City Council Headliners

Check out a few of the items before the City Council at its meeting Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.:

Non-Consent Calendar items of interest include:
--A public hearing will be held to on the Evans Estates-Pillsbury Estates Environmental Impact Report with related General Plan Amendment, Prezone,Vesting and Tentative Subdivision Map applications, and annexation referral to the Local Agency Formation Commission.

--Reports will be provided by Councilmen DeBrum and Hernandez on the League of California Cities Transportation, Communications, and Public Works Policy Committee and the LOCC Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee meetings held January 21, 2010.

--Public Works staff is seeking direction from the Council on its South Powers Avenue traffic-calming efforts.

Consent Calendar items of interest include:
--Waiver of the first reading by substitution of the title and introduction of Ordinance No. 1457, an ordinance repealing and revising in its entirety Chapter 1.10 related to Administrative Enforcement Provisions of the Manteca Municipal Code. A resolution establishing fees for violation of said provisions is also presented for approval.
--Approve plans and specifications and authorize a call for bids for the Wells 13, 19,and 21 Central Treatment Project - Phase I.
--Approve budget appropriations and an agreement with ATI for the purchase of an interactive voice response system.

A copy of the agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's website:http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

City Council Headliners

Check out a few of the highlights of Tuesday night's Council meeting:

Presentations
-The ACE Executive Director will provide a status report on the High Speed Rail Project.
-SJC Agricultural Commissioner Scott Hudson will provide a brief report on the California Department of Food and Agriculture's light brown apple moth eradication project in Manteca.

Consent Calendar items of interest:
-Approve Change Order No.1 to the ARRA Roadway Rehabilitation Project contract with George Reed, Inc., to install a segment of water pipeline in Alameda Street for $86,000.

Mayor and Council reports of interest:
-Adopt a resolution in support of the League of California Cities-sponsored Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act of 2010.

A copy of the agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's Website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

City Council Headliners

The items listed below will be considered by the City Council at its 7:00 p.m. meeting:

Public Hearings:
-Proposed adoption of the Municipal and Redevelopment Agency budgets for 2009-2010.
-Consider certification of the Union Crossing EIR and approval of the related General Plan Amendment, Prezone, Planned Development, Site Plan, Tentative Parcel Map, Master Sign Program, and referral of an annexation application to LAFCo for the development of a commercial shopping center at the southwest quadrant of Hwy. 120 and Union Rd.
-Consider approval of the Prezone, Planned Development, Tentative Subdivision Map and referral of an annexation application to LAFCo for Winters Colonial Estates at 9202 E. Woodward Ave.
-Consider approval of the Prezone, Tentative Subdivision Map and referral of an annexation application to LAFCo for Diego Country Estates at 9308 E. Woodward Ave.

Consent Calendar items of interest include:
-Authorize the City Clerk to solicit applications for current and upcoming vacancies on the Building Board of Appeals, the Recreation and Parks Commission and the Senior Advisory Committee.
-Rescind the construction contract wtih A-1 Septic Construction and determine Rolfe Construction to be the lowest responsible bidder for the Well 20 Filter Project, awarding the contract for $199,856.

A copy of the full agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

City Council Headliners

At 7:00 p.m. Tuesday night, here are some of the items Council will consider:

Non-Consent Calendar items of interest:
-Receive a report on the Government Building Facility Fee projects and provide direction on priorties to staff.

Consent Calendar itmes of interest:
-Adoption of a resolution extending the designated period (from January 31 to March 31, 2010) for two-years additional service credit for Miscellaneous and Safety employees through California Public Employees' Retirement System (CALPERS).
-Determine Shawn T. Gardner Builders, Inc. to be the low bidder for the Springtime and Sequoia Parks Playground Installation Project and award the contract for $14,780.
-Determine Watkins & Bortolussi, Inc. to be the low bidder for the State Route 99/120 Interchange Landscaping Project and award the contract for $315,425.

