July 13 City Council Meeting

By Emily Aguilar

The first city council meeting was held on July 13, which began with a legislative update from the League of California Cities representative, Erin Sasse. In her report, Sasse spoke about a series of bills being reviewed at the moment, such as AB 1575 which deals with regulating medical marijuana, AB 2291 which requires local governments to adopt ordinances as second units and prevents governments from repealing second unit, and SB 1387 which would add 3 additional statewide position to South Coast Air Quality Management District. After her presentation, Tyler Master gave a presentation on the WRCOG streetlight program. The program is aimed to assist WRCOG cities to adopt and afford streetlights in their jurisdictions. The presentation emphasized information on the project as well as the goals the project seeks to achieve.

Afterward, the city recognized city volunteers Chanel Chavez, Gilmar Tenes, and Adrianna Godfery. An additional person, Jose Raymundo, was awarded with a certificate of recognition, but he was not present. Anwar Kahn then delivered a Public Safety Commission Update in which he spoke about the Commission’s initial plan to develop a residential parking program, which did not go through during the Commission meeting. July 26 will be the next Commission meeting.

Before moving on, Officer Jason Horton took a moment to address the Black Lives Matter that occurred on June 9th. He reflected on the efforts the Eastvale Police Department took to ensure that an upheaval did not take place. Throughout the day, the police department tried to maintain peace, and thankfully, the protestors were ready to follow police orders for most of the event. He continued to compliment the protesters for being compliant and holding an overall peaceful protest, in spite of the initial altercation that occurred when some protesters broke away from the crowd and blocked the streets. Police followed efforts to make sure the protestors complied. The police department received numerous compliments from citizens inside and outside Eastvale for their organized, helpful efforts to maintain the protest civilized.

Afterwards, Natalie Diaz provided a Student Liaison report. It was announced that various CNUSD elementary schools had begun their school year this month. July 7th was the beginning of a new school year for Ronald Reagan Elementary School, and on the same day, they held a Parent Information night for the parents. Also occurring on July 7th was a Successful Parent Night event for Harada Elementary. Another information night took place at Eastvale Elementary. The ERHS Associate Student Body (ASB) club is currently at a leadership camp at UC Santa Barbara. July 28th will be registration day for ERHS.

All items were approved on the consent calendar.

The council then went on to discuss a proposal to install a 50-foot Verizon cell tower on 8306 Grapewin. The location where the tower would be built was chosen because the area was known for having poor reception, and if the towers were to be built, then Verizon customers would receive improved coverage.

City staff recommended the council to disapprove the tower because the Planning Commission discovered the zoning measurements did not meet the requirements that are set in the Eastvale Zoning Code. It was also discovered that the zoning area proposed would not help with reception.

Amidst discussion, Bootsma opened the floor for public comments. Out of the 18 individuals who arrived, 12 were not in favor of the tower. While residents such as Hicko Itokazu believed that the tower was necessary in order to increase coverage in the case of emergencies, other residents believed the tower would not increase coverage, take up space, some believed the tower would better “service Norco and Riverbend,” and others did not think the tower would be pleasant to look at.

Kevin Sullivan, a project representative, tried to defend the zoning and coverage criticisms. Council member Simmons commented that “enough was not done” in order to find a good site for the tower. Before rejecting the project, Council member Rush decided to give Verizon a second opportunity to review the zoning area and re-evaluate the project’s blueprints. The council motioned this plan, and a second  hearing will be held on August 24th. Read the article on page 1 for more information about the Verizon Tower.

Following the long discussion, the council quickly moved through the Business Items. The council motioned to approve law enforcement services between the city and the county, they approved to select Aegis ITS, Inc. as the provider for annual traffic signal maintenance, then they approved G.M. Sager Construction Company, Inc as service providers for asphalt and concrete maintenance, and they also approved MCE Corporation as the service provider for on-call miscellaneous services. One item the council did not motion was Council member Lorimore’s proposal to move the city manager report to an earlier slot in the meeting. Lorimore stated that the city manager report should be moved in order to allow audience members to hear the announcements that are usually given toward the end of the meeting. However, the rest of the council decided not to change the order of the council meeting.

Before concluding, Michele Nissen briefly spoke about the Public Works department and the efforts they have put into forming ideas that help the city effectively save money. She also mentioned that another Black Lives Matter protest was scheduled to be held on Saturday July 14th on Archibald and Schleisman. Lastly, Mayor Bootsma discussed a recent luncheon at Ontario Airport, where he had an opportunity to meet their new CEO.

Council member Lorimore adjourned the meeting in memory of the officers who died in the Dallas shootings.

 

July 27 City Council Meeting

By Tiana Goegebuer

The July 27 city council meeting was attended by Councilmembers Clint Lorimore, Adam Rush, and Richard (Dickie) Simmons, as well as Mayor Pro Tem Joseph Tessari and Mayor Ike Bootsma. The invocation was led by Pastor Tim Eaton from Edgewater Lutheran.

A recap of the Waste Clean Up event that recently took place at Eleanor Roosevelt High School was presented to the Council. The first of its kind in Eastvale, the event enlisted the help of some ERHS football student volunteers, and was considered to be a success. A student representative from ERHS accepted an award from the Council later in the meeting on behalf of the volunteers that participated in the event. The next Waste Clean Up event is scheduled for November 5 at Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School.

Christine Jamoralin was introduced to the Council as Eastvale’s new Fellow from the Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG), and will remain with the city until the end of March. Other announcements included the selection of a golf event date by the Eastvale Community Foundation, as well as an update on the banner program.

In the Public Comment section of the meeting, a representative from the Public Safety Commission issued statements and raised some questions about possibly instituting parking permits in Eastvale.

6.1-6.5: The Council moved to approve the Consent Calendar. All items were approved 5-0.

8.1: The Community Development Block Grant was approved 5-0, authorizing the City Manager to execute the supplemental agreement for the 2016-17 community development block grant program year.

The City Manager’s report included information on the following: a proposal for economic development services, a Finances award received by the city of Eastvale, an increase in the median sales price for housing, and more. Various Committee’s then gave their reports, which included an update on road construction progress, an update on the new fire station, a Police Department update, etc.

The City Manager then thanked and said farewell to City Clerk Marc Donohue for his services to the city of Eastvale, which was later echoed by the Councilmembers.

The meeting closed with statements from the Councilmembers, and Mayor Bootsma extended an invitation to all to attend the following upcoming events: JCSD 60th Anniversary celebration, the Town Hall meeting, and the National Night Out. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.