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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - March 3, 2004 Council Member CommentContinued March 3, 2004 MOTION 1 VOTE: The City Council, on motion of Mayor Pro Tempore Beckman, Howard second, unanimously introduced Ordinance No. 1743 repealing and reenacting Lodi Municipal Code §16.40.050 establishing subdivision reimbursement agreements for construction. 1-5 "Introduce ordinance amending Title 9 — Public Peace, Morals and Welfare, Chapter 9.08, 'Offenses Against Property,' by repealing and reenacting Section 9.08.150 of the Lodi Municipal Code relating to vehicles" Interim City Attorney Schwabauer stated that an error was made when originally drafting an amendment to this section of the Lodi Municipal Code. On January 21, 2004, the ordinance was adopted with the language, "Vehicles parked in violation of this requirement shall be removed at the vehicle owner's expense." The language should have read "magi' be removed. This change would allow Police Officers to cite the vehicles one day and return a day or two later giving the owners the opportunity to remove their vehicle(s), and then proceed to have the vehicles towed that still remain. The amendment also allows flexibility for the Police Officers, in that they would not be required to stay and wait for the tow truck and immediately proceed with towing the vehicle. MOTION / VOTE: The City Council, on motion of Council Member Land, Beckman second, unanimously introduced Ordinance No. 1744 amending Title 9 — Public Peace, Morals and Welfare, Chapter 9.08, "Offenses Against Property," by repealing and reenacting Section 9.08.150 of the Lodi Municipal Code relating to vehicles. J. ORDINANCES None. K. COMMENTS BY CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS • Council Member Howard reported that at its February meeting the San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) Board supported the concept of placing Measure K on the ballot in November. In order for this to be accomplished, there must be an approved expenditure pian. She asked a Council representative to attend the March 19 SJCOG meeting in her absence, at which the Measure K expenditure plan would be discussed. 290 • Mayor Pro Tempore Beckman submitted to Council a document entitled "Proposed Lodi Greenbelt — recharge pond concept" (filed). Mr. Beckman reported that he had discussed the idea with representatives of East Bay Municipal Utility District, the City of Stockton, and agricultural interests including the Farm Bureau, and Woodbridge Irrigation District (WID). During these discussions no one had indicated opposition and many expressed support of the concept. In summary, the concept is to resell the water Lodi is purchasing from WID and use the proceeds to purchase land between Lodi and Stockton for the purpose of a community separator and use the land as recharge ponds to get the water back into the ground. He asked Ms. Hitchcock to bring the matter to the Greenbelt Task Force for its consideration. • Mayor Hansen reported that 30 Requests for Information — Legal Services packets were mailed to interested law firms and 16 responses have been received. He and Ms. Hitchcock will review the proposals, narrow them down, and Council can then begin the interview process. L. COMMENTS BY THE CITY MANA.(aER ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS • City Manager Flynn announced that Janet Keeter's birthday is March 29. He expressed staff's condolences to Council Member Hitchcock on the recent loss of her father. • Interim City Attorney Schwabauer reported that he learned today that Envision Law Group had been suspended as a law corporation since the summer of 2000. The effect is that they do not have limited liability and therefore would be treated as a law partnership. Individual 13 P U-9 - 3 -64 �, ars coo ncc l aan kh Proposed Lodi Greenbelt -- recharge pond concept The stated goal of the greenbelt is to prevent Lodi and Stockton from growing together and becoming one mass of urban development. One approach to accomplishing this goal is for the City of Lodi, and maybe also the City of Stockton, to purchase stretches of land running east to west between Micke Grove Park and the Whiteslough water treatment plant. The land purchased by the city in this way will not be built upon and thus no merger of the cities will occur. Two questions arise; what will the land be used for other than just merely as a "greenbelt or community separator or open space?" And, the price tag for this idea is easily into the multi million dollar range, so, where will the money come from to buy all of the land reqs? As you recall, Lodi has a 40 year contract to purchase 6,000 acre feet of water per year. And Lodi currently has no way to use that water. The purpose of the water purchase is to help replenish our water supply, namely our underground aquifer. One of three proposed uses of this water is to percolate the water back into the aquifer via recharge ponds. The other two options both involve some type of treatment facility, and each of the three options carries a large price tag. The benefit of the percolating option is that the cost involved is a land acquisition cost and the acquired land could double as a greenbelt. Since Lodi's water fund is not flush with money, where do we get the money to purchase the land for our recharge ponds/greenbelV Lodi is purchasing 6,000 acre feet of water at a cost of $200 per acre foot. If Lodi is able to find a buyer for that water who is willing to pay more than $200 per acre foot, the proceeds of the sale can be used to purchase the land and build the infrastructure to get the water to the recharge ponds. If sold at $400 per acre foot Lodi will net 1.2 million dollars per year. In two years Lodi would be able to take significant steps towards establishing a greenbelt and recharging our aquifer. The City of Stockton also may be interested in pursuing a similar plan and thus share in the mt East Bay Municipal Utility District has been approached regarding this proposal and they are open to further discussion, although no price has been discussed.