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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1958-07-21; City Council; Minutesi f- '7 4 -b MINUTES OF ABJUUKNED REGULAR MEETING OF CAKLSBAD CITY COUNCIL July 21, 1958 The meeting was called to order by Mayor Lough at 7:04 P.K. Present besid,es the Mayor were Councilmen Helton and Grober, and Councilwoman Sonneman; City Manager Nelson. Absent Councilman Ledgerwood and City Attorney Smith. The Mayor announced this meeting was for the purpose of discussing the Advisory Committee's report and to discuss the budget, The matters in the report were aired at a public meeting and the discussicm will be limited to the Council on the Lough-Sonneman Report and the ,klvisory Committee's report; the budget has been delayed in ord.er that the Chamber of Commerce cculd submit their reports and comments. There will be no open forum and no final action would be taken at this time due to Mr. Ledgerwood's absence, The Mayor asked that Mr. Ledgerwood be furnished with a copy of the minute@ showing hhe discussion by the Council. The Mayor informed the Council he felt it was his duty to act as arbi - trator. He wanted the record to show that neither he or Mrs. Sonneman attended any of the meetings of the Advisory Committee; he felt it was unfortunate that two of the members of the Committee saw fit to have any animousity towards himself or I4r.s. Sonneman; he had hoped that the selection of the committee would show no animousity; by an article in t Journal an attempt was made to try and shove down the thro.ats of the Council the findings of the Advisory Comhittee, and he regreted exceed- ingly this article was printed. This community is small and no editor a publisher should resort to such tactics.. Name calling and "mud slinging started back in July 18, 1957 by an article in the Journal in relation to a meeting of the Carlsbad Mutual Water Co.Mayor .Lough quoted from an article in the Journal dated July 18, 1957, wherein R. R. Robinson,. President of the Mutual at that time, and former Councilman, stated that Mr. Lough's tactics were "ungentlemanlytt and "without scrupleT1. Upon the advice of three attorneys he considered filing suit, however, he did not answer that charge. This particular charge seemed to be the signal for general l'mucl slinging" and "name callingfl and attacks upon some individuals who maintain their democrat,ic right. He felt the matte reached a head in the article of the Journal on July 17, 1958; he wante the Council to know he has fil-ed suit against the Journal in order to have a test case to .see how far a man can go in name calling; he would be the first to uphold the freedom of the press; they are guaranteed by the Constitutuion of the Vnited States, but he felt when an individual, whether he was a publisher or an individual citizen, begins to attach 1: characker or Mrs. Sonneman's, or any member of the Council, the matter should be submitted to the Court. If the Council is going to be subj&ct to "name callingT1 and to pre.ssure, then he felt it would be difficult to find anyone to sit on the Council. The City -4ttorney was present at 7: 30 P.31, , Mayor Lough further stated the fact that the Council had selected- him as @he Mayor, placed the Council in an embarrassing postion, and if this were true he was placing before them his resignation as Mayor, and at any time he was not acting as a gentleman or was embarrassing the Council in any way they could take action. There have been indications of a recall, and if this were true they should be sure of their .reasons he has $125,000 invested in this City and an asphaltic company; he was independent and hoped he could continue so; he informed the Council he would entertain a motion to go into an executive session to consider the matter of his resignation. No motion was made at this time, and Mayor Lough informed the members of the Council he wanted them to know his resignation would stand. Originally the Ex-Mayor appointed five members to the Advisory Cornmittc Mrs. Stephens Lowrie opposed and requesbed more members as she felt this was a Ithand-pickedt1 committee; Xr. Piax 0. Ewald requested a Free- holders Conunittee, consisting of ten members; Mr. Allen Kelly stated the Council was side-stepping the matter of the report. X compromise was made; Elr. Baird suggested each member Select a member, and Cmn. Helton and Cy. Ledgerwood exercised their right and appointed two additional members. Xayor Lough further stated the Lough-Sonneman report was never printed in full; a Public hearing was held and by actual count there were 8:' I' -. J I 2 t 4 j I I F ! approximately 50 citizens who attended. The Lough-Sonneman report was sub- mitted on May 13, 1958 and the Advisory's Committee's report was submitted July 1, 1958; the Council received the Advisory Committee's report and was requested to review it; there have been reports the Council have side- stepped any action on the report; the budget was delayed' due to receiving -this report; there have also been reports that he and Mrs. Sonneman intend to completely destroy the report of the Advisory Committee. As early as tw weeks ago in conversation with Mr. Dunne, after the committee report was submitted he, had told