A copy of the full agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's Website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

City Council Headliners

Consent Calendar items of interest on Tuesday night's Council agenda:
-Adopt resolution granting another designated period for two years additional service credit for Miscellaneous and Safety employees through CalPERS.
-Approve a modified City Council meeting schedule for December 2009 and January 2010.

Non-Consent Calendar items of interest:
-Receive/file a report on the proposed budget and organizational update for the Public Works Department.
-Consider approving an option agreement with San Joaquin County for the purchase of property for the construction of a future South County Administraton Complex.
-Receive a report and consider SSJID's request to support the District's plan to provide retail electric distribution service.

A copy of the full agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

City Council Headliners

At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night, here are some items the Council will be considering:

Approve a letter of response to 2008/2009 San Joaquin County Grand Jury Case No. 03-08, and authorize the Mayor to sign and send a letter to the Presiding Judge of the San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Authorize the City Manager to issue a letter of commitment for the City to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy's Community Renewable Energy Deployment grant program.

Approve Change Order No. 9 for the Atherton Drive Extension Project decreasing the contract amount by $41,191.70, accept the project as complete and authorize the filing of a Notice of Completion.

Continued Public Hearing - Consider the appeal of the Manteca Police Department denial to renew Club Leon's annual dance hall permit (220 W. Yosemite Ave.).

Authorize staff to submit the City's draft Housing Element Update & Policy Document to the California Department of Housing and Community Development for review.

Consider approving of a Cost Recovery Program for the Fire Deparmtent on DUI and non-resident vehicle accidents; and, consider an agreement with Fire Recovery USA to provide billing and collection of fees.

Approve agreement for use of city facilities with Anderson 209 BMX Race Team, Inc. relating to maintenance of the Spreckels Recreation Park (BMX Track).

Appointments to the Manteca Youth Advisory Commission.

A copy of the full agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

Items of interest on tonight's City Council Agenda

At 7pm this evening, here are some of the items being considered by the City Council:

Accept the COPS Hiring Recovery Program Grant in the amount of $1,479,340 and appropriate the funds as designated in the staff report. This is a federal grant that will go towards paying the salaries of four police officers for three years.

Determine George Reed to be the lowest responsible bidder for the 2009 ARRA Roadway Rehabilitation Project and award contract to same for $957,900. These are federal stimulus dollars that will be used to resurface portions of nine major city streets.

Approve contract for Services with Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) for 2009-10 for $87,406. This is a portion of the city's hotel tax that is used by the CVB to promote tourism in Manteca.

Approve a new Parks and Recreation Volunteer Program, Community Ambassadors for Manteca Parks and Recreation Services (CAMPRS). This is a new program to assist the department in providing services to the public.

Approve Facility Use Agreement with Anderson 209 BMX Race Team Inc. for the use and maintenance of the Spreckels Recreation BMX; and receive and file report on the status of the construction of the BMX track and provide direction to staff. This is the final agreement necessary to get the BMX park completed and ready to operate.

You can review the entire City Council agenda, including staff reports by going to the following link on the city's website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas/index.html

Council Follow Up

At last night's City Council meeting, several items of note were approved by the City Council.

First of all, the Council took action to reduce their salaries by ten percent. While state law sets their salaries at $500 per month, nothing precludes the City Council from refusing to take all or a part of their salaries. Obviously, Council members are not doing this job for the money--given the countless hours they spend serving the community--they are earning far less than minumum wage for their efforts. However, the Council felt that it was important to earn even less to demonstrate that they are sympathetic to the fact that Manteca city employees (and most Manteca residents) are taking in less pay due to the downturn in the economy.

The Council also approved an expanded landscape maintenance district (LMD) for the Tesoro neighborhood. This subdivision was originally approved prior to the change in city policy that now requires all neighborhood maintenance costs to be borne by the neighborhood. If the city had implemented this requirement back in 1990s when it first put in LMD's for maintenance of street medians, the city wouldn't have needed to reduce the staffing for parks maintenance during these tough budget times. In any case, when the developer asked for some changes to its Development Agreement, they agreed to put the park into the LMD. This will save the general fund over $100,000 per year--more than enough to save the job of a parks maintenance worker.

