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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-12-2008 PSAC Minutes MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE 183 NORTH MAIN STREET LAKE ELSINORE, CALIFORNIA THURSDAY, MARCH 12,2008 ............................................................................... CALL TO ORDER - 6:00 P.M. Chairman Norkin called the Public Safety Advisory Commission meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Commissioner Lyons. ROLL CALL PRESENT: CHAIRMAN NORKIN VICE-CHAIR BHUTTA COMMISSIONER DAILEY COMMISSIONER LYONS COMMISSIONER STEWART ABSENT: NONE Also present were: Information/Communications Manager Dennis, Assistant City Attorney Mann, Lake and Aquatic Resources Director Kilroy, Sergeant Yates, Traffic Engineer Basubas and Clerk of the Board Munson. PUBLIC COMMENTS Kristen Hertz, President of the Lake Elsinore Downtown Merchants Association, expressed concerns with the homeless people congregating at the City Park, the selling of drugs, drug use, alcohol abuse, prostitution, and fighting at City Park; the lack of presence of Police; problems at the public parking lot off Peck Street such as harassment of downtown merchants, customers and employees by intoxicated people leaving the Wreck and prostitution deals being made. She stated the Downtown Merchants Association is asking more of a police presence on Main Street and the clean-up of the local park so it can be enjoyed by families as the City intended it to be. 1 COMMISSION APPROVES CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM(S) 1 . Minutes a) Minutes of regular PSAC meeting on February 13, 2008. b) Minutes of Study Session on February 21,2008. Recommendation: Approve. It was motioned by Commissioner Dailey, and seconded by Commissioner Vice- Chair Bhutta to approve the Consent Calendar. The following vote resulted: AYES: CHAIRMAN NORKIN VICE-CHAIR BHUTTA COMMISSIONER DAILEY COMMISSIONER LYONS COMMISSIONER STEWART NOES: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE ABSENT: NONE BUSINESS ITEMS 2. COMMISSION RECEIVES AND FILES AN UPDATE ON WILDLAND/URBAN INTERFACE DEFENSIBLE SPACE Chief Jerry Hendershot made a PowerPoint presentation to staff. He provided an update of new laws affecting fire protection and defensible space for urban residents. He indicated homeowners who reside in wildland/urban interface zones should know how to make their property fire safe by creating "defensible space." He noted this means removing all flammable vegetation within a prescribed distance from all structures. He stated the "defensible space" is a law on State and Federal responsibility land and not a law in the City, only a recommendation. After July 1 st, new development will have to comply with the law. He noted the County has adopted State law. Chairman Norkin suggested the City adopt an ordinance uniform through the entire City to make anyone living in fire prone areas to have 100 ft. of defensible space. It was motioned by Commissioner Lyons, and seconded by Commissioner Dailey to receive and file report. 2 The following vote resulted: AYES: CHAIRMAN NORKIN VICE-CHAIR BHUTTA COMMISSIONER DAILEY COMMISSIONER LYONS COMMISSIONER STEWART NOES: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE ABSENT: NONE 3. COMMISSION APPROVES RECOMMENDATIONS TO AN ORDINANCE REGULATING HIGH SPEED ZONE Assistant City Attorney Mann reviewed five new items included in the ordinance. They were as follows: 1) Subsection "C" - No speed limit for the first two hours in the morning, beginning at sunrise, thereafter; 2) Subsection "0", from two hours after sunrise until sunset, the maximum allowable boat speed limit within the high speed zone is 150 miles per hour, except as provided in Subsection "E"; 3) Subsection "E", the speed limit is 35 miles per hour within the high speed zone every Saturday and Sunday beginning with the first Saturday in May and ending on the last Sunday in September, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day; and 4) Subsection "F" which allows a person to operate a boat within the high speed zone at a speed in excess of 150 miles per hour when authorized with a special event permit. He also noted a provision for Commission's consideration in Subsection "G", stating any person operating a boat travelling in excess of 35 miles per hour within the high speed zone shall be not less than 16 or 18 years old. Chairman Norkin suggested eliminating Subsection "C" and noted the remaining ordinance is fine. Commissioner Stewart indicated he agreed with Chairman Norkin. Commissioner Lyons indicated he agreed with Chairman Norkin. He noted he was not in agreement with the no speed limit from sunrise and for two hours thereafter. He also expressed his concerns with Subsection "0". He inquired why Subsection "E" starts in May and not in April when the lake opens. Lake and Aquatic Resources Director Kilroy responded that a few changes need to be made and discussion on the costs related to these changes. He noted the different signs that need to be changed along with the current 2008 lake use passes that need to be replaced. He noted the timeline for this had not been determined and indicated the costs would be around $13,100. He suggested the Commission to simplify the wording on the signage. There was further discussion 3 