Mr. Dunne the committee had done an excellent job, including the most important item, as to whether or not the City Govern- ment should be in the hands of a Public Works Administrator as well as a City Manager. He and Mrs. Sonneman had felt out the public and they believ that perhaps a two-headed government was not the answer to this solution, which means they had acceded to %@e Advisory Committeets report. Mayor Lough reviewed and compared the Lough-Sonneman report with the Advis ory Committee's report and the following comments were offered by Mayor Lough on certain recommendations of both reports: The Advisory Committee has done a good job on .the over-all report1 they ar only human and could have over-aooked some points. The only interview the Committee had with City Officials were with the City Manager and the City Engineer. Recommendation (1) - Chapters 2 thru 6 of the Brown and Caldwell Report on sewers were the only chapters received up to this date, and for the time being this matter would be deferred until the entire report is available. Recomendation .( 2) - Public reaction to duel government has convinced he and Mrs. Sonneman they are faced with one or two things; they have agreed to withdraw the request for a Public Works Administrator. However, since the City Manager is responsible for the Public \,?arks it will probably be necessary to investigate the capabilities of the City Manager and the City Engineer to see whether it is the fault of the City Manager and the City Engineer the public works program has falled through. Assuming that a Public Works Administrator were appointed they had recommended that the position of Public Works Director be -done away with. Recommendat ion ( 2-€3) . No comment , Recommendation (2-c) . Lough-Sonneman report recommended 5 members- Advisory Committee recornended seven members. Recommendation (d) -1. No Comment. 2. The Chairman did not call upon he or Mrs. Sonne- 3. All citizens have a right to appear before the man for any comments on this matter. Cquncil on any matter that the Planning Commission have denied At last meeting of tb Council 55 minutes elapsed before two items were taken care of; they had hoped a Planning Board of Review could brief the matter down in order for the Council tc act more intelligently; the Committee had recommended against this. 4. All have agreed on this. 5. The City Council should continue to have the power to appoint the Planning Commission; if the City Manager is given the right to appoint the Planning Aide then you have a two-heqded government, This matter will have to b.e voted on. 6. If this were true the Council would have to budget for each employee. 7. They felt that a foreman could serve the City better and more economically rather than a Parks and Recreatic Director; they saw no reason for keeping a Parks and Recreatic Dir.ector if there is a Public Works Department. It was pointei out that the Council can do away witha position; they might recommend that a foreman be appointed; if they had been invite to a meeting they could have substantiated their plan, but the chairman did not see fit to do so. 8 and 9. These recommendations were made on the sole idea that a Public Works Administrator be appointed; if a Public Works Administrator were appointed it would have re- lieved the City Manager of some of his duties; he pointed out that the City Engineer is not a Civil Engineer but a sanitary Engineer, which was a fact that he did not think the Advisory Committee members were aware of; the Committee does not , recommend cutting these salaries; the matter of salary is a matter of budgeting. 10. If this meant that an elective official should be under the control of the City Manager then he would -certainly be against this; there were three grqduate attorneys on the Planning; Commission and he indicated t:hey had more education than the rest of the Commission a.nd the Advisory Committee4 with thepossible exception 0.f Col. Dunne. The Council is the only one who should assign other duties; he felt this would be an insult to any elective official; if a recall was being considered::.! pterhaps the City Manager form of Government should be considered. If the opposition wished to face the issue he would be willing to face it, then there would be several points to be considered; he hoped that things would settle down; in the meantime he felt that it .would be an insult to any electfve official to be under the control of the City Manager :Last Paragraph of Lough-Sonneman Report: Until there is an e:lection to change this, he felt the extra duties .rest upon the responsibility of the Council. .