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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMins-PWC-11-19-20MINUTES CITY OF DOWNEY - PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE November 19, 2020 MEMBERS PRESENT CITY STAFF PRESENT Mariana Pacheco, Dist. 1 Delfino R. Consunji, Director of PW/City Engineer Carrie Uva, Dist. 1 Edwin J. Norris, Deputy Director of PW Beth Gendreau, Dist. 2 Amaka Udeoji, Asst. Civil Engineer I, PW Adam Christin, Dist. 4 Mark Caswell, PD Dan Fox, Dist. 4 Gigi Rodriguez, Engineering Div. Secretary, PW Maria Lourdes Cotaya, Dist. 5 Don Lamkin, Dist. 5 MEMBERS ABSENT OTHERS PRESENT Madison Munguia, Dist. 2 - excused Residents of: Bergman Lane Joan Frey, Dist. 3 - absent Margarita Rogers, Dist. 3 – excused I. CALL TO ORDER: Public Works Committee Chair Cotaya called the meeting to order at 4:10 P.M. II. CONSENT CALENDAR: Committee Member Uva made a motion to approve the Minutes of the October 15, 2020 meeting. The motion was seconded by Committee Member Gendreau. The Minutes were approved as written. III. OLD BUSINESS: 1. Proposed Closure of the Westerly End of the 8000-8100 Block of Bergman Lane Mr. Norris gave an update regarding the proposed closure of the westerly end of the 8000-8100 block of Bergman Lane. The item was brought to the committee at the June meeting, involving a proposal to install a gated closure at the westerly end of 8000-8100 block of Bergman Lane where it borders the parking lot occupied by the Tempo Cantina and the adjacent business. The resident who originally submitted the petition for the gated closure withdrew the petition and instead opted to extend the adjacent block wall across the opening to close off Bergman Lane from the Tempo Cantina parking lot. Staff investigated and denied the request, as amended, for the following reasons: 1) In 1986, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 4697 officially vacating the portion of Bergman Lane which previously extended westerly from the cul-de-sac through the adjacent parking lot serving the Tempo Cantina and the adjacent business to Paramount Boulevard, with a portion of the vacated street being maintained as a public alley through the parking lots. The resolution also required that the opening between Bergman Lane and the parking lot remain open in perpetuity for emergency access; and 2) There are two existing underground utility easements extending through the opening and it’s illegal to build over an easement. In addition, the block wall would require an underground footing that may conflict with underground water and gas pipelines located underneath the existing opening. The residents were informed of staff’s decision and that they could still pursue the original petition for the gated closure that was approved by the committee several months ago. In addition, the resident emailed several photos showing nuisances created by the Tempo Cantina i.e., delivery driver going back and forth to the establishment while making deliveries while the truck was parked on Bergman Lane. Discussion followed. MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE November 19, 2020 Page 2 Committee Member Lamkin made a motion to revisit the previous plan with the alteration of making the walls match the backyard walls all the way to the 17 foot opening and have a swinging/rolling gate with an access block for emergency services and easements. The motion was seconded by Committee Member Uva. The vote was unanimously in favor thereof. IV. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Residential Preferential Parking District on the East and West Sides of Newville Avenue between Ardine Street and La Villa Street Mr. Norris reported that this item is a continuation from last October’s meeting to establish a preferential parking district on 10800-10900 block of Newville Avenue between Ardine Street and La Villa Street. A request was received from the residents in January, 2020 to establish a preferential parking district along the aforementioned block of Newville Avenue with a full time parking prohibition including Saturday, Sundays and Holidays due to overflow parking on this street block from nearby non-residential uses, resulting in a hardship for the residents on the subject block of Newville Avenue. Staff conducted the parking occupancy study as required, which demonstrated that 75% of the parking spaces were occupied at the time of the requested parking prohibition and 82% of the vehicles parked during the time of the survey were registered to non-residents. A petition was sent to residents to circulate among 14 properties along the 10800-10900 block of Newville Avenue. The petition was returned with only 9 of the 14 properties in support of the proposal which is only a 64% level of support, which falls below the required 75% needed in order to move forward with the proposal. The residents as well as staff made several attempts to secure additional signatures from at least two of the remaining five properties to achieve the 75% level of support with no success. The residents were informed of the lack of support in their petition and, therefore, the proposal could not move forward until the necessary level of support could be achieved. The residents then wished to appeal staff’s decision to a higher level. Staff proceeded to bring this item back at the October meeting to appeal the decision to the committee. Based on a subsequent conversation with the City Attorney, however, this committee has no authority to uphold or deny an appeal on preferential parking district. Alternatively, a modified petition for the proposed preferential parking district with the two properties at the north end of the block specifically, 10824 and 10831 Newville Avenue, deleted was presented to the committee for approval. Neither the owners of the two properties had any interest on being part of the district and refused to sign the petition. Per consultation with the City Attorney, it was suggested that these two properties be removed from the proposed district boundaries. With the committee’s concurrence, staff will submit a resolution for adoption at the next City Council meeting to officially establish the preferential parking district. Committee Member Pacheco made a motion to re-submit for approval of the City Council a modified petition for preferential parking district with the exclusion of the two properties 10824 and 10831 at the north end of Newville Avenue. The motion was seconded by Committee Member Uva. The following vote was six to one in favor with Committee Member Christin in dissent. V. PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS 1. Water shutdown notice at 1100 block of Rives 2. Sidewalk work on Brookshire Avenue 3. Vehicle speed feedback sign on Brookshire between Florence Ave. and Cherokee St. MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE November 19, 2020 Page 3 VI. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS Updates were given on the following: 1. CIP 16-20 - Old River School Road Rehabilitation Project, construction started on Dec. 16th 2. CIP 21-01 - FY20-21 Misc. Concrete Council Dist. 2 - ready to bid on Dec. 24th 3. CIP 20-34 - Florence Ave. Water System Imp. Project (Tweedy Lane to Brookshire) - complete 4. CIP 20-06 - 3rd St Pavement Rehab (ORSR to Rives) - authorization to bid on Nov. 24th 5. CIP 16-05 - Telegraph Rd. Medians (Lakewood-WCL & Passons-ECL) – award construction in Jan. 6. CIP 20-03 - FY 19-20 Residential Street Resurfacing - for acceptance on 1/12/21 7. Active Transportation Plan – first public outreach event tonight VII. NEXT MEETING: December 17, 2020 The Public Works Committee meeting was adjourned at 5:20 P.M.