[0:00] Okay, let me bring the Diamond Bar City Council meeting for Tuesday, June 2, 2020 to order at

[0:08] 6.30.

[0:12] Go-to webinar transcripts of council meetings are available upon request after the council

[0:17] meeting for real-time transcription. Visit your Apple app or Google Play Store and download

[0:24] services such as live transcribe or live caption. Given the global COVID-19 pandemic

[0:32] and consistent with the latest governor's executive order to stay at home, avoid gatherings

[0:38] of any size, and maintain social distancing, this meeting is being conducted telephonically

[0:45] and all members of the City Council and staff will be participating via teleconference.

[0:51] There is no physical location for public attendance.

[0:55] The public is invited to join the meeting online or by phone at the numbers printed

[1:00] on the agenda, which can be found on the city's website at www.diamondbarca.gov.

[1:09] We have also allowed public comments to be submitted in advance to the city clerk.

[1:14] If any were received, it will be read into the record when we get to the public comment

[1:18] period.

[1:20] This meeting is being recorded, and by participating via teleconference, you are giving your

[1:25] permission to be televised.

[1:26] This meeting will be rebroadcast every Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m.

[1:32] and alternate Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

[1:35] and for archived viewing on the city's website at www.diamondbarca.gov.

[1:45] I'd like to remind everyone, we've been reminded for several meetings now,

[1:49] that this continues to be a serious and evolving health emergency of a global scale

[1:54] and we all need to do our part to prevent the spread of this virus. We will

[2:00] continue to monitor the situation and assess and modify our operations and

[2:05] practices as necessary. If we could all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[2:14] If you see that good-looking flag,

[2:18] say along with me, I pledge allegiance to the

[2:21] flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it

[2:26] stand, one nation under God, and liberty and justice for all.

[2:37] Kristina, if you could call the roll please.

[2:41] Yes, Mayor Tai.

[2:42] Council Member Chao.

[2:43] Present.

[2:44] Council Member Loh.

[2:46] I'm here.

[2:47] Council Member Mulkey.

[2:49] Here.

[2:51] Mayor Pro Tem Lyons.

[2:52] I'm here.

[2:54] And Mayor Tai.

[2:55] I am here.

[2:56] Thank you.

[2:57] The agenda is approved as submitted.

[3:00] That brings us to City Manager reports and recommendations.

[3:04] Mr. Fox.

[3:06] Nothing to add this evening, Mayor.

[3:08] Thank you.

[3:09] That brings us to item two, which is public comments.

[3:12] Public comments is the time reserved on each regular meeting agenda to provide an

[3:16] opportunity for members of the public to directly address the council on

[3:20] consent calendar items or other matters of interest,

[3:23] not on the agenda that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the

[3:27] council.

[3:29] Although the city council values your comments pursuant to the Brown Act,

[3:32] Members of the City Council or staff may briefly respond to public comments if necessary, but

[3:38] no extended discussion and no action on such matters may take place.

[3:44] There is a five-minute maximum time limit when addressing the City Council.

[3:48] At this time, the teleconference moderator, Christina, will ask callers one at a time

[3:53] to give their name and if there is an agenda item number they wish to speak on before

[3:59] providing their comment.

[4:00] If you wish to speak on a public hearing item or council consideration item, you will then be called upon to speak at that point in the agenda.

[4:09] Christina.

[4:12] Thank you mayor.

[4:13] The following comment was submitted by email and forwarded to each council member today.

[4:19] Bobby Roberts asked the city council to let the residents vote this November to allow marijuana dispensaries to operate in the city.

[4:26] That concludes the email comments that were submitted.

[4:29] If any member of the public joining this teleconference would like to address the city council, please

[4:34] select the raised hand icon as

[4:40] you can see on the screen.

[4:43] Or if you're not using a computer and are calling into this meeting, press star nine

[4:49] or asterisk nine.

[4:53] I will unmute callers who wish to speak one at a time.

[4:56] Please take your name and indicate if you would like to make a general comment or speak

[5:00] on a specific agenda item.

[5:02] You will know it is your turn to speak when I announced your name and you hear

[5:06] a recorded message state unmuted. Please then proceed to speak. I will go ahead

[5:11] and now unmute the first caller, Jodi Roberto.

