10-10-2023 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 1
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TRINIDAD CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2023 (LIVE/HYBRID)
I. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Kelly called the live-hybrid meeting to order at 6:00pm. Council members in attendance: Kelly, Ladwig, West, Tuttle, Breckenridge. City Staff in attendance: City Manager Eli Naffah, City Clerk Gabriel Adams, Administrative Assistant Anton Souza, Project Manager Jennifer Hakenen, City Engineer Josh Wolf.
Approximately (4) participants were present by video-conference, and (5) a were present live at the beginning of the meeting.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
III. CLOSED SESSION
1. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation (Calif. Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1)) (1 Case: City of Trinidad vs. Tsurai Ancestral Society, et. al, Humb. Co. Sup. Court Case No. 180684) IV. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION – No reportable action taken in closed session.
V. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Motion (Ladwig/West) to approve the agenda as written. Passed unanimously.
VI. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – 09-12-2023 cc
Continued to the November meeting.
VII. COUNCIL REPORTS/COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
West: Trails Committee will meet on 10/17, at 5:00pm, Live/Hybrid.
Ladwig: HTA Board approved an overhaul of staff compensation, resulting in the ability to hire more drivers.
Budget restructure will help accommodate new programs that respond to unmet transit needs.
Breckenridge: Nothing to report.
Kelly: CERT Training session for November is full. 30 enrolled plus additional people on the wait list. Water Advisory Committee met on September 27. Various items discussed from staffing, to drought planning projects underway. 2022 Consumer Confidence report will be discussed at the next meeting in November.
Tuttle: Nothing to report.
VIII.STAFF REPORTS – City Manager & Law Enforcement
City Manager Naffah highlighted accomplishments summarized in the staff report included in the meeting packet, including a response to a resident question about the 2022 Consumer Confidence report. The City has no lead or copper pipes in the distribution system. If lead exists, it would be on the resident side of the meter.
Mayor Kelly asked when the public would have a chance to comment on the Van Wycke Trail. Naffah stated that may be possible in January or February.
Public comment included:
Patti Fleschner – Trinidad resident
Will we be discussing the law enforcement report? Naffah noted that HCSO Lt. Josh McCall will not be able to attend tonight. Naffah also noted that the contract with Pacific Coast Security is on Consent for approval tonight. A patrol schedule will be determined when soon.
IX. ITEMS FROM THE FLOOR
(Three (3) minute limit per Speaker unless Council approves request for extended time.) Richard Johnson – Trinidad Area Resident
Submitted public comments to the Clerk’s Office in advance of the meeting. When the City voted in the early 2000’s to increase the sales tax, it worked hard with the State to ensure the tax would not be charged incorrectly to residents outside City limits, successfully. Unfortunately that is not the present situation, and I can’t say when the change occurred. My tax receipts show that the biggest violator is Amazon online purchases. I was charged the incorrect sales tax amount for various remodels. Speaking with a retailer online 10-10-2023 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 2
is nearly impossible and frustrating. I believe that everyone in the 95570 zip code is charged incorrectly. Some people don’t know, others know, and one suggested paying it to support the City. It’s not that we don’t want to support the City. Some of us volunteer our time and energy, however, it’s unfair and probably illegal to be forced to pay the tax without having a say on how the tax is being spent… classic taxation without representation. The Council needs to look at this and resolve the issue, despite other more pressing matters that may exist. Asking the City to act responsibly to settle this, and return with a plan and schedule to solve and clarify the legal implications for charging outside city residents the wrong rate.
City Clerk Adams clarified that the City is not doing anything illegal, that tax rate boundaries are the responsibility of the California Tax and Fee Administration, and that the City would relay Mr. Johnson’s concerns to the appropriate representative at that level.
Johnson introduced Clair Nessler, the new Executive Director of the Trinidad Coastal Land Trust. Nessler noted her background is in Marine Wildlife, and interested in policy as well.
X. CONSENT AGENDA
1. Staff Activity Report – September 2023
2. Financial Statements – August 2023
3. Law Enforcement Report – September 2023.
4. Confirmation of Sherri Provolt as Yurok Tribe Representative on the Trinidad Trails Committee.
5. Contract with Pacific Coast Security to Provide Supplemental Law Enforcement Services to the City of Trinidad.
6. Continued Introduction/First Reading of Ordinance 2023-03; correcting and reaffirming codification of the City of Trinidad Zoning Ordinance, Title 17 of the Trinidad Municipal Code.