The Council also approved a $72,000 contract to update the city's zoning ordinance. The city's current zoning code is woefully out of date and doesn't provide the flexibility staff and the development community desire to respond to ever-changing market conditions. Zoning updates typically cost two to three times the approved amount. However, in order to keep costs down, staff has done significant background work on the ordinance to keep outside costs at a minumum. While in the best of all worlds it would be great if staff could do all of this in-house, zoning documents are very complicated, techincal documents. They are a only a handful of planners in the state with the appropriate expertise to put together a document that is both user friendly and legally defensible.

I'll blog more in the future about all the benefits a well written zoning ordinance can bring to our community.

City Council Headliners

Non-Consent Calendar items on tonight's Council agenda:
-A hearing to consider an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance related to community directional signs on public streets (Zoning Text Amendment No. ZTA-09-0901.
-A hearing to consider annexing territory into Tesoro Landscape Maintenance District No. 06-1.
-The Council will consider a voluntary 10% reduction in pay by all members.

Consent Calendar items of interest:
-Approve an agreement with PMC to assist in preparing a Zoning Ordinance Update.
-Approve an agreement extending the period to award the contract with Watkin & Bortolussi, Inc. for the State Route 99/120 Interchange Landscaping Project.
-Waive the final reading and adopt Ordinance No. 1445 establishing a Development Fee Deferral Program.

A copy of the full agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's website:http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas/

City Council Headliners

Another large agenda before the City Council on Tuesday night:
-Hearings to consider approving the Final Engineer's reports and ordering the levy and assessment of the City's 24 Landscape Maintenance and Benefit Assessment Districts.
-A hearing to consider transferring CDBG funds for the Parks Security Cameras Project and of HOME Funds for the Down Payment Assistance Program.
-A hearing to consider certification of the Machado Estates Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
-Consider several actions related to the Atherton Drive Gap Closure Project.
-Consider introduction of an ordinance establishing a Development Fee Deferral Program and approval of various documents and forms required for implementation of the program.

Consent calendar items of interest include:
-Adoption of an ordinance revising Chapter 5.56 of the Municipal Code regarding dance and dance hall permits.
-Approving amendments to the First-Time Homebuyer (FTHB) Down Payment Assistance Program; and, reactivating the FTHB Program.

A copy of the agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's Website:http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

City Council Headliners

Non-consent calendar items on Tuesday night's Council agenda:
-Consider funding options for the Dog Park Project and direct staff to prepare project specifications; and, approve plans and specifications and a call for bids for the Tidewater/Moffat Irrigation Project.
-Receive and file an informational report on various legislation regarding Green House Gas Emissions.
-Consider introducing an ordinance repealing and enacting a new Chapter 5.56 of the Municipal Code regarding dance and dance hall permits.

Consent Calendar items of interest include:
-Selecting the lowest responsible bidder for the M-1 Blend-Austin Road Water Main Project.
-Approving Community Development Block Grant funding agreements with Hope Ministries, Inc., the Boys and Girls Club of Manteca/Lathrop, and the Women's Center of San Joaquin County.
-Approving plans and specifications and a call for bids for the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Roadway Rehabilitation Project.
-Selecting the lowest responsible bidder for the Louise Avenue Sewer Rehabilitation Project.
-Approve agreement with PG&E to move poles in conjunction with the South Union Widening Project.
-Adopt resolutions declaring the City's intent to levy and collect assessments, approving preliminary engineer's reports and setting public hearings on July 21, 2009 for the City's 24 Landscape Maintenance Districts.
-Adopt the proposed golf green fee schedule.