[5:22] Hello, can you hear me? Yes, go

[5:24] ahead Jodi. Okay, thanks very much. It's Jodi Roberto and I wish to speak on a

[5:29] general, just a general item, not a agenda item.

[5:36] Go ahead, it's public

[5:37] comment. Okay, thank you. Hello, Mayor Tai and City Council members. On behalf of the

[5:43] Daimler Community Foundation, I wanted to give you an update on a special program we created

[5:49] called DB Connects. DB Connects was started primarily to address hardships caused by COVID-19.

[5:57] This program has been connecting our local Diamond Bar restaurants with families and seniors in

[6:01] need. To date, we have provided 43 meals to Diamond Bar residents from our Diamond Bar

[6:07] restaurants. Families or individuals who have lost income and jobs and seniors who are housebound

[6:13] can sign up for a free meal from one of our Diamond Bar restaurants. These meals are paid for

[6:19] by generous donations from our Diamond Bar Community Foundation board members,

[6:24] residents and sponsors, such as the gas company. We are reaching out to the community

[6:29] for recommendations and referrals for anyone in need who recently lost income

[6:35] or jobs and seniors who would like to sign up for a free meal from a diamond bar

[6:39] restaurant please email us at info at the DBCF short for the dimark

[6:47] meaning foundation org and provide your name email and phone number or the

[6:54] person that you're recommending donations are also being accepted through PayPal

[6:58] on the Dymark Community Foundation website that dbcf.org.

[7:03] Thank you to everyone who has generously donated

[7:06] to this program.

[7:07] We are very thankful to live

[7:08] in a generous and caring community.

[7:10] Thanks and have a good night.

[7:20] Okay, thank you.

[7:23] At this time, I do not see any other hand raised.

[7:28] If you'd like to address the city council,

[7:30] please raise your hand by clicking

[7:32] on the hand raise feature and go to meeting.

[7:35] or if you are accessing by telephone only, please press star nine.

[7:44] Okay, Mayor, I do not see anyone else who wishes to give a comment.

[7:49] Okay, thank you. We'll now move on to Consent Calendar.

[7:54] Mr. Fox.

[7:56] Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. On the Consent Calendar this evening,

[8:02] we have the approval of the City Council study session

[8:08] and regular meeting minutes of May 19th. A red line copy was provided to the council

[8:14] with minor edits to the regular meeting minutes to correct some typos.

[8:20] Receipt of the planning commission meeting minutes of February 25th and April 28th.

[8:28] Ratification of the check register dated May 7th through May 20th,

[8:33] approved level of treasurer statement for April 2020 and adoption of resolution 2020-14

[8:41] approving amendments to the city's personnel rules and regulations effective June 2nd.

[8:47] A red line copy is also provided of the resolution that corrects a date in the warehouses.

[8:56] And that concludes the consent calendar for this evening.

[8:58] Okay. What's the pleasure of the council?

[9:02] Mayor, this is council member Low. I'd like to pull item number 3.5, please.

[9:08] Okay.

[9:11] Anybody else?

[9:13] No. Mayor, this is Mayor Pro Tem and all. I think that was a motion made by council member Low to move the agenda with the exception of 3.5.

[9:21] And I'll say that.

[9:23] I didn't hear the motion, but if you say so.

[9:26] Yes. I am making that motion. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

[9:31] And a second by Council, Mayor Pro Tem Lyons.

[9:35] Call the roll, please.

[9:37] Yes, Mayor.

[9:38] Council Member Chao.

[9:39] Yes.

[9:40] Council Member Low.

[9:42] Yes.

[9:43] Council Member Mulkey.

[9:45] Yes.

[9:46] Mayor Pro Tem Lyons.

[9:48] Yes.

[9:49] Mayor Tai.

[9:50] Yes.

[9:51] So that consent calendar is approved unanimously.

[9:54] That brings us to public hearings.

[9:55] And we have none.

[9:57] Item five is Council Consideration.

[10:12] Thank you, Mayor. I just had a question with regard to item number 3.5, and that is with

[10:23] respect to item number 23 and it's on page 87.

[10:32] Let's see. It's on page 19, section 23.

[10:40] So that's page 86 of our package and that's section number 23 and the item is performance

[10:49] And I just have a question. If I can just read the, read the, read the section. It says performance pay non probationary full time employees that have demonstrated exceptional job performance as defined may be eligible to receive performance pay up to 10% of their annual salary once per fiscal year if approved by the city manager.