7. Continued regarding Introduction/First Reading of Ordinance 2023-04; reaffirming codification of the City of Trinidad Zoning Ordinance and amendments thereto that were not submitted to the CA Coastal Commission for certification.
Motion (Ladwig/West) to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Passed unanimously.
X. DISCUSSION/ACTION AGENDA ITEMS
1. Annual Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
City Manager Naffah introduced Stephen Luther, Associate Planner for HCOAG, participating by Zoom. Shared ridership stats, performance metrics, branding (RIDE HUMBOLDT), and tap to pay fare system. These hearings are required by the Local Transportation Fund. When there are no unmet transit needs, the money can be used for streets and road maintenance. Steep decline in ridership during Covid, but it is increasing year over year.
Exciting development this services this year is a pilot project for dial-up microtransit, service to CalPoly and Valley West, Hoopa to Orleans, and Redwood Coast Express from Eureka to Ukiah.
There were no public comments.
Council comments included:
Kelly: Excited to hear about micro-transit, and wondering if there was a plan to increase the bike rack weight limit to include heavier e-bikes.
Ladwig: Always want to hear more input, and there’s a link on the website to take an online survey.
Breckenridge: Any way to slow down the bus when driving through town? Tuttle: Can community members use map programs (Apple/Google) to connect trips or route plan? Luther explained that route planning info can be gathered through several sites, real time.
Comments will be forwarded to HCOAG.
2. Continued Discussion/Decision regarding Traffic Calming Measures for View Street, Ocean Avenue, and Underwood Drive.
At the request of several residents on Ocean Avenue and View Streets, the Council has discussed the topic of traffic calming in July, August, and September. At the onset, residents insisted on installing temporary speed 10-10-2023 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 3
humps to calm speeding drivers. Staff was directed to expand the reach for public input and provide professional analysis comparing temporary vs. permanent infrastructure.
Staff returned at the August meeting with cost estimates for both permanent and temporary speed humps. The price tag for both options was significant enough to warrant more public input. The outreach yielded a wide range of feedback including requests from areas of Trinidad that were not originally the focus, including Berry, Frontage, Edwards, and Main Streets.
There is general agreement in the community that; 1) drivers are less aware of their speed than they should be, 2) data should be collected to prioritize spending of limited resources, and 3) effort should be made to promote and enforce Trinidad as a place to drive slow and safe. Staff recommends that a linear approach be taken by the Council to evaluate the data, organize the options, and implement solutions that honor the past and capture the current safety concerns expressed by the community, starting with recommendations listed in the Local Road Safety Plan adopted in January 2022.
Public Works is currently performing a speed limit sign audit to determine which need better visibility, placement, or replacement. Several other improvements will be discussed on a street-by-street basis so the community has a better understanding of what is in progress for the following streets:
City Engineer Josh Wolf participated remotely and provided a brief overview of the project, with photos and examples of current situations, improvements in place, improvements scheduled, and possible solutions:
EDWARDS STREET: Hi-visibility crosswalks with flashing beacons will be installed at Hector and Galindo in Spring 2024, paid for through the Caltrans funded HSIP Program.
FRONTAGE ROAD: Improved pavement markings for vehicles and pedestrians (HSIP, Spring 2024) VIEW & OCEAN: In the early 2000’s the community prioritized safe pedestrian and school route walkability from Main Street to the Harbor. In 2007 those values materialized in reality through two successful grant awards; The Trinidad Gateway Project and the High Risk Rural Roads Program (HR3). HR3 was the driving force that convinced Caltrans to significantly improve pedestrian safety from Frontage Road through Main Street, including the Hwy 101 underpass. Prior to this project, the sidewalks under the freeway consisted of eroded gravel paths and there were no safe landings between on and off-ramps.
Both grant awards also funded the bulb-outs created at the foot of View & Ocean on Main Street, and along Trinity Street between Stagecoach and Parker. The bulb-outs were designed intentionally to slow traffic. The side-effect, however, was that large vehicles and local drivers avoided the School and Beachcomber Café during peak hours by taking the alternate route out of town via View or Ocean, turning then both into arterial streets instead of collectors.
