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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 1973 07 02 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING TUSTIN CITY COUNCIL July 2, 1973 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Saltarelli. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Councilman Woodruff. III INVOCATION Given by Councilman Welsh. IV. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmen: Saltarelli, Langley, Miller, Welsh, Woodruff. Absent: Councilmen: None. Others present: City Administrator Harry Gill City Attorney James Rourke Asst. City Admin. Ken Fleagle City Clerk Ruth C. Poe V. PUBLIC HEARINGS NONE. VI. PUBLIC CONCERNS 1. HOLTHE CONTRACT Miss Maureen Holthe of Holthe Disposal Co. referred to her letter to the Council requesting increased rates due to increases in costs of operation and stating that the rates now requested are not in excess. In answer to Mayor Saltarelli, Miss Holthe said that the requested rates are not higher than those in effect before the current contract. Mrs. Harry Wagner stated that as a businesswoman she understands the Holthes' position,and hoped the COuncil would give them every consideration. Mr. Milton Curtis, 13362 Cromwell, Tustin, felt that last year's budget was set low and the Holthe Company deserves consideration. Mr. Speed Schuster, speaking for the Chamber of Com- merce in behalf of the HOlthe Company, stated he felt they have the lowest rates in the area and deserve an increase. In answer to Mayor Saltarelli, Mr. Schuster stated thathe could not speak for the entire commercial community but there are higher rates in the area. It is hard for him to judge these rates with those of his other establishments, as the cost of trash pickup is included in his water bill and absorbed7 in his utilities. Mrs. Helen Holthe stated she felt their rate request was fair and equitable, and quoted higher rates in Orange and Santa Ana. Mr. Robert Green, 15512 ~4illiams Street, Tustin, requested that the City check the Holthe vehicles to see if they conform with the noise codes, stating there seems to be extreme noise with the compressors. Mr. Green also asked when something would be done to make Williams Street safe· It had been torn up for some time and is a hazard. City Council Minutes 7/2/73 Page 2 Mr. Gill stated that this sewer construction project is being done under County Sanitation District No. 7. A meeting had been held with representatives of the City, District, and contractor, including Mr. A. Nisson, attorney for DiStrict 7, and the contractor had been put on notice. It is hoped that the situation will improve shortly. ADJOURNMENT There being no further Public Concerns, Mayor Saltarelli declared the meeting adjournedto a short Executive Session. CALL TO ORDER The meeting/reconvened at 8:55 p.m. VII. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - June 18 and June 25 meetings. 2. RATIFICATION OF DEMANDS in amount of $439,858.68. 3. FIRST STREET WIDENING - PARCEL 18, PHASE I, FAIRRAVEN MEMORIAL PARK PROPERTY (First ana Pacific.) Authorization to associate Attorney Robert Waldron as Co-Counsel in eminent domain pro- ~eedings, as recommended by the City Attorney. 4. FINAL MAP OF TRACT NO. 8035 (Third Unit of Laurelwood Patio Homes) Approval of Final Map and bonds, and authori- zation for the Mayor and City Clerk to execute agreements, as recommended by the Assistant City Engineer. Moved by Woodruff, seconded by Miller that all items on the Consent Calendar be approved. Carried unani- mously. VIII. ORDINANCES FOR ADOPTION NONE. IX. ORDINANCES FOR INTRODUCTION NONE. X. RESOLUTIONS 1. RESOLUTION NO. 73-50 A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Tustin ADOPTING THE CITY BUDGET AND APPRO- PRIATING REVENUE OF THE CITY FOR THE 1973-74 FISCAL YEAR. 2. RESOLUTION NO. 73-51 A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Tustin, California, ANNEXING TO THE CITY CERTAIN TERRITORY DESCRIBED HEREIN, AND DESIG- NATED YORBA-MEDFORD ANNEXATION NO. 80. City Council Minutes 7/2/73 Page 3 3. RESOLUTION NO. 73-52 A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Tustin, California, APPROVING PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF DEVELOP- MENT IMPROVEMENTS AND LANDSCAPING OF THE RED HILL/BRYAN PARK AND CONSTRUCTION OF STREET IMPROVEMENTS ON BRYAN AVENUE FROM 101' E/O UTT DRIVE TO RED HILL AVENUE AND RED HILL AVENUE FROM 190' N/O BRYAN AVENUE