[11:18] Funding for the performance pay program is subject to approval by the City Council during the budget adoption process.

[11:28] My question is, the words as defined, did I miss how it was defined in the personnel manual?

[11:42] Council Member Lowe and Council Members, as defined is what our internal performance review

[11:52] metrics would be as part of the performance review process.

[11:57] So those details are not provided in the personal rules and regulations.

[12:04] Those are provided for in the actual performance, and they do vary between classes of employment as well.

[12:14] So that is something that our Human Resources Manager, Amy Haug, has been working on and refining and enhancing over the last couple of years.

[12:25] And that is kind of our metrics that we use as we review each employee's performance over the course of the year.

[12:34] Great. Thank you. And our city manager, Mr. DeBerry has read this and he's approved this section as written.

[12:45] The city attorney has reviewed.

[12:48] Sorry, go ahead, David.

[12:51] Yes. I think I just got promoted to the city manager, but yes, I know I've reviewed the.

[12:57] that's okay. Dan's got a tougher job. Yes, I reviewed that section. And you're comfortable

[13:06] with the language as it stated? Yes, Council Member Low. Okay, great. And then my second

[13:15] question is on page 104 of the policy. There's a section that talks about administrative

[13:27] leave and that the city manager can also grant administrative leave for

[13:34] exceptional performance and this additional leave that is granted can

[13:41] also be cashed out by the employee. Is there a difference between these two

[13:48] sections to recognize exceptional performance?

[13:57] Council Member Lowe and

[13:59] members of the city council. That is a separate section. It is a something that is separate

[14:04] that I have the ability to recognize employees for with with the additional administrative

[14:13] leave. And I believe that would be for all employees as well.

[14:21] So it's not either or? Is it either or or is it both?

[14:25] It is both.

[14:29] Okay, thank you. I have no more questions. Any other questions for staff?

[14:37] Okay, let's put

[14:38] pleasure to council.

[14:41] I will move to approve 3.5. I have a motion from Chow. I will second spread.

[14:49] Second from Malki. Call the roll please. Yes, Mr. Mayor. Council Member Chow? Yes.

[14:56] Yes.

[14:57] Councilmember Low.

[14:58] Yes.

[15:00] Councilmember Markey? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Lyons? Yes. Mayor Tai? Yes. Item 3.5 carries unanimously. Okay, no public hearings. Back where I was a few minutes ago. Item 5 is council consideration.

[15:17] 5.1 is amendments to certain annual, certain animal license fees effective July 1st, 2020. Mr. Fox? I'm there in council. I'm going to ask assistance to the city manager.

[15:29] Anthony Santos to make the presentation for this item.

[15:38] Okay. Thank you. Yes. Thank you City Manager Fox.

[15:43] That's good. Okay, I just want to make sure that everybody can hear me. It's my first time doing this. Good evening Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council.

[15:56] Yes. Okay, perfect. Sorry, I just, I just a little nervous is the first time I'm doing this electronically.

[16:07] Okay.

[16:11] I'm sorry. Christina, for the PowerPoint, you want me to just hit next or mention next and you'll go ahead and change the slide.

[16:18] I've given you control over the keyboard, so if you don't go ahead and use either the mouse or the keyboard, you can forward your own slides.

[16:26] Okay, perfect. Okay. Good evening, Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. Tonight before you for consideration is Resolution 2020-15,

[16:34] amendments to certain animal license fees effective July 1st of 2020.

[16:44] Since

[16:44] the corporation the Inland Value Humane Society has provided the city and

[16:48] residents with cost-effective animal care and control services that are an

[16:52] essential component of the city's public safety program. The current animal

[16:57] licensing fees were last amended in January 2016 and at that time IVHS

[17:02] determined the true service cost of $352,190 annually. That amount was offset by a guaranteed

[17:10] revenue which resulted in a net contract cost of $160,000 which has been raised by the consumer

[17:18] price index each year. So this year as an example the contract cost was $189,000.

[17:29] The most recent IVHS analysis determined that the true cost for providing services in Diamond

[17:35] bar has increased from 2016 from the $352,000 contract service model to an expected cost

[17:43] of $392,473 for fiscal year 2020-21. Again, this increase is in line with the CPI from 2016.

