Minutes Special Meeting
Public Works Commission
January 23, 2023
A. CALL TO ORDER
A Regular Meeting of the Redondo Beach Public Works Commission was called to order by Chair Simpson at 7:00 PM, in the City Hall Council Chambers, 415 Diamond Street, Redondo Beach, California.
B. ROLL CALL
Commissioners Present: Bajaj, Funabashi, Nafissi, Vice Chair Minne, and Chair Simpson Commissioners Absent: Arrata and Glass
Officials Present: Ted Semaan, Public Works Director
Andrew Winje, City Engineer
Lauren Sablan, Principal Engineer
Mehrdad Moshksar, Traffic Engineer
C. SALUTE TO THE FLAG
Commissioner Nafissi led the Commissioners in a Salute to the Flag.
D. APPROVE ORDER OF AGENDA
Motion by Commissioner Funabashi, seconded by Commissioner Bajaj, to approve the order of the agenda. Motion carried unanimously, with no objection.
AYES: Bajaj, Funabashi, Nafissi, Vice Chair Minne, and Chair Simpson.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: Arrata and Glass.
E. BLUE FOLDER ITEMS - ADDITIONAL BACK UP MATERIALS
E. 1. BLUE FOLDER
Principal Engineer Sablan confirmed that there are Blue Folder Items Motion by Vice Chair Minne, seconded by Commissioner Funabashi, to receive and file the Blue Folder Item. Motion carried unanimously, with no objection.
AYES: Bajaj, Funabashi, Nafissi, Vice Chair Minne, and Chair Simpson.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: Arrata and Glass.
F. CONSENT CALENDAR
F. 1. AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING
F. 2. RECEIVE AND FILE UPDATES TO THE SIX-MONTH STRATEGIC PLAN OBJECTIVES ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL ON JANUARY 17, 2023
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F. 3. DISCUSSION OF PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSION APPROVED PROJECTS —
STATUS UPDATES
Chair Simpson opened the floor to public comments.
Principal Engineer Sablan confirmed that there were no eComments or public comments received.
Seeing no requests to speak, Chair Simpson closed the floor to public comments.
Motion by Commissioner Nafissi, seconded by Commissioner Funabashi, to receive and file the Consent Calendar. Motion carried unanimously, with the following roll call vote:
AYES: Bajaj, Funabashi, Nafissi, Vice Chair Minne, and Chair Simpson.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: Arrata and Glass.
G. EXCLUDED CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS
None.
H. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS
H. 1. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS
Chair Simpson opened the floor to public comments. The following individual( s) spoke:
Kate Romero spoke about a food truck that has been frequently parked on North Helberta during after-school hours for the past week. Brought attention to the issue due to North Helberta being a small residential street.
Mandy Warchola spoke on the alley behind Maria and the parking allowed and blocked traffic.
Requested for red curbs on Paulina and Maria to avoid the blocked traffic.
Seeing no additional requests to speak, Chair Simpson closed the floor to public comments.
I. ITEMS CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS AGENDAS
None.
J. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION PRIOR TO ACTION
J. 1. U- TURN RESTRICTION ON 600 BLOCK OF N. MARIA AVE.
Commissioner Nafissi announced that she lives within the 500 radius of the 600 block of North Maria Avenue and thus, will be recusing herself.
City Engineer Winje provided the PowerPoint presentation that included the following details:
Image of the Location
Neighborhood Map
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Alternative Recommendations Available
Discussion followed regarding the restriction signage, permanent no -u turn signage, and possible hour restrictions.
Traffic Engineer Moshksar and Public Works Director Semaan responded to the Commissioners' questions and provided clarification.
Chair Simpson opened the floor to public comments. The following individual( s) spoke Mandy Warchola spoke on some of the issues such as faculty from the school parking around the neighborhood, u -turns made by neighborhood residents, drop-off by parents lingering after dropping off kids and creating more traffic, required parking permits, and letter to parents with notification of the no u -turn.
Sheri James is opposed to the request, will increase commute time to work in the mornings.
Suggested for the school to speak to the parents and have them use the school to drop- off their children.
Daniel Lasdow spoke on the principal having the ability to open other locations within the school for pick-up and drop- off of students.
Seeing no additional requests to speak, Chair Simpson closed the floor to public comments.
Discussion followed regarding other possible alternatives for traffic and planning, circulation plan for the school, traffic light crossing guard, traffic circulation problems, letter from Principal submitted to the Public Works Commission, parking restrictions during certain school hours, other signage options and ideas to better direct traffic, and giving the Principal direction on types of solutions prior to the City taking action.
Traffic Engineer Moshksar responded to the Commissioners' questions and provided clarification.
