CITY OF HIDDEN HILLS
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
(IN-PERSON AND VIDEO CONFERENCE)
6165 Spring Valley Road
Monday, August 28, 2023 at 5:30 p.m.
NOTE: The Hidden Hills City Council and City staff will be participating in this meeting in- person in the Council Chambers, at teleconference locations and via remote video conferencing (Zoom). Members of the public also have the opportunity to participate in-person in the Council Chambers (attendees will be required to follow the current State and County public health guidelines) or electronically via Zoom. Refer to "Public Participation" below. 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]. If you are hearing impaired and would like to watch the meeting on ZOOM, once in the meeting room select the button "live transcript" and then select "show subtitles". Members of the public will have the opportunity to address the City Council on agenda and non-agenda items in person, via Zoom or by email as indicated below.
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Hidden Hills was duly held via teleconference and in person on Monday, August 28, 2023 at the hour of 5:30 p.m. Mayor Steve Freediand called the meeting to order and presided thèreover.
ROLL CALL
Council: Mayor Steve Freedland
Mayor Pro Tem Eniko Gold
Council Member Joe Loggia
Council Member Laura McCorkindale
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
Mayor Preday todied at rice anci rising aid fiden il conny, who have. showed their support and hospitality to the Armenian American community since they arrived just ights crisis in Armenia. We came to Hidden Hills to urge this community and one of our owr eople, Kim Kardashian, to speak for the Armenians in art who don't have a voice, and to raise aterdanse or this loumanitarian crisis in Armenia. There were many audience members in Resident Barbara Lipkin expressed her frustration for the amount of cars and construction vehicles that are running stop signs and is asking the City Council for more Sheriff enforcement in the City targeting such offenses. The City Council thanked her and will consult with the Sheriff's Department regarding her concerns.
Mr. Chris Zavik addressed the Council on ZOOM regarding the humanitarian crisis in Armenia and his support of the Armenian cause. He specified that in Los Angeles County alone there are 200,000 American Armenian citizens whose lives are being completely and utterly disrupted by the fact that their families and loved ones are currently undergoing a genocide by a terrorist regime.
He thanked the Council for their time.
Resident Adam Wasserman stated that he has some concerns about the use of the Brown Act, and that it was written in a time where there were many rural communities that shared many municipal governments and his understanding of the intent of the Brown Act. When constituents were to show up at a Councilmember, or other government official's home, it was due to the lack of proximity of a City Hall or a legislative office. He feels that if a constituent shows up at a Councilmember's house when the City Hall is in almost the same amount of proximity seems to violate the spirit of the act. He also inquired if the City Council has discussed the exceptions of to Councilmembers having to provide their home address to people who would show up and be at their home for the meetings. Those exceptions don't exist in continuity, but they do exist, and one of them is childcare, the other is elderly care, the other is health care. He feels that when constituents show up at Councilmember's houses when the City Hall is just as close can seem hostile and unfair.
City Attorney Diaz responded to Mr. Wasserman that the City Council did receive an update, and discussed the teleconference meetings pursuant to, at the beginning of the year, when the legislation went into effect on January 9, 2023. There is a staff report and Powerpoint available for any member of the public who would like to see that.
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Mr. Wasserman reiterated that AB2449, specifically says, there are instances where the government participant does not have to disclose their address, and does not have to permit people from the public to come to their homes. On another note, he wanted to agree with resident Barbara Lipkin about the constant running of stop signs in the City and would like to see more enforcement.
Resident Ed Wasserman addressed the Council stating that he is in Councilmember McCorkindale's backyard and the reason he is in her backyard is that it his hope that councilmembers would return to the Council Chambers for City Council meetings. He feels it helps the community to come back together, it brings peace and it shows unity.
Councilmember Laura McCorkindale responded that she would like to be able to answer some of the questions, but because it's not on the agenda, she is not able to. She feels there is a lot of misinformation in what was stated, and perhaps at a future date this item can be on the agenda to discuss. But we're not able to interact with comments on items that are not on the agenda.
Mayor Pro Tem Gold and Councilmembers Loggia and McCorkindale feel that this item has already been discussed at a City Council meeting and doesn't see the need to agendize it again.
Resident Mathy Wasserman also stated that she would like the City Councilmembers to return to in person meetings. She feels that even though it has been discussed before at a public meeting, it should be talked about again. She would encourage, based on what seems to be a lot of community input that, it does get brought up again for conversation.
CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS
City Hall and Building and Safety will be closed on Monday, September 4t for Labor Day. Fiesta Booklets will be mailed out the first week of September and it is also posted online on the City's website.