[17:53] While costs have gone up, licensing revenues and fees have remained low resulting in the

[17:59] increasing deficit.

[18:03] In March of 2020 IVHS met with the city manager and our staff

[18:07] to discuss the existing contract and that operating deficit and the need to

[18:13] revise fees. I'm sorry to review the licensing revenues because they have

[18:20] continued to decline across all the contract cities relative to the true

[18:24] cost of providing those services. The city's cost have increased from that

[18:29] $352,000 to an expected $392,000 in fiscal year 2021, which includes $100,000 guaranteed

[18:39] revenue resulting in a total contract cost of $292,473.

[18:45] So in effect it would be a $100,000 increase.

[18:48] And the current schedule below summarizes the city's current licensing revenues or

[18:54] or licensee fees, as it say.

[18:58] As a result of discussions between cities,

[19:01] the IVHS board had provided all the cities

[19:05] with an alternative.

[19:07] And the alternative would hinge on a couple things.

[19:12] It would hinge on amending all the city's respective licenses

[19:19] with regard to unaltered dog fees and penalty fees.

[19:23] And currently, the city's unaltered dog fee is $50, and the penalty fee is $25.

[19:30] And as a result, IVHS was recommending that should the cities, all the cities that are

[19:38] providing, being serviced by IVHS amend those two fees, then ultimately they would be able

[19:47] to provide a better fee service for the city.

[19:50] So, in resulting, the result would be the owner-altered dog license fees would increase

[19:55] from $50 to $100 and the penalty fee would increase from $25 to $60.

[20:01] So, what does that mean?

[20:04] Sorry, just, it's not changing,

[20:09] there it goes.

[20:10] Okay, so what does that mean for the budget?

[20:14] When we were looking at the numbers and discussing with IVHS trying to figure out how that

[20:18] impacts the city and residents and our budget.

[20:21] What that does is put the cost of service on the consumers of the service.

[20:28] And if those cities, all the cities being serviced by IVHS increase those two fees to the $100 for unaltered dog licenses and $60 for penalties,

[20:41] that IVHS would be able to guarantee the existing contract remain unchanged.

[20:46] And that would limit the contract increases moving forward to CPI.

[20:52] That would be 2.96% for fiscal year 2020-21 or $200,284.

[21:00] That is a significant reduction from the original estimate of $292,473

[21:06] that was included in the draft operating fiscal year budget for 2020-21.

[21:11] And that again is because it is providing the service at the true cost for the consumers of those services.

[21:20] And then ultimately those cost savings would be passed on to the city.

[21:27] And with that, recommendation is to consider adoption of resolution 2020-15 amending certain animal license fees effective July 1, 2020.

[21:37] And both the IVHS President, CEO, and Nicole Roshiani and Operations Manager James Edwards

[21:42] are on the call.

[21:44] Should there be any questions about IVHS or the services they provide to the community?

[21:47] Thank you.

[21:49] Thank you, Mr. Santos.

[21:51] Any questions for the IVH people?

[21:58] Any questions for staff?

[22:01] Mayor, this is Mayor Pro Tem, and I have a question.

[22:03] I'm not sure.

[22:04] Go ahead.

[22:05] I'm not sure if it's for staff or the IVHS people.

[22:07] So when we talked about or when Mr. Santos mentioned that if all the cities, you know, agree to these new fees, you know, individually, and then from that point on, the contract will only increase by CPI.

[22:24] That's what I understood. Is that correct, Mr. Santos?

[22:27] That's correct, Pro Tem.

[22:28] Okay. And is there a certain length of time? Is that only good for like one year or five years, or is that add-in for an item?

[22:38] So generally the contract is extended by two-year increments. And that is because canvassing takes place every two years in every community that IVHS serves.

[22:49] And so the canvassing provides the revenue which is used to offset the cost.

[22:54] And so the short answer is it's a two-year increment that generally auto renews should everything be consistent.

[23:04] Are all of the cities under just a two-year agreement or is it just us?

[23:10] My understanding is generally they all are.

[23:14] There may be some kind of exceptions for new contracts that were recently amended.

[23:18] I know the cities of Covina and West Covina recently came on board, but I believe the standard is very similar.