TO LANCE DRIVE. Councilman Miller requested that Resolution No. 73-50 be pulled and taken up at the end of this agenda. Mayor Saltarelli directed that Resolutions 73-51 and 73,52 be read by title only. The City Clerk read Resolutions 73-51 and 73-52 by title. Moved by Langley, seconded :by Welsh that further reading be waived and that Resolutions 73-'~ ~'~ 73-52 be passed and adopted. Carried. Ayes: Saltarelli, Langley, Miller, Welsh, Woodruff. Noes: none. Absent: none. XI. OLD BUSINESS 1. AGREEMENT WITH TUSTIN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT - LEASE OF BUSES. Councilman Miller asked if there were any estimates as to the ultimate net cost to the City. Mr. Gill stated there is an estimated cost of $725.00 for insurance for two months for two buses, and a cost of 9.3¢ per imile~ for operation of a vehicle plus $3.00 per hour for a driver - the City supplying the gas. Mr. Gill summarized the cost at approximately $30.00 per day plus liability cost. With~/maximum capacity the City should break even and th~ program should be self-supporting, outside of the insurance. In answer to questioning by the Council, Mr. Gill said there are many ways to handle the program, and recommended selling tickets at fifty cents for a round trip, with no distinction between County and City residents. It was his understanding that the School Board would not approve the agreement with any resident restriction. Moved by ~ei~h/~.~Se,co~ded~b~ W~o!dr~ff that agreement be approved and the Mayor and City Clerk be authorized to execute said lease. In answer to further questioning, Mr. Gill said that there are many schedules that could be considered, such as one bus leaving Helen Estock School at noon and returning at 5:00 p.m., or more buses could be added leaving from other schools, such as Thorman and Tustin High. After summer school a bus could leave about 10:30 a.m. When the schedule is worked out notices will be given to the public. It is hoped that the trips will start next Monday. City Council Minutes 7/2/73 Page 4 Ma~or Saltarelli suggested that schedules be left to the staff and a report be brought to the Council at the next meeting. Above motion to approve agreement carried. 2. HOLTHE CONTRACT Mayor Saltarelli announced that there would be no action takenat this meeting relative to the Holthe rate increase request. The matter will be on the agenda for the next meeting, at which time the Council willhavea.report from the:City Attorney as to the legality of changes in the refuse collec- tion contract. XII. OTHER BUSINESS 1. MOSQUITO ABATEMENT DISTRICT Mayor Saltarelli presented alternate methods of revising the Mosquito Abatement District: Regular meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be held at the District Headquarters at 3:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of: 1) Each month of the year as is the present policy of the Board, or 2)! Every other month starting!with July, 1973, or 3) Every third month (quarterly) starting with July 1973. -B. Routine business of the Board shall be carried out by an Executive Committee subject to formal approval by. the Board of Trustees'at~its next regular meeting. The Executive Committee shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Past President, and Secretary of the Board, and the Chairman of the Board's Finance Committee. The Executive Committee will meet at the District Headquarters at 3:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month that a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees is not scheduled. Mayor Saltarelli said he would like the feeling of the Council so thathe would be prepared to vote on one of the above at the next Board meeting. He felt it best made a part of the Health Department,~but that would be along arduous procedure. Councilman Miller said hewould hesitate having an ExecUtive Committee run by management as presently run, and did not like At~e~ha'ti~e~J'B!