Mayor Freedland wished a happy birthday to his wife Susan on 9/8.
Fiesta Meal Tickets go on sale at City Hall Monday, 9/11 and will be available through 9/27.
Councilmember McCorkindale explained that the City lost its housing consultant due to retirement some time ago, and she provided the city staff some names of possible replacements. She would like to suggest that she and Councilmember Loggia be on an ad hoc committee to meet with the possible consultants and representatives for the City's housing element. As there was no objection City Council Minutes
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by the rest of the City Council, Council Members McCorkindale and Loggia will work together to find a replacement for the previous housing element consultant.
Mayor Pro Tem Gold would like to wish all the school children who are returning to school a wonderful learning experience. She also stated that as the Council has a heavy agenda and a closed session tonight, she would like to suggest that we limit the public comment to three (3) minutes so that this meeting can be concluded in a timely manner. Council Member McCorkindale agreed.
Mayor Freedland suggested that there will be no time limit, but that he is asking that the comments not be repetitive. If comments become repetitive then a time limit will be enforced. The Council agreed.
STAFF COMMENTS
City Manager Kallman reminded residents that now that school has started, Round Meadow School is a very traffic heavy area. Staff has been monitoring the traffic the last 4 days and traffic has been flowing very well. Mr. Kallman announced that the City has hired a new administrative analyst, Aaron Williams. Aaron is a local resident who lives in Woodland Hills. He is very involved with the school district and also some homeowner's issues in Los Angeles. He also has a strong marketing background.
City Attorney Diaz reported that at the last City Council meeting on July 10, 2023 there was one item on the closed session, of which there is no reportable action.
CONSENT CALENDAR
A. City Council Minutes - June 26, 2023 Regular Meeting B. Demand List
C. Disbursement List - June and July
D. Financial/Treasurer's Report - June and July
E. Investment Statement - June and July
F. Los Angeles County Fire Department Reports- June and July G. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Reports - June and July H. Consideration of Issuance of Proclamation for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month September 1st - September 30t, 2023
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Ordinance No. 386 Amending the Section 1-6-2 of the Hidden Hills Municipal Code Related to City Council Meetings- Second Reading
J. Consideration to Adopt Resolution No. 1013 of the City Council of the City of Hidden Hills Approving the Amended and Restated Joint Powers Agreement Establishing the Los Angeles Area Integrated Waste Management Authority, known as the" Los Angeles Regional Agency"
Mayor Freedland would like to pull items F, G, and I off the consent calendar for discussion. Upon MOTION by Council Member Weber, seconded by Council Member Loggia and unanimously carried by a roll call vote, it was resolved to approve items A-E, H and J on the Consent Calendar as submitted
Items Pulled Off of Consent Calendar for Discussion:
F. Los Angeles County Fire Department Reports- June and July - Assistant Fire Chief Drew Smith
Chief Smith updated the City Council and residents that brush inspections are going well and there is close to 17,000 inspections in the County. Hidden Hills has had seven (7) snake calls. Chief Smith also commented that there has been a lot of questions regarding the High Fire Severity Zone and the Fire Department is still working with CALFire regarding the remapping and public comment will be requested soon.
Councilmember McCorkindale asked Chief Smith if he has an update on a camera system that ties the State together and is monitored by Los Angeles County Fire. He and Captain Seetoo are in discussion to include the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff Station on the universal platform.
G. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Reports - June and July - Deputy Mason DeMatteo
Deputy DeMatteo reported that there was a residential burglary in June, but that this was, and an individual who was trespassing in Hidden Hills, and made their way into a vacant house under construction to use a phone charger to charge a cell phone. That individual was arrested and charged for residential burglary. However, I don't know if they were actually convicted. There was a grand theft, however, the theft didn't occur specifically in the City. It occurred to a Hidden Hills resident, whose identity was stolen. There were six City Council Minutes
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(6) trespassing calls for June and July. Two (2) of those calls ended up as arrests; one of them was the individual charging his phone and the other one was a trespasser in the city where private security guards detained somebody, and there were desires of prosecution.
I. Ordinance No. 386 Amending the Section 1-6-2 of the Hidden Hills Municipal Code Related to City Council Meetings- Second Reading
City Manager Kallman presented the following report:
in January of this year, Council Member Loggia suggested the City Council consider moving to one Council meeting per month for efficiency reasons; this item was agendized on June 12th; the staff report included items such as City Council meeting frequency and City Council meeting efficiency regarding placement and/or handling of business items. In fact, there are some more items later on tonight's agenda related to the items discussed at the June 12'* meeting; once the item was discussed, the City Council gave direction to place the item on an upcoming agenda, or which sat este the of which staff did; on July 10", the City Attorney prepared an ordinance for first reading as requested by the City Council and it was approved by a vote of 3-0 (2 members were absent); on this agenda, is the ordinance for second reading (which are always included on the Consent Calendar for approval), and then the ordinance will be incorporated into the City's Municipal Code; as it is now, the City Council only has one meeting a month in the month's of May, July, August, September, October, November and December.