- The Mayor declared a short recess at 8:35 P.M. & KASCH,one of the member@ of the Advisory Committee, asked if he could speak before the recess was called. The Mayor informed Mr. Rasch he had not been given the privilege of speaking at the Advisory Committee's meetings, but hfe would let him speak. MR. RASCH, stabed that Mrs. Sonneman had attended two of the Committee's meetings and was informed she was welcome to attend any of the meetings. Mayor Lough informed Mr. Rasch that neither he or Mrs. Sonneman were asked to attend any of the meetings, The meeting reconvened at 9:OO P.M. Mayor Lough staked they were fortunate in having five of the members of the Advisory Committee present tonight, and he had asked the individuals if they felt there were any other points of discussion in their very carefully prepared report; he wqnted the record to.show that neither Mrs. Sonneman or himself felt they were apart from the Advisory Committee report. It was khe concensus of the Committee that it was an oversight . on their part for not having invited Mrs. Sonneman or himself. Mayor Lough stated that he and Mrs. Sonneman would concede as long as we have a City Manager form of government, and in submitting their report he and Mrs. Sonneman h.ad wished to offer help and save the City 10 or 12 thousand dollars, since :the City Manager form of government is not amenable. When the Counci:L goes into full session he did not feel that they would have too many points to iron out; members of the Committee felt that all points were airled and had .been placed fieE6re the Council for first con- sideration; if there was a full Council in two weeks they would attempt to settle and evolve the points where there seemed to be a difference of opinion. He further stated he wished to thank the Committee. Cmn. Helton stated he had several questions to ask regarding the report, and moved that t, he Council go into an executive session as soon as they had a full Council. Mayor Lough agreed that this should be done. BUDGET - Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Carne was present and asked Mr. Torres to read a letter from the Chamber of Commerce, Bnclosing two auditing and Summary Reptort of activities for past year. MR. CAKXE, st atled he f elk the Chamber and City had worked together very nicely the past year according to the agreement between the two; they had stayed within tlheir budget, and requested they continue on the same basis as previous wit.h a contract; the budget was practically the same as Eekt year, with the exception of Christmas Decorations; another reason for increase was for an increase cjf the Secretaryls salary, which was for a full time basis, 30 hours per week; $1,120.17 wqs received from the City on a share basis. Cmn. Helton asked in accordance wit11 the Advisory Committee*s report in re Promotional Activities,zf SO@@ of this increase could be justified. Mr. Carne pointed out that the Chambw did not get I 1 0 3 4 i I I P t by on what they had anticipated due to the increase of office expenses. Mayor Lough asked what percentage of merchants support the Chamber. He was informed that 2/3 of the merchants participate. Mayor Lough asked what the Chamber asked for last year in their budget? He was informed they had asked for $1,500.00, however, bbe final .budget was $1,608.00 with strings attached. The Nayor asked Mr. Carne of the Council could find $1,000.00 in hhe budget for Harbor promotion, would the Chamber be interested in working with the other service clubs, such as the Lions, Rotary and the Woman's Club. The Chamber would have control of the funds. The Mayor requested that this matter be taken up kith the Directors at their next meeting. Public Works. The Mayor reviewed Section IV - Public Works - of the Advisory Co@ttee's report with the members of the Council. He pointed out that Mr. Ledgerwood had stated at the last meeting that people are not induced to have permanent streets because of no maintenance. Mayor Lough stated he felt that people Lfno live on strekts that are used as thorough- fares should not have to bear the burden of the entire cost of rehabilit- ation or repair; the City might have to form a road improvement district to cover those streets which were not furnished with a permanent A. C. type pavement. Mr. Ledgerwood hac! suggested a tax raise. The 1911 Act and a Bpecial Improvement district was explained. Cmn. Grober stated he lived on a street in Riverside where the property owners built about 4 miles of road; the property owners furnished the oil and the city did the work. The street is still in good shape. At the previous meeting the Mayor appointed Crnn. Ledgerwood and Cmn. Helto to work with Mr. Nelson on a street policy. Cmn. I-ielton stated he had worked with Mr. Nelson; they figured it would cost approximately $1.50 per lineal foot for oil mix; there is approximately 29 miles of read to be fixed. If the property owners would contribute on a 50-50 basis on all local streets, and 25-75 on publicly traveled stdets that it would be possible to start rehabilitating and repairing some of the streets this year; and they felt this should be set up for a three year program. After considerable discussion it was agreed by the Council that the con- tract with the State for Gas Tax Funds should be amended, in order to use 40% of the alloted funds for street maintenance, and the $25,000 set up in the budget for such work. Crnn. Helton moved that the City Council authorize and direct the City Manager-to attempt to amend the contract with the State for the State Gas Tax Funds to provide for 40% of the alloted funds for street maintenance, of this years 1958-59 State Gas Tax Funds allocation. Seconded by Cmn. Grober. All ayes, motion carried. It was moved by Cwn. Sonneman and seconded by Cmn. Grober that the Council adopt as a matter of policy a street and road