~Hefelt that meeting quarterly was feasible, CoUncilman Miller did not think it possible to dissolve the Board. It would take special legislation which other communities throughout the State would probably not uphold. Another problem with~tternative "B'!liswhat the Executive Committee could consider routine~business. City Council Minutes 7/2/73 Page 5 2. RESOLUTION NO. 73-50 A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Tustin ADOPTING THE CITY BUDGET AND APPRO- PRIATING REVENUE OF THE CITY FOR THE I973~74 FISCAL YEAR. Mayor Saltarelti stated that a certain number of changes had been made~~ along with salaries set for staff. Councilman Miller stated that he would like to go on record as sayingsthat he does not agree with the majority--or what he believed to be the majority-- opinion on salary classification schedules. His position was that salaries that are 5% remain at 5%. and all others which range from 6.7% to 10~% be a maximum of 6.7%--with one exception, and that is the Operations Officer'Fire. which he thought ought to go to the 8½% increase that is recommended. Mayor Saltarelli stated that it is the Council's intent. after making a salary survey of cities of the~same size and type of service offered, to raise basic wage rates to approximately the median, which would henceforth allow the Council to not consider as closely as has been done in the past the salaries in other cities, but rather to be able to grant across-the-board adjustments in terms of cost of living. etc~ He said that TuStinis.significantly below the median and the salary recommendations of the Salary Survey are that these be moved up. There are certain categories that are 8%, 10% and 13% below the median. CouncilmanIWelsh felt that he would like to see the staffsrecommendations consistent with the overall increase andhewould approve ofthe package brought before the~Council. Mayor Saltarelti explained that at this time we are talking about salaries for employees under the Depart- ment Head level. Councilman Woodruff stated he basically was of the opinion that it is good to pay good employees good salariesand~eep them. At first he was fully inclined"to go with staff recommendations; however. the Council has had to plug in fourteen new personnel although it appears that only eleven are being approved. The Councillhas approvedfifteen positions in the last 90 to 120 days, which means about 26 actual new employees. Mr~ Woodruff said he could not agree with Councilman Welsh to take the step package. Of the 40 classifications called for inthe personnel resolu- tion, 29 are recommended for greater than6.7% raise, and he did not agree with raising salaries that high that fast. He then said he was prepared to grant all employees an across-the-board cost Of living raise and in Some cases tobringto the median. Other than recomme~dationsforDepa~me~ Heads, Mr. Welsh said he concurred!with the package. Mr. Langley said that h6had a certain appreciation fo~ M~.iWoodruff's~ position in respec~ to raises. When taking into consideration the number of bodies it basically reduces the percentages. He stated he City Council Minutes 7/2/73 Page 6 did not agree with the variable category jumps for different types of employees. The idea of changing salary ranges doesn't seem justified. Mr. Langley said that he had heard Mayor Saltarelli's basic proposals and asked that he give his point of view at this time. Mayor Saltarelli stated that the salary survey came in with what it takes toget City positions to the median, in some cases, 5%, 6.7% or 10%. If most positions were near to the median, then the Council could consider only a cost-of~living~raise. In order to get to the median.the Councilswill have to give some categories a 13% increase. It costs the City a great deal to go through this survey each year with this type of a package and it would seem that if most employees were as near to the median as possible, the Council could then consider the entire City on a percentage basis with regards to cost of living "increases. In order to get to the median with all, you would have to grit your teeth and give one positiona 13% raise, which would be a little bit too high to swallow easily. In many cases the 1.67% amounts to maybe-$18~00 a month and it's not a great deal of money, and, on that basis, it would be quite easy to simply buy the package as is and not be really giving away the store. On the other hand, he thought that these types of percentages, coupled with the fact that many employees will be making a step increase~, is more than he philosophically would wish to approve. Reducing one step, which is 1.67%, on thoselpositions above 8.34% would be the right way to handle it. That way the Council will have a 90%-95% approval of their intention to get to the median, after which time he would prefer to talk about the cost of living rather than .in terms of the medians. Mr. Saltarelli