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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes-11-07-74-Adjourned Regular MeetingMINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DOWNEY ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 7, 1974 JOINT MEETING DOWNEY CITY COUNCIL/DOWNEY SCHOOL BOARD The City Council of the City of Downey held an adjourned regular meeting at 7:30 p.m., November 7, 1974, in the Green Room of the Downey Theatre, pre- sided over by Chairmen Richard M. Jennings, Mayor of the City of Downey, and Robert G. Cormack, President of the Board of Education. Mayor Jennings announced that this is a joint meeting of the Downey School Board and the Downey City Council. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Catherine H. Walker, Vice President, Board of Education. The Invocation was delivered by Councilman Walter Temple. Roll call, School Board Robert G. Cormack, President Grace E. Horney Betty L. Kilpatrick D. Clayton Mayes Hadley F. Morrison - Absent Robert R. Pilling Catherine H. Walker Dr. Manuel Gallegos Mayor Jennings requested that this meeting be recorded as being an adjourned meeting of the regular City Council meeting of October 22, 1974. Roll call, City Council: Richard M. Jennings, Mayor Joseph E. DiLoreto Hazel N. Scotto Walter S. Temple Donald H. Winton Also present: Charles W. Thompson, City Manager Ervin Spindel, Director of Community Development Robert L. Shand, City Clerk -Treasurer Mayor Jennings requested that the Agenda include an additional item for "Open Discussion" to be listed as Item VIII and that "Adjournment" be added to the Agenda as Item IX. It was unanimously agreed to adopt Agenda No. 12 for the Special Joint Meeting of the Downey City Council and the Board of Education. Mayor Jennings made opening statement by announcing the meeting is to be a joint study session between the two groups of elected officials to meet and confer on the possible joint utilization of facilities in the School District and the City in the interest of economy. Reference was made to the Compre- hensive Employment Training Act funds (C.E.T.A.) and the increased allotment of 15 people, six or eight of which will be loaned by the City to the School District. Board President Cormack expressed appreciation on behalf of the .School Board for joining in this meeting to study related matters. Dr. Gallegos reported on Agenda Item VII, which lists eight subjects for discussion at the joint meeting: Discussion started with the following item: Future use and disposition of school property declared surplus. Downey Elementary School will continue to be used as annex to Downey High School for the next two years. Rives Avenue Elementary School has also been declared surplus effective June of 1975. No determination of dis- position of the school has been made. City Manager Thompson presented items of joint concern involving administrative facilities long-range needs, including possible expansion of Council Minutes 11/7/74 -1- the Civic Center to include Downey Elementary School. He said the Rives Avenue School would also figure in the open space policy because it adjoins a City park. He listed possible City and School combined recreational projects. Mayor Jennings cited the need for additional Library space and possible use of some rooms at Downey Elementary School to relieve the Library space problem. Dire need was mentioned for storage space for Civil Defense portable hospital unit and City Hall inactive record storage. Dr. Gallegos commented that no excess space will be available in Downey Elementary School for the next year. Mrs. Kilpatrick asked questions regarding a 1966-67 study on possible con- solidation of City/School Recreation Program. She inquired if the study could be updated and reviewed again. Councilwoman Scotto stated she feels school grounds can be opened to the public after school hours for the purpose of providing recreational space to the general public. Mrs. Kilpatrick discussed the possible need of enabling legislation that would permit contracting for joint use of maintenance service between the City and School District. Mr. Bott, Director of Classified Personnel Services, said the Education Code permits schools to contract only for certain maintenance services. Mayor Jennings noted for the record that he prefers to contract as "in kind paper". Councilman DiLoreto gave a comparison of recent City recreation expansion projects vs. the continuing decrease in juvenile school population. He said he feels that the City should not be considered as a prospective purchaser of sur- plus schools each time a school facility is closed. He indicated acquisition of schools by the City should be determined on the basis of need instead of availability. Councilman Winton asked that consideration be given to the possible 105 Freeway corridor redevelopment involving perhaps 700 homes and the effect upon adjacent school facilities. Mrs. Horney said all schools in the Freeway area are still in operation and, if necessary, can have additional wings installed. City Manager Thompson stated he feels that possibilities exist in cooperative purchasing between the City and schools, so as to result in reduced costs for supplies. He also suggested establishing an inventory of equipment owned by the City and the schools, so as to assume fullest utilization of the equipment rather than each agency buying heavy capital equipment. Mrs. Horney pointed out that 80 percent of the school purchases is for classroom type supplies. She said library book purchases for the schools is fairly minimal, however, a cost savings appears possible by combining the library book orders of both agencies. Dr. Gallegos reported that the Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools office provides free payroll data processing service to all 95 districts in the County. He said the Downey school office has an in-house electronic accounting for handling cafeteria and general Ledger accounting. Dr. Gallegos indicated the School office also contracts with the Bellflower School system for data processing in testing of students, registration, and report cards at a cost of $16,000 per year. The possibility was discussed of a terminal unit system between the City data processing center and the School system, wherein a student data processing vocation class could be implemented and paid for on "in kind" basis. The terminal operation could possibly extend to after hours for permitting teachers to do test scoring. M. T. S. T. utilization by the City was discussed. The school uses the system in their communications center for reproducing high quality printing at Council Minutes 11/7/74 -2- lower cost and with less personnel. The City could use the M.T.S.T. unit dur- ing the down -hours, and such use could be negotiated into the existing lease contract City Manager Thompson suggested that the City Library program