Happy New
Year!
The Santa
Monica City Council began the meeting of January 10, 2006 by
commending the American Red Cross, Santa Monica Chapter, and
executive director John Pacheco for the Chapter’s critical work with
Hurricane Katrina refugees last fall. Council also commended city
staff, represented by Craig Perkins, Renee Cowhig and Rick Sikes of
Environmental & Public Works Management, for being instrumental in
the donation and transport of 18 vehicles and equipment to Santa
Monica’s adopted city of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, which was
devastated by Katrina.
CONSENT
CALENDAR Among matters not requiring extensive discussion, the
following were approved by Council: receipt of $500,000 in grant
funds from the state to help pay for the 16th Street
Multi-State and Bicknell Green Street Urban Runoff Project; a
professional services agreement with SCS Engineers to study and
provide options for handling landfill settlement issues at the City
Yards; lease agreements with three aviation service providers at the
Airport; a $155,000 contract amendment for additional building
commissioning services for the Main Library project; memoranda of
understanding with two city employee bargaining units; and repeal of
a resolution on the mileage reimbursement rate for personal cars
used on city business, which will now be governed solely by current
IRS rates.
COMMUNITY
GARDENS The Council approved new rules and regulations for
operation of the community gardens on Main Street and Park Drive,
removing term limit requirements and directing staff to aggressively
pursue additional community garden space (including potential
locations at the southeast corner of the Airport and a long-vacant
lot at Michigan and Euclid in the Pico Neighborhood). Staff is
to return by the end of the year with a status report on both that
search and whether more turnover has occurred under the new rules,
and criteria for annual renewal of plot licenses.
CIVIC
CENTER VILLAGE DEVELOPER-DESIGN TEAM After receiving additional
financial analysis and other data requested on December 13, the
Council approved the selection of The Related Companies (TRC) as the
developer-design team for the Village housing development and
authorized TRC to identify a community engagement process for the
design of the Village and to explore with the community during that
process a building height not to exceed 65 feet for a portion of the
project.
415 PCH
SCHEMATIC DESIGN The Council approved the proposed schematic
design for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of publicly owned
property at 415 Pacific Coast Highway, being funded through a $21
million grant from the Annenberg Foundation, directing staff to add
a step to the review process that includes a return to Council at an
appropriate time during design development, with a more fleshed out
financial plan that includes another look at “Event House” uses.
Council also directed staff to meet again with Palisades Beach
homeowners who have expressed concerns about the project. See the
schematic design and more at
http://415pch.smgov.net/.
PREFERENTIAL PARKING ZONE LL The Council expanded Zone LL to
include the 1100 blocks of Franklin and Berkeley Streets between
Wilshire Boulevard and Lipton Avenue.
LAND USE
AND CIRCULATION ELEMENT The Council continued the discussion of
draft alternatives, themes, performance indicators and public
outreach to the January 24 Council meeting, as a 5 item, to be heard
early in the meeting.
ORDINANCES Item 7-A on the transfer of Adelphia to Time Warner
was pulled by staff, to return to Council on January 24.
APPOINTMENTS An appointment to the Pier Restoration Corporation
was continued to the next meeting.
COUNCILMEMBER ITEMS Council voted to support California
Assembly Joint Resolution 36, which would call for the enforcement
of Constitutional limits on the Federal government’s power to
control state militias, the hoped ultimate effect of which would be
to hasten the return home of local California National Guard troops
from Iraq.
ADJOURNMENT The City Council adjourned in memory of Leslie
Devine, a founding councilmember of the City of Calabasas and a
noted environmentalist, Leo Oblatt, the father of Michael Oblatt,
Simon Martin LeDuff, a 63-year resident, who served on many boards
including the YMCA Board of Directors, and Gerry Tolman, 52, son of
retired Santa Monica Fire Chief Tom Tolman and his wife Mary, who
died in an automobile accident on New Year’s Eve.
The next regular meeting of the Santa Monica
City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, January 24, 2006, beginning
at 5:45 p.m. in the wheelchair-accessible Council Chamber at City
Hall. Council meetings are aired live on
CityTV Channel 16 and on the
Netcast on the
city's website and, for regularly scheduled meetings from 8 p.m. to
midnight on KCRW 89.9 FM.
NOTE: This wrap-up is not an official
record of Council action. The official record is posted by the City
Clerk on this website at
http://www.smgov.net/cityclerk/council/agendas/2006/ as soon
as possible after the meeting. (Click on the January 10 agenda
link.)
SPECIAL NOTE: Council meetings are now video streamed on the
web
(http://santamonica.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2)
and re-aired on CityTV2 cable channel 20.
CITY COUNCIL NETCAST!
Watch and listen to Santa Monica City Council meetings on the Web!
MEETING WRAP-UP ARCHIVE