Mayor Steve Freedland opened the floor for public comments:
Resident Britt Aaronson read the following statement:
"To the Hidden Hills City Council: I would appreciate if the City Council would continue meeting twice a month on Monday nights at 6:30pm as per the guidelines they were elected on. Here are the City Council schedules for five surrounding cities: The Los Angeles City Council meets regularly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 10:00 am The Calabasas City Council meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm. The Agoura City Council meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 6:00 pm. The Westlake City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm. The Malibu City Council meets on the second and fourth Mondays of every month at 6:30pm. The City Council is elected to serve the people and attending meeting from home, reducing the meetings to once a month, and having daytime "Special Meetings" decreases transparency. It is the public's right to participate to make sure policies serve the people who live in the community. Please stop all "special meetings" during the City Council Minutes
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daytime. It is not convenient for the majority of the constituency who are employed 9-5 to not have the Monday night scheduled meetings to attend and make comment. It is not an irate that pep dom attend ene dally memes may meatiese formed last attendance are detrimental to democratic governance and I ask for them to stop. If the City Council members feel it is too much of a time commitment to show up for their electors twice a month at City Hall, then I respectfully ask them to step down for someone who is willing to serve."
Resident Sean Antin stated that he agreed with everything Britt Aaronson said. The Councilmembers were elected to have 2 meetings per month and they should also show up here in person to these meetings and get rid of these COVID error restrictions that don't apply to anybody anymore.
Resident Jeff Korchek stated that he concurs with Britt Aaronson and Shawn Antin regarding this issue and also feels that constituents will have a less chance to express their concerns or comment on items if the Council only meets once a month. He also does not agree with speakers being limited to three (3) minutes.
Resident Luciano Nuques agrees that all Council meetings should be in person and that the Council should meet twice a month.
Resident Kim Ulrich agrees with the previous comments. She also mentioned that she sits on three nonprofit boards. They've all gone back to meeting in person, and what a pleasure it is to sit with your fellow board members. She feels that the Councilmembers that are at home are missing out on a lot. When they're on a Council or a Board it's so important to be with their fellow Council or Board members. If they can't do that, then they should step down because there are plenty of people that would take their place, and but she thanked them all for what they're doing, and appreciates their effort.
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Resident Mathy Wasserman read the following statement:
"The Hidden Hills City Council are planning to approve unless they hear from our city in strong numbers*, an ordinance to reduce the City Council meetings to once a month.
Remember, the City Council is elected by per-person votes and not per household.
Ordinance 386 attached. Why is this a problem? We have a history of Hidden Hills City Council meetings on the Second and Fourth Monday of the Month. When those meetings are reduced, that means more Special Meetings that are not on those scheduled nights. Lately, there have been more canceled meetings replaced by a lot of those Special Meetings; in fact a significant increase over previous years. The vast majority of those Special Meetings are during the day which means fewer neighbors have a chance or ability to participate. They meet, discuss, and vote with the input of residents. Special Meetings should be reserved for urgent matters. The City's business should be as transparent as possible and that comes from being consistent and scheduled. Rather than using the excuse that Hidden Hills citizens do not participate, they should be encouraging attendance. Special Meetings do not encourage residents to be heard on matters. (The Special Meetings have all been properly noticed but if you are not watching your emails or even signed up for emails then you could miss them.) In addition, during COVID meetings were moved to 5:30 from 6:30. This means fewer people can attend if they work, especially now that more people are back to in-person office hours. These City Council members ran for office knowing there were two meetings a month. Post-COVID, they have even been enabled to continue to Zoom-it-in from a remote location rather than actually being in the City Hall for the meeting. At one City Council meeting (after COVID restrictions ended) the Zoomed-in council members prevented a vote because not enough City Council members were within the City. This is a problem. I know we are all busy with the HOA matters but let's not allow our City governance to become more remote. This is not to slight the City Council but to say we need to see you in regular meetings more.
