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HomeMy Public PortalAboutM 1982-08-16 - CC_sp~`~ ~ A SPECIAL MEETING P,UGUST 16. 1982 The City Council of the City of Lynwood met in a special session in the City Hall, 11330 Bullis Road, on above date at 9:30 a.m. Mayor Thompson in the chair. Councilmen Byork, Green, Morris and Thompson answered the s^ roll call. Councilman Rowe was absent. Also present were City Manager Gomez and City Attorney McEwen. COMMUNITY ACCESS CORPORATION The City Manager reported that the Community Access Corpora- tion was discussed on a regular meeting agenda wherein the ordinance establishing the cable system was amended in such a way that Council could make itself the Community Access Corporation to be responsible for expenditures which came to the City for the purpose of allowing citizens to have access to the system. In organizing to meet the objectives for the cable system, staff checked with the cable company to see what had to be done to provide proper access to the public channels. The contract allows certain things which can be programmed into the system. Broad coverage can bring in programs which must be analyzed as to content, length of time, payroll, training, etc. All of this not only takes time, but also some organizing to have a section in the City Hall for issuing information. Someone will need to be hired and one person may be unable to function alone. The cable company knows that most of the cities are too small to perform this function alone and has proposed to do this for the five cities; namely, Bell Gardens, Paramount, Downey, Santa Fe Springs and Lynwood. The cable company would set up the organization (employment, studios, training, etc.) and offered several alternatives in the proposal, ranging from an elaborate alternative of 14 people with a budget of $80,000 to a very limited alternative for approxi- mately $54,200. All the affected cities would be required to pay their share in order for this agreement to function properly. The cable company will do all the coordinating of the system, and the City will provide the input into the system relative to material to be covered. The City Manager stated that there will be four access channels; however, the City can designate specific channels to cover a variety of subject matter. Councilman Morris commented as to whether Council wants the cable company to do the access programming or not. He felt that Ordinance No. 1134 states the Council's responsibility as the governing board and Council would have a committee to advise the board. Also that he was not in favor of giving the cable company full control of the access network because they would determine programming priorities relative to what is covered on the four channels. He felt control should be under the jurisdiction of Council. The City Manager stated that if the City operated the system, the City would have to bear the burden financially which would amount to quite a sum of money. COMMUNITY ACCESS CORPORATION OBJECTIVES OF CABLE SYSTEM ACCESS CHANNELS PROGRAMMING Councilman Byork stated that with the proposal as presented c. Byork by the City Manager, the cable company would get the opera- coMMENTS oN tion started, but would not dictate -to Council when and how CABLE TV the system should be operated, and agreed with Councilman Morris that Council should have control over the system. ~~ ~~ B r ~t PROGRAMMING The City Manager stated that Councilman Morris' suggestion AND CABLE was a good one regarding a .board -~ oversee the programming CHANNELS and make input to Council as to who would have the final approval on the programming. He also stated that the toughest problem for Council would be the programming be- cause we are now dealing with free speech; cable channels are theoretically open to everyone. Each city shall have its own channels and our studios will be located on Century Boulevard. Another problem will be setting up guidelines for operation of the access channels and Council may require assistance from the cable company. The Mayor stated that the proposal under consideration would not need any single specialist to run the system properly. Council is desirous of a good system, but must be fair re- lative as to who is going to be on the channels, and subject matter to be covered. In reply to Councilman Byork's question, Mayor Thompson stated that if Council enters into this agreement, it will probably be indefinitely; however, Council must protect itself with some built-in stop gaps, which must be written into the agreement. FIVE CITIES The City Manager stated that this endeavor is a joint venture IN AGREEMENT similar to the SEAACA arrangement --that is all the five cities must agree with the arrangements and the guidelines by which the program will be governed. He met with company representatives and would contact the other City Managers in an effort to get things started. He said that staff would be back to Council at a September meeting with an item relative to the appointing of an advisory board; and possibly in October, staff can bring to Council a draft of the guidelines. However, in the meantime, staff needs to get a handle on this issue and get things organized by the end of the year, adopt the guidelines by Spring, and have an operable committee. MAKEUP of Councilman Morris reported on his position on the makeup on BOARD MEMBERS the