City council meeting highlights
Submitted by the City of Paso Robles.
Highlights from the City Council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 20, are as follows:
Transition to City Council District Elections- received public comment on the criteria for drafting city council district boundaries for the transition from at-large city council elections to by-district elections. The city is required to transition into to a by-district system because of a legal challenge that our current system violates the California Voting Rights Act of 2002. The primary criteria is census population data. All districts must have an equal population, as determined by indivisible census tracts. However, the boundaries of council districts can be drawn based on logical divisions within the city (e.g. major roads, rivers, creeks, neighborhood boundaries, school attendance areas, etc.)
There are other questions for which the city needs public input: Should downtown be in one district or split into multiple districts? Similarly, do neighborhoods want to be in one district or two? What other communities of interest or amenities should be grouped together (e.g. parks, schools, service groups, etc.)? There was public comment and the City Council provided feedback. Common themes included: maintaining our at-large mayor and creating four council districts, including downtown in at least two districts, and working to maintain East/West connectivity.
The council directed staff to continue with extensive community outreach and provide examples and information regarding how residents can get involved through the website, social media, traditional media and any other logical outreach opportunity. For more information, click here.
275 Blackburn Street Oak Tree Removal– approved the removal of two oak trees based on them being in poor health, as indicated in the Arborist Report, and required two 1.5-inch diameter replacement trees (1 Blue oak and 1 Valley) be planted on site at the direction of the Arborist.
944 Pine Street Oak Tree Removal– approved the removal of a 6-inch Coast Live Oak for the construction of improvements and reasonable use of the property for which it is zoned, as indicated in the Arborist Report, and required three 1.5-inch diameter Coast Live Oak replacement trees be planted on site at the direction of the Arborist.
Consultant Agreement for Environmental Impact Report and Traffic Impact Study for the Proposed Olsen/South Chandler Ranch Specific Plan– approved the hiring of Rincon Consultants to prepare an EIR in an amount not to exceed $224,340 and approved the hiring of Central Coast Transportation Consultants to prepare a Traffic Impact Study for an amount not to exceed $89,560. Both studies will be paid for by the developer.
City Manager’s Signature Authority– approved a resolution continuing the previously approved amendments to the City’s Purchasing and Payment Procedures Manual, setting the City Manager’s purchasing authority limit at $35,000 into the future, with no specified end date.
This represents just a subset of the total actions by the council. The full agenda can be found at https://www.prcity.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11202018-122.
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