Staff to propose workshops to discuss potential for a pier restaurant
Strategic Planning: The city’s Strategic Planning Report, based on a March council meeting, was posted Thursday, Aug. 25, on the Seal Beach government’s website.
The City Council will hold a special meeting on Sept. 11, to look at the progress made on six-month goals established at the March meeting. With that in mind, the following are some of the goals that are scheduled to be accomplished by Sept. 11, according to a Monday, April 22, staff report to the council:
“Develop a grand opening event/promotion to advertise completion of the pier repair project.” Note, city staff recently told the council that the pier project was on track to be completed by end of May.
“Bring to council for consideration a series of workshops focused on discussion over potential for pier restaurant in the second quarter.”
“Study to evaluate cost and scope of restoration of pier base.”
“Present results for water and sewer rate increases and make a recommendation to the City Council for action (Prop 218 for street lighting, tree trimming, and street sweeping).
“Establish periodic reporting to City Council of Measure BB expenditures.” The Measure BB 1 cent sales tax went into effect April 1.
“Establishing a metric for allocation of surplus reserves, pension obligations and retiree health obligations.”
“Present to the City Council the financial analysis of the Classification and Compensation study.”
“Evaluate feasibility of 4-day work week and 4/10 schedule at City Hall (consider having same Friday off).”
“Provide implementation plan to install City-wide camera License Plate Reader (LPR) program.” The Sun recently reported that, according to Seal Beach Police Commander Steve Bowles, the city has already begun license plate reading.
“Establish threshold of expected surf, tide and/or rainfall to alert response times.”
“Study public safety staffing needs with the new 1st Street Shea Homes development.”
“Develop a public awareness campaign for Leisure World traffic enforcement.”
• 15 First Street restaurant building: This is what the Sun currently knows about the city-owned building at 15 First St., former home of River’s End Café and future home of The Beach House:
“The General Plan and Zoning designation for the site at 15 1st Street are both ‘Beach,’” according to Assistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos in an April 10 email to the Sun. (The message was received too late to be added to the “On-going and upcoming issues” feature published on April 11.)
“Regarding the property located at 15 1st Street, we believe that it may be designated ‘beach’ in the general plan and ‘public land use/recreational’ in the zoning code,” according to an April 9 email from Fernie Sy, of the California Coastal Commission.
“An exemption application was initially submitted, but was returned in February 2019 since the proposal was not something that could be exempt. We are awaiting for submittal of a coastal development permit application for the development. The applicants for the exemption were Rosie Ritchie, Dave Coe and Brian Kyle,” Sy wrote in another April 9 email.
The Sun on April 8 asked the Coastal Commission why the commission couldn’t accept the proposed application.
“Since the project is located on the beach, a coastal development permit is needed. The project does not qualify for an exemption,” Sy replied on April 16.
In related news, the City Council on Monday, April 22, met in closed session to discuss property negotiations between the city and Bay City LLC (future operators of the proposed Beach House restaurant). According to City Attorney Craig Steele, the council took no reportable action.
• 5G: In an April 8 response to a recent question from a reader about the status of 5G communications technology, Assistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos said the FCC and other agencies are looking at 5G technology.
Gallegos said the city is also reviewing 5G technology.
A reader on March 31 asked the Sun to look into the status of 5G technology in Seal Beach. Her questions included: “Have we as a city determined that 5G is truly safe to put throughout our city? Do residents have any option of ‘opting out’? The Sun emailed a similar question to the assistant city manager on April 1.
On Wednesday, April 10, Gallegos provided the following information. (Links embedded in his message have not been included.) The message arrived after the editorial deadline for the April 11 print edition of the Sun.