said it would be his recommendation that the increases which are 10% be reduced 1.67% and those which are 13~34% be reduced 1.67%, and that the package could be approved on that basis. With salaries at that range, Tustin is competitive in all categories and won'tbe losing good employees to other cities for 1.67%. It is not cost effective to pay S20-$30 a month less and lose the most qualified people to.other cities for a raise of just a few dollars a month. He said that his original thought was to reduceby one step all above 6.67%, but all those at 8% are those which received a lower increase last year. So rather than make another adjustment, he recommended that those be left at 8% with one step. off anything 10% or above, then be right on the median. In the past two years, salaries have been adjusted to be com- mensurate with other cities of our size, and this is the year that the City can afford it. The package presented is a good one. The Mayor's only contention about Mr. Miller's proposal was that it would leave the City once again below the median and the Council would have.to look again at the salary survey. This package could cut 1.67% from anyone listed at 10% or above. CouncilmenLanqley, Welsh and Woodruff stated that they went along with this recommendation. City Council Minutes 7/2/73 Page 7 MayorlSaltarellijalsostated that the Council had approved a reduction in hours of the Fire Department from 67.2 to63 hours per week, which will still leave the Fire Departmentssomewhat abO~e~the median in terms ofhoUrs'per week, and that is.a significant reduction. Mayor Saltarelii then presented the following dis- cussed Department Head recommendations and presented range Classifications. Moved byWo0druff, seconded by Miller that, as pro- posed by Mayor'Saltarelli, the Cit Engineer's salary be-at 34Y, the Police Chief~s at 35Z, th~ Fire Chief at3tZ, the Building Official at 29X, Par~s and Recreation Director at 28Z, Maintenance Superan- tendent at 26X, and the Office Supervisor at 23Y. That amounts to a 6.7% raise for those seven positions. And further that the salary of the two Assistant City Administrators be changed to remove them from the step classification range and place them at a flat Salaryof $23,500. Mr~ Bill Moses, Editor of the Tustin News, asked for the dollar figures so those present would know the amounts. Mayor Saltarelli gave the corresponding figures for the step ranges. He also clarified the point that the Council would not be setting the tax rate until the assessed valuation figures are in. This tonight is approval of the budget document. Mayor Sattarelli then opened the meeting for public comment. Mrs. Margaret Byrd, "B" Street, Tustin, asked why the Police Chief will be paid more than the Fire Chief. ~ayor Saltarelli answered that the City is interview- · ng tomorrow for a new PoliCe Chief and had advertised to a top'monthly salary of $1,833; that does not mean that the City cannot hire at a lesser figure. The Council is now simply establishing a range for the Chief of Police and that salary range will be com- mensurate with the individuat's qualifications and length of service, etc. In answer to Mrs. Byrd's question about the fact that the City Fire Depart- ment is below the median, Mayor Saltarelli stated that the proposal this year will bring the Fire Department to the median. The CounCil has now acted to reduce their hours, which definitely was above the median; this package this year will put the Fire Department very well in comparison with all the other departments of cities of like size. Mr. Moses applauded earlier comments on percentile, but said it appears that the budget is up one-third, and as the'assessed valuation has increased, he wanted to know when the taxpayers were going to get a break. Mr~ Milton Curtis commented on the increases in the budget by departments, and stated that by his figures the overall budget appeared to be up 39%, and felt that this increase was more than the taxpayers should have to bear. City Council Minutes 7/2/73 Page 8 In answer to remarks by Mr. Curtis regarding boundary increases, MayorSaltarelli stated that there had been significant increases in the City boundaries and that the employment ratio per popu- lation is less than in previous years. Councilman Woodruff said he appreciated the work Mr. Curtis had put into reviewing the budget. As to the criticism by Mr. Curtis of the Building Department for the 33% increase, it should be noted that the income of the Building Department had increased by 120% and the number of inspections had increased 120%. No business can do ~20% more work without seeing the cost-Of .