for students could be improved if the school teachers provided to the Library staff the ad- vance material so as to assure that necessary reference data will be available when the students arrive at the City Library. Also, it was suggested by Mrs. Walker that consideration be given to using City Library films in school classrooms. Mrs. Kilpatrick inquired if the City Reference Library could be made available to the public over Saturday and Sunday and perhaps a $25 deposit could be posted for taking reference books home over the weekend. Also, she said, students sometimes cannot find seating space in the Reference Library, and if the Reference book could be taken home, the seating problem would not exist. Councilman DiLoreto emphasized the need for the Library by students for doing homework and term papers on weekends. City Manager Thompson said Library surveys indicated minimal usage of Library on weekends. Councilman DiLoreto expressed a desire to see such a survey conducted by the school. Councilman Winton mentioned he prefers a pilot program be conducted for weekend library student usage. It was noted that other libraries to be contacted in a survey include Cerritos, U.S.C., County of Los Angeles, and City of Norwalk. The possibility of opening the school Libraries on weekends was discussed. Such a program would require additional personnel plus security to protect closed portions of campus. City Manager Thompson explained a newly funded, multi -jurisdictional diversion program within the Police Department. He said the program includes seven southeast cities, and the purpose is to coordinate various agencies deal- ing in truancy; to evaluate and determine the effectiveness of each agency; and to involve both the cities and the schools by requesting the schools to have a representative on the body. Dr. Gallegos commented that recent Legislation permits the formation of a student review board to be set up by the County and asking the local school districts to establish student attendance boards that would accomplish the same purpose. Discussion followed, and it was indicated that possible overlapping of activity exists within the City and the school truancy programs because in either instance, the same students will be involved in the same area. Mrs. Kilpatrick inquired regarding mandated school attendance. She said any assistance from the Police Department on the truancy problem will be appreciated. Mayor Jennings noted that there is the need for microfilming in both the City and the School District, and the staffs can coordinate any combined pro- gram in this field. Mayor Jennings declared a recess. The meeting reconvened with all Councilmen and School Board members present. Open discussion took place. Mayor Jennings asked what can be done to improve vacant property to the north of the School District Administrative Offices fronting on Brookshire Avenue. Also, he said, the parkways adjoining various school properties pre- sent an appearance problem. Council Minutes 11/7/74 -3- Mr. Donald Hart, Deputy Superintendent, stated the Brookshire Avenue pro- perty is on the tax roll and taxes are paid by the lessee (a group of doctors) who is responsible for the property upkeep. Therefore, he said, the School District is not involved. City Manager Thompson said notices have been issued to the lessee and the buildings have been inspected regarding safety precautions; that portions of the fencing have been removed and unsafe areas of the building have been boarded. Mrs. Horney indicated that some materials have been dragged from a building (section not boarded) by youngsters, and a safety hazard exists. It was noted that school parkways in some earth areas have weeds and should be paved out to the street. Dr. Gallegos pointed out the need for cooperation in grounds maintenance: 1,376 trees need attention. He said the City has tree control personnel, whereas the District does not, and Little League diamonds on the playgrounds require preparation and care for which the District lacks specialized crews. Councilman Temple suggested the possibility of the City taking over all maintenance of school grounds or a trial portion, and if the City could take over a portion of grounds maintenance, perhaps a saving could result to the taxpayers. Mayor Jennings also suggested a list of priorities be made and have the two staffs study the items and report back. Mrs. Horney requested a priority list to also include evaluation of the amount of school property to maintain; the number of school employees; the law relating to those employees; the kind of equipment already in the School District; the age of the equipment; how many City employees available to do this work; and the age of City equipment. Mayor Jennings said the time and need for the next joint study meeting could be decided by the outcome of staff reports on the above priority list and the items listed in the agenda. Councilwoman Scotto asked if any possible means could be considered for cooperation between City and School on public transportation. Mrs. Walker said a survey of school bus downtime requested by the Committee for Aging revealed very little opportunity existed for serving the senior citizen needs. City Manager Thompson indicated the need for future joint planning by the City and School Board ten, fifteen, or twenty years hence as far as facility needs are concerned. Points discussed included a single stadium for the district. Mayor Jennings called for speakers from the audience. Mrs. Eileen Schilling spoke on possible use of school buses for public transportation. Mrs. Katherine Save asked that consideration be given to enlarging the City Library building. Mr. Bruce Watson asked if a study has been made as to cause of truancy. Dr. Gallegos defined excused and unexcused absences. Mr. Dick VanMatre spoke regarding proposed plans for installing tennis courts to be operated as a private enterprise. The Rives Avenue school area, now slated for abandonment in 1975, was men- tioned as a desirable location for the tennis courts on a lease or purchase basis. Council Minutes 11/7/74 -4- Councilman DiLoreto asked the City Manager to survey with the Librarian the cost of opening the City Library on Saturday and Sunday. Mrs. Kilpatrick indicated a desire for another City/School joint meeting in less than one year from now. She also asked what the City's public relations plans are to attract potential occupants for the vacated White Front, Udisco, and office building on Lakewood Boulevard. Mr. Thompson said the City contracts with the Chamber of Commerce, and effort is being made to obtain tenants. Mayor Jennings thanked the School Board for joining with the City Council in this meeting. There being no further business to come before the City Council, the meeting was adiourned at 10:00 o.m. Robert L. Shand, City Clerk -Treasurer Council Minutes 11/7/74 -5- x% Ric rd�A1. Jennings, a or