rehabilitation program, which is anticipated may extend as long; as three years, to contain the following: 1. On all local stfeets the property owners shall furnish the cost of oil in advance of the City1 s furnishing the necessary labor and equipment. ti$ 2. On all streets subject to travel, not stricly local that are designated by the Planning Commission as major or secondary streets, the ,City shall contribute 1/2 the cost of oil and furnish labor and equipment, and the property owner shall contribute 1/2 the cost of oil, unless other- wise indicated by a petition signed by at least 60% of the property 'owners for the formation of a local improvement district under the terms of the 1911 Act for the construction of permanent improvements. This program contemplates the use of materials presently in place on the oiled streets by the use of the existing material, in a machine especially designed for such work, .to which will be added an oil or enulsified oil base; that this program is not intended to interfere with the rights of any property owners to proceed to petition under the teemssof the 1911 Act for the improvement of streets in their area by way of a permanent program; that this program is further not intended to interfere with any rights of the property owners to voluntarily seek to repair or otherwise rehabilitate in their area, provided the property owners concur in the area. This policy further intends that all citizens will be given 60 days notice to come in on a voluntary basis to participate in such program; and that those applications received in such 60 day period will receive priority in order oftheir filing. That the City Manager be instructed and directed to work with the City Attorney tp prepare a short and concise Statement of Policy and that the 7 same be mailed to every registered householder within the City; and That the people be advised that any property within a City Block will be considered as aminimum unit of improvement. Seconded by Cmn. Grober. Four ayes, Cmn. Ledgerwood absent. By common consent of the Council the City Manager was advised that the cost of postage for mailing these notices to the property owners would be .ratified. Cirlsbad Mutual Water ComDanv water ratee: The City Attorney informed the-Council the:y had not adopted a policy-in regards to fixing the rates fcr water of the Carlsbad Mutual Water Company. He suggested that a motion be made to adopt the current rates until further notice. Cmn. Helton moved th,at the City Council adopt the current rates of the Carls- bad Mutual Water Company Eor domestic, industrial and agricultural water until such time as the Council has had time to review the matter. Seconded by Cmn. Grober. Four ayes, motion carried. Mayor ,Lough staked he felt the Council could adopt the budget and suggest- ed an adjourned meeting on Ju1.y 29, 1958. By proper motion.the meeting was adjourned to July 29, 1958 at ?:00 P.X. The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 P.M. Respectfully submitted. - """"""~"""""""""""""- MINUTES OF ADJOURNED MEETING OF CAELLSBAD CITY COUNCIL July 29, 1958 The meeting was called to order at 7:06 P.M. by Mayor Lough. Present beside8 the Mayo:r were Councilmen Ledgerwood, Helton, Grober and Council- woman Sonneman; City Manager Nelson. The City Attorney was present at 7:25 P.M. Invocation was offered by Councilman Ledgerwood. Mayor Lough announced that he had instructed his attorneys not to proceed against the Carlsbad Journal, without prejudice. The first business to come before the meeting was the Woman's Club in relation to the Civic Center building. A copy of a letter addressed to the Editor of the Carlsbad Journal from the Woman's Club was read wherein they set forth their offer in assisting the City in the construction of a Community building. WOMAN'S CLUB: The Mayor called upon Mrs. Katherine Dunne, President of the Woman's Club, for comments on the plan. Mrs. Dunne informed the members of the Council she would like to call upon Mrs. Gladys Vance,; Chairman of the Building Committee of the Woman's Club, to comment on this project. MRS. GLADYS VANCE informed the Council when the Woman's Club was ready to build a club house, they contacted other service clubs and, though the other clubs were not in a position to participate financially in the building program, they were wil3.ing to use the building and unanimously agreed a comunity building would serve a great need in the community. The 'Woman's Club had entered a national wide contest this year wherein the Club sponsoring the best community project for their community would be given a prize, and the Carlsbad Woman's Club had won second in the State; an agreement had been entered into between the City and the Wornants Club whereby the Woman's Club would contribute $21,000 in cash, plus property valued at $4,000, and the City was to match these funds. In closing, Mrs. Vance stated it was the hope of the Woman's Club that the Council could see fit to appropriate funds towards this project in this years budget. Discussion was given as to a means of financing such a project by the City. After considerableediscussion, the Mayo? assured-the members of the Woman's Club present thew proJect would be glven conslderatlon this year