on the wording on the signage, simplification and the costs related to the changes. Commission Dailey agreed with removing Subsection "C" and recommended changing lake buoy signage seasonally to improve comprehension about the new rules. Commissioner Bhutta stated PSAC should leave the high speed zone as it is, but agreed to make the signs simple to understand. Chairman Norkin and Commissioner Daily agreed to set the age limit at 18 to operate a boat in the high speed zone in excess of 35 miles per hour. Assistant City Attorney Mann indicated state law requires any person operating a boat at any speed between the ages of 12 and 15 must have a person of 18 years or older on board. He noted with boats of 15 horsepower or sail boats exceeding 15 feet, the operator must be at least 16 years old. Commissioner Lyons would like to set the age at 16. Commissioner Stewart would like to set the age at 18. Vice-Chairman Bhutta would like to set the age at 16. It was motioned by Commissioner Lyons, and seconded by Commissioner Dailey to approve the ordinance to include the changes discussed. The following vote resulted: AYES: CHAIRMAN NORKIN VICE-CHAIR BHUTTA COMMISSIONER DAILEY COMMISSIONER LYONS COMMISSIONER STEWART NOES: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE ABSENT: NONE Information/Communications Manager Dennis suggested the Commission, as part of their motion, place a term for the effective date of the ordinance. Assistant City Attorney Mann indicated that Council can elect a longer period to establish an effective date for the ordinance or can elect to be effective pursuant to State law. 4 Information/Communications Manager Dennis inquired if the motion included a recommendation to spend and authorize up to $17,000 to implement these changes. Chairman Norkin stated it was the Commissions' job to develop an ordinance and staff's job to include in the staff report the required budget adjustments to implement it. Commissioner Daily indicated she would like to see the ordinance move forward and just to do the two signs. She also indicated to wait until October, if necessary, and would be fine because it does take time to implement programs. It was motioned by Commissioner Dailey, and seconded by Vice-Chair Bhutta to clarify the original motion. The following vote resulted: AYES: VICE-CHAIR BHUTTA COMMISSIONER DAILEY COMMISSIONER LYONS COMMISSIONER STEWART NOES: CHAIRMAN NORKIN ABSTAIN: NONE ABSENT: NONE It was motioned by Commissioner Dailey, and seconded by Vice-Chair Bhutta to clarify the start date of the ordinance be in October. The following vote resulted: AYES: VICE-CHAIR BHUTTA COMMISSIONER DAILEY NOES: CHAIRMAN NORKIN COMMISSIONER LYONS COMMISSIONER STEWART ABSTAIN: NONE ABSENT: NONE 4. COMMISSION RECOMMENDS ALTERNATIVE NO. 1 - TO DEVELOP A CHECK-IN PROCEDURE SCRIPT, WITHOUT A SIGNATURE REQUIREMENT, IMPLEMENT ALTERNATIVE NO.1, WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR THE LAKE'S 5 MANAGEMENT TO HAVE A RAMP COORDINATOR AND A SAFETY INSPECTOR AND NOT TO RAISE FEES Lake and Aquatic Resources Director Kilroy presented the staff report. He noted the first objective is to increase the boater's knowledge of boating regulations and public safety. He reviewed some of the ways to increase boater's knowledge such as asking boaters some basic questions, handing them a brochure on lake regulations, information on the day use pass and developing a boater orientation and safety check-in script. Commissioner Lyons recommended omitting the driver's license information from the Seaport Facility sign-in form. Commissioner Dailey agreed with Chairman Norkin to forego the signature requirement. She stated she agreed with Alternative #1. Commissioner Dailey expressed her concerns with the amount of money being proposed to pay the Community Service Officers (CSO's). Vice-Chairman Bhutta indicated he would have a hard time paying $13 instead of $10. He indicated he was opposed to raising the fees. Commissioner Lyons indicated he was also opposed to raising the fees. He expressed his concerns with the responsibilities of the CSO's. Sergeant Yates indicated during the summer there are four boat operators, two on each boat. Most of the citations given are on the lake. He did confirm there are, at times, altercations. He indicated when the beaches get really busy, he will authorize more personnel on quads to patrol the beaches, however, it is not every weekend. A CSO will have the authority to intercede in altercations and have direct contact through radios should situations get out of hand. Commissioner Dailey indicated she was opposed to raising the fee and thought it was a lot of money to pay a CSO. Vice-Chairman Bhutta stated he did not understand why the City needs to hire eSQ's when the Sheriff's Dept. has been doing a great job. Sergeant Yates responded the boat launch area does get extremely backed up. Chairman Norkin reminded the Commission of the statistics the Coast Guard Auxiliary provided at the study session that 70% of all boats inspected were in total non-compliance of safety equipment, which he felt is an alarming number. Commissioner Lyons asked a member in the audience, Judy Jones, how she felt. about the increase in fees. 6 Judy Jones, Manager of Crane Lakeside Park & Resort, indicated she thought raising the fees, along with gas