Personally, 1 am grateful for their time and service. Finally, the reason why this is so different than the Hidden Hills Home Owners Association is that the HOA has many committees that meet regularly and are charged to take action. All of those HOA committees allow for public input at meetings and this creates multiple times a month that HOA members can interact. All of those committees are comprised of HOA members. The City does not function this way so the opportunity to participate is limited and even more so when taken down to one meeting a month. In fact, the Hidden Hills News Facebook page was recently aghast when the HOA held a Special Meeting and accused the board of all sorts of nefarious actions. "
Resident Bret Katz supports continuing two meetings a month and he feels that it would shorten the City Council meetings and cut down the need for special meetings. He also believes that unless there is a medical or need to take care of children, Council Members should attend in person meetings.
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City Manager Kallman read the following emails into the record:
Residents Traci Blumenthal, Reid Breitman, Mike and Alex Resnick, Nick Gerson, Jackie Rosenson, Lisann Gould, O 'Hara Fottrell, Patrick and Farnaz Fardad Finn, Ted Waldron agree with comments stated by Mathy Wasserman.
Resident Greg Goetzman wrote:
"I understand The Hidden Hills City Council is planning to approve an ordinance to reduce the City Council meetings to once a month. We have too many important issues in our city to reduce the amount of times our City Council meets. Please keep the City Councill meetings at 2 per month. Thank you"
Residents David and Deb Seror wrote:
"David and I agree with you in regard to the above. We feel that the City Council should have TWO regularly scheduled meetings per month to allow for transparency and the 11 ability for residents to respond in a timely manner." Residents Jeffrey and Arie Gersh wrote:
"The special meetings have to stop and the change from two meetings a month to 1 time a month is unacceptable. Furthermore, changing the time to 5:30 PM rather than 6:30 PM is ridiculous. If there's any kind of vote, we do not agree with the changes. " Residents Ronald and Jennifer Biernat wrote:
"oppose the above mentioned ordinance (to reduce city council meetings to once per month). Please let us know if there is any additional information we should provide. Thank you."
Residents Kim and Greg Garcia wrote:
"We are grateful for the time and service of those who volunteer. In light of all that has been going on in our community, we have become more aware that more attention needs to be paid by everyone that lives here. It would seem that reducing the city council meetings to once a month would make it more difficult for residents to participate." Residents Jack and Linda Goldman wrote:
"We agree the new ordinance to stop the meeting should NOT be approved" City Council Minutes
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Resident Carrie Kasper Levis
I am a homeowner and resident of Hidden Hills. I am writing in support of there being one meeting per month rather than two meetings per month as it would he seemingly more efficient for everyone.
Resident Adam Wasserman wrote:
I am writing regarding concerns about this evening's meeting. 1. The vagueness of the Brown Act is being used in an antagonistic manner toward a Board member. The comments and concerns are outside of the intent of this act that was promulgated for rural areas unlike our City. It feels as if the Facebook News page is being weaponized against the Council Member for undisclosed reasons. Its hurtful to watch this process unfold and appears very prejudicial and bias for personal reasons. 2. I see no reason for greater than one Council meeting a month based on the subject matter each month.
Resident John McGinnis wrote:
"Please pass my comments to the council members. I have watched the back and forth arguments on social media regarding the one-meeting-per-month proposal and I have to say I am truly surprised by the pushback. First, that any council members would fight it. Seems to be in the best interest of the council. And second by some of the neighbors who are "against" it. Some of the comments on the site were pretty funny. At least I hope they were meant to be funny. If they were serious, then it would be a bit scary.
The HOA has one meeting per month, and with a lot more agenda items and member participation. If the majority of the City Council members vote to move to a one-per-month meeting, support.
Someone compared us to Calabasas (9,000 homes, significant commercial areas, Agoura Hills (7,000 homes, significant commercial areas), and Westlake Village (3,000 homes and significant commercial components.) Hidden Hills has 650 homes. commercial area. Let's not compare HH to other cities that are nothing like Hidden Hills. And truly, there is nothing like Hidden Hills, and that's the way we like it. If it takes only one meeting per month to run this little town, then go for it. Makes total sense to me." Nanette Walden wrote:
"I would prefer that the city council meetings continue to be twice a month, and all council members present and in person, not Zoom. Thank you"
Councilmember McCorkindale asked City Manager Kallman to speak to the comment that there was a significant increase in special meetings in 2023 compared to 2022, and also can he repeat what the vote count was and who voted to move to one meeting a month? Mr. Kallman responded that there have been two (2) in 2023 and seven (7) in 2022 and five (5) in 2021. Regarding the City Council Minutes
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second question, this item was initially brought by Council Member Loggia in January and agendized at the meeting in July with the vote 3-0 in favor of approval and those in attendance were Mayor Freedland, Councilmember, Loggia, and Councilmember McCorkindale.