[23:24] Did we hear from the IVHS what the situation is?

[23:31] With regard to the contract, is that the question, Pro Tem?

[23:35] Yeah.

[23:36] Can we get longer than a two-year contract on this with just CPI?

[23:40] That's my question.

[23:42] Oh, I see what you're asking.

[23:44] So we can definitely ask the question, but my understanding is, generally speaking,

[23:50] This contract that we've had has auto extended for two years.

[23:56] It was originally executed in 2016, and here we are in 2020.

[24:00] So it's been a solid four years under the existing contract.

[24:04] And if the fees are approved, we would still be under that same contract.

[24:11] It would be automatically extended.

[24:13] So that would be up to year six under the existing contract.

[24:16] So, for the foreseeable future, ultimately, that's something that should the council desire to approve the fees, then we could potentially be under this agreement for a considerably longer period of time.

[24:31] Okay, Anthony, it's probably because I can't actually see you.

[24:36] I know it's very different.

[24:40] Okay. So what we were originally presented was an increase of $90,000, right?

[24:47] It was about $92,000. That is correct.

[24:50] All right. So are you saying then that going forward we wouldn't have to face that,

[24:57] and we would only be getting CPI increases?

[25:00] Yes. And part of that is when IVHS provides the true cost of service,

[25:06] They have to be able to let us know what it costs to provide the service in Diamond Bar.

[25:12] When they do the canvassing, that amount is taken away from, subtracted from the true

[25:17] cost and they give us our contract cost.

[25:20] And so in 2016, that was $160,000.

[25:25] And so when CPI is added, it's added to the actual total cost of service.

[25:31] So the original cost of service in 2016 was $352,000.

[25:35] So you add the CPI to that, you subtract the projected revenue, and that is our new contract cost.

[25:41] And that's been kind of the procedure over the last four years, and that would be the procedure moving forward.

[25:49] It would be the total cost minus the projected revenue.

[25:52] But IVHS is holding firm that should we adopt the new fees and all the other cities adopt the new fees,

[25:59] Then then they can guarantee the existing contract and those existing contracts with all the other cities and limit those cost increases to CPI, which should be no more than 5%.

[26:11] Okay, thank you.

[26:14] Any other questions for IVHS or staff.

[26:22] Okay, hearing none. What is the pleasure of the council.

[26:27] This is Mayor Pro Tem again. I would like to go ahead and move the item.

[26:32] I have a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Lyons and a second by Councilman Chow.

[26:43] One question for clarification, Mr. Fox, is my understanding was that every city had to

[26:52] approve this going forward so it was all or it was nothing if in the event that one or

[26:59] more city's box at this opportunity, what would our recourse be?

[27:08] Mayor and Council, we would come back with a resolution to rescind the fees and then

[27:18] there would be an additional new contract with IVHS that would need to be considered

[27:24] and approved by the City Council.

[27:27] Very good. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay, Christina, if you call the roll, please.

[27:36] Yes, Mr. Mayor. Council Member Chao? Yes. Council Member Low? Yes. Council Member Malki? Yes. Mayor Proten-Lion? Yes. Mayor Tai? Yes.

[27:50] So item 5.1 passes unanimously.

[27:54] Item 5.2, COVID-19 regulatory relief and financial assistance options for businesses and residents.

[28:01] Mr. Fox.

[28:02] Mayor and council, I'm going to ask community development director Greg government to make the presentation.

[28:11] Thank you. And good evening. Mayor tie in members of the city council.

[28:17] Tonight, we will discuss two topics pertaining to COVID-19 recovery efforts.

[28:23] First we are seeking your approval of two regulatory relief policies to elicit businesses

[28:30] as they reopen their doors in accordance with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

[28:36] Next we will discuss options for using our emergency CBBG funds for economic recovery

[28:44] programs and request council direction on cracking these programs. So while I

[28:51] begin feel free to interrupt me anytime as I will be going through these these

[29:00] topics rather quickly.

[29:07] And there goes my screen blank.

[29:12] I can't, there we go.

[29:16] So

[29:16] starting with regulatory relief the council asked staff to prepare policies

[29:22] to suspend temporary sign restrictions and to facilitate outdoor dining for

[29:28] restaurants affected by the county's indoor occupancy restrictions.

