently determined to be abandoned. On Wednesday, the cause was ultimately traced to a leak in a Cai Water service line that bisected the irrigation pipe. Cai Water replaced the service line, and the area has been repaved and opened to traffic. Staff is compiling our costs associated with the incident and will work with Cai Water to recover City expense. A report prepared by Public Works staff is enclosed. Thanks are due to all the City street and sewer maintenance employees who dedicated themselves to fixing the problem expediently. 3. The League issued the enclosed notice that the Governor has signed AB 2690, the bill that exempts volunteers from being paid prevailing wage. The bill was a necessary corrective action that will allow volunteers to work on "public works" projects. Honorable Mayor and City Council September 3, 2004 Page 2 4. We are working with others in the community to organize an event in recognition of our local Olympians, but it is contingent on finding an acceptable date that will work for two or more of them. They all reside outside of Bakersfield, so schedule and travel issues are very complicated. In the meantime, we are working on a new display for the Hall of Fame at Centennial Garden to honor the local Olympic athletes. 5. There will be water flowing through the Kern River Parkway for the Labor Day weekend. This may be the last that will be seen until next spring, unless the extremely dry conditions on the Kern River watershed change over the next few weeks. 6. Bakersfield will be the host city for the California State Horseshoe Pitching Championships, starting today and continuing through this weekend at the Kern County Fairgrounds. A news release from the CVB is enclosed. 7. Responses to Council requests are enclosed, as follows: Councilmember Maqgard · Staff investigation of standing water near the walking path on the Panorama Bluffs; · Code enforcement actions at locations on La Costa, potholes at the East Hills Village annex, and debris on the vacant land near the post office on Brundage Lane; Councilmember Couch · Code enforcement actions at Stockdale Highway and Buena Vista Road. AT:rs cc: Department Heads Pam McCarthy, City Clerk Trudy Slater, Administrative Analyst BAKERSFIELD POLICE NEWS RELEASE September 3, 2004 On April 30, 2004, the Redflex Red Light Cameras went operational at the intersection of Ming Avenue and South Real Road. However, the signage required by the Vehicle Code, notifying the public of the' automated enforcement system's presence was not posted. The Police Department became aware of the error on May 13th, 2004 and the signage was posted on May 14th, 2004. Citations for the red light violations during that time period were mailed to the suspected violators by the Police Department within a few days after each individual violation was recorded by the Redflex System, Although the red light violations were valid, the fact that the signs were not posted created a technicality that ultimately invalidates the citation. Therefore, it was decided to dismiss all of the citations. During this process it was discovered that some of the fines for the citations had already been paid or arrangements had been made with the court by the violator. At this point, the decision was made by the Police Department to not dismiss those citations. After being contacted by the Bakersfield Californian, questioning that decision, the Police Department re-evaluated the decision and is taking steps to remedy it. The Police Department is in the process of seeking a reopening and dismissal of the citations that were paid. If the request is granted by the court the fines will be refunded to the violator. The Police Department will be notifying the individuals by mail with and explanation of what occurred and what steps we will be taking to correct the situation. When this process is finalized more information will be available via the Police Department website and a recorded line for the individuals affected. During the aforementioned time frame 613 citations were issued. 321 of those citations were immediately dismissed leaving 292 citations to be rectified. Chief Rector will be available for comment this afternoon, beginning at 2:00 p.m. Please call Detective DeGeare at (661) 326-3803 for a scheduled appointment. B A K E R S F I E L D CITY OF BAKERSFIELD MEMORANDUM September 3, 2004 TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Raul Rojas, Public Works Director ~ SUBJECT: Emergency Repairs-White Lane On Monday afternoon, August 30, 2004, staff received a call about a depression in the pavement at the intersection of White Lane and Dovewood Street. Upon inspection, City crews found a six-inch deep, eight-foot diameter depression in the center of the intersection. The site was made safe for the night by delineating the area to prevent cars from driving over the depression. Sewer