~t, he.~b~ness going up, and to hold spending increasee~o.one~"four~h-of the cos~ ~ncrea~e~is"commendable. The__~ameis true in the Engineerin~ Department'; the~ f~t~is you cannot operatea community wit-hout having good streets} ~ood storm drains, street lights~,~etc. Because the b~dget before has beenso-fragile and delicate, there has never 5'een.-enoug~ money allocated for that sor~ of. thing. ,Mr. Woodruff saidhe is proud that the Council can l~ok forward to doing some !street"wOrd-theft has be~n-poStponed too long. As far as employees, thirteen ofthem are going to the Pclice Department (some were already approved in the last Budget midyear)', and six into the Fire Department; as the Mayor has indicated, we will actually be operating with three or four fewer employees this year than we did have budgeted for 1972-73. Regarding the PEP Program, in the last couple of years, the City did not hire regular employees while the population soared from about 18,000 to 27,000; now this is catching up with us. We had a two-year free ride. Some of these PEP employees are being absorbed. Finally, in answer to further comments by Mr. Curtis, Mr. Woodruff stated that he has not seen the Civic Center dedicated as a Taj Mahal, he thought that the budget was a particularly stringent one, and he did not see any more bodies than are in the ~ssembly of parttime buildings that we are operating out of right now. There being no further comments from the public, the Mayor declared the public portion closed. It was reiterated that the motion on the floor was to approve the Department Head salaries as previously discussed. Motion carried unanimously. Councilm~n Miller noted that the Council had voted a bigger contingency fund than the City had ~-~ before, which is approximately two and one-half months' operating expenditure. Moved by Welsh, seconded by Woodruff that employees' packages, with the changes reducing those areas that were 10% or above by one step of 1.67%, be approved. Carried, Councilman Miller voting no. Ma~or Saltarelli directed that Resolution No. 73-50 be read by title only. The City Clerk read Resolution No. 73-50 by title. Cit~ Council Minutes 7/2/73 Page 9 Moved by Langley, seconded by Miller that Resolution No. 73-50 adopting the Tustin City Budget be passed and adopted. Carried. Ayes: Saltarelli, Langley, Miller, Welsh, Woodruff. Noes: none. Absent: none. Mayor Saltare~li commented that there was a change in the rate of the compensation for the City Attorney --in the manner of compensation at no cost to the City. 3. EXERCISE TRAIL IN CENTENNIAL PARK The proposal of Mrs. Barbara Fontain to set up an exercise trail in Centennial Park was endorsed by the Parks and Recreation Commission. The City Attorney has not reviewed the potential liabilities of the package, and it was Mr. Gill~'~S' recommenda- tion that this be referred to the next meeting. 4. ANNUAL LEAGUE CONFERENCE Mr. Gill asked for the direction of the Council as to who would be authorized to attend the Annual League of Cities Conference in San Francisco in October, from the Council and from the staff. The Mayor will contact Mr. Gill about this. 5. AB 1829 (BADHAM) Councilman Miller stated that he thought it should be brought to the attention of the League of Cities that the City Council is unhappy with AB 1829 (Badham), relating to water districts. The Council concurred, and the Mayor directed that a letter to this effect be drafted for his signature. 6. COUNCIL PROCEDURES Councilman Langley expressed concern relative to commitments made by members of the Council, in par- ticular as related to the Parks and Recreation Commission and youth program. Councilman Welsh responded that he assumed that the Council desired for him to proceed as the City's Youth Liaison, and that comments made to the Parks and Recreation Commission were made wi~h the COuncil's previous awarenes s. It was the consensus of the Council that the procedures outlined in the Mayor's letter would be followed to assure that all members of the Council were made fully aware of individual actions. XIV. ADJOURNMENT There being no~further business before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. ~CLERK ~