CITY OF HIDDEN HILLS
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
VIA TELECONFERENCE
Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at 1:00 p.m.
Consistent with Government Code Section 54953(e) (Assembly Bill 361), all members of the Hidden Hills City Council or staff may participate in this meeting via a teleconference and such leconference locations are not accessible to the public and are not subject to special postin quirements. Members of the public may participate in the meeting electronicall as indicate further below. The City Council Chambers will not be open to the public. If you are an individual with a disability and need a reasonable modification or accommodation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") please contact Deana Gonzalez at 818-888-9281 or [email protected].
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
A special meeting of' the City Council of the City of Hidden Hills was duly held via teleconference on Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at the hour of 1:00 p.m. Mayor Laura McCorkindale called the meeting to order and presided thereover.
ROLL CALL
Council: Mayor Laura McCorkindale
Mayor Pro Tem Steve Freedland
Council Member Eniko Gold
Council Member Stuart E. Siegel
Council Member Larry G. Weber
Staff: City Manager Kerry Kallman
City Attorney Roxanne Diaz
City Engineer Dirk Lovett
City Clerk Deana L. Gonzalez
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AUDIENCE
Resident Tim Keough (24636 Wingfield Road) stated that he would like to see more coordination between the City and the HHCA, especially in relation to technology. He feels there is a huge disconnect as a resident and understanding what both the City and HHCA does. He would also like to see a joint calendar for all meetings held within the City, including the zoom information so that it makes it easier for residents to find the information and be able to attend the meetings.
Resident Felix Wasser (24341 Bridle Trail Road) expressed a concern about traffic at the Round Meadow School and a ticket he received. City Attorney Diaz stated that all comments received are to be with respect to the 2021/2022 goals, and as this is not in relation to one of those goals, Mr. Wasser was asked to call City Manager Kallman for further assistance.
Resident Barbara Lipkin (24938 Kit Carson Road) requested that the sheriff spend more time in the City as there has been an uptick on speeding and running stop signs.
Mayor McCorkindale thanked the residents for their comments.
NEW BUSINESS
Mayor McCorkindale presented the following report:
this is the annual goal session to bring forth possible new projects, and has always been open to the public; every year, some of the City's past goals have been completed, which makes room for new projects; a Council member or Council members can bring forth the goal for discussion, and if the consensus of the Council, is that the idea has merit, then each goal Will be brought back to the Council as an agenda item at a future regular meeting, where in the public will have another chance to comment, as well as the Council; after all of comments are heard, the Council may or may not decide to move forward with the goal; because it's a special meeting, the Council will take specific public comments in two ways:
1) public comments will be received up front and must be related to the general concept of goals, not on the individual six goals; and 2) public comments will be received before each of the six goals that are on the agenda; if you wish to speak generally and make a public' comment about goals, please click the raise hand button on your toolbar.
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4.A 2021-2022 City Council Goals Session for Discussion and Direction to City Staff and Review of the Status Report and Direction, if any, on the City Council's Current Goals.
The primary purpose of a City Council's Goals Session is to identify proposed goals that will be included in the City's 2022 work plan and budget. Carry-over goals from the previous fiscal years will remain in the City's workplan until completed. In no particular order of priority, six (6) new goals are listed below.
The 2021-2022 goals for review include the following:
1. Update the Municipal Code to Require Installation of Fiber ready conduit in conjunction with current undergrounding requirements -
The City's Municipal Code requires the undergrounding of all electrical, telephone, cable and similar service wires be undergrounded if either the cost of the alteration, renovation, or repair of the home is greater than 30% of the replacement value or if more than 30% of the square footage of the building is being altered, repaired or renovated; It has been suggested that, the inclusion of conduit for future fiber use could provide the same benefits for the City's Fiber to the Home project.
Resident Tim Keough (24636 Wingfield Road) asked if the City's consultant continues to encourage fiber and that fiber will not be superseded by other technologies that are coming forward?
City Manager Kallman responded that the City's consultant has continued to reaffirm that fiber is best option, and this will be on an upcoming agenda
Resident Robert Freedman (5666 Jed Smith Road) believes that the Federal Government just passed an infrastructure bill, which theoretically includes internet access to everybody and that the City may be able to request and utilize this money for the Fiber to the Home project.
City Manager Kallman confirmed that the City consultants on the fiber project, the Ad-hoc Committee consisting of Council Members Gold and Weber, and also a financial consultant that's Special City Council Meeting Minutes
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assisting with the funding options on this project, including our City Attorney are aware of this bill and the City may not qualify but that staff is actively tracking it for eligibility.
