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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-07 1997 City Council Study SessionNIIl~TUTES CTTY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION _ CTI'I'. OF:I:AKE ELSIIVORE :: 130 SOUTH MAIN STREET LAKE ELSINORE, CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE ROOM A & B Tuesday, January 7, 1997 wwxxxxx~*~xx~*wwx*s*x*~ax*s~x~wx*zre*wh*xax~h*xxxwwxxxxx~wwx*xwx*xxxaxxwx*rexx~z ~ALL TO ORDER The City Council Study Session was called to order by Mayor Pape at 3:05 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLE IAN F The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Alongi ROLL CALL PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: ALONGI, KELLEY, METZE, PAPE ABSENT: COUNCII.MEMBERS: BRINLEY Also present were: City Manager Molendyk, Assistant CiTy Manager Watenpaugh, Administrative Services Director Boone, Special Projects Manager Best, Community Development Director Leslie and Deputy City Cleik Brynu~g. ° PUBLIC COMMENTS - A ENDIZED TTEM Mayor Pape noted that there was one Request to Speak and which would recognized at the time the item is addressed. DI ION TTEM A. Library ervi ec. City Manager Molendyk gave an overview of the City s participation in the Library Study and introduced Beverly Simmons, Consultant for David M. Griffith & Associates. Ms. Simmons gave an overview of the varying library systems throughout the State of California and explain0d theirvariousroles. She noted'the City/County Library Service Contract the City of Lake Elsinore has been a part of for the last several years. She further noted that the City has received good service from the County Agreement to date. She explained that the County is in the process of Requesting for Proposals to Provide Library Service. Ms. Simmons explained that she will be asking the Council questions to facilitate the $tudy and enable her team to best address:lhe items and issues that Council feels aze most important to the community. She explained that the topics on the Agenda are suggestions that she felt Council might want to address as follows: 1. Role of the Library in the Commun~. 2. Library Service Expectations. 3. Delivery ofLibrary Services. 4. Ontions for Future Librara ervice . 5. Funding for Library' ervice : 6. ('ouncil Sug~estions Ideas or Issues Re a~ rdin Lg ibrary ,v;rPC. PAGE TWO - MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION - Jr1NUARY 7,1997 Ms. Simmons explained that she will be using these topics to gain a better idea of what the Council wants to see in the Study. City Manager Molendyk asked what Ms. Simmons sees for libraries over the next 25 years. -- Ms. Simmons stated that she feels, in general, the library systems are in a state of revolution due to the impact of technology. She noted the impact this has on staff, services and information. Mayor Pape asked if this meant less books and more information. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley stated that it would not. She explained that people will still be reading books for enjoyment, but the computer gives the ability to gain even more information for research. City Manager Molendyk noted the importance of a good library for economic development and pointed out that the business community expects good library service. He explained that this gives business the opportunity to test the pulse of the community for available information. Ms. Simmons explained that 75% of the books in a library aze for home use and the other 25% are for research purposes. She noted that Ben & 7erry s Ice Cream acquired their original recipe from the library and created a major business from that starting point. Councilman Metze asked if libraries will be downsizing due to technology and available information Councilman Alongi asked what percentage of the community uses the library and their ages. Councilwoman Kelley stated that in Lake Elsinore Library 46% for the users are children. She noted that the City of Lake Elsinore Public Library serves 64,000 people with 2,063 new users last yeaz. Councilman Alongi asked what the percentage of citizens within the City of Lake Elsinore use the library versus the County area. He noted that if 60% of the 64,000 people that hold library cards are from the County, then the County should kick in financially. He stated that the taxpayers of the City of Lake Elsinore should not have to pay for the people in the County that use the facility. Councilman Alongi stated that there is a need for a library, but what concerns him is what it is going to cost and what will happen if we do not stay with the County system. Mayor Pape asked if a valley wide system is being considered versus an independent system. He noted that the revenue from Temecula is greater than the revenue from Lake Elsinore and explained that would this impact the spread of the dollazs available. Councilman Metze asked if there is information as to how the population of the City feels about this issue. He suggested that a mail-out be sent to the residents to gain their input. