Ripon City Council Minutes

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2009 - 7:00 P.M.

CLOSED SESSION:   The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. 

ROLL CALL: Council Members Charlie Gay, Dean Uecker, Garry Krebbs, Vice-Mayor Elden “Red” Nutt, Mayor Chuck Winn

OTHERS PRESENT: City Administrator Leon Compton, City Engineer Kevin Werner, City Attorney Tom Terpstra.

IN THE MATTER OF: Conference with Legal Counsel pursuant to §54956.6 of the California Government Code regarding Ripon Farm Service.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

REGULAR MEETING

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: The meeting was called to order as indicated at 7:00 p.m. with Vice Mayor Nutt leading in the Pledge Allegiance to the Flag.

INVOCATION: Rev. Fritz Harms gave the invocation.

ROLL CALL: Council Members Charlie Gay, Dean Uecker, Garry Krebbs, Vice-Mayor Elden “Red” Nutt, Mayor Chuck Winn

OTHERS PRESENT: City Administrator Leon Compton, City Attorney Tom Terpstra, City Engineer Kevin Werner, Planning Director Ken Zuidervaart, Director of Public Works Ted Johnston, Police Chief Richard Bull, Deputy City Clerk Jeanne D. Hall, Information Systems Technician Dan Brannon, Rev. Harms, Laura Hernandez, Mike Hakeem, Roym Reevs, Don Moyer, John G. Holbrook, Denise Holbrook, Kate Ballatore, Cassie Hoogendoorn, Jessica Desgeorges, Danielle Pierce, Gert Isaia, Tiffany Wahl, Austin Tyhurst, Hallie Cotrell, Anna Martinez, Tina Williams, Bryan Williamson, Jordan Williamson, Kelly Gibbs, Veronica Ceja, Ruth Vauguitle, Sharla Williamson, Jordan Williamson, April Thompson, Tr~~ Thompson, Andy Varian, Quinn McMurtrey, Eric McMurtrey, Troylene Sayler, Steve Emrick, Judy Luis, Joe Luis, Brent White, Blair Jeppson, Dave Phippen, Beverly Brownell, V. B. Brownell, Robyn Udair, Leo Zuber, Louise Nan, Pascual B~~, Luis Quinz, George Gonzales, Robert Brock, Steve Fortune, Arauli Sandavol, Corinadel Real, Karin Gay, Allison Brown, Bob Brocchini, Kirk Williamson, Kathleen Halliday, Steven & Cole Harris; Lloyd, Kathy & Mark Bigelow; Lene McMurtrey, Lake family, Randy Mohler, Ron Van Essen, Dave Bowers, William Hollingsworth, David & Jennifer Sanguinetti, Kaitlyn Williams, Kody Wensel, Hanna Nelson, Eileen Shiu, Kara Hippert.

PUBLIC DISCUSSION: Dorothy Booth, Chamber of Commerce Director, said that Main Street Day was very successful. She said that it took a team to put it on: the Police Department, the Fire Department, and the Public Works Department. She thanked the members of the Youth Commission for organizing the health fair which had 26 booths. She said that the car show expanded to include a tractor show. Booth thanked her Board of Directors, Council Member Uecker, and Vice Mayor Nutt for their work. She said that it took a combination of everyone to make the event successful.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MOTION: MOVED, SECONDED (NUTT, GAY) AND CARRIED BY A VOTE OF 5-0 TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR RIPON CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 6, 2009.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA AS POSTED (OR AMENDED):

Item 4A was pulled at the request of the property owners, and the item will be brought back after they have met with staff.

MOTION: MOVED, SECONDED (UECKER, NUTT) AND CARRIED BY A VOTE OF 5-0 TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS AMENDED.

CONSENT CALENDAR:

MOTION: MOVED, SECONDED (NUTT, KREBBS) AND CARRIED BY A VOTE OF 5-0 TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR.

PRESENTATION OF PROCLAMATIONS

Item 3D.

Mayor Winn presented a proclamation to the Eagle Scout candidates from Troop 440.

Public Works Director Johnston gave a Power Point Presentation of the scout’s projects.

Council Member Gay presented the proclamation to each scout: Mark Bigelow, Lucas Brown, Matthew Gay, Cole Herrin, Derrick Lake, Quinn McMurtrey, Kevin Thompson, Ben Tolman, Jason Williamson, and Jordan Williamson.

Item 3E.

Mayor Winn presented a proclamation to Kate Fogle of the Family & Youth Services of San Joaquin County. She thanked the Council for supporting their street outreach team. She said there are 200 to 300 homeless people in San Joaquin County. She said that they have given out 500 hygiene kits and 1,200 snack items. Fogel said her team finds 15 kids a night and they have helped get 125 youths into shelters.

At this time, Mayor Winn suspended the City Council meeting, and opened the Redevelopment Agency meeting.

REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

The Redevelopment Agency meeting was opened at 7:28 p.m.

The Redevelopment Agency meeting was adjourned at 7:29 p.m.

CITY COUNCIL

Mayor Winn stepped down from the remainder of the City Council meeting because he is a member of the LAFCO Commission.