Council Member Gold recommended this as a goal as she feels it would be a good idea to start the process of fiber readiness in our Community. It would be the Homeowner's responsibility, when they remodel, replace or alter 30% or more of their home, to also run a conduit from their home to the property line, to facilitate the future installation or hook up to the fiber network. Mayor Pro Tem Freedland stated that he is fully supportive of this goal, and as long as it's something that's not onerous for the homeowner, meaning that if they're already going to be digging a trench and having to underground their existing utilities, should be a very minimal cost to include fiber conduit. He also suggested to confer with the City's fiber partner about where the conduit would need to be ran.
City Manager Kallman stated that the City has included extra conduit already in the finished utility undergrounding projects and future undergrounding projects. He's also reached out to the HHCA and learned that they are going to be doing reconstruction of a big part of the street in a different part of the Community. The City's consultants suggest dropping in conduit at that time. Council Members Siegel and Weber are in favor of this goal.
Goal was adopted.
Undertake a Branding Refresh and Visual Medium Update - It has been proposed that the City consider hiring a graphic designer or municipal branding entity to work with a City Council Sub-committee to review current styles, trends, updates for City printed and graphic material. The City Logo stationary, envelopes, and business cards has been used since at least 1990, and more than likely, many years before that.
Mayor McCorkindale elaborated that she suggested this goal, so as not to change to something too modern, but to merely have it redrawn, clean it up and freshen it up a bit and also have new colors and fonts to make everything very readable and communicative. She suggests an Ad hoc committee, of which she will volunteer for, to sort of help narrow down and bring forth, to the Council a fresh new look, but stay with a timeless theme because that's it cohesive with our with our City brand.
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Council Member Weber agrees with this goal to make the City Logo items for consistency and cohesiveness, but would not agree to a change in the City Seal. Mayor Pro Tem Freedland, while he feels this goal is not as important as others, and if there is a consensus from the Council, then he will agree with it as well. He suggests a not to exceed $5,000 with an Ad hoc committee that will volunteer their time to bring something forward to a future meeting. Council Member Gold is supportive of this goal and volunteered to be on the Ad hoc Committee with Mayor McCorkindale.
Goal was adopted.
3. Develop a parking plan that would curtail the number of construction vehicles entering the community and parking on community parkways.
It has been suggested that the City develop rules and guidelines that would curtail the numerous construction vehicles entering the community on a daily basis and the number of vehicles parked outside of job sites on community parkways. This goal would be to direct staff to dedicate time and resources to look into possible options.
Resident Tim Keough (24636 Wingfield Road) asked if this could be a liability for the City as it being interpreted as a slow growth initiative? City Attorney Diaz responded that this goal doesn't really affect grown as much as it corrals parking issues that come in from construction in terms of requiring onsite parking for large construction projects, require that a shuttle bus come in with the contractors, or whether we require an offside lot. It has nothing to do with development.
Council Member Siegel stated that this is his goal. There is an existing HHCA requirement that requires every builder who gets permission from the Architectural Committee to provide on-site parking, which includes the parkway in front of the house. What he is suggesting is to research and see if there is a way that the City and HHCA could both have identical rules as the City has a little stronger ability to enforce rules. However, he doesn't I don't want a two year project become Special City Council Meeting Minutes
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a four year project, so he feels this needs to be discussed at length. There was consensus that all Council Members supported this goal.
Goal was adopted.
Undertake an evaluation of the City's Building standards and Building rules Areas to be evaluated include sustainable building practices, community impact (traffic, cleanliness, etc) building quality,, and greenhouse gas emissions. At the conclusion of evaluation present findings to the City Council and any potential recommend changes.
City Manager Kallman stated that this goal is to take a look at our building standards which come from a building and safety perspective, which include but are not limited to cleanliness of job sites, parking, behavior amongst workers, or hours of operation.
Resident Nathalie Blossom (24148 Long Valley Road) stated that she hopes as the Council considers this goal that the Council's discussion includes working in correlation with the HHCA and Architectural standards.
Resident David Stanley (24408 Little Hollow Road) and Board President commented that regarding this goal and the parking goal, that the HHCA is in need of a complete revamp of the architectural standards, the bylaws, and all of their governing documents with the HHCA. He would be delighted to coordinate that effort with the City. He feels that coordinated efforts will be a lot more productive.
At this time, the City Council took a five-minute recess.