“The United States Federal Government has stated an explicit policy to streamline installation of such small cell facilities. The acronym for this policy is FAST – ‘Facilitate America’s Superiority in 5G Technology’. This overarching policy position is implemented through a matrix of new laws and guidelines designed to remove obstacles to 5G adoption nationwide. Related laws and policies include:
“Middle Class Tax Relief and Jobs Creations Act of 2012 (Section 6409(a))
“Federal Communications Act “Shot-Clock” Rules and California Assembly Bill 57
“ September 27, 2018, FCC ‘Declaratory Ruling and Third Report and Order”
“These developments in Federal and State Law with respect to the regulation of wireless telecommunication facilities restrict a City’s ability to limit wireless facility installation.
“5G has been deemed to be safe for widespread implementation by the FCC. The FCC maintains an online RF Safety FAQ that discusses standards and safety.
“Governing law expressly prohibits the City from denying a wireless facility permit based on radiofrequency radiation so long as the facilities do not result in human exposure to radiofrequency radiation in excess of the applicable safety standards specified by the FCC in section 1.1307(b). This requirement is expressly stated in the online RF Safety FAQ referenced above.”
• License plate reading technology: The Sun on Monday, April 15, asked Seal Beach Police Commander Steve Bowles: “When does the city expect to begin implementing license plate reading technology for parking enforcement?”
He wrote back on Tuesday, April 16, “We are utilizing the LPR technology now.” (For more on parking, see the story on page 1.)
• City responses to public records requests:
The Sun on April 1 requested “all professional service agreements and/or contracts authorized by the City of Seal Beach Department of Marine Safety in the month of March 2019.”
On April 11, the City Clerk’s office replied, “Thank you for your request for public records. The City of Seal Beach has determined that there are no records responsive to your request.”
The Sun has received replies to several California Public Records Act Requests.
On April 1, the Sun requested “all professional service agreements and/or contracts authorized by the City of Seal Beach Department of Community Development in the month of March 2019.”
On April 11, the city’s reply was: “The City of Seal Beach has determined that additional time is required to properly review and respond to your request for public records. Government Code Section 6253(c) permits this extended period, however the City endeavors to provide all requests promptly.
• Sun Public Records Act requests:
The Sun on April 1 filed the following Public Records Act Requests:
• On April 1, the Sun requested all city manager authorized professional service agreements and/or contracts that are below the threshold for City Council approval that were made in March 2019.
On April 11, the city notified the Sun that additional time was needed to review the request.
On April 16, the city notified the Sun that there were no records that responded to the request.
According to the City Clerk’s Office, it took 5 minutes at a cost of $2.30 cents to determine there were no records.
• All professional service agreements and/or contracts authorized by the City of Seal Beach Department of Public Works in the month of March 2019.
The Sun made identical requests for PSAs or contracts approved by the departments of Finance, Police, Community Development, Human Resources, and Marine Safety.
The city on April 11 advised the Sun that additional time was required to review all of those requests.
The city on April 18 released an agreement between the Seal Beach Police Department and the U.S. Marshalls for detention facilities services. (That’s the city jail.) For details, see the Crime Log on page 9
According to the City Clerk’s web page, it took 5 minutes of staff time at a cost of $2.30, to provide the document.
On that same day, the city notified the Sun that there were no records responsive to the request for agreements approved by the Finance Department. According to the City Clerk’s Office, it took 9 minutes of staff time at a cost of $10.20 for the city to make that determination.
On that same day, the city notified the Sun that there were no records responsive to the request for agreements approved by the Department of Public Works.
According to the City Clerk’s Office, it took 5 minutes of staff time at a cost of $2.30 to make that determination.
However, on Friday, April 19, the City Clerk’s Office released a Public Works Department agreement with Golden State Construction to repair Main Street pavers.
Executive Assistant Winnie Bell wrote: “Agreement with Golden State Constructors (Main Street Broken Pavers) has been released and made available for you. My apologies for overlooking it yesterday.”
If you have a question about a city issue—or a suggestion for filing a Public Records Act request—email Associate Editor Charles M. Kelly at editor2@sunnews.org.