Vice Mayor Nutt reconvened the City Council meeting.

Jeff Shields, General Manager for the South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID), asked the City Council for their support of the SSJID application at LAFCO to provide retail electric power to the Ripon service territory. He presented the history of SSJID, and then described their plan of service. Shields asserted that SSJID will reduce rates by 15% saving each rate payer more than $300 a year. He offered that SSJID is a nonprofit agency with $74 million in reserves. He added that the exit fees will be paid by SSJID. He explained that the financing of the purchase will come from a combination of taxable and tax-exempt financing. He declared that SSJID will improve customer service because there will be local control. He said that the next step will be a review by LAFCO. He said that they are in good faith negotiations with PG&E and are ready to implement the separation and transaction plan.

Council Member Uecker said that it is commendable that SSJID will be hiring 68 new employees, but PG&E employees will be losing their jobs and their retirement.

Shields said that they have hired a lot of PG&E employees in the past, and they have the same union so they can negotiate the jobs. He said that there is nobody better to hire than PG&E employees, but they need a better system to work on.

Council Member Krebbs said that there is a large power distribution system, and it takes time to get the experience necessary to work on the system. There will be a slow down in efficiency until employees learn the new system. He asked what is SSJID’s plan to deal with the slow-down.

Shields said that they will hire PG&E employees, but also, the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) has skilled Journeymen Lineman who can work on this system. Men and women risk their lives to do this job. They can only make one mistake on a high-voltage system.

Vice Mayor Nutt said that their application is pending – what does LAFCO need from SSJID?

Shields said that LAFCO must make a determination within 90 days after an application has been submitted. He said that they asked LAFCO to hire their own independent appraiser and SSJID will pay for the appraisal. They cannot accomplish that review in 90 days because they have not hired an appraiser. LAFCO also needs a resolution from the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC has to look at the impact to the remaining PG&E customers after SSJID takes customers away. The CPUC also has only 90 days for this review. LAFCO has also asked for an addendum to the EIR and we will provide that, and they also want our 4-year financial statements. The application is not complete, but we are waiting for them to trigger the acceptance for those actions that are out of our control. Until the PUC submits their resolution, LAFCO will not start the 90 days review process. When everything comes together, that should trigger the date.

Vice Mayor Nutt asked why is this resolution needed tonight.

Shields said that they failed in their bid three years ago, because SSJID didn’t engage the local community like they needed to.

Vice Mayor Nutt asked for comments from the public – first from those in favor, and then from those in opposition.

PROPONENTS

Bob Brocchini, Ripon, said that as a farmer, his electric expenses are his third largest expense. He said it is time for a change and SSJID has a proven record of serving the community with water.

Dave Phippen, Ripon, said that water benefits everyone, and power is 1/3 of his total costs. He said he wants local representatives.

Randy Mohler, Ripon, said he supports SSJID and added that local control is important.

Randy Brekke, Modesto, said that this is a unique opportunity. He said that businesses that have looked at Ripon have gone elsewhere because of the lack of competitive services.

OPPONENTS

Emily Barnett, Government Relations Manager for PG&E, said that we just suffered the first major winter storm, and they used 90 linemen and hundreds of employees from San Joaquin County, with extra crews coming from San Francisco and San Jose. Power was restored to 94% of our customers within 24 hours. Modesto Irrigation District also suffered outages, and according to their public information officer, they were able to mobilize 35 linemen and more than 150 employees to restore power to 8,600 customers. There were 9,000 customers without power in Ripon, Manteca, and Escalon. This the area that SSJID would like to take over. Yet SSJID is proposing to hire only 11 linemen and 68 total employees. Barnett stated that if we use MID as an example, this means that SSJID is trying to hire less then half the employees needed to serve these communities. SSJID also wants to hire only 1/3 of the linemen that they would need to satisfy the area. She expressed that SSJID has made very big promises, but at what cost. She advised that to have too few linemen will be at the expense of service and safety. She said that SSJID has made a lot of promises, but that cannot provide written guarantees. She declared that they cannot even respond to the first storm of the year with what they are proposing.

Brian Regnart, Executive Director for Citizens to Stop the Power Grab, said that SSJID should stay out of the retail energy business and cease their plans to use an eminent domain. The state has taken $2 million from the City of Ripon. Government has put their hands in other people’s business. This is what is happening here, and this is what we are fighting. Regnart asked the Council to vote no on the resolution.

Candace Bresky, Service Planning Supervisor for PG&E, living in Salida, said that competition can do great things, but claiming to reduce rates by 15% is just not feasible. It will cost between 10% and 30% more that what customers are used to paying. SSJID will not have enough linemen.

Bob Brock, Lineman Supervisor with PG&E, said that last Tuesday, every customer in Manteca, Ripon areas were restored in 24 hours. Brock concurred with Barnett that 11 linemen are not nearly enough in a storm.

Kelly Gibbs, PG&E employee, Manteca, said that she checked with other irrigation districts, and there are other charges that they don’t tell you about. MID rates have gone up 100% in the past eight years and their rates are expected to double again in the next four years.