Councilmember Loggia expressed his reasoning for initially bringing this topic to the Council was that most agendas were very light and it was taking valuable staff time to prepare light agendas instead of putting their time and efforts into the current projects. He further expressed that the Council can always change back to two meetings a month if it is not proving beneficial.
Councilmember Weber would also like to discuss at a future meeting, changing the meeting times to 6:30 p.m. to make it more convenient for residents to participate in the meetings.
Councilmember McCorkindale explained that she was hopeful that changing the Council meetings schedule to once a month, it would encourage resident participation and she thinks a big part of their job is to inspire public participation and to try new things. The second reason is that all the canceling of scheduled meetings discourages people from participating with the City at all. Also the amount of work in order to comply with Government and State laws, to put together these meetings is massive, and so time is being taken away from staff to put meetings together when they could be working on projects that are voted in goals of the City. Moving to one meeting a month does not mean the Councilmembers are not working. Most of the work she does for the City is taking place outside of a meeting.
Mayor Pro Tem Gold stated that it's very disheartening to hear that transparency is being brought up. I think there's some misunderstandings in our community about meetings, and what is a special meeting, procedures in government, and how things work, and she thinks it would be helpful to offer a civics course where it allows people to ask questions about why Councilmembers make certain decisions, and she thinks it would be beneficial in addition to us explaining ourselves to the constituents in a meeting. Councilmember Gold suggested adding it to the Goals for next year.
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Earlier in the meeting, Councilmember Weber discussed returning City Council meeting times to 6:30 p.m. Mayor Freedland asked for a consensus from Council to agendize this item for a future meeting. With the consensus being 3-2-0, it will be scheduled for an upcoming agenda.
Upon MOTION by Councilmember Loggia, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Gold, and carried by a 3-2-0 roll call vote, it was resolved to adopt Ordinance No. 386 Amending the Section 1-6-2 of the Hidden Hills Municipal Code Related to City Council Meetings
PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. Variance No. V-385
Trash Enclosure
24810 Jacob Hamblin Road
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIDDEN HILLS
SITTING AS THE PLANNING AGENCY APPROVING A REQUEST FOR
VARIANCE NO. V-385 FOR A TRASH ENCLOSURE WITHIN THE SOUTH SIDE YARD SETBACK LOCATED AT 24810 JACOB HAMBLIN ROAD
At this time Mayor Freedland recused himself and left the meeting as he is within the 500-foot radius of the subject property. Mayor Pro Tem Gold presided over this item.
City Engineer Lovett presented the following report:
the Applicant is requesting a variance for an existing 100 square foot trash enclosure that encroaches roughly three and a half feet (3.5') into the required twenty five-foot (25') side yard setback; the homeowner relocated the old trash nonconforming trash enclosure from the northwest corner to the southwest corner of the lot; while the new location of the trash enclosure does not require a specific building permit, it does require a variance; none of the proposed improvements will encroach any further into the current existing setbacks; all proposed improvements have been approved by the Hidden Hills Community Association; staff has determined that the finding can be met and there will be no material adverse impact on the public welfare or adjacent property.
At this point, since there are no technical questions from the City Council and no comment from the applicant, Mayor Pro Tem Gold opened the public hearing. The Applicant was in attendance in the Council Chambers in case the City Council had any questions.
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As there were no more comments or objections, Mayor Pro Tem Gold then closed the hearing.
As there was no further discussion, upon MOTION of Council Member Loggia, seconded by Council Member McCorkindale, and unanimously carried on roll call vote, it was resolved to approve and waive reading in full of Resolution No. 1008 entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIDDEN HILLS SITTING AS THE PLANNING
AGENCY, APPROVING A REQUEST FOR A MINOR ACCOMMODATION TO ALTER AN EXISTING NONCONFORMING RESIDENCE LOCATED AT 5650 JED SMITH ROAD AND
FINDING THAT THE PROJECT IS EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT PURSUANT TO 15305(A) OF THE STATE CEQA GUIDELINES.
