Meeting Minutes for January 24, 2011
Roll Call - Chairman Spohn called the meeting to order at 2:00PM at the City of
lrwindale Council Chambers.
| I. | In attendance were:
Tim Spohn, Industry Tom King, SGVCOG David Gutierrez, San Gabriel Patricia Wallach, El Monte Frank Gomez, Montebello Stephen Atchley, Pomona Staff Rick Richmond, Chief Executive Officer Joe Silvey, Counsel Deanna Stanley Guest Richard McKee, Californians Aware Shafi Sharifari, IDC Larry Salazar John Garcia Natasha DeBenon, Arcadis Hank Alonzo, Jacobs Chris Morlok, Dragagos USA Cynthia Marian, Oliver, Sandifer & Murphy Avygail Sanchez, HDR Patrick Horton, Temple City Alan Ude, LA County DPW |
| II. | Pledge of Allegiance
Member Gutierrez led the pledge of allegiance. |
| III. | Approval of December 20, 2010 Meeting Minutes A motion was made to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 20, 2010. M/S/C/Gutierrez/Gomez /Unanimous |
| IV. | Public comments
Larry Salazar, Alliance for a United Montebello expressed concerns of safety issues in Montebello and indicated the preferred project for the citizens of Montebello is a full lowering of the railroad tracks. Richard McKee, Californians Aware, indicated he wrote to the Board last month with concerns regarding the December 20 revised agenda and Brown Act posting requirements for that meeting. He reminded the Board that any discussions or actions in closed session must be consistent with the agenda items that are published describing the closed session. He also pointed out that with regard to a closed session for a conference with real estate negotiators the only issues that can be discussed are price and terms of payments. Member Atchley asked for examples of real estate items that should not be discussed in closed session. Mr. McKee identified issues such as number of parking spaces. |
| V. | Chairman's Report
Chairman Spohn reported the Finance Committee meeting initially scheduled for February 3rd was being rescheduled and encouraged Board members to attend. Lastly, he indicated plans were still underway for legislative meetings in Washington, DC and members interested in attending should contact Deanna Stanley. |
| VI. | Chief Executive Officer’s Report
Mr. Richmond reported submittals were due for design and engineering services for Puente Avenue and Fairway Drive grade separations earlier in the month and interviews for those firms shortlisted have been scheduled. A recommendation for award is expected at the February Board meeting. An RFP for construction management services for the San Gabriel Trench project is out and proposals are due February 3rd. An RFP for environmental services is also out and proposals due February 22nd. He indicated recommendations for award of contracts for the construction management services for the San Gabriel Trench and for environmental services is anticipated at the March Board meeting. |
| VII. | Election of Officers Joe Silvey reviewed the election process and opened the nomination for Chair. A motion was made by Member King to nominate Tim Spohn as Chair. There were no other nominations. The motion passed unanimously. Chairman Spohn opened nominations for Vice Chair. Member Atchley nominated David Gutierrez as Vice Chair. There were no other nominations. The motion passed unanimously. |
| VIII. | Hearing on Resolution of Necessity No. 11-01 Mr. Silvey reviewed the process and purpose of the hearings. He indicated staff would review the property requirements, staff efforts, property rights. He indicated a hearing would be opened to provide opportunity for the public to speak on each Resolution of Necessity and staff to address any questions the public or the Board may have. Thereafter the hearing would be closed and the Board would be asked to approve the Resolution as outlined in the agenda. He reminded the Board that compensation would not be addressed. He reminded the Board that after approval of a Resolution of Necessity staff would continue negotiations that the approval allowed staff the ability to enter into legal action. Finally, he reminded the Board that an affirmative two-thirds vote was necessary to approve all Resolutions of Necessity. Mark Mendoza, Paragon Partners reviewed the San Gabriel Trench design options that included elevate the streets over the railroad, lower the streets under the railroad, elevate the railroad over the streets or lowering the railroad beneath the streets. He indicated the preference was a 2.2 mile lowering of 1.4 miles of Union Pacific railroad. The project would eliminate the crossings at Ramona Street, Mission Road, DeI Mar Avenue and San Gabriel Blvd. He reviewed property requirements and indicated staff made an initial offer in January 201 0 and has made a number of attempts since November to negotiate a settlement to no avail. He indicated the urgency to seek approval of the Resolution was if the project did not move forward project funding could be an issue. The public hearing was opened for comments. There were no public comments. The public hearing was closed. A motion was made to adopt Resolution of Necessity No. 11-01 authorizing commencement of eminent domain proceedings so as to acquire permanent and temporary easements in the real property at 445 S. San Gabriel in the City of San Gabriel. M/S/C/Gutierrez/Wallach/6 ayes/ 0 nayes |