Sheri James agrees that the Principal should take action and fix the school' s circulation including signage.
Seeing no additional requests to speak, Chair Simpson closed the floor to public comments Public Works Director Semaan clarified that the City cannot encourage signage to be placed in the public' s right-of-way due to safety concerns and signage can be placed anywhere around the school property.
Motion by Vice Chair Minne, to direct staff to work with the Principal to address the safety concerns regarding school traffic and develop options to assist with those concerns. Failed for lack of a second.
Traffic Engineer Moshksar responded to the Commissioners' questions and provided clarification. Furthermore suggested maybe hour restrictions with the u -turn.
Public Works Director Semaan requested clarification from the maker of the motion.
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Chair Simpson stated that he will be voting no because he believes something different should have been done then what the motion details.
Motion by Commissioner Funabashi, seconded by Vice Chair Minne, to deny the request for a u -turn restriction and encourage the Principal to seek further input from the neighbors around the school and student parents. Friendly amendment accepted by the make of the motion for the Principal to also work with City staff regarding solutions. Motion carried, with the following roll call vote:
AYES: Bajaj, Funabashi, and Vice Chair Minne.
NOES: Chair Simpson.
RECUSE: Nafissi.
ABSENT: Arrata and Glass.
At 7:49 PM, Commissioner Nafissi joined the meeting after recusing during the discussion of this item.
J. 2. CIRCULATION IMPROVEMENTS ON THE 500 BLOCK OF
N. HELBERTA AVE.
City Engineer Winje provided the PowerPoint presentation that included the following details Background
Proposed Design
Alternatives
Results
Survey Results (All Responses and On the Block)
Alternative Recommendations Available
Discussion followed regarding the next steps.
City Engineer Winje responded to the Commissioners' questions and provided clarification.
Chair Simpson opened the floor to public comments. The following individual(s) spoke:
Maria Stefan spoke on the difficulty the limitation of parking would cause on North Helberta Avenue. Preferred for limited parking to go North.
Steve Bopp spoke on the issues with parking and vehicles blocking resident driveways and the issues with double parking. Spoke against the option of one-way street.
Susan Poland spoke on the issues throughout the years with moving vehicles and parked cars.
Also, spoke on the speed from moving vehicles. Is not in support of a one- way street.
Suggested other options on traffic restrictions during school hours.
Michael McNeirney spoke on the traffic and the proposed solution would not fix the problem.
The only solution would be in making the street a one-way street during certain hours ( school hours).
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Neva Valenti spoke on the traffic issues during school hours, vehicles driving fast throughout the streets to drop off kids at school, and is in support if the street is a one-way street.
Commissioner Funabashi confirmed that the issues are arising during school hours.
Karen Corey spoke on the direction of the street and parent dropping off kids in certain areas close to school proximity and parents blocking driveways making it difficult for residents to leave their homes. Prefers the one- way restriction option and does not have a preference if it is a permanent one-way street or just during school hours.
Sandy Deery spoke about the lack of parking during school hours and issues with moving vehicles damaging parked vehicles. Is in support of the one- way street as a solution. The twoway traffic needs to be eliminated.
Edward Deery spoke in support of northbound one- way street. Spoke on the businesses of the street during school hours. Due to multiple issues the one-way street should be permanent at all times.
Katie Romero spoke about signage near the school to avoid traffic on some streets during school hours.
Ron Corey is in agreement with neighbors about a one-way street request. Spoke about students parking in the neighborhood and parking availability at the High School for the students to park. Inquired about permit parking for residents.
Neva Valenti inquired about the students having to pay parking to park Discussion followed regarding survey patterns requests, pattern issues might more to Irena, one-way street options study, paid parking for high school students, talk to the school about circulation, alternate solutions to educate parents, collect data for one-way street volumes, parttime turn restrictions in conjunction with removing the center line, impacts on other streets if one-way street is implemented, survey sample received from residents, no removal of parking for residents, three- way by administration building, options for restricted turns, and issues on restrictive hours for a one- way street.
City Engineer Winje and Public Works Director Semaan responded to the Commissioners' questions and provided clarification.
Principal Engineer Sablan confirmed that there were no eComments received.
Seeing no additional requests to speak, Chair Simpson closed the floor to public comments.
Discussion continued regarding the logistics of the motion and what the next steps consisted of.
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Motion by Commissioner Funabashi, seconded by Chair Simpson, to make North Helberta a northbound one-way street, which will also necessitate the removal of the white line. A roll call vote was not made, as Vice Chair Minne stated that his concern is that additional options can be presented to the community.
City Engineer Winje and Public Works Director Semaan responded to the Commissioners questions and provided clarification.