prices and other items they have to pay for, would turn people away. She stated their business was down 4,000 passes from last year. Commissioner Stewart inquired if Mr. Kilroy had confirmed anything with Mr. Roberts on his implementation on the extra staff members. Lake and Aquatic Resources Director Kilroy responded if the Commission's primary concern was to more efficiently launch boats, then you have to ask yourself, what is the public safety concern - was it an operational issue or a public safety concern. He noted there have been problems with launching boats at the facility, it is a supply and demand issue and it is too small of a facility. He stated the concessionaire will do a better job. Mike Jones, Manager of the Lake Elsinore City Campground and Seaport, stated he has implemented a complete training program as well as in the process of developing a training video for the employees. He stated there will be six employees at the boat launch strickly for traffic control and noted this will not totally alleviate the problem. He noted staff will be assisting from 250 to 350 boats to launch in a six-hour period which is the peak on four launch ramps. He stated they will be able to ask people about their safety equipment. He indicated the Sheriff's Dept. stated staff cannot demand to see their safety equipment until they are out in the water. He stated they will have a man on the line, before they get to the gate, and will be asking about their safety equipment, if their plug is in and their cover is off. He noted traffic jams will occur regardless of what you do. He indicated that raising the lake pass will do a lot of harm to the businesses. Chairman Norkin asked what assurances does the City have, since this is not stipulated in a contract, that Mr. Jones will follow through on what he is saying. He stated he launched boats three times in August of last year and noted he was not happy with the attention he received from the one and only person he came in contact with. Mike Jones responded he has already hired his staff for the Seaport, with Officer Doyle's assistance with training. He stated Officer Doyle indicated to him that he did a phenomenal job last year. Chairman Norkin noted he got a totally different impression from Officer Doyle when he spoke to him. Lake and Aquatic Resources Director Kilroy indicated the City has a very liberal termination clause in the agreement, 30 days, which is very short and provides the ability to correct things in short order if there is something wrong. He noted Pyramid Enterprises contract will expire in 2010 on the campground facility. He noted they are moving forward on a big rehabilitation project and have a lot to lose if they cannot live up to the City's expectations this year. 7 Commissioner Dailey stated there should be someone walking up to everyone's windows, provide them with the necessary information and inquire about their safety equipment. She stated spot checks are necessary and more of them should be done. She stated Mr. Jones should be given an opportunity to come through on his promises. Commissioner Lyons reminded the Commission the Coast Guard Auxiliary goes by Federal guidelines when doing safety inspections and are very nit picky. It was motioned by Commissioner Dailey, and seconded by Vice-Chair Bhutta to move the City's recommendation which is to develop a check-in procedure script, without a signature requirement, and implementing Alternative No.1, which will allow for the lake's management to have a ramp coordinator and a safety inspector and not to raise fees. The following vote resulted: AYES: VICE-CHAIR BHUTTA COMMISSIONER DAILEY COMMISSIONER LYONS NOES: CHAIRMAN NORKIN COMMISSIONER STEWART ABSTAIN: NONE ABSENT: NONE PUBLIC SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS Commissioner Dailey stated CERT is moving quickly, have completed a framework outline and will be meeting on March 1 ih for a half day study session. Information/Communications Manager Dennis indicated the Lakeshore Overlay Committee will be meeting on March 20th at 4:00 p.m. to address the public survey and the public frequently asked questions materials. CITY STAFF COMMENTS Information/Communications Manager Dennis noted the EDC Luncheon will be held March 20th and if anyone was interested in attending, to contact Susan Reid in the City Manager's Office. PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY COMMISSIONERS' COMMENTS Commissioner Lyons thanked the public for attending the meeting. 8 Commissioner Stewart thanked Mr. Kilroy, Mr. Dennis, Mr. Mann and staff for all of their hard work related to the lake issues. Commissioner Dailey also thanked staff and the public for attending their meetings. Vice-Chair Bhutta stated tax payers should not have to pay higher lake fees for their safety. He stated PSAC is spending too much time on lake safety issues and needs to move to other issues. ADJOURNMENT It was the consensus of the Commission to adjourn to a regular meeting on April 9, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. in the Cultural Center located at 183 North Main Street, Lake Elsinore, California, CA, 92530. Chairman Norkin adjourned the meeting at R~ ~ MIKE NOR , CHAIRMAN PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY COMMISSION L.L V IAN M. MUNSON CLERK OF THE BOARD 9