| IX. | Hearing on Resolution of Necessity No. 11-02
Holly Rockwell reviewed the design options for the grade separation at Nogales Street and street widening of Gale and Walnut in the City of Industry. She indicated the property in discussion was for the street widening project. Ms. Rockwell indicated property negotiations for a permanent easement with the property owners have been ongoing since March 201 0. She indicated time was of the essence to move negotiations or condemnation forward as not to jeopardize funding for the project. She reminded the Board that negotiations would continue with the approval of the Resolution. The public hearing was opened for comments. There were no public comments. The public hearing was closed. A motion was made to adopt Resolution of Necessity No. 11-02 authorizing commencement of eminent domain proceedings so as to acquire permanent and temporary easements in real property at 19201, 1921 3 & 19235 E. Walnut Drive N. in the City of Industry and Unincorporated County of Los Angeles. M/S/C/King/Gomez/6 ayes/0 nayes |
| X. | Hearing on Resolution of Resolution Necessity No. 1 1-03 Holly Rockwell reviewed the property requirements for which were necessary for a new merge lane, storm drain easements, utility easement and temporary easements during construction. The property is owned by eight partnerships and trusts and controlled by Phyllis I Anderson and currently used for industrial buildings and a gas station. Notice was sent to the property owner in March 2010 a revised offer tendered in November and discussions have been ongoing. She reminded the Board that negotiations would continue with the approval of the Resolution, however time was of the essence as not to jeopardize funding for the project. The public hearing was opened for comments. There were no public comments. The public hearing was closed. A motion was made to adopt Resolution No. 11- 03 authorizing the commencement of eminent domain proceedings so as to acquire permanent and temporary easements in real property described in Resolution No. 1 1-03. M/S/C/Gutierrez/Atchley/6 ayes/0 nayes |
| XI. | Review and Discussion of Performance Appraisal Closed Session Item
Incorrectly Posted for the December 20, 2010 Meeting and Rescission of
Related Actions Mr. Silvey explained to the Board that an inadvertent error had led to a mistake in the posting of the revised agenda for the Board's December 20th meeting. He indicated that a closed session item to discuss the performance evaluation of the ACE Chief Executive Officer was added to the December 20th meeting agenda at the request of the Chair after the initial meeting agenda was posted. However, Mr. Silvey acknowledged that a communication problem resulting from the holiday closure of the Irwindale City Hall resulted in the revised agenda not being properly posted in accordance with the Brown Act requirements. Mr. Silvey indicated the proper way to correct such an error is to 'wipe the slate clean' by: disclosing the discussions that occurred regarding the improperly posted item; rescinding and disregarding all discussions regarding that item; and rescinding any actions taken or any actions resulting from the discussions about the improperly posted item. Mr. Silvey then described the closed session discussions that had occurred in connection with the improperly posted item. He explained that the Board had considered the difficulties that the CEO was encountering in attempting to meet the Board's direction that the CEO maintain a good working relationship with the Executive Director of the SGVCOG, a topic that had been addressed in the CEO's past performance reviews and which is an ongoing goal for the CEO. Mr. Silvey explained that the Board had briefly discussed a letter to CalPERS that was being planned by staff and the Chair to correct a communication problem caused by a letter sent by the Executive Director of the SGVCOG to CalPERS. The letter to CalPERS was sent on December 21st. Finally, Mr. Silvey explained that, in closed session, the Chair agreed to prepare a letter to the SGVCOG Board seeking guidance on the responsibilities of the ACE CEO and the ACE Board so that proper performance guidelines and an appropriate performance evaluation could be developed for the CEO. The letter to the SGVCOG Board was being prepared when the agenda posting problem