Friendly amendment by Vice Chair Minne, seconded by Commissioner Nafissi, to study other solutions such as turn restrictions as a potential alternative for North Helberta in addition to the recommended one-way conversion and to advise residents of the options that will be presented for City Council consideration. Motion carried unanimously, with no objection.
AYES: Bajaj, Funabashi, Nafissi, Vice Chair Minne, and Chair Simpson.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: Arrata and Glass.
Motion with friendly amendment to make Helberta Avenue a northbound one-way street and for City staff to explore other alternatives and to advise residents on the options that will be presented for City Council for consideration. Motion with friendly amendment carried, with the following roll call vote:
AYES: Bajaj, Funabashi, Nafissi, Vice Chair Minne, and Chair Simpson.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: Arrata and Glass.
J.3. CLARK LANE AND STEINHART AVENUE ALL -WAY STOP CONTROLS AND
DISCUSSION OF AWS POLICY CHANGES REGARDING PUBLIC SUPPORT
THRESHOLDS
City Engineer Winje provided the PowerPoint presentation that included the following details:
Background
Image of Current Streets Stop Signs
AWS Request
Current Policy
Alternative Recommendations Available
Chair Simpson opened the floor to public comments.
Scott Ventrudo spoke on the speed controls needed for the location as well as a gym located causing more parking and traffic impacts.
Jeremy Cohen spoke in agreement with Scott's comments. Asked for safety first.
Principal Engineer Sablan confirmed that there were no eComments or public comments received.
Seeing no additional requests to speak, Chair Simpson closed the floor to public comments.
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Discussion followed the logistics of the request, the request that was made, and the study conducted for this request.
City Engineer Winje and Public Works Director Semaan responded to the Commissioners' questions and provided clarification.
Scott Ventrudo stated for the record what the intention was for the request. The request is for safety purposes.
Discussion continued regarding the process for speed bumps, data provided on accidents, responses received differences between petition v mailed surveys, petition accessibility, and other alternatives available regarding the concerns from applicant.
City Engineer Winje and Public Works Director Semaan responded to the Commissioners' questions and provided clarification.
Motion by Commissioner Nafissi, seconded by Vice Chair Minne, to direct staff to evaluate other alternatives besides the stop sign and conduct a traffic calming measures. Motion carried unanimously, with the following roll call vote:
AYES: Bajaj, Funabashi, Nafissi, Vice Chair Minne, and Chair Simpson.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: Arrata and Glass.
Discussion continued regarding the All Way Stops ( AWS) policy, current policy regarding surveys, lowering threshold of responses in surveys, lack of responses from the community, responsibility should fall on the City to survey the community, stringent requirement, case- bycase evaluations, alternatives for surveying the community, and process for removing stop signs.
Motion by Commissioner Bajaj, seconded by Commissioner Nafissi to leave the threshold values as is and explore alternatives to improve survey responses. Motion carried unanimously, with the following roll call vote:
AYES: Bajaj, Funabashi, Nafissi, Vice Chair Minne, and Chair Simpson.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: Arrata and Glass.
K. MEMBER ITEMS AND REFERRALS TO STAFF
Commissioner Nafissi asked for an update regarding the following:
Unpaved street of 2300 block of Helena Street
Broken slide at Lillienthal Park.
Alleyway behind Maria to be evaluated.
Speed cushions to be more clear online.
City Engineer Winje and Public Works Director Semaan responded to the updates and provided clarification.
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Chair Simpson inquired about the City's application that allows the public to submit requests.
Submitted a request and received confirmation but the request is still open.
Public Works Director Semaan requested for the work order number to check.
Commissioner Bajaj thanked Public Works staff for their diligence during the raining season.
Commissioner Nafissi thanked staff for their quick response on the requests submitted through the app.
City Engineer Winje spoke on the Greenline expansion flyer that was sent to the Commissioners'.
Public Works Director Semaan additionally added that a future item for the Commission' s consideration regarding the Greenline expansion will be returning in February.
L. ADJOURNMENT
Motion by Commissioner Nafissi, seconded by Commissioner Funabashi, to adjourn the meeting at 9: 36 PM. Motion carried unanimously, with no objection.
AYES: Bajaj, Funabashi, Nafissi, Vice Chair Minne, and Chair Simpson.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: Arrata and Glass.
The next meeting of the Redondo Beach Public Works Commission will be a Regular Commission Meeting to be held at 7:00 PM on February 27, 2023, in the Redondo Beach Council Chambers, at 415 Diamond Street, Redondo Beach, California and via teleconference.
All written comments submitted via eComment are included in the record and available for public review on the City website.
Ted Semaan
Public Works Director
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