In 2018, at the demand of Ocean Avenue residents the City removed mid-street encroachments that narrowed the traveled path and created the impression of an unsafe condition. Residents also felt that vehicles were parking too far into the travel lane so the City installed a white fog line as a visual reference for parking awareness. Past Councilmember (and licensed surveyor) Jim Baker carefully surveyed and marked the area on Ocean to place the fog line. Subsequently, a few years later the City began receiving complaints that driving speeds had increased.
TRAFFIC ANALYSIS: Cost for a volume and speed survey at 5 locations (Main, View, Ocean, Trinity, Edwards) would result in an understanding of the distribution and vehicle speeds, and would cost $5k for a 1- day count, or $10k for a 7-day count. I wouldn’t recommend waiting until summer as valid data could be received now, especially during School days.
LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PLAN (LSRP): (Engineering, Enforcement, Education, Emergency Response, and Emerging Technologies). Changing demographics make priorities a moving target. Just prior to the Covid pandemic of 2021, the City held several public meetings soliciting input for local road safety priorities. State transportation programs that feed the City’s street maintenance budget have strings attached to ensure the money is being spent lawfully, in accordance with State goals and principals. Suggestions received during that series of meetings held in June and July of 2021 resulted in the development and adoption of the Local Road Safety Plan in January 2022. The plan archived over 40 comments gathered that reflected the community’s values at that time.
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Simultaneously while the LSRP was being developed, houses were selling and a new demographic of residents including families with children, were moving into View, Underwood, Berry, and Himalaya. Suddenly a renewed focus of school children safety emerged, as parent’s awareness of vehicle speed and circulation habits elevated.
LSRP recommended low cost, low impact improvements including adding center and/or edge lines striping on Main, Trinity, Underwood, Parker/East/West, Hector, Edwards, View, and Ocean, along with curve warning signs, Radar Feedback Signs, Bikeway sharrows, and a roundabout at the 101 interchange.
OTHER LOW COST/LOW IMPACT IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDE:
- Pavement markings (Speed limits)
- Advanced speed hump markings (without speed humps installed to draw driver awareness to unique situations such as slowing speeds on Ocean and View Streets).
The question before the Council now is how best to strategize spending of limited resources to reflect these new values in a linear process that syncs previous priorities with new ones. The City has received valuable feedback ranging from optimizing existing speed limit signage, to installing speed humps on View, Underwood, Ocean, and Edwards Streets. A general consensus was reached at the September 12 meeting that data collected on targeted streets would be very useful in determining which should receive immediate attention.
Staff is recommending the Council look at this issue holistically, starting with an understanding that traffic calming measures implemented in 2007 had a notable impact on how Ocean and View Streets evolved from collector streets into arterial streets, carrying a substantial outbound vehicle load during peak travel times.
Council questions included:
Breckenridge: Pleasantly surprised with low cost alternatives suggested. Does a radar feedback sign offer more traffic calming than a painted speed sign. Wolf explained that feedback signs are probably more effective.
Tuttle: Edge lines encourage drivers to slow down.
Ladwig: In favor of the 7-day baseline traffic study, this time of year.
City Manager Naffah presented a flyer he received in the mail for solar radar speed signs (pack of 3) that collect traffic data. This might be worth looking into, and provide permanent data solutions.
Kelly: Great idea. Those signs can also be leased, or owned. In support of low cost, low impact solutions.
Painting speed limits on the street, and possibly volunteering to do handheld radar speed detector shifts if there isn’t a sign that can solve this for us. Long-term solutions could be bulb-outs, but there may not be enough right away or lose parking as a result of that. Rancheria is working on possible improvements to 101 interchange, and Scenic Drive.
West: Can we get used speed humps at a lower cost?
Public comments included:
Elaine Weinreb – Trinidad are resident
How many times would it take a driver to learn that there is a fake speed hump on the street. One time.
Wolf noted they aren’t intended to be fake. They are intended to alert drivers that there is something different about this road, and they should be aware there is a speed limit and proceed cautiously. Most engineering solutions cannot force drivers to slow down, but can raise driver awareness.
Patti Fleschner – Trinidad area resident
I don’t like any new signs. They clutter up the pretty town. They are an annoyance. People don’t pay attention to signs. Without enforcement, why put up more signs?
Aaron Hakenen – Trinidad
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Agenda item is taking on a broader scope. LSRP identifies there is an issue. Street painting and better signage are good ideas. I’m sign adverse. Data collecting is the only way you can get real information. Let’s not spend money on temporary clutter. Let’s borrow a radar feedback trailer if possible.
