Photo By: Raymond Mendoza
Members of Walnut City Council present local historian, June Wentworth, with a proclamation declaring the month of May as National Historic Preservation Month.

By Raymond Mendoza

Walnut – Walnut’s City Council gathered on May 27 with a full agenda, starting out with a proclamation and ending with a spirited discussion about the amount of cell phone towers present in the City.

The Council met with Walnut Historian, June Wentworth, to proclaim the month of May as National Historic Preservation Month. Mayor Nancy Tragarz thanked Wentworth for her years of service to the City, and voiced the importance of keeping one’s history- as it delivers richness to future generations.

Wentworth – in a true historian’s fashion – gave the City back its proclamation document, claiming that she believed the document to be important historical evidence which should be preserved.

The Council then moved on to approve its May 13 meeting minutes before beginning the public hearing concerning new standards for undeveloped land along Valley Boulevard between Pierre and Suzanne roads.

The specific plan was created to establish an overlay with development standards, design guidelines, the subdivision of the undeveloped land and the adoption of a mitigated negative declaration in order to develop ten acres of land. The land is currently planned to be developed with 37single-family, detached homes, 61 single-family townhomes, the designation of 30,492 square feet of commercial land and related site improvements for three undeveloped parcels.

After input from several nearby residents thanking Shea Homes for their consideration, the Council then approved the item.

The Council next approved items concerning Ordinance No. 15-04, making a definition for boardinghouses or rooming houses within the City; and Ordinance No. 15-05, prohibiting parking on various City streets in the vicinity of Mount San Antonio College; and approval of $1,500 from the general fund reserves for special maintenance.

For the Consent Calendar, the Council approved items 5 through 15 concerning certain claims and demands in the amount of $1,301,920.29; a resolution approving the application for grant funds from the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District for 2015, and countywide competitive grant program for the Snow Creek Park Restoration Project; approval of the adoption of a Youth Employment Plan; a resolution adopting the annual budget in the amount of $17,191,260 and capital projects budget of $1,760,000 for the fiscal year 2015-16; authorization for the City Manager to enter into an agreement with VCS Environmental to prepare an addendum to the original EIR for Three Oaks; a request for installation of speed humps on Yale Avenue; the approval of a three year contract with West Coast Arborist for Citywide tree trimming and related services with no rate increases for fiscal year 2015-16; appointments to the Historical Preservation Advisory Committee; and filing and receiving alcoholic beverage license applications for Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, 12 Zodiacs, Inc., Starbucks #6803, and Yosemite Wine & Spirit International Trade Group.

Item 16 on the Consent Calendar was pulled with much discussion and opposition from council members Bob Pacheco, Mary Su, and Tony Cartagena, citing issue with Mayor Pro Tem Eric Ching resigning from the Audit Committee and Tragarz appointing herself to the committee.

Pacheco claimed that it would be a conflict of interest for Tragarz to “audit herself” and that she has “failed” to do her job by not signing warrants and claims in the past.

Tragarz answered back that looking into City finances is part of her job as Mayor, and that questioning financial decisions is paramount to keep the City free from making redundant or suspicious payments. Furthermore, she noted that there is no rule or precedent prohibiting a mayor from serving on a city audit committee.

Tragarz even began raising her voice to her other Council members, stating that they are conspiring to keep her from speaking to an auditor and looking deeper into concerns about the City Attorney’s contracts.

Ching asked the Council what the harm would be in having Tragarz serve on the Auditing Committee, asking if the City had “something to hide.”

With opposition from Pacheco, Su and Cartagena, the item was denied with a 2:3 vote.

The Council then moved onto its discussion/transaction items, where Community Development Director, Tom Weiner, recommended that Item 17 – an appeal of Planning Commission conditions approval for Tentative Tract Map 49059 – go back to the Planning Commission for further analysis on July 15.

The second item was concerning initiation of a zoning code amendment to Article XXV for antennas and communication facilities.  The Council approved both items.

After the announcements, the Council adjourned with plans to meet on June 10 at 7 p.m.in the Council Chambers at 21201 La Puente Road.