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Home My WebLink About05/06/2002 BAKERSFIELD (~ [J C,~.. David Couch, Chair Alan Tandy, City Manager Sue Benham Staff: John W. Stinson Mike Maggard AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, May 6, 2002, 1:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room - City Hall 1. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 1:04 p.m. Present: Councilmembers David Couch, Chair; Sue Benham and Mike Maggard 2. ADOPT APRIL 8, 2002 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding space needs and City Hall expansion Assistant City Manager Alan Christensen provided an update on space needs. At the direction of the Committee, staff has looked at several sites for temporary space for Management Information Services (MIS). MIS needs more space immediately as they do not have enough room in their basement location for employees and equipment. Staff recommends that the hardware (network) not be moved as it would cost approximately $100,000 to move the equipment, and if moving to a temporary location, it would require moving it again. Staff also recommends keeping technical network and personal computer staff at City Hall. MIS management and the website personnel could be moved with little disruption to the division. The Washing Mutual building has 3,100 square feet available for lease and it may be possible to negotiate a short-term, three year lease. The Committee was also interested in exploring the availability of the space in the Borton Petrini building because of its close proximity to City Hall. Staff was requested to look into the availability of a Iongterm lease with a renewal and/or purchase option. ADOPt'ED AS SUBI~/"rED Olq ~ 10, 2002 URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, May 6, 2002 Page -2- In response to the Committee's request, Public Works Director Raul Rojas provided different campus style design concepts for the current City Hall location. Options included the possibility of moving Police Services to another location and building a four story City Hall, or leaving Police Services and building additional stories on the Public Works building. Parking is a big issue and would require erecting a parking structure. Adding floors to the current Public Works building and the logistics of where current staff and parking would be located during construction were discussed. The Committee requested staff to provide the long-term cost differential between owning and leasing space. Using the Central Park location to build a new City Hall and parking structure was discussed. The Committee stressed any green space used must be replaced in the downtown area. The Bakersfield Museum is at that site and there is a large investment in their facilities, so that would need to stay in its present location. The Committee requested staff to place calls as soon as possible to the Bakersfield Museum of Art and the Veterans Memorial Park Committee, so they are aware of today's discussions and do not hear it first on the news. Staff will convey to the Veterans Memorial Park Committee their project is highly regarded. Public Works staff will bring design concepts for the Central Park location to the next meeting. B. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding Tree Ordinance enforcement Assistant City Manager John Stinson gave an overview of informational memorandums included in the packet. The first memo dealt with issues regarding tree maintenance and replacement of trees. It included ways the City could provide educational information for individuals and business who hire professionals to maintain their trees; voluntary educational efforts targeted to educate professional tree trimmers; and research on other cities' ordinances for comparison with the City's ordinance requirements for replacement of trees. The City's current ordinance regarding replacement of trees does not have a mechanism to provide sufficient deterrent to prevent removal and replacement of trees reaching a fuller maturity with smaller trees. Staff favored the wording used by the City of San Diego, which requires trees that die within the first three years must be replaced with the same sized tree. Trees that die three years or more after installation must be replaced with 60" boxed trees. It provides the City Manager with authorization to adjust the replacement depending on site restrictions and the size of the specimen that died. URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, May 6, 2002 Page -3- The Committee discussed the difference between trees that die of natural causes and someone cutting down trees and the implications if the commercial property has a 40 percent shade canopy without the dead trees. Also, the Tree Ordinance recently adopted by the Council called for 48" boxed-tree replacements with 60" planters. If a 60" inch boxed-tree replacement is required, it will not fit in a 60" planter. Staff will return to the Committee with alternative ordinance language. The second memorandum provided two proposed options for regulation of tree trimmers: Option 1 - Voluntary Certification, which focuses on providing for voluntary certification in order to improve the skills and knowledge of local commercial tree trimmers. Option 2 - Licensing of Tree Trimmers, which focuses on requiring a city license and International Society of Arborists (ISA) Certified Arborist certification requirement in order to operate as a commercial tree trimmer. Other cities surveyed typically only require the license and ISA certification to work on city-owned trees, not those on commercial or private property. Staff recommended Option 1, which provides tree trimmers could voluntarily obtain the ISA Certified Arborist certification. Classes are offered through Bakersfield College for tree trimmers and would provide basic tree trimming skills and background to prepare them for the certification. Certification requires three years of documented field experience, passing a multiple choice examination, and continuing education of 30 CEUs every three years. There is an initial fee of $225 and a renewal fee of $100-$200 based on level of affiliation. Committee Member Benham made a motion for staff to move forward with staff's recommendations outlined in Option 1, Voluntary Certification, to improve the skills and knowledge of local commercial tree trimmers. The motion was unanimously approved. 5. COMMrn'EE COMMENTS Committee Member Maggard requested staff to check how cities in Southern California that passed ordinances to prohibit the use of leaf blowers dealt with the implications of not being able to use leaf blowers, for example in the parks. Has it been disruptive and negative or are there positives. 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 2:48 p.m. URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, May 6, 2002 Page -4- Attendance - staff: City Manager Alan Tandy; Assistant City Manager John W. Stinson; Assistant City Manager Alan Christensen; Deputy City Attorney Ginny Gennaro; Development Services Director Jack Hardisty; Economic Development Director Donna Kunz; Public Works Director Raul Rojas; Finance Director Gregory Klimko; Recreation and Parks Director Stan Ford; Public Works Civil Engineer Ted Wright; Public Works Park and Landscape Designer Don Hoggatt; Real Property Agent Don Anderson; and Urban Forester Paul Graham Others: Mark Smith, Grubb & Ellis/ASU; Tammy Brown, KUZZ; Lorraine Unger, Sierra Club; and James Burger, reporter, The Bakersfield Californian; and Jon Don, KGET-TV cc: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers S:~JOHN~Urban Dev2002~ud02May06sum mary.wpd