[29:35] This sign,

[29:36] this slide summarizes the proposed temporary sign provisions.

[29:49] It's fairly

[29:50] not require permits for temporary signs for 90 days, so that would be through August 13th.

[30:00] 31st, 2020. During that time, we would not enforce temporary sign regulations pertaining to size

[30:12] or number of signs. We do ask that during this time that we continue to enforce the restriction

[30:22] on commercial signs in public rights of way

[30:28] and public property.

[30:30] So as long as signs remain on private property

[30:35] and leave it to the businesses

[30:40] to obtain property owner permission,

[30:43] then we would not be enforcing any on-site temporary

[30:52] sign restrictions. And then additionally we would recommend that we continue to enforce

[31:02] the restriction on roof signs or signs that project taller than the building on the property

[31:11] on which they're located for the purpose of minimizing clutter or distractions that kind

[31:26] of go beyond the purpose of helping advertise that these businesses are open.

[31:34] For

[31:38] outdoor dining,

[31:45] we've

[31:48] come up with the no fee expedited temporary use permit process for restaurant dining.

[31:55] And this would be in effect for as long as the indoor occupancy restrictions are in effect.

[32:03] The details of the temporary dining accommodations are provided in the policy attached to the staff report.

[32:12] Finally,

[32:19] we would ask that the council discuss and provide direction on programs to launch

[32:25] for providing financial assistance to those impacted by COVID-19.

[32:33] As you may be aware, the city will be receiving $137,962 in the first round of CARES Act

[32:45] CDBG funding. Thus far HUD has released $2 billion from which our current allocation is

[32:58] drawn from. There is an additional $3 billion to be distributed in the coming months as

[33:08] of the entire CARES Act relief package.

[33:14] There's a lot of discretion that the city may use in how it wishes to disperse these funds.

[33:27] The basic rule of thumb is that it's to be available to businesses and or incommeligible

[33:36] residents impacted by the COVID-19 closures. For business relief, the primary objective is that

[33:49] if a recipient is to be eligible, they do need to demonstrate that they need assistance in order

[34:01] to retain or hire lower-moderate income workers.

[34:08] For residential assistance programs, an example of how we can use the money is to provide

[34:17] rental assistance for those income-eligible households.

[34:23] Also, since seniors are presumed to be income eligible, CARES Act monies may be used for

[34:35] senior programming to provide services or programs that would be needed to replace those normal

[34:51] programs that would be provided without the current restrictions.

[34:56] So for example, that could be for any types of online services, virtual recreation for

[35:04] example, and any expenses that would be associated with providing outreach for those services.

[35:13] So

[35:19] given those parameters, there are several options for the city council to consider.

[35:29] One of which being which types of programs to launch.

[35:34] We can allocate all the money into one program or we can create several programs and disperse the money accordingly.

[35:45] Interestingly, one thing I do want to clarify from the staff report, it gave a sample allocation

[35:55] of $5,000 for senior programs, or any program that we do launch, the minimum award amount

[36:04] would have to be $10,000 to fund that program, so I just want to mention that before we

[36:11] further.

[36:14] Another decision that we would make. Greg, Greg, could you repeat that please?

[36:21] Regarding the senior programs? Yeah, so if it's a program, if it's like the Sunshine Seniors

[36:30] Association, it would require that they get $10,000? Not per recipient, but for

[36:41] per organization? No, no, it would just be if we had a senior program and it could

[36:50] be smaller amounts distributed to different recipients but that program

[36:56] has to be funded with at least $10,000. So again if the Sunshine Senior Group

[37:02] was having an event we couldn't give them like two grand we have to give

[37:07] No, we could give Sunshine Seniors two grand, but that program would be serving other organizations

[37:21] and other purposes within that umbrella of senior programs.

[37:26] So once we fund that program with $10,000, we can give smaller amounts to different

[37:33] organizations such as Sunshine Seniors.

[37:38] Okay, thank you. Greg, just to clarify, this funding is in addition to the Community Development

[37:49] Block Grant Fund that we already appropriated a couple months ago, right? This is in addition

[37:53] to that. That's right. This is emergency funding, especially

[37:59] for COVID-19 relief. So if I recall, during that last round

[38:04] on the appropriation, we already gave, if I recall, about 35,000 to senior programs?

[38:12] We gave almost 47,000.