was identified and all work on the letter stopped and no letter was ever finalized or sent. In light of the above and in order to correct the problems caused by the incorrect posting of the revised December 20 agenda, Mr. Silvey recommended that the Board take the following actions: Rescind and disregard all discussions that took place in closed session at the December 20, 2010 meeting regarding the CEO's performance evaluation; Rescind the direction to the Chair to prepare a letter to the SGVCOG Board requesting guidance to be used in the performance appraisal of the CEO; and Provide assurance to the public and staff of the ACE Board's intention to fully comply with all of the requirements of the Brown Act. Mr. Silvey also indicated that, in an abundance of caution, staff further recommended that the December 21 letter to CalPERS be rescinded even though the effort to prepare and send the letter was well underway before the Board meeting and in spite of the fact that the letter was only briefly discussed during the closed session. During the discussion that followed Mr. Silvey's remarks, Member Gutierrez asked how the letter to CalPERS that had already been sent could be rescinded and Mr. Silvey advised that a follow-up letter to CalPERS would be needed. Member Gutierrez then asked how the CalPERS situation would be addressed after such a rescinding letter. Mr. Silvey explained that the Board could not take any action regarding CalPERS at the current meeting since nothing had been placed on the agenda. Member Gutierrez then asked if he would be given sufficient notice of any future CalPERS actions and Mr. Silvey explained that future Board actions regarding CalPERS would have to be agendized with the standard agenda notice requirements. Member Atchley asked the record reflect that he was not present at the December 20 meeting; however he has had discussion with his alternate, Freddie Rodriguez who was present at the December 20 Board meeting. M/S/C/Atchley/Gomez/Unanimous Chairman Spohn reaffirmed Board and staff's commitment to integrity, transparency and the requirements of the Brown Act. |
| XII. | Review Responsibilities of the ACE Board and CEO and Request
Confirmation from San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments At the request of the Chair, Mr. Silvey reviewed sections of Article IX of the SGVCOG By-laws, which identify the duties and responsibilities of the ACE Board and the ACE CEO. He later summarized sections of Article IV of the Bylaws which describe the support that the Executive Director of the SGVCOG is to provide to the ACE CEO. On behalf of the Chair, Mr. Silvey explained that for a number of months there had been the inconsistent interpretations between ACE and the SGVCOG regarding the respective duties, and responsibilities of the SGVCOG Executive Director, and the ACE Board and the ACE CEO with regard to ACE and the ACE Project. As a result of these inconsistent interpretations, both communication problems and conflicting activities had resulted, Mr. Silvey cited as one specific example of the conflicting activities the recent request by the SGVCOG Executive Director to CalPERS to redirect all CalPERS communications regarding ACE staff to the SGVCOG and not to the ACE staff who have been working with CalPERS for many years without difficulty. Mr. Silvey reminded the Board that much of the information handled by CalPERS is sensitive and confidential and that CalPERS insists that such information only be handled by agency employees with a need to have access to the information. Supervisor Molina asked Mr. Silvey for certain clarifications regarding the reporting relationship of ACE and its CEO and the SGVCOG. Mr. Silvey explained that the ACE CEO reports to the ACE Board and the ACE Board in turn reports to the SGVCOG Governing Board. Ms. Molina confirmed with Mr. Silvey that in accordance with the SGVCOG By-laws it is the ACE Board that has the responsibility to oversee the day-to-day operations of ACE and the ACE Project. Supervisor Molina asked if the CalPERS issue was the only one affecting the SGVCOG/ACE relationship. Mr. Silvey indicated there were others but that he was not as well prepared as staff would be to identify them. Supervisor Molina then asked Mr. Silvey to address liability issues and explain the responsibility that the SGVCOG might have for any liabilities of ACE. Mr. Silvey indicated the ACE was a part of the SGVCOG and that the SGVCOG would ultimately be liable for the obligations of ACE to the extent that those obligations could not be addressed by all the resources of ACE. Finally, Supervisor Molina asked Mr. Silvey if he was aware of any matters in which ACE was not meeting its responsibilities under the Bylaws to properly undertake the ACE Project. Mr. Silvey indicated that he was not aware of any matter in which ACE was not meeting its responsibilities. The Board discussed this matter at length. After the discussion the Chair, with input from Supervisor Molina, asked the Board to approve the preparation of a letter, which would be sent under the Chair's signature to the SGVCOG Board, to explain the ACE Board's understanding of the duties and responsibilities of the ACE Board and staff under the SGVCOG Bylaws, to identify specific instances where those responsibilities have been adversely affected by the actions of SGVCOG representatives and staff, and to seek confirmation that the interpretation of ACE Board regarding these duties and responsibilities is correct. M/S/C/King/Gutierrez/Unanimous |