Mayor McCorkindale called the meeting back to order. Earlier in the public comments section, resident Lonna Weber (24225 Long Valley Road), tried to call in and was having audio issues.
During the recess, staff was able to contact her to get her comment.
City Manager Kallman, for resident Lonna Weber, stated that "my concern is the amount oflights on the new builds and remodels so many big windows now it's so much lighting to take away from Special City Council Meeting Minutes
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the country feel at night, for example, the last year roadhouses all windows, so the House is lit up like a hotel at night."
Mayor McCorkindale suggested this goal because the City's rules and standards are quite different from HHCA rules and standards and she would like there to be synergy between the two if possible.
This goal would be looking at the layer of requirements that the City puts on the building standards and reviewing our general provisions in the City's code, and identifying where other commensurate cities are ahead of us and what updates, we might want to make in in the five or six basic areas that cities look at including sustainability, quality of life, and liability enforcement.
She feels the City Council would need assistance on this goal, and is proposing bringing forth an expert in this area in building and municipal codes, to help the City compare to commensurate cities see what might be missing, what might be improved, and what be changed, and have the City Council have a study session to discuss it and see what feels appropriate and move forward to make some updates. Mayor Pro Tem Freedland and Council Member Siegel are in favor of this goal. Council Member Gold agrees with this goal and thinks it's a good idea to revisit these rules every five years to see if updates are needed.
Mayor Pro Tem Freedland suggested that a good place to start would be having City Engineer Lovett acquire a list of cities that Charles Abbott Associates works with to determine what exceptions or additional requirements they have implemented. The City Council has to make a decision as to which agency either the HHCA or the City takes lead on some of this. He is not sure that the City should take the lead on this, and thinks that the City should allow the Community to develop what standards the Community wants and then the HHCA provide those standards to the City for its code. Mayor McCorkindale reiterated that an architectural firm has divisions that specialize in this, and it has a different result than an engineering firm.
Council Member Siegel commented that he feels the system as it is should remain the same, with Architectural approval first, then to Building and Safety for permits. The City and HHCA have this symbiotic relationship, and he wants to make sure that whatever consultants are hired, that Special City Council Meeting Minutes
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they fully understand that we were not just the law but that we have this relationship. The HHCA is identical to the City and that difference is significant and we are not like any other City in that we are unique, so he feels it's important that we don't make rules that are going to cause difficulty for the very same constituents.
Mayor McCorkindale asked City Attorney Diaz if she had any comments.
City Attorney Diaz responded that with respect to the building standards codes that the City is required to adopt by default, the Building Standards Commission looks at this every three years, and then there's a date by which the City can make amendments to it. If the City doesn't then, whatever the Building Standards Commission has adopted, is the default building code, fire code, electrical code, plumbing code, etc. For the City to adopt more restrictive or revisions to those amendments it has to be reasonably necessary because of local climactic geological or topographical conditions and the City would have to make those findings. There was consensus that all Council Members supported this goal.
Goal was adopted.
5. Undertake a review of the City website and prioritize timely updates of content The last major update of the City website was in 2017. It has been suggested that the City consider various improvements or enhancements to the website design, functionality, and content. Functionality improvements to be considered include mobile functionality, increased search functions, and agenda distribution requests. Examples of new content include current project updates, civic engagement opportunities, transparency, and public safety. Additionally, staff should solicit ideas from the City Council and the community for desired content. Finally, staff should prioritize timely updates of website content.
Resident Tim Keough (24636 Wingfield Road) agrees that this is an excellent goal for the City Council to study. He and other residents would appreciate the opportunity to provide input to assist with the updates to make positive and informative changes and ease of use.
Council Member Gold stated that this was her goal and it was conceived in the spirit of transparency. There are three parts to the goal, including 1) She would like staff to rethink it from Special City Council Meeting Minutes
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a design perspective. The City needs to provide a way for constituents to find information easily and a website that is mobile friendly so when you open it up on your mobile phone, you can easily access the same information as if you were doing that, on your laptop or desktop; 2) the second part of the goal is that the City needs to have a content heavy website, including 24/7 communication, and educational piece, volunteer opportunities, current projects, what are the differences between the HHCA and the City, Council meeting rules, how to make a public comment, and educate the public and to give all that information, easily accessible on our website so there's no confusion and people can just get it really quick and participate and this way we would promote civic engagement; and 3) the third part of the goal is the process piece, because, in order to do all that content updates and design updates, staff needs to allocate time every month to go through the website and update it with the most recent information. Council Member Gold also agreed with resident Tim Keough that it would be helpful to have all meetings, City and HHCA on the City website and asked staff if it would be possible to update the calendar with that information. Mayor McCorkindale also asked City Manager to include something in the newsletter asking all of our constituents to send in comments if they have any, which was suggested by Council Member Weber. There was consensus that all Council Members supported this goal.
