Highlights from Aug. 7 Paso Robles City Council meeting
–Highlights from the City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 7, 2018 are as follows:
LoCC Delegate/Position–approved a resolution appointing Councilmember Fred Strong as a voting delegate and Mayor Steve Martin as the alternate to represent the City at the League of California Cities annual business meeting September 12-14, 2018. The voting delegate is authorized to represent the City’s position to support Resolution #1, which would commit the League of California Cities to assessing the increasing vulnerabilities to local authority, control, and revenue resulting from state actions and to exploring the preparation of a ballot measure and/or constitutional amendment that would give the state’s voters an opportunity to further strengthen local authority and preserve the role of local democracy to best preserve their local quality of life.
Conflict of Interest Code–approved a resolution amending the Conflict of Interest Code to reflect the city’s organizational structure as approved in the city’s budget document. This action ensures that the individuals in leadership positions within the city are required to disclose possible conflicts of interest in order to maintain and enhance public trust.
One-time payment to 115 Trust–approved a resolution directing staff to make a one-time payment in the amount $2.0 million to CalPERS and a one-time payment in the amount of $2.0 million to the Section
115 Trust. This action is part of the city’s strategy for addressing the under-funded CalPERs liability. The Section 115 Trust can be used to make future payments to CalPERs and offers the city more flexibility than making payments directly to CalPERs.
Sale of Cumbre/Ladera–approved the purchase and sale agreement and authorized the City Manager to execute the documents necessary to sell 5.04+/- acres on Cumbre/Ladera Lane for $365,000 to Oscar Martinez.
Cornhole Fundraiser for PRPD Sgt. Lehr Family–approved a request to allow the Paso Robles Professional Firefighters IAFF, Local 4148 and Paso Robles Police Association to use City Park to host a charity cornhole tournament on August 18, 2018 to raise money to offset the medical expenses incurred by 14-year-old daughter Jadyn’s rare autoimmune disease and kidney failure, requiring dialysis and ultimately a kidney transplant. There is no cost to the city for this event.
Annual Investment Policy and Portfolio Review–accepted annual Treasurer’s Report and approved the recommendation to make no changes to the city’s investment policy, which provides guidelines and direction to the officer(s) of the city charged with the responsibility for the investment of the city’s funds.
General Obligation Bond Rate–approved a resolution lowering the General Obligation Bond tax rate to $49.10 per $100,000 secured assessed valuation for Fiscal Year 2018-19. This is the 5th year in a row that the city has lowered the bond rate, reducing the cost for property taxpayers.
Sale of K9–approved a resolution declaring police K9 “Ar-Mex” as surplus property, due to his age, and selling him to his handler, Officer Daniel Hackett, who is also retiring from the Police Department. The city will receive $1,500 from this sale, which will offset the cost of a new K9 in the future.
Sign Code Amendments–Introduced for 1st reading an ordinance amending the city’s sign code to change the definition of “Political” signs to “Temporary Non-Commercial” signs in compliance with a decision in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Reed v. Town of Gilbert, which clarified that special treatment of political signs may amount to improper content-based regulation. The amendments set restrictions on the use of temporary non-commercial signs, such as requiring that they be removed within 7 days of any event with which they are associated.
Downtown Parking Plan–received an update on the stakeholder outreach process and feedback gathered from public meetings and door-to-door meetings with merchants. Survey results illustrated that there are still a large number of employees parking downtown limiting available parking for customers; directed staff to move forward with implementing the consultant’s recommended near- term strategies for improving downtown parking.
Main Street Association Contract–authorized the City Manager to extend the professional service agreement with the Downtown Paso Robles Main Street Association for downtown promotions and events. The agreement includes a CPI increase of $2,619 from last year for a total contract amount of $92,619 for fiscal year 2018-19.
Chamber of Commerce Contract–authorized the City Manager to extend the professional service agreements with the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce for $75,000 to support the Visitors Center and $185,000 for the Chamber of Commerce to serve as the lead economic development agency for the City of Paso Robles, developing strategies and taking action to attract and retain new businesses within the city, diversifying employment opportunities and developing sustainable economic growth.
This represents just a subset of the total actions by the Council. The full agenda (with all the back- up materials) can be found at http://www.prcity.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08072018-23 The minutes will be available as part of the packet for the City Council’s next regular meeting, on Tuesday, August 21, 2018.
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