Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-04-16; City Council; MinutesMINUTES MEETING OF: CITY OF CARLSBAD CITY COUNCIL (Regular Meeting) DATE OF MEETING: April 16, 2013 TIME OF MEETING: 9:00 a.m. PLACE OF MEETING: 1635 Faraday Avenue, Room 173A, Carlsbad, CA 92008 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Hall called the Meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. ROLL CALL was taken by the City Clerk, as follows: Present: Council Members Hall, Packard, Wood, Blackburn, Douglas. Absent: None. REGIONAL REPORTS: Council provided regional reports at this time. Mayor Pro Tem Packard commented that The ICMA held in Atlanta, GA last week was very worthwhile. The members who attended came back with many ideas and concepts that will prove beneficial and Mayor Pro Tem Packard looks forward to applying the strategies gleamed from this educational and informative conference. Mayor Hall noted that he got a good sense of where Carlsbad's position in today's economy sits in comparison to the rest of the country. Mayor Hall also stated that in order for government to be sustainable going forward, we will need to recreate the city government business model to provide more efficiency. Communication throughout the city's organization will be of vital importance. Mayor Hall observed that Carlsbad is very fortunate when compared to other cities such as Tacoma, WA where they laid off one-third of its police department and are experiencing the 5th highest crime rate in the nation. CONSENT CALENDAR: ACTION: On a motion bv Mayor Pro Tem Packard. Council affirmed the action of the Consent Calendar. Item #1 as follows: 1. AB#21.185 - AUTHORIZATION TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR SANDAG ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION GRANTS. AYES: Hall. Packard. Wood. Blackburn. Douglas. NOES: None. ORDINANCES FOR ADOPTION; 2. AB #21.186 - QUARRY CREEK MASTER PLAN AND APPEAL OF PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVAL TOF THE TENTATIVE TRACT MAP FOR CT 11-04. City Attorney Celia Brewer titled the Ordinance. Shelly Hayes-Carron of Northeast Carlsbad, Diane Nygaard of Oceanside, Paige Decino of Skyline Road, Carlsbad, and Kasey Cinciarelli of Northeast Carlsbad opposed the ordinance. Councilmember Blackburn asked for clarification on the transparency of today's meeting and City Attorney Brewer stated the City Council typically adopts an ordinance at the meeting immediately following the introduction of the ordinance and today's meeting has been properly noticed as a public meeting. ACTION: On a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Packard, Council adopted ORDINANCE NO. CS-208 amending section 21.05.030 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code (Zoning Map) to change the zoning from Industrial (M) and One Family Residential, 10,000 square foot minimum lot size (R-1-10,000) to Planned Community (PC) on property generally located south of Haymar Drive and west of College Boulevard in the Northeast Quadrant of the City, in Local Facilities Management Zone 25. AYES: Hall, Packard, Wood, Blackburn, Douglas. NOES: None. ACTION: On a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Packard, Council adopted Ordinance No. CS-209, approving the Quarry Creek Master Plan (MP-10-01), on 156 acres of property generally located south of Haymar Drive, west of College Boulevard, in the Northeast Quadrant of the City, in Local Facilities Management Zone 25. AYES: Hall, Packard, Wood, Blackburn, Douglas. NOES: None. DEPARTMENTAL AND CITY MANAGER REPORTS: 3. AB #21.187 - 2013 BUSINESS SURVEY REPORT. City Manager John Coates introduced Kathy Dodson, Community and Economic Development Director and Josh Williams, on behalf of BW Research. BW Research was hired to conduct a survey of Carlsbad based businesses and Mr. Williams presented a power point presentation (copies on file in the City Clerk's office). With regards to page 3 of the presentation, Mr. Williams noted that no single hindrance to Carlsbad's business climate Jumped out. He would like to see at least 10% to even 15% of the population surveyed present a particular impediment before he would state it's of concern. Councilmember Douglas asked what is meant by the category "Offer more business programs" and Mr. Williams responded signage and communication were most prevalent. Mayor Pro Tem Packard asked if there was an interesting cluster in the unconfident area noted on page 7 and Mr. Williams responded there was not. Councilmember Douglas asked how Carlsbad's business climate can get from good to excellent and Mr. Williams responded that businesses were asked what could be done to make doing business in Carlsbad most satisfactory, but again no one thing stood out. He added that the quality of life is important because it remains the leading reason for businesses to decide to come to or to stay in Carlsbad. Councilmember Wood asked if the ability of businesses to find quality employees correlate to industry clusters and Mr. Williams responded yes. Councilmember Douglas asked what the businesses think the role of government should be with regard to business climate and Mr. Williams responded that the most consistent response to that was to get the State of California to reduce regulations. Mr. Williams explained that four to five jobs are created outside of an industry by each position filled or added in the top five industry clusters. Some examples of the economic impact include: • The average Action Sport employee earns $91,020 per year. • The average ICT employee earns $114,561 per year. • The average Life Sciences employee is earning $112,672. • The average Biomedical Devices employee earns $128,722 per year. Of the five industry clusters, only the Entertainment and Hospitality industry are lower wage earners and these are positions often filled by those seeking a first job or entry level position. Councilmember Douglas asked why Action Sports growth is predicted to fall over the course of the next five years and Mr. Williams responded that we have fifty times