Goal was adopted.
6. Research new or enhanced public safety solutions that would improve perimeter security.
In the last few years, the City and the Homeowners Association have worked together to significantly improve perimeter security. It has been suggested that the City continue to research and identify enhancements to further secure the City's perimeter. Two examples of potential enhancements: 1) expedite the construction of a perimeter Fiber network to foster increased public safety opportunities; and 2) Initiate research and consideration of utilizing drones for public safety purposes.
City Manager Kallman stated that a lot has been done with perimeter security, including when staff asked for introduction of a fiber network directly to every home, staff also asked for costs to interconnect all of the perimeter security cameras.
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Resident David Stanley (24408 Little Hollow Road) and Board President reported that at the next HHCA Board of Directors meeting, they will be considering a bid to add approximately 873 feet of additional fencing. He also commented that it would be very helpful to find a way to make fiber available to those areas around the City's perimeter that have no access to wi-fi to be able to add more perimeter cameras. An independent system that doesn't depend on access to individual Homeowner's routers and internet access that hopefully will work better and be better coverage, better security, and better reliability.
Mayor McCorkindale stated that since she is on the burglary committee with Council Member Siegel, she wanted to make some comments on this goal. The fiber to the home component is much more complex and this is an add on piece that when we were first quoted it was approximately $250,000 to do the 7.5 miles and it's now coming in at somewhere between $1 and $2 million. She asked if the City would consider jumping out with that piece ahead of residential.
It may be an option where the City could put in pieces of fiber in the City's most exposed entry areas and therefore reduce the cost quite significantly.
Mayor Pro Tem Freedland commented that is his goal as well. He's spent the last six months to a year actually walking and traveling every square inch of the perimeter of the hills and there are wide vulnerable areas and it can be very challenging as far as getting Internet. As technology is always changing there may be new products that have come out that are potentially suitable for the City, and he looks forward to having staff explore some of the new technology. Council Member Weber agrees with this goal but costs may unreasonable and staff may have to continue researching.
Council Member Gold stated that she and Council Member Weber, the Fiber Committee, has been working on bringing residential fiber to the Community households and she sees the perimeter of fiber as a separate project as it serves a different purpose. She believes it is worth exploring but she just wants to make sure that that the that fiber to the home project will not be delayed, and Special City Council Meeting Minutes
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residents will not have to wait longer. The second part of this goal is basically looking at different layers of protection or deterrence for the City including the possibility of using drones. She would like staff to look into and research, a company or two, who could come and give a presentation to the Council and to the public on how these drones could be used to patrol the perimeter of Hidden Hills, and not in resident's backyards to avoid privacy issues.
Mayor McCorkindale asked for clarification so that staff knows what direction to go. Obviously, there would be some small expense in engaging with a drone operator for a Community presentation. This wouldn't be something that staff has the expertise in and would it be okay if there was some expenditure on this item.
Mayor Pro Tem Freedland asked City Attorney Diaz about the last time the Council looked at drones and there was a system where drones fly autonomously, that they recognize when they need to be charged and they come back and charge themselves. There was a law at that time that said that drones could not be flown out of the eyesight of the operator, so they were not allowed to fly autonomously. Are you aware if that law is still in existence or has it changed at all? City Attorney Diaz will have to look into that. In the last five years, the use of drones by public safety departments has increased and it has caused more conversations with respect to the use of drones over the airspace and so it would have to be revisited to see if there are any restrictions with respect to it.
Mayor Pro Tem Freedland recommended that the City expend some money in legal expenses to do the research prior to spending money on a consultant. City Attorney Diaz stated that she has some attorneys in their firm that have dealt with such issues. Council Member Siegel is generally opposed to this if there is permanent drones up there circling around the community on a regular basis, but if it's something that's supplementing either the Sheriff or Covered 6, then he could possibly be in favor but would need more clarification. Mayor Pro Tem Freedland and Council Member Gold agreed to broaden the goal to include any technological device or equipment, Special City Council Meeting Minutes
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including drones and flock cameras that can be utilized for security. There was consensus that all Council Members supported this goal.
Goal was adopted.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 3:02 p.m.
motorlandell
aura McCorkindale, Mayor