Veronica Ceja, PG&E employee, Tracy, said that this is a government takeover of a private business. She said that we need less government control. She said that Mr. Shields is trying to make PG&E look cold and impersonal. She said she has ties to this community, because these are her customers and she cares for their well being. She asked the Council to vote no on this abuse of an eminent domain.

Several people commented that they were against this eminent domain abuse.

Leo Zuber, Ripon, said that SSJID has a good plan and it deserves to be supported.

Mike Hakeem, Stockton, said that the SSJID plan has not been fully vetted by the Council. He said there would be long-standing repercussions, and LAFCO still does not have the active working file from SSJID.

Jennifer Sanguinetti, Ripon, said that SSJID has built up reserves through smart money management.

Rodney Fryer, PG&E employee, Manteca, said that if SSJID has reserves of $74 million, then the business to be in is a nonprofit business.

Troylene Sayler, SSJID employee, Lodi, said that she was at Ripon’s Main Street Day and 162 Ripon residents signed a card in favor of SSJID.

Council Member Gay said that there will be no final decision tonight. He said that there have been a lot of accusations, but his job is to carry out the will of the people. He said that eminent domain is a last resort.

Council Member Uecker asked for a show of hands for the people in support of PG&E, and then for SSJID.

Council Member Krebbs said that he supports property rights, but that is not the same as a store. He said that PG&E is a monopoly, so PG&E is almost like a government agency. He said he is concerned about PG&E workers. He said he wants more information on how SSJID’s promises can be met. He explained that in a major storm, it only takes one mistake of 12,000 voltes to end a life. He said he is not ready to make a decision until he gets more information.

Uecker noted that the City Attorney rewrote the resolution.

Vice Mayor Nutt said he did not want to vote for a resolution that we did not write.

City Attorney Terpstra presented the revised resolution, and explained each change that he made. Terpstra stressed that this resolution only gives conditional support to the SSJID plan. The City of Ripon will support SSJID only if they can deliver on their promises. He said he expected the pro and con discussion tonight. The SSJID plan must still go through the PUC and LAFCO.

MOTION: MOVED, SECONDED (GAY, UECKER) AND CARRIED BY A VOTE OF 4-0 (WINN ABSENT) TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 09-76 AS REVISED.

REPORTS

City Administrator: No Report

City Attorney: Terpstra stated that there was a Closed Session at 6:30 p.m. regarding Ripon Farm Service, and Council gave direction to pay certain invoices.

City Engineer: No Report

Planning Director: No Report

Recreation Director: No Report

Director of Public Works: No Report

Chief of Police: No Report

City Council: No Reports

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:26 p.m.

Ripon Community Redevelopment Agency Minutes

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2009

AFTER COUNCIL MEETING

ROLL CALL: Directors Charlie Gay, Dean Uecker, Garry Krebbs, Vice-Chairman Elden “Red” Nutt, Chairman Chuck Winn.

OTHERS PRESENT: Executive Director Leon Compton, City Engineer Kevin Werner, City Attorney Tom Terpstra, Secretary Ken Zuidervaart, Deputy City Clerk Jeanne D. Hall, Information Systems Technician Dan Brannon, Director of Public Works Ted Johnston, Police Chief Richard Bull,Rev. Harms, Laura Hernandez, Mike Hakeem, Roym Reevs, Don Moyer, John G. Holbrook, Denise Holbrook, Kate Ballatore, Cassie Hoogendoorn, Jessica Desgeorges, Danielle Pierce, Gert Isaia, Tiffany Wahl, Austin Tyhurst, Hallie Cotrell, Anna Martinez, Tina Williams, Bryan Williamson, Jordan Williamson, Kelly Gibbs, Veronica Ceja, Ruth Vauguitle, Sharla Williamson, Jordan Williamson, April Thompson, Tr~~ Thompson, Andy Varian, Quinn McMurtrey, Eric McMurtrey, Troylene Sayler, Steve Emrick, Judy Luis, Joe Luis, Brent White, Blair Jeppson, Dave Phippen, Beverly Brownell, V. B. Brownell, Robyn Udair, Leo Zuber, Louise Nan, Pascual B~~, Luis Quinz, George Gonzales, Robert Brock, Steve Fortune, Arauli Sandavol, Corinadel Real, Karin Gay, Allison Brown, Bob Brocchini, Kirk Williamson, Kathleen Halliday, Steven & Cole Harris; Lloyd, Kathy & Mark Bigelow; Lene McMurtrey, Lake family, Randy Mohler, Ron Van Essen, Dave Bowers, William Hollingsworth, David & Jennifer Sanguinetti, Kaitlyn Williams, Kody Wensel, Hanna Nelson, Eileen Shiu, Kara Hippert.

PUBLIC DISCUSSION: No one from the public wished to speak at this time.

APPROVE THE MINUTES: MOTION: MOVED, SECONDED (UECKER, NUTT) AND CARRIED BY A VOTE OF 5-0 TO APPROVE THE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING OF OCTOBER 6, 2009.

CONSENT CALENDAR

MOTION: MOVED, SECONDED (NUTT, KREBBS) AND CARRIED BY A VOTE OF 5-0 TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:29 P.M.