A copy of the full agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

City Council Headliners

Non-consent calendar items on tonight's Council agenda:
-A hearing to consider approval of the Crivello Estates Subdivision map, prezone, and referral of the related annexation to LAFCo.
-A hearing to consider the appeal of the Police Chief's denial to renew the dance hall permit for Club Leon at 220 W. Yosemite Ave.
-Acceptance of $586,200 in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants funds; and approval of a grant application for EECBG monies for retrofitting existing City street lights.
-Adopt a resolution finding a severe fiscal hardship will exist if additional city property tax funds are seized and additional unfunded mandates are adopted by the State.
-Adopt resolutions authorizing continuing appropriations and expenditures on the basis of the Fiscal Year 2008-2009 budget for Fiscal Year 2009-2010, until the adoption of the 2009-2010 budget.

Consent calendar items of interest include:
-Award contract to Overaa & Co. (low bidder) for the WQCF Phase III Project - Schedule C for $4,490,000.
-Approve reorganization of the Fire Department.
-Adopt Ordinance No. 1440 rescinding Municipal Code Section 13.12.020 (residential sewer connection fees).
-Solicit applications to fill the alternate member position on the Manteca Recreation and Parks Commission.
-Solicit applications to fill six (6) vacancies on the Manteca Youth Advisory Commission.

A copy of the full agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

City Council Headliners

Only two non-consent items on Tuesday night's Council agenda:
-Consider introducing Ordinance No. 1411 approving sewer connection fees.
-Consider request to waive City-related costs for the Memorial Day Weekend Event.

Consent items of interest include:
-Accept the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) of $147,000 and approve the Police Chief's spending plan.
-Approve reorganizations within the Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Community Development and Finance Departments as a result of reduced staffing levels.

A copy of the full agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's Website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas

One Voice Trip

Recently, there was significant controversy in our neighboring City of Lathrop about the need to send our elected representatives on the annual "One Voice" trip sponsored by the Council of Governments (COG). These same "One Voice" opponents contacted our local representatives as well and asked why they would support this trip. You'll note that none of these opponents expressed any of their concerns at a Manteca City Council meeting. This is due, in no small part, to the very thoughtful and comprehensive response that Councilwoman Moorhead provided via email to the opposition group. In fact, a member of this group responded to the Councilwoman's email as follows:

"...Had our questions been answered (in Lathrop) as eloquently as you have been able to do, quite possibly there would have been no question to begin with. Maybe in the future when I have a question regarding such items, I should come to Manteca Council meeting to get an honest and informed response."

Here is the response that was prepared by Councilwoman Moorhead:

Again thank you for taking the time to email me about the COG trip. I have been participating in this trip for several years. I do believe in it 100%. Let me tell you why. Five years ago I was interested in seeing what COG was doing on behalf of my tax dollars (Measure K). I decided to go to Washington DC to see first hand what our city's leaders were doing on behalf of all of us. I was and still am very impressed with the time and dedication city leaders put into this trip. It is so important to continue going back annually to DC as a unified voice from our region as this helps to build relationships with members of Congress as well as Administration staff. Not only is there local officials but private sector as well. This is a good and strong benefit.

The process that each jurisdiction and participating agency goes through to research, select, approve, and review the regional priority projects for our federal platforms, is vital and necessary to help distill our many needs for our region. Through One Voice we provide our congressional representatives informed and local input from all the districts. The feedback from Congressional representatives indicates the One Voice helps them to better understand our central issues, as well as to advocate for our regional priority requests. This trip as One Voice puts focus on how regional cooperation and support opens doors for a variety of opportunities. This year the district's federal funding requests total $131,971,970. This includes private sector as well. To date more than 54 million dollars has been generated through One Voice. I hope this helps you to better understand the importance of One Voice.

I think participating city officials need to continue to educate the public about how the One Voice process itself helps the region. Please remember all projects local or regionally we (all cities and citizens) benefit by. If you have any further questions I am sure the Executive Director at COG(Andrew) will be able to help you.

Thank you for your email.

Respectfully,
Debby Moorhead

City Council Public Comments

Public input is the most critical element to running an responsive, effective local government. I strongly encourage the public to attend City Council meetings and participate. In fact, in a time of dwindling resources (i.e. right now) it is critical that we receive feedback on which city expenditures are most important to our citizens.