Ana Davis – Trinidad
I’m in favor of data analysis. Permanent signs are ok too. Data on speed humps goes both ways. It can either raise or decrease speeds. We live in a beautiful town with people more likely wanting to look at oceans and trees, but having speed limits painted on the street would put it in driver’s faces. Low-cost, non-permanent solutions with studies in place will help measure the success of solutions implemented.
Council comments included:
Kelly: Council is in favor of low-cost, short-term solutions with data collection. Street painting and sign updating. Radar feedback signs could solve some of the problems.
Ladwig: Low-cost alternatives, including the radar feedback signs, sound very helpful, but also including the City Engineer in the analysis phase. I’ll make a motion to collect the data. We can understand the 7-days captured and assume the ebbs and flows during other times of the year.
West: What will Eli’s signs do, compared to the City Engineer’s proposed traffic analysis. How soon could we get a traffic study going?
Wolf explained that traffic distribution and speeds are what we’re looking for. There’s no reason to wait for that.
The study can be
Kelly: There’s more to it than just capturing the data, but the advantage of the smart feedback signs is that the data collection is ongoing. One reason for doing the study is to understand traffic pattern flows and direct/prioritize resources to problem areas.
Tuttle: Neighbors can tell us if there’s a problem on the streets. I drive fast on streets and need reminders, like paint striping, to remind me to slow down.
Motion (Ladwig/Kelly) authorize staff to proceed with the seven-day traffic study recommended by the City Engineer for Main, View, Ocean, Trinity, and Edwards, including Underwood and Frontage. Passed 3-1-1.
Tuttle – No. Breckenridge – Abstained.
Motion (Kelly/Tuttle) to 1) staff to return with radar feedback sign recommendations to help raise driver awareness of speed limits, and 2) authorize staff to install edge line striping, advance speed hump markings as presented in the City Engineer’s Example Striping, Markings, & Signs presentation (no bikeway sharrows), and optimize speed limit signs on Ocean and View Streets. Passed unanimously.
3. Update/Discussion regarding Public Outreach and Awareness Options for City Leash Laws and various Announcements.
City Clerk Adams explained that at the September meeting, the Council discussed the option of using local radio station airwaves to distribute Public Service Awareness Announcements. Staff was asked to develop the concept further and return in October for a continued discussion. Adams introduced KEKA sales representative Colin Vance who attended to recap the proposal and answer specific questions.
Vance explained the concept, and how other agencies have had success using radio to deliver their messages.
Recology, Humboldt County Public Works, and the City of Blue Lake, are a few of their public service clients.
Public comment included:
Ana Davis – Trinidad
Pet ownership comes with an assumption of risk. What messages are we sending to local dog owners? How can we make sure we aren’t insinuating that dogs aren’t welcome to Trinidad? We might be focusing too much on the “bad apples”.
Council comments included:
Ladwig: I’d like to see a proposal that includes the financial details, along with a list of messages the City might use to “fill the donut” format. I would support focusing on the positive and encouraging visitors. 10-10-2023 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 6
Breckenridge: I’m not even sure where the dog issue fits in anymore, and would like to continue to develop the public awareness campaign and return with the proposal as Ladwig suggested.
Continued to a future meeting.
4. Discussion/Decision regarding Updating Designated Paid Holiday List in Section 7 of the Employee Policy and Procedure Manual.
City Manager Naffah explained that he and Mayor Kelly discussed recent holidays that inspired this topic, and decided to focus now on adopting the day after Thanksgiving as an official City holiday. Taking action now will give employees time to plan their holiday in advance. Most all other cities and the County include this day on their paid holiday list. Considering other holidays for 2024 can happen at a future meeting. Staff will develop a comparative chart and bring the topic back for a future discussion.
There were no public comments.
Motion (Ladwig/West) to approve the day after Thanksgiving as an official paid City holiday. Passed unanimously.
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
- Paid Holiday List
- Enforcement of City Laws
- Sales Tax Issue response
- Public Awareness Campaign
- Town Hall Improvements Update
ADJOURNMENT: 8:25pm.
Submitted by: Approved by:
_____________________________ _____________________________ Gabriel Adams Cheryl Kelly
Trinidad City Clerk Mayor