By Jennifer Madrigal
Eastvale – The Eastvale City Council held one meeting in the month of December. At the Dec. 11, 2013 meeting, Council Members Ric Welch, Jeff DeGrandpre and Adam Rush were all present, with Mayor Ike Bootsma running the meeting.
Taylor York, on behalf of Western Council of Governments, presented the City of Eastvale with an appreciation acrylic from the Clean Cities Coalition for recently becoming a part of their organization.
During the Public Comment Section of the meeting, Girl Scout Troop 714 announced that they are trying to earn their bronze award by volunteering/sponsoring an event at Riverwalk Park with the 100 Mile Club. They hope to promote exercise and the appreciation of nature and family. They invited the City to join them for the event (which happened on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013). Mike Armijo from ABC Public Relations let the Council and community know that the paper was delivered, and reminded everyone of upcoming Chamber events and to Shop Eastvale. Dickie Simmons gave everyone a reminder of the next Town Hall Meeting which will be January 28, 2014.
The following items from the Consent Calendar were all approved: 5.1 – November 13 regular meeting minutes; 5.2 – Ordinance to Adopt the 2014 California Fire Code; 5.3 – Acceptance of Subdivision Improvements for Tract Number 31496, KB Homes-Project 13-0132; 5.4 – Approval of Parcel Map No. 32313 (Fleming Living Trust), southeast quadrant of Hamner Avenue and Riverside Drive; 5.5 – Storm Drain Cooperative Agreement with Riverside County Flood Control District and Lennar Homes, Tract 36382, Citrus Street; 5.6 – Storm Drain Cooperative Agreement with Riverside County Flood Control District and DR Horton, Tract 34014, Schleisman Road; 5.7 – Update on City’s Strategic Plan; 5.8 - Designating a Staff-Level Point of Contact for the Update of the Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy; 5.9 Statement of Revenue and Expense (unaudited), October 2013; 5.10 – Comprehensive Annual Financial Statement for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2013; 5.11 – Warrant Register; and 5.12 – Warrant Register for Council Related Items.
The Public Hearings section of the meeting began with a discussion on item 6.1 – Amending the Zoning Code to Allow the Placement of Temporary Signs in the Public Right of Way, Subject to Limits on Time, Place and Manner. Currently, the City has allowed signs on the weekend, but would like to propose changing those regulations to 4 p.m. Friday until 7 p.m. Sunday, with signs permitted on roadway medians subject to standards for size and height for safety and visibility. City Manager Jacobs stated that there has been a long and unclear enforcement of the regulations and that clarity and enforcement is needed going forward. Council members discussed various options and concerns. Currently, Code Enforcement is acting as trash control and spending a lot of time picking up signs after the weekend. Contact information will be required on any signs allowing the City the ability to fine those that do not remove signs. Failure to post contact information on signs would result in their immediate removal. The exact regulations are going to be clarified, but the Ordinance passed 3-1.
There were not any Old Business Items.
In the New Business category, Item 8.1 – Approval of City’s Injury/Illness Prevention Program was passed; 8.2 – Resolution of the City Council of the City of Eastvale, California Approving a Schedule of Parking Fines and Penalties was also passed 4-0. Three vehicle violations will be added to penalties for street sweeping, parking on a red curb and failure to display license plates, and will now be written on administrative tickets which will hopefully allow a cleaner, faster process; 8.3 – Approval of Project Applications for Fiscal Year 14/15 Community Development Block Grant Funding passed 4-0, with three projects being proposed; 8.4 and 8.5 – Joint Community Facilities Agreements between Jurupa Community Services District and the City of Eastvale (Community Facilities District No. 37 and No. 47), and Joint Communities Facilities District Implementing Agreements, passed 3-0-1, with Welch recusing himself on both votes; Item 8.6 concerning City employees’ attendance at the International Conference of Shopping Centers (ICSC) was taken off the agenda to be discussed at a later time. Since there doesn’t seem to be much land available in Eastvale, Welch wanted more consideration before Council votes on whether to send employees or not.
For Item 8.7 – Options for Filing the Council Vacancy for the Unexpired Term, the Council decided to hold an open application period ending Dec. 26, 2013, with interviews occurring in January so that the position can be filled before the Jan. 30, 2014 deadline. DeGrandpre was adamant that this “position be open to everyone and that the process should be transparent.” Welch stressed the “need to make an ordinance to ensure this does not happen again and nail it down.”
For Item 8.8 – City Council Re-Organization, calling for a new Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem to be selected by the City Council, Ike Bootsma was asked if he would like to be the Mayor again, in which he adamantly replied he would. Both Bootsma and Rush will retain their current positions as Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem of the City of Eastvale. The meeting ended with council members wishing each other well and a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and thanking everyone for all their help and participation this year. The next regular meeting of the Eastvale City Council will be held Jan. 8, 2014, 6:30 p.m., at Rosa Parks Elementary School.