more Action Sports positions than the national average, so to some extent this will be a normal market correction. BW Research should present a better sense on that in two months. Councilmember Blackburn asked if a business founder already lives in Carlsbad, is it likely they did not select the "Quality of Life" category shown on page 8 for that reason and Mr. Williams responded that they had the option to select more than one category so that should not alter the survey result, though it was observed that when a founder lived in Carlsbad they preferred to conduct their business here too. Mayor Hall stated that Carlsbad is considered to be a very safe city and if s important for neighboring cities to achieve similar goals so that the five cities can all support each other. Councilmember Wood asked if our daytime population is different from our nighttime population and Ms. Dodson responded yes and she will get the data to the council members. Mr. Williams stated that businesses who received information/communication from the Economic Development Department tended to be more optimistic about conducting business in Carlsbad. Mr. Williams stated the City has an inordinate number of large businesses and more than half of those are industry clusters, which is a good sign. Further, two-thirds of businesses surveyed support a university of higher learning in Carlsbad. This concluded the presentation and questions and answers followed. Mayor Hall asked if there were specific traffic areas identified, such as 1-5 or Palomar Airport Road and Mr. Williams responded no one area was predominant but that the lack of public transportation was the most repeated comment. Councilmember Douglas requested any supporting data be sent electronically and that it be posted on the City's website. Mayor Hall asked if the timing of the survey occurring over Christmas may have persuaded results and Ms. Dodson responded that it's typically the ideal time to conduct these types of surveys and Mr. Williams added that the survey was not conducted during the week and one half before and after the Christmas holiday. 4. AB #21.188 - FIRST QUARTER 2013 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: Kathy Dodson, Community and Economic Development Director presented the power point (copies on file in the City Clerk's office) and first brought the council's attention to the definition on page one. She stated there are many reasons for the presence of the five major industry clusters in Carlsbad. Among them are climate, quality of life, and by design; great facilities and beautiful landscaping. Ms. Dodson noted that five quality proposals have been received for RFP. A job fair will be held on April 19, 2013 and cross industry collaborations are a highly desirable outcome. Ms. Dodson will provide additional job fair details to the council. Five north county cities are working together In a community branding effort and an agenda item is forthcoming. Economic Gardening is being used across the country. Stage 2 (aka Gazelle companies) employ between 5 -100 employees and are typically export oriented. Carlsbad has 104 of these companies. The Edward Lowe Foundation specializes in developing entrepreneurship for economic growth and Ms. Dodson will present a pilot program to the council in the next few months. The digital audit resulted in some interesting data. In Social Media, Carlsbad pops up over 10,000 times over a 30 day period. TaylorMade, who proudly promotes Carlsbad, has 326,000 Facebook followers and Unkedin reports Carlsbad's average employee income to be $86,000. Two hundred forty-seven jobs listed on Unkedin were posted by Carlsbad companies. This is great social media exposure. On the other hand, companies such as Reef are not promoting Carlsbad's lifestyle, though it would be to their advantage as a surf apparel company to create social media comment about our beaches, etc. This is an area where the City can help local business get on board the social media train. Ms. Dodson stated the city needs two Facebook accounts; one for residents and one for businesses to use as a resource. Furthermore, the City's digital report card for social media earned an F. The City needs to get out there from a business stand point and in terms of economic development, we're not being aggressive. Ms. Dodson reviewed some of the tag cloud (a keyword density checker) key words and noted that of the categories represented, "Arts, Culture & History Group" was the one found to be most lacking. Councilmember Douglas agreed the City can do more to promote art in Carlsbad. Ms. Dodson's presentation included a "Social Media Campaign" and a "Business Outreach Campaign" and Mayor Pro Tem Packard asked how much isthe Chamber of Commerce involved and Ms. Dodson stated they are fully aware and are partners in every way. Mayor Pro Tem Packard asked how the City can go about surpassing the business climate of a city such as Austin, Texas? Ms. Dodson explained that the City needs to tell the "Carlsbad story" - people want to live here, not Texas. Mayor Hall cited examples of great businesses here in Carlsbad, i.e. Isis Pharmaceuticals, Legoland, Genoptix, and many others the City needs to be featuring and embracing to bring Carlsbad more into the limelight. Councilmember Wood stated that we have many excellent high school and college students right here in Carlsbad to fill internship positions and perhaps there is something more the City can do to help Carlsbad businesses promote internship programs. Councilmember Wood asked what can be done about our logo and Tina Ray, Communications Manager, advised that typically a City should re-visit this every three to five years. She stated that our logo was designed five years ago and that she is working with a company now to re-design the City logo. Mayor Hall asked if branding should be done in conjunction with the logo to avoid duplicating dollars spent. Ms. Ray agreed that branding would be included and a more collaborative process to allow for input and review by the council will also be