and Street Maintenance staff began work on Tuesday morning to determine the cause of the depression. Series of Events: Tuesday, August 31 · Sewer line videoed and determined not to be the cause of depression. Water found coming through survey monument assembly. California Water Service Company was contacted. They excavated the water line and found no leak. · California Water Service excavated the depression and found leaking concrete pipe which is not theirs. · Street plans from 1965 show a 19" irrigation pipe. · Kern Delta Water District was contacted and they indicated the line was not theirs. · City staff returned to excavate and repair the pipe. · Repairs were made to slow the leak · Decision made to find the source of the water the following day. · Staff remained on site overnight to monitor the leak. ~Wednesday, September 1 · Hole made in pipe · Water pumped out and source determined to be coming from the east · Water tested and determined to have chlorine · California Water Service returned to assist by turning off valves · Video placed in pipe; debris prevents finding water source · Water continues to flow · White Lane excavated at Akers Road to find irrigation pipe. · Irrigation pipe cleaned and videoed. Found to be plugged to the east. And a California Water Service line found leaking to the west. · California Water Service turns off service. · City staff placed concrete slurry in excavated areas to seal pipe. Thursday, September 2 · City staff repaved excavated areas. · California Water Service installs new service line. · California Water Service contacted to excavate over the area where line was leaking to check roadway for voids, they will schedule the work. Street and Sewer maintenance employees worked diligently on this difficult situation. Work continued until 12 midnight on Tuesday and began early on Wednesday. Their dedication and effort to public service is greatly appreciated. Staff is currently summarizing costs associated with the repairs and will be contacting California Water Service to recover the City costs. .Article from Priority Focus Page 1 of 1 Article from Priority Focus ( _~.~; p; //~ w w. i ~.~..g_~.._n.._e_.~ ~ ~ c o m /p !:!..~..!:.Lt_yf_o...~..u._.~/.e...__a...~j.~;!g.O 0_0.~.._0.._0.._0....2...!_...,. ~_f._~.~_ September 3, 2004 Governor Signs Bill Exempting Volunteers from Prevailing Wage Flequirements On Monday August :30, Governor Arnold Sohwarzenegger signed AB 2690 (Hancock - Chapter 3:30, Statutes of 2004). This measure responds to an unfortunate situation resulting from an interpretation of existing law that requires volunteers to be paid based upon the prevailing wage, even though they are volunteers, are accepting no salary singe they are providing volunteer labor and are working on community projects. AB 2690 specifically provides that California's prevailing wage laws will not apply to any work performed by a volunteer. Volunteer is defined as an individual who performs work for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons for a public agency or a not-for-profit corporation. It would also exempt from prevailing wages staff of the California Conservation Corps and would apply retroactively to cover work concluded on or after January 1,2002. When one considers how many projects in cities rely upon volunteer labor, it is clear that AB 2690 will have a very broad impact. For example, .communities use volunteer labor to construct civic projects such as new parks, recreation facilities, theatres, trails, or other projects to better the city. Most, if not all, of these efforts could not be sustained if they were required to pay the "volunteers" prevailing wages. Given the importance of many "volunteer" projects to the fabric of our communities, the impact of AB 2690 on California communities cannot be over-stated. Cities should thank Assemblymember Hancock for taking on this issue. Published by League of California Cities Copyright © 2004 League of California Cities. All rights reserved. Powered by ]:lVlN http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/mod_prinLview.cfm?this_id=300021 &u=priorityfocus&... 9/3/2004 BAKERSFIELD TO HOST STATE Page 1 of 1 Rhonda Smile¥- Fwd: horseshoenewsrelease.doc. From: Alan Tandy · To: Rhonda Smiley Date: 9/1/2004 8:24 APl sUbject:· Fwd: horseshoenewsrelease.doc BAKERSFIELD TO !HOST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP Bakersfield has been selected to host the 2004. California State Horseshoe Pitching Championship September 3,4,5. The Bakersfield Cor~vention and Visitors Bureau in conjunction with the California Horseshoe Pitchers Association, is holding a news conference and a-mini tournament for ,membe.rs-of the local media. The tournament and media event are being-held in building #2 at the Kern County Fairground,s. The news conference will :begin at 1:00pm on Friday, 'September 