B. Consideration of First Reading and Introduction of Ordinance No. 387, An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Hidden Hills Amending Section 5-2-I-I and Section 5-21-7 of the City's Zoning Regulations to Allow for Administrative Review and Approval of Minor Accommodations - First Reading
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIDDEN HILLS AMENDING SECTION 5-2i-I AND SECTION 5-2i-7 OF THE CITY'S ZONING
REGULATIONS TO ALLOW FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW AND
APPROVAL OF MINOR ACCOMMODATIONS
City Engineer Lovett presented the following report:
at their June 12' meeting, the City Council gave direction to implement the administrative review of minor accommodations; in 2001, the City Council made a change to the Municipal Code that created the "Minor Accommodation" process for some development projects for when a builder merely desired to remodel a house with an existing non- conforming building that already encroached into the required setbacks; since the variance process was often too onerous, expensive, and could, in some cases, be better handled by staff administratively, the Minor Accommodation process gave staff the discretion to approve or deny those applications where no exterior work is proposed on the portion of a building already encroaching into a setback, while the Council was charged with reviewing applications where exterior work is proposed on the encroaching portion of the building, or when an alteration, repair, or renovation to a non-conforming building exceeds 50% of its square footage or value; the majority of Minor Accommodations are processed administratively by staff; the proposed ordinance amends the City's current provisions related to minor accommodations for nonconforming buildings to provide for their administrative processing and approval.
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At this point, since there are no technical questions from the City Council, Mayor Freedland opened the public hearing.
As there were no more comments or objections, Mayor Freedland then closed the hearing.
As there was no further discussion, upon MOTION of Council Member Weber, seconded by Council Member Loggia, and unanimously carried on roll call vote, it was resolved to introduce by title only and waive full reading of Ordinance No. 387 entitled: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIDDEN HILLS AMENDING SECTION 5-21-1 AND SECTION 5-21-7 OF THE CITY'S ZONING REGULATIONS TO ALLOW FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINOR ACCOMMODATIONS.
C. Consideration of First Reading and Introduction of Ordinance No. 388, An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Hidden Hills Amending Article D of Chapter 3 of Title 5 of the Hidden Hills Municipal Code Related to Lot Line Adjustments
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIDDEN HILLS AMENDING ARTICLE D OF CHAPTER 3 OF TITLE 5 OF THE HIDDEN
HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE RELATED TO LOT LINE ADJUSTMENTS
City Engineer Lovett presented the following report:
at their June 12" meeting, the City Council gave direction to implement the administrative review of lot line adjustments; a lot line adjustment is the process of transferring a portion of one or more lots to others, while maintaining the same number of lots that existed before the adjustment, and as long as the newly created lots comply with local land division and zoning standards; previously, the Hidden Hills Municipal Code contained two distinct lot line adjustment processes: minor lot line adjustments that were processed administratively and major lot line adjustments (20% or more from one lot), which required City Council approval; the proposed ordinance amends the City's lot line adjustment provisions in their entirety including making the process entirely administrative.
At this point, since there are no technical questions from the City Council, Mayor Freedland opened the public hearing.
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As there were no more comments or objections, Mayor Freedland then closed the hearing.
As there was no further discussion, upon MOTION of Council Member Loggia, seconded by Council Member Weber, and unanimously carried on roll call vote, it was resolved to introduce by title only and waive full reading of Ordinance No. 388 entitled: AN ORDINANCE OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIDDEN HILLS AMENDING ARTICLE D OF CHAPTER 3 OF TITLE 5 OF THE HIDDEN HILLS MUNICIPAL CODE RELATED TO LOT LINE ADJUSTMENTS.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Consideration to Award a Contract for the Long Valley Road Parking Lot (Phase 1 of the Long Valley Road/US Onramp Project)
City Engineer Lovett presented the following report:
project improvements include a parking lot at the currently unimproved parking lot just outside the Long Valley Road security gate; at its meeting of December 13, 2021, the City Council approved a conceptual design, prepared in coordination with Willdan Engineering, L. Newman Design Group, and Studia MA for the Phase 1 parking lot layout and landscaping; the final design of the parking lot (Phase 1) was completed and approved by the City Council at its meeting of November 14, 2022; construction documents were prepared and advertised for bidding on June 12, 2023; four bids were received on July 24, 2023, with the low bidder being C.S. Legacy, and based on C.S. Legacy's experience and references, staff would recommend that they be awarded the contract.
If I can also add something to the report. It is customary for us to also have the Council approve the plans and specifications. For this project. So as part of that motion, if the Council would indulge me and also approve the plans and specifications for the design of this project. That are on file with the city engineer, and those plans and specifications were written up by Will Dan, and and reviewed and approved by the city engineer. All right. So at this point I'll entertain a motion to approve this motion by Joe, second by, and second by Larrya roll call, vote, Dina, and before you do that, and that would be to award the contract for the Long Valley Road Project phase one to see as legacy construction in the amount of $1,809,750 and 86 cents, and authorize a staff for a 20% contingency for uns person costs.