implemented. Councilmember Blackburn asked if it wouldn't be money better spent for Carlsbad to appear in some of the cluster industry publications and business Journals. Ms. Dodson noted the "Business Outreach Campaign" will invite Journalists and editors in to enhance their understanding of what Carlsbad has to offer. Mayor Pro Tem Packard asked if the City can come to a decision about fostering one industry cluster vs. all five and Ms. Dodson responded that support of the existing five clusters with focus on energy and growrth clusters will maintain diversity which is important to economic development. She further stated that our cluster industries picked Carlsbad and the City needs to continue to support them. Ms. Dodson noted that "Chandler Thinks" a digital marketing company specializing in economic development will provide a bid, but the bid will go to RFP to assure the best possible provider is utilized. 5. AB #21.189 - LIBRARIES OF THE FUTURE PRESENTATION: Heather Pizzuto provided a power point presentation (copies on file in the City Clerk's office). Ms. Pizzuto referenced a PEW report of "Library Studies in the Digital Age" noting that there are currently 1.3 million check outs from Carlsbad's libraries. Mayor Pro Tem Packard asked if the Carlsbad library had ever hosted a speed reading course and Ms. Pizzuto responded not to her knowledge but it is certainly a possibility. The PEW study found that: • Fifty-four percent of research either cannot be found or cannot be easily located online. • Eighty percent of library users found reference librarians to be very helpful. • Seventy-three percent of library users found research resources not available on Google were important. Over 300,000 people came to hear author Usa See speak at the Dove Library. Ms. Pizzuto informed council that our patrons use one system to find books, another to obtain e-books, and yet another to access magazines and newspapers. She is currently working on streamlining the libraries systems. The PEW study found that 74 percent of users want literacy learning and tutoring options as well as access to the library from various mobile devices. The libraries most popular workshops are those teaching the use of electronic devices to download e- books. It has been observed that different users may need a different pace or method for learning. Carlsbad has 11,000 preschoolers who are library card holders and their average number of items checked out is six at a time. Carlsbad is currently participating in a shared consortium along with many other cities to determine what and how to purchase e-books. Library renovations were reviewed and Ms. Pizzuto noted that the PEW study found 61 percent of libraries should offer different "sections" meaning a variety of seating options, the ability to re-deploy space is also a key feature of future library use. The Cole library infrastructure has many limitations and requires ADA improvements. Re-carpeting is needed at both the Cole and Dove libraries and this calls for the removal and replacement of seismically constructed structures. There are two projects in the CIP for 2013-2014. Mayor Tem Pro Packard asked if the Cole Ubrary is still well known for its genealogy department and Ms. Pizutto stated it is still extremely well used and is a regional draw. The other popular service is the libraries local history room. This is currently located near the HVAC system and there are concerns about moisture to some of the historical records prompting them to look at moving this section to the upstairs area by genealogy. 6. AB #21.190 - COUNCIL PRIORITY PROJECTS REPORT REVIEW. City Manager John Coates introduced Greg Hermann, Assistant to the City Manager, to review four to five highlights of this report (copies on file in the City Clerk's office). Mr. Hermann began with page 13, the City's "Best Value Services" program and informed council that this target completion date is May, 2013. Third Wave Consulting was hired to look at strategic planning and business prospects with a completion to be determined by the current fiscal year's budget. Mayor Hall inquired about the Information Technology Director position and was informed there should be an announcement later this week. Mr. Hermann directed council to page 19 and noted the decision by The Public Utilities Commission was upheld which creates barriers to Carlsbad's energy center project. Moving on to page 21, Parks & Recreation, there have been a number of meetings, focus sessions, town halls and a survey to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data with a completion target of September, 2013. On page 35, Mr. Hermann advised that the use of City facilities, events, naming rights, and sponsorships will come to the city council in spring for direction. Mayor Hall asked for an update on the Agua Hedionda Lagoon dredging project and Mr. Skip Hammann, Public Works Department Director, stated the planning commission has completed the coastal development permit process and has also responded to energy department concerns. Mr. Coates informed council they had "cured" all permits and were in final review. Mr. Hammann advised council that Fall 2015 will be the earliest the City will begin dredging. Councilmember Wood inquired about the timeframe for the Plaza Camino Real Redevelopment project referenced on page 20 and Mr. Gary Barbario, Assistant City Manager, confirmed it would be heard by the planning commission in June, 2013. Mr. David Hauser, Director Property & Environmental Management advised council the Lot 9/CMWD reservoir property is on track and there is an agenda bill in process. Mayor Hall asked Mr. Coates if everyone in the organization knows about the priority projects and Mr. Coates responded yes, that communication has been throughout the organization and website posting is provided as well. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: None. CITY ATTORNEY COMMENTS: None. ANNOUNCEMENTS: None. ADJOURNMENT: By proper motion, the Regular Meeting of April 16,2013 was adjourned at 11:00 a.m. BARBARA ENGLESON City Clerk