board. He suggested that each Councilman appoint a re- presentative and then the Council would collectively select two representatives from the community, constituting a board of seven (7) members. We can get people who represent the community as a whole -- some may be favorable or unfavorable to Council but the prime objective is to get expertise regardless of personal positions. He stated that Council should have the last approval on the recommendations from the advisory board relative to the decision making process on the use of the cable system and its four channels. The matter of stipends, bylaws, etc., for the board is a matter for Council to decide upon. He also felt that the board should have some input and powers affixed. sET UP The Mayor stated he would like to see all the necessary elements SPECIAL by January 1, 1983. May need to have a special meeting in the MEETING BY interim to resolve these problems as we do have deadlines to JAN 1983 meet if we are to have an effective system. Someone should contact Councilman Rowe relative to the advisory committee so he can give his input into the matter. He felt there is more expertise in the community than we think who can serve „~„~ the City in a constructive manner. ADVISORY Discussion was held relative to the Community Affairs Commission COMMITTEE being the Advisory Committee. It was also reported that the DISCUSSION Commission's d.irECtion at the present time has somewhat changed, and Council needs to give them some direction as to what its intended roles are relative to serving the citizenry of Lyn- wood. Councilman Green requested that the City Manager provide Council with an attendance record of the Commission over the last six to ten months period. <'> ~~ -o ~.~ ~ ~ Councilman Morris asked if it would be improper if Council form the committee and arrange a meeting with the committee to discuss the Council's objectives so they would have a better understanding of what Council wants. Mayor Thompson stated he felt Council should give serious consideration to the formulation of the committee and its defined objectives before taking any further steps. This effort could be achieved in the form of workshops soon. He stated that the Council must know exactly what it wants the committee to do and its composition before Council goes on record as creating an advisory committee. The City Manager stated that staff would be back to Council in September with pertinent data and means by which to go forward in accomplishing its stated objectives. TREE TRIMMING PROGRAM Director of Public Works/City Engineer Williams stated that the tree trimming program started in 1979 and was funded by the Landscape Maintenance Assessment District. Since 1979, approximately 55°s of the City's trees should have been trimmed; but as you drive through the City, it is difficult to see that this has taken place. The reason for this is that the program called for spot and minimum trimming which meant that tree limbs were trimmed above the traffic, but no topping was done. Because of this spot trimming, we have been averaging six complaints per day. The City Engineer further stated that a-tree trimming proposal would entail zone trimming. There are three zones proposed for trimming at the present time. These zones are "^` within an area bounded by Century Boulevard on the North, E Atlantic Avenue on the East, and City's southerly boundary and Bullis Road on the West. The bid package staff is propos- ing is an alternate deficit package. City is not sure what this package will cost and are submitting an alternate bid package --this will allow City to reconcile the trimming with the monies available. City Engineer Williams showed a video tape on the various street conditions in the City and the problems they are causing to the City's streets, sidewalks and obstruction of signal and street lights. He stated that money is available to only complete trimming in Zones 1, 2 and 3, and staff would have item on tYie August 17, 1982, agenda, requesting approval to go out to bid. C TREE TRIMMING PROBLEMS GOING OUT TO BID ON TREE TRIM- MING The City Manager stated that the park maintenance monies must REAPPORTION be loosened so staff can put some of this money into the tree ING FUNDS trimming program, because the current budget figures are not FOR TREE enough to perform the work. The way the money was budgeted TRIMMING in the Parks and Recreation Department was disproportionately allocated. Some $250,000 was allocated for total landscape maintenance which included the parks. There is $60,00 for tree trimming and $_190,000 for park maintenance. $60, 000 per year is not enough for the tree maintenance. The monies need to be reconsidered in their allocation and presented to Council. $200,000 would be a good allocation for trees as $60,00 is not enough to have an effective program. The Mayor stated that if the Tree Trimming Program is approved all the residents should be properly notified when the work will be accomplished on their street which would help the citizenry feel better about the overall program. ~_ , _` ~ ~ D It was moved by Councilman Morris, seconded by Councilman Byork, and carried that the special meeting be adjourned to its regularly scheduled meeting of August 17, 1982. a! j~~~ ANDREA L. HOOPER, City Clerk City of Lynwood APPROVED NOVEMBER 2, 1982 LOUIS A. TH~MtSON, May r City of Lynwood