Upon MOTION by Councilmember Loggia, seconded by Councilmember Weber, and unanimously carried on roll call vote, it was resolved to enter into an agreement with C.S Legacy for the Long Valley Road Parking Lot Project in the amount of $1,809,750.86, authorized staff a City Council Minutes
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1./ Page 16
20% contingency for unforeseen costs, and to have the City Council approve the plans and specifications for the design of this project, that are on file with the City Engineer and written up by Willdan Associates and reviewed and approved by the City Engineer.
B. Consideration of Approval of an Agreement with Burke, Williams, and Sorenson for Legal Services Related to the City's Library Project
City Manager Kallman presented the following report:
at the City Council meeting on February 13, 2023, the Council provided direction to staff including allowing the MOU for library services with the City of Calabasas to sunset on June 30, 2023, work with Mayor Pro Tem Gold serving as the Library Commissioner to find a consulting firm to work with the City on developing a new library services plan, and identify a law firm or lawyer with specific experience in library and taxation matters to assist the City Council with the library project and bring recommendations back to the City Council; staff identified two different attorneys at specific firms that specialize in library matters; after interviewing two lawyers, Algeria Ford, a partner with Burke, Williams and Sorenson, is being recommended to assist the City with legal matters pertaining to the Library; under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Ford will receive $345 per hour, while all other firm attorneys will receive $305 per hour, with funding being provided from the City's newly created Library Fund.
Resident Mathy Wasserman asked how much is this going to cost, if it's possible to make available to everybody the cost between the consultant and this as a procedure, why community members are not a part of evaluating this decision, and fourth what's currently happening with residents in terms of access to the library as well as in the interim.
City Manager Kallman responded with the following answers:
on tonight's consent calendar, the City made its last payment to the City of Calabasas, under the previous agreement; as for library funds, the City will not receive another payment until November; the City has created a new fund in its budget, which was approved by the City Council back in June called the Restricted Library Fund; Mr. Ford's hourly rate is listed in the staff report at $345 an hour on an as needed basis; all residents remain members of the Los Angeles County Library system, which means residents can visit any Los Angeles County Library, City of Los Angeles Library, and Calabasas Library; however residents don't have certain privileges that they had before.
City Council Minutes
August 28, 2023
Upon MOTION by Mayor Pro Tem Gold, seconded by Councilmember Loggia, and unanimously carried by roll call vote, it was resolved to approve the agreement with Burke, Williams, and Sorensen for legal services related to the City's library project.
C. Discussion on the City of Hidden Hills Sphere of Influence City Engineer Lovett presented the following report:
the City of Hidden Hills has had an established sphere of influence (SOI) outside of the City limits, which is on unincorporated Los Angeles County land, over which Hidden Hills has maintained a particular interest; the Local Area Formation Committee (LAFCO) designates SO's for jurisdictions where there is potential for future annexation, and the County has final jurisdiction; the proposed Hidden Hills SOI include Areas 4 and 5 (7.5 acre finger of land (Ashley Tract) and three homes on Oakfield Road that are inside the gates and part of the Association) will remain in the City's SOI and ultimately be annexed into the City through the Craftsman's Corner annexation project; area 2 is made up of open space, a residential subdivision (Mureau Estates), a private school (Mesivta), and vacant land currently zoned by the County for light and heavy agricultural use; keeping the subject area in the City's SOI provides Hidden Hills some measure of control over land use decisions in the subject property and possibly creates an open space buffer along the City's western border; however, updating the City's General Plan to keep the SOI in no way means the City will be annexing the land in the near future; LAFCO has indicated that to keep the existing SOI, the General Plan amendment would need to be completed by the end of the year.
Councilmember McCorkindale asked City Engineer Lovett to confirm that there is no downside to us putting this in our sphere of influence? To which, City Engineer Lovett confirmed.
As there were no more City Council comments, the general consensus from the Council is to give guidance to staff that the City is to retain those areas for our sphere of influence and to prepare a draft resolution to amend the general plan, for the next City Council meeting for approval.
Discussion and Direction Regarding: (i) the Distribution of Official City Communications Sent by the City Manager to City Residents and/or the City Council; and (ii) Formalizing the Process for Communicating City Updates to the Hidden Hills Community Association (HHCA) Board of Directors Meetings City Attorney Diaz presented the following report:
City Council Minutes
August 28, 2023
at the July 24, 2023 Special City Council meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Gold requested a discussion related to the distribution of official City communications to the public and the City Council by the City Manager because she has noticed that official City communications have been posted on a private social media account before the City Council or the rest of the community is provided that communication directly by the City; until last year, these communications were sent to the community at the same time the City Council received them; on a rare occasion, particularly when the information was related to a significant public safety item, the full City Council was notified by the City Manager prior to the message being sent out; last year, at the request of then Mayor McCorkindale, the City Manager would send all communication to the Mayor shortly before it was sent to the public so the Mayor would be aware of the communication and can be prepared to answer any questions regarding the matter, and also be able to forward or repost the information on social media once it was received by the public, which has with the current Mayor; the Mayor Pro Tem's concern is that the public at large is not receiving official City communications all at the same time as there are some members of the public receiving that information sooner than everyone else.