There is no doubt in my mind that the City Council and City staff are intent on making sure we are spending our resources as effectively as possible. The challenge we often face is properly communicating to the public WHY an expenditure of dollars is in the best interest of our citizens. I'm hoping that this blog can contribute to the effort and I've encouraged every member of our staff to do a better job of communicating with the public.

Misinformation is the biggest challenge we face when attempting to explain our actions to the public. The public comment phase of our City Council meeting is an excellent venue for hearing the general concerns of the public. Unfortunately, it often becomes a platform for critics of city government to make false statements in order to justify their point of view. In the past, most cities have ignored these comments and just assumed that the general public realizes that these accusations are so extreme, that they must be false.

Unfortunately, experience has taught us that our silence in these situations often convinces the public that these accusations must be true. Therefore, I've decided that when appropriate, it is my responsibility to set the record straight when comments are factually inaccurate. That is why I responded several times at last night's meeting.

Here are some of the inaccuracies stated at the podium last night:

Statement: "Manteca has the highest sales tax rate in state...and the nation".

Answer: Actually, Manteca's 9.25% isn't even close to the highest rate in the state. Both South Gate and Pico Rivera have 10.25% rates, and Pico Rivera will rise to 10.75% in July as noted in an article you can access here. It is also important to note that most of the Sales Tax goes to the State or County, Manteca only gets 1.5%--and that extra half percent was approved by a 2/3 vote of the public. If the speaker wants some really high sales tax rates, she should go to this link where it shows that Tennessee has an AVERAGE sales tax rate of 9.36%!

Statement: "In 2007 the majority of the City's property tax went to the Redevelopment Agency instead of to the General Fund to pay for services."

Answer: When a citizen pays their property tax, only 11-15% of their tax comes back to the City. Most of it goes to the State, the Schools and the County. As I noted in a previous post, in a Redevelopment Area, the Agency receives 80-100 percent of the incremental increase in taxes after the project area is adopted. Therefore, the Agency doesn't take dollars away from the City, it provides a windfall of taxes that the City normally would never receive. In Manteca's case, well over $100 million has been reinvested in the community that would normally go to agencies outside the City.

Statement: The City is going to eminent domain a number of properties for a 560-unit subdivision.

Answer: The Machado Estates subdivision would include the ANNEXATION of a number of properties currently outside the City boundaries. The City would not be acquiring these properties, they would now be inside the City limits. Here is an article in the Bulletin that talks about the development.

City Council Headliners

Only two non-consent items on Tuesday night's Council agenda:
-A hearing to consider adoption of a Resolution of Necessity for the Acquisition by Eminent Domain of Certain Real Property for Public Purposes in Connection with the West Louise Avenue Widening Project.
-A report on the League of Cities Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee meeting.

Consent items of interest include:
-Selecting the lowest responsible bidder for the Manteca Permit Center Project
-Updating the City's Fireworks Ordinance to permit the sale of Safe and Sane fireworks for an additional five years.

A copy of the full agenda packet is available at the following link on the City's website:
http://www.ci.manteca.ca.us/CityClerk/agendas/index.html

Local Vendor Preference Program

Economic Development is a high priority for the City of Manteca. This not only includes bringing new businesses to Manteca, but retaining our existing businesses as well. To this end, we are investigating every means possible to help sustain local businesses during the economic downturn. One means to sustaining local businesses is to ensure that the City of Manteca is using local businesses whenever legally possible.

This past Tuesday, the City Council formally adopted the Local Business Enterprise Preference policy. Essentially, eligible local vendors for publicly bid contracts are provided a 5% preference, and eligible local vendors offering professional services are provided a 5-point preference in staff’s evaluation of the proposals.

This program will provide the best of both worlds. The City of Manteca is assured of getting the lowest cost possible for its purchases while still providing local vendors with top priority in competing for our purchases.

A copy of the policy is attached.
Local%20Vendor%20Preference%20Policy.docx