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley stated that a Focus Group will be formed to gain input. Councilman Alongi stated that he understood that 500 surveys would be mailed to residents on a random basis to gain more information from the publia +He expressed concern regarding the areas that the survey will be sent and stated that he would like to see all income levels represented. Mayor Pape stated that a Focus Group would give valuable input. Councilman Metze again asked what the people of Lake Elsinore wanted. PAGE THREE - NIIlVUTES OF STUDY SESSION - JANUARY 7,1997 Mayor Pro Tem Kelley clarified that this meeting is to find out what Council wants for a library and public opinionwill be addressed separately. Councilman Alongi indicated that he does not know what should be in a library and that is why we have a consultant. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley stressed that his opinion is as important as anyone that lives in the community. Ms. Simmons asked Councilman Alongi why he felt a library was important to the community. Councilman Alongi stated that it is important to have information available to the public and although he does not use this library, he does feel that it is important to have the library available for the community. He stated that his concern is the cost and if the need justifies the cost. Ms. Simmons stated that a library offers an avenue of information into countless areas and provides educational and cultural resources for the entire community. She explained that this service could be integrated with other City services such as the recreation center or some other human service facility. Mayor Pape stated that he felt that the overhead paid to the County was far too high for the service provided. Ms. Simmons questioned what is fair and stated that administrative costs aze necessary to provide any type of service, not just library services. Councilman Metze stated that the City of Lake Elsinore has not had an option in regazd to the library, since the County has run it for so long.. Mayor Pape indicated that he felt that it would be more cost effective if the program were valley wide. Ms. Simmons stated that the library should be the information center of the community. Councilman Alongi asked how the size of a library should be deternuned. Ms. Simmons stated that it is set at one-half of a square foot per resident. Ms. Simmons asked Council what they felt were the greatest needs to address the library issue: Mayor Pro Tem Kelley stated that there was a need for more hours to be available to the public, as well as updated reference material and increased stafftime. Councilman Metze related his experience with his children and their participation in the childrens programs. He noted that when services were cut his children really missed the experience. He explained that he felt that his children profited from those programs and gained a learning advantage. Ms. Simmons stated that there are firm findings that it does not matter what the income level or amount of day school the children have received as to how bright they are in school, but rather the amount of books they have been exposed to and the desire to read from that early exposure. City Manager Molendyk stated that it has been a problem for the local high school student to do research and they find that they must go to Riverside to get the necessary PAGE FOUR - MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION - JANUARY 7, 1997 information. He noted that the average age of citizens of this community is 35 and they have expanding families. He further noted the need of support for student research at all levels of education.. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley explained that current technology must be available for those that don't have computers in their homes. She noted that the current collection of information available to students is very poor and not adequate to their needs. She further explained that it is one thing to have computers available, but because not everyone has a computer and has the knowledge to use one, it requires staff to assist and educate. CounciLnan Alongi stated that there is some responsibility for the School District to provide information to the students and not expect the City to provide 100%. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley concuned and stated that the School District has a library at each school, but the existing library is not an adequate back-up to what the schools have. City Manager Molendyk explained that the average person doesn't know what the library should provide and how it is supposed to be run. He stated that there should be information provided to the public regarding the cost of staff, supply and maintenance of a library. Ms. Simmons defined the teachers role, the role of the library and the role of the school Councilman Alongi stated that the better the education and information available to students, the better community safety will be. He explained that the better educated the youth are, the less crime that is found in the community. Mayor Pape stated that not every person in the community makes use of the library, but rather someone in each household does upon occasion use the library. He explained that he felt that it was the consultants job to tell Council the best method to approach problems regarding library service. Ms. Simmons stated that the 1993 Library Study will be a good base for information to set service levels projected for today's population. Mayor Pape ageed with Mayor Pro Tem Kelley that the service levels are vital to the community. Councilman Metze stressed that the hours of usage should be addressed. There was general