ії) at the June 26, 2023 City Council meeting, City Staff agendized an item related to the presentation of City updates to the HHCA Board of Directors meetings; At that meeting, the City Manager stated that historically there has not been an assigned person from the City representing the Council or Staff that will present regular updates to the HHCA Board, while the HHCA has assigned someone from the Board to give HHCA updates to the City at City Council meetings and that person in turn provides updates regarding the City at the HHCA Board meeting; several Council Members requested to have a discussion about best practices and who should give presentations at HHCA Board meetings; the result of that discussion was that the City Council should "keep things the same" and encourage the HHCA representative to attend City Council meetings and ensure that City Staff is providing the representative with the City Council minutes; at the July 24, 2023 Special City Council meeting, Council Member Loggia requested that this matter be placed on an agenda (reporting to the HHCA) so there can be a formalized process for how the City Council is going to communicate with the HHCA Board as "keep things the same," meaning that no member of the Council would provide a report on behalf of the City at HHCA board meetings, may not have been followed.
Mayor Freedland stated that he was concerned with an email regarding a law enforcement operation that was sent on a Friday to all Councilmembers that would be taking place on the weekend from staff that was then posted on a social media page by Mayor Pro Tem Gold without consent of the City Council.
City Council Minutes
August 28, 2023
Mayor Pro Tem Gold responded that she felt that the community should be put on notice that the City is starting a new practice and to be aware of the rules so that they can change their behavior.
She also commented that because City Manager Kallman didn't reflect in the email that this was sensitive information to not be shared.
Upon MOTION by Councilmember McCorkindale, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Gold and passed by roll call vote, it was resolved that I) documents, emails, reports intended for public release, that constitute works in process or have not yet gone to the public as a whole, including to entire City Council, a Councilmember shall not disclose to any third party until made available to the public and 2) any emails sent by City staff to City Council shall not be disclosed to any third party until sent to the entire City Council or if staff suggested is confidential information.
The second part of this agenda item is the Formalizing the Process for Communicating City Updates to the Hidden Hills Community Association (HHCA) Board of Directors Meetings Mayor Freedland stated that his appearance at the HHCA meetings and speaking at the HHCA meetings was, he felt, misinterpreted as giving an official report on behalf of the City Council. He attends the meetings as a member of the HHCA.
Councilmember Loggia stated that he brought this item up because he felt that there was a difference in what the Council originally discussed. He doesn't want to impede on anyone's right as a member of the HHCA, but doesn't think a Councilmember should be giving official City reports to the HHCA board, meaning to preference the answer as speaking as a member of the member and not in an official City capacity.
Council Member McCorkindale reminded the Council that she and Council Member Loggia are on the Standards and Norms Committee and will include these discussion items into that document.
City Council Minutes
August 28, 2023
Resident Mathy Wasserman expressed her frustration with, what she feels, are limitations being put in place, not only for our City, which typically functions well but also to the community members. She also commented about Councilmembers commenting on social media pages (which City Attorney Diaz reminded her was not on the agenda for discussion).
Resident Ed Wasserman stated that he didn't see it on the agenda, doesn't that constitute new business and doesn't the community have a right to weigh in on this and be a part of this discussion.
Councilmember McCorkindale commented that this item is on the agenda for discussion.
Upon MOTION by Mayor Pro Tem Gold, seconded by Councilmember McCorkindale and passed on a 3-1-1 roll call vote, it was resolved that no Councilmember should speak or give a report on behalf of the City Council at any HHCA meetings unless specifically authorized by a majority vote of the City Council and that this motion will be included into the code of conduct when that document is brought before the City Council and approved.
CLOSED SESSION
Public Employee Performance Evaluation
Government Code Section 54957
Title: City Manager
Upon MOTION of Council Member McCorkindale, seconded by Councilmember Loggia and unanimously carried, it was resolved to adjourn to closed session at 6:18 p.m. to address the items listed above.
The City Council returned from closed session and the City Attorney announced that in closed session the Council discussed the items listed above, and that no reportable action was taken.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned.
City Council Minutes
August 28, 2023