| XIII. | Approval of Mid Year Budget Revision Mr. Richmond reminded the Board that the budget, approved every May is an estimate on funds necessary based on the rate of progress on each project. Each January the budget is reviewed and staff reports any changes which may significantly change the forecast. He requested a change of $26M to the FY 2011 budget. He reviewed the elements of the changes to the budget which were: an increase in property acquisition costs of $8.7 for Baldwin Avenue property, a decrease in spending for utility relocations for San Gabriel Trench and Nogales projects, a decrease of $1.8 million - savings on railroad construction on the Sunset Avenue project and a construction cost decrease of $24.3 million due to delays in beginning construction on the Baldwin Avenue and San Gabriel Trench projects. A motion was made to approve the fiscal year 201 1 revised budget reducing the total budget from $109.380 million to $83.004 million. M/S/C/King/Gomez/7 ayes/ 0 nayes |
| XIV. | Quarterly Report Mr. Richmond summarized project's progress, schedule and cost changes for the quarter ending December 31,201 0. The Sunset project opened to traffic and irrigation and landscaping is underway. Property acquisition activities continue on the MIPCO property for the Baldwin Avenue project. 100% design plans were complete and distributed for review for the San Gabriel Trench project. Right of way negotiations continue and fiber optic conduit installation complete for the Nogales Street grade separation project. Project schedule changes include three month delays on both the Nogales and Baldwin projects, both due to real estate negotiations. A four month delay is anticipated on the San Gabriel Trench project due to the delay in receiving approval of the federal environmental report and an inability to reach agreement with the Union Pacific on a construction and maintenance agreement. Project cost changes totaled $8.4million due to increased right of way costs of $1.2 million for the Nogales project and an unanticipated property acquisition at Baldwin Avenue of $7.1 million as well as direct labor costs associated with the same project. |
| XV. | Closed Session Counsel reported the Board would adjourn to closed session in accordance with Government Code Section 54956.8 to discuss real property negotiations on three properties - 227 E. Main Street, 111 E Main Street and 318-336 Agostino Road, each in the City of San Gabriel. The Board returned to open session and Joe Silvey reported the Board had taken the following actions: By a motion from member Gutierrez and seconded by member King the Board approved by members Spohn, Wallach, Gomez, Atchley, Gutierrez, King and Molina to acquire a temporary construction easement and permanent easement from Catalina Gaete in the amount of $19,490 for the San Gabriel Trench project; and By a motion from member Wallach and seconded by member Atchley the Board approved by members Spohn, King, Gutierrez, Gomez, Wallach, Atchley and Molina to acquire a temporary construction easement from Olga Garcia in the amount of $20,000 for the San Gabriel Trench project; and By a motion from member King and seconded by member Gomez the Board approved by members Atchley, Spohn, Gutierrez, Wallach, King, Gomez and Molina to acquire a temporary construction easement from Kurt and Sandra Mueller in the amount of $25,500 for the San Gabriel Trench project. Public Comment - Michael Scipione, a member of the public who was not in attendance during the public comment period asked permission to address the Board at this time. Mr. Scipione, a 23 year resident of Montebello representing the Montebello Village Homeowners Association expressed at length his concern of ACE's unwillingness to construct a trench project in Montebello and that it was his opinion that the City should not accept anything less. He also stated his concern that member Gomez was not representing the City's request of the same. Member King stated support of member Gomez and his representation and concerns of the citizens of Montebello. |
| XVI. | Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 3:55PM |