3rd. For more information on the event contact Don Jaeger, Bakersfield CVB, 325-5051, Cell 747-2697. For information on how to pitch horseshoes.go to www.horseshoepitChing.com/gaminto/howtopitch.shtml file://C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\rsmiley\Local%20Settings\Temp\GW } 00001 .HTM 9/1/200, B A K E R S F I E L D MEMORANDUM September 3, 2004 TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Florn Cor~ources Manager SUBJECT: Council Referral ID: Ref000900 - Maggard; STANDING WATER- PANORAMA WALKING PATH Councilmember Maggard requested staff investigate standing water near the walking path on the Panorama Bluffs. Staff made two trips to the area to investigate the standing water near the walking area on the Panorama Bluffs. One trip was made in the early morning and the other in the evening. It was determined that the standing water is a result of over watering the grass areas recently planted at Panorama Park. Staff contacted the Kern County Department of Parks and Recreation regarding this matter since the problem is located within a county park. We were assured by county staff that they would review the situation and adjust the sprinklers as appropriate to eliminate the over watering and standing water along the walking path on the bluffs. TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager '/f~h / FROM: Jack Hardisty, Development Services Di DATE: September 2, 2004 SUBJECT: Re: Gardening. Business at 3211 La Costa, Air Conditioning Business at 3115 La Costa, Parking Lot potholes at East Hills Village Annex and Vacant land beside Post Office at East Brundage Lane. Councilmember Mike Maggard requested staff to look into the above violations. Code enforcement determined that 3211 La Costa has a HOP on file 05-35548 since 1996. 3115 La Costa, Air Conditioning business was determined unfounded, homeowner works for family business and brings vehicle home at night. The East Hills Village Annex, potholes in the parking lot, we found two holes in the lot of the shopping center, a notice was issued to the property owner to repair the parking lot. The vacant land next to the Post Office on East Brundage Lane, we inspected the land and issued a Seven Day Notice to the owner of 2801 East Brundage Lane to correct the violation of weed, trash and debris.. B A K E R S F I E L D MEMORANDUM TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Jack HardistY, Development Services DATE: September 2, 2004 SUBJECT: Re: 5412 Cherry Tree Lane. Councilmember Jacquie Sullivan requested staff to look into a violation at the above address. Code enforcement went out and determined a violation of illegal dumping of wastewater in the gutter. A Seven Day Notice was sent to the property owner and a re-inspection will occur on September 8, 2004. · B A"K. E' R' $:' F I E' 'L .D .... MAN~:-..~, .. CITY ~ ~ `~'~ '~ MEMORANDUM TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Jack Hardisty, Development Servic~ DATE: September 1, 2004 SUBJECT: Abatement Issues on Southwest Comer of Stockdale Hwy and Buena Vista Rd Referral No. 906 Councilmember David Couch requested staff to look into illegal dumping at the southwest comer of Stockdale at Buena Vista; additionally there is an RV parked in the street at the same location. On August 31, 2004, a code enforcement officer inspected the property and violations were found consisting of overgrown vegetation, junk, trash, debris and advertising signs on a vacant lot. A Seven Day Notice was issued on September 1, 2004 to the property owner. A re- inspection will be made on September 8, 2004. MEMORANDUM TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Jack Hardisty, Development Services Di DATE: August 31, 2004 SUBJECT: Illegal Dumping at South "H" at Wilson Road near the Canal Referral No. 891 Councilmember Mark Salvaggio requested staff to look into illegal dumping at So. H at Wilson Rd. near the Canal. Code Enforcement investigated the site early last week and observed Kern Delta Water District employees cleaning up the canal banks at this location. Code Enforcement went out today, August 31, 2004 to recheck the area for any trash or debris illegally dumped and no such nuisance was seen. B A K E R S F I E L D MEMORANDUM TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Jack Hardisty, Development Services Di DATE: September 1, 2004 SUBJECT: Zoning issue at 1704 Lemay Avenue and 1705 Lemay Avenue Councilmember Mark Salvaggio requested staff to look into the harboring of roosters and chickens at the above addresses. On August 30, 2004, a code enforcement officer inspected the property and violations of chickens and roosters in an R-1 zone were found at both properties. A seven day abatement notice was issued on both properties outlining the violations. If the violations have not been corrected within seven days, misdemeanor citations will be issued.