discussion in regazd to the level of service due to cut-backs and the hours of usage. There was discussion regarding a Joint Powers Agreement between the City of Lake Elsinore, the City of Temecula, the City of Murietta, the City of Canyon Lake and the County of Riverside. Mayor Pape noted that there could be resource sharing and it was noted that the advantage to a City owned library is control of information and control of 4he money spenY. Councilman Alongi stated that he would like to see a library program with an exchange of resources, but if the City were to enter into a joint agreement then it would be necessary for the County to participate, since a large part of the population of the Valley lives in the County and uses City facilities. Councilman Metze suggested that a annual users fee be chazged for non-residents. PAGE FIVE - MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION - JANUARY 7, 1997 Mayor Pro Tem Kelley stated that through a joint powers agreement the libraries would be free for anyone who wanted to use them. City Manager Molendyk stated that this would be a regional system and made note of a library in Fullerton that is operating in this manner. Councilman Alongi stated that he would rather have a City owned facility that we could control due to the growth of our community. He noted the size of other communities and pointed out that they have different needs. He asked that Council be provided an exact amount of cost for library services to enable them to take this issue to the voters. He noted that it is possible that Council may have to ask for an assessment to be placed on the ballot to cover costs and he would like to inform the public of the exact dollars needed. There was general discussion in regard to the cost of land, the cost of building a new facility and the possibility of the City become a partner with the schools to provide joint libraries much the same as we do with pazks. Councilman Alongi stated that this would be part of the education necessary for the voters and should be made part o£the June 3, ballot. Mayor Pape stated that Council should not confuse the issues and be cautious as to what they will present to the voters on the June 3rd, ballot. Councilman Alongi stated that the City will be asking the voters for Money on the June 3rd, ballot and it should be all done at one time. City Manager Molendyk reminded Council that the Library Study may not be ready to place on the 7une 3rd, ballot and it is necessary to define what we want and how much it will cost to provide. Councilman Alongi concuned and stated that to provide library services through an assessment, there is a need for proper information to educate the public. Ms. Simmons explained that she needed to ask Council questions regazding revenue and asked if Council would support a measure to the voters for revenue. Council stated that they would. She asked if the system were regional versus independent would they support a measure for revenue and suggested that an assessment currently 'sn pince could be used to support services. She suggested a bed tax or some other revenue !h~t is cunently in eacistence. Mayor Pape called upon Barbara Anderson to speak. Ms. Anderson stated that she is more familiaz with the operation of the Cwil_'asnia Siate. Library rather than a local library and noted that the level of education in commu.~ities is never enough. She suggested non-resident fees and noted the need for resources that can only be found out of the locai system. She noted that if 46% of the users of the library services are children, the other 54% of the users are members of the community that are not children. She spoke in favor of a 7oint Powers Authority and stated that the City would benefit from the lazger cities. She suggested that if this facility is too sma11, possibly Council should consider using a vacant building such as the old Vons Market site which is standing empty. Ms. Anderson noted that,there can be a cooperation of services and the City could combine with a local college to develop a library for the entire community and the college. She suggested that the Council formulate a public body to make suggestions and recommendations. There was general discussion regarding revenue costs and the formation of a Focus group. PAGE SIX - MINUTES OF STUDY SESSION - JANUARY 7,1997 Ms. Sirrunons suggested that Council attend the Focus Group Meeting in Temecula on Saturday, 7anuary l lth, which will be from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. She thanked Council for their time and input and explained that she will be taking this back to her fum to begin formulation of the study. Councilman Metze asked if the study will cover boundaries with the library addressed as both individual and joint. Ms. Simmons stated that all avenues will be investigated. City Manager Molendyk stated that Temecula, Murietta and Lake Elsinore were the forerunners to the discussions regarding libraries. He noted that WRCOG is looking at libraries throughout the County system and will be doing an evaluation themselves. ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY METZE, SECONDED BY ALONGI AND VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO ADJOURN THE S'~ .P Respectfully Submitted, ~~~~G~~ . ~ Adria L. Bryning, eputy C' Clerk ~ U A~EST: ~ ~ ~~~~ ~.~~ VICHI KAS.~.'~, CITX CLERK .RIED BY UNANIMOUS SESSION AT 4:36 P.M.