[38:17] 47,000?

[38:18] Okay.

[38:18] Yeah.

[38:19] Okay.

[38:20] All right.

[38:20] Thank you.

[38:21] Greg, this is Nancy and I have two questions, but it's further back and what you had.

[38:27] I was wondering, on Package Page 168, what is the difference between temporary outdoor

[38:37] merchandise and sidewalk sales?

[38:46] It's essentially the same thing.

[38:51] Some businesses might have a weekend event and call it a sidewalk sale.

[39:02] Others might have wheelbarrows or other types of home improvement displays at certain times of the year.

[39:16] so it's really just part of a more general topic of outdoor merchandise displays.

[39:23] Well, I thought the same thing. I thought it sounded like the same thing, but the

[39:27] way this is written, it sounds confusing because it says, although the development code already

[39:34] allows temporary outdoor merchandise displays under normal circumstances, staff does not allow

[39:40] for sidewalk sales. If they're the same thing it sounds like we're allowing one

[39:46] and not the other but they're the same thing. No no to let me clarify then under

[39:54] normal circumstances the outdoor display of merchandise is something that can be

[40:02] done under a temporary use permit.

[40:07] To provide the context for this, at this

[40:15] time we're not recommending issuing permits for outdoor displays until we

[40:21] get further direction from the county because of concerns about physical

[40:26] distancing, and we would recommend not allowing for outdoor displays of merchandise until we

[40:37] get some additional guidance on how those outdoor display of merchandise would be rolled

[40:51] out so that we can be sure that physical distancing guidelines are being followed.

[41:00] I'm sorry, go ahead, Nancy. Let me finish. So, you know, I heard your wheelbarrel example,

[41:06] and we all know where those wheelbarrels are. Will those wheelbarrels be allowed to stay there

[41:12] because they've always been there and the barbecues and that stuff? And then, but nobody

[41:16] else say for example we don't want Ross to put out a huge sidewalk sale is that

[41:22] what we're thinking that's that's more of the scenario that we're look we're

[41:29] we're addressing where yeah something something of that sort or you know and

[41:38] in the past there would be Christmas tree lots and parking lots or pumpkin

[41:45] in patches or other, you know, seasonal sales and with the indoor occupancy restrictions,

[41:56] the idea here is if parking spaces or larger parking lot areas would be utilized similar

[42:07] similar to the outdoor dining. These might create some issues that we need to be mindful

[42:17] of and get the appropriate guidance from the county.

[42:21] So the petting zoo is probably out.

[42:27] I would think so.

[42:31] Okay.

[42:31] For the dog park. Okay, I have one more question on when you were talking about the outside dining, you know that allowing outside dining until the restaurants can fill up their tables, you know, as they used to.

[42:47] And I just want to make sure that if that restaurant has a liquor license, they'll be able to serve liquor to their outside dining.

[42:57] The city has no issue with that. That is subject to the licensing requirements of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

[43:10] So we would leave that responsibility to the business owner to comply with those requirements.

[43:17] Okay. And then my last comment on this is, I think you guys really worked hard to get this done fast and I really appreciate it. Thank you.

[43:25] Thank you.

[43:27] This is councilmember Lowell.

[43:29] I have a question.

[43:31] Sure.

[43:32] Okay.

[43:33] So I was kind of still unclear.

[43:35] So the barbecues and the wheelbarrows can stay in front of the store, but Ross cannot

[43:43] bring like a display of tennis shoes out there.

[43:52] They can for 90 days.

[43:53] That's how we're doing that.

[43:58] At this time we're not recommending that we approve any additional outdoor displays given

[44:09] the lack of direction so far from the county.

[44:12] But we're not withdrawing the fact that we permit people to put their stuff out there

[44:21] anyway, right?

[44:23] we're not taking away that that that ability to do that right we're just not

[44:28] giving well I'll just say that we're not withdrawing that there are some

[44:36] outdoor displays very limited and while they may technically be doing so

[44:42] without a permit we've normally not pursued those if as long as accessible

[44:50] walkways are maintained and so forth if if there are very limited

[45:00] Displays of merchandise against a storefront. That's not going to necessarily draw our attention, but our, our larger concern is that with the limited indoor occupancy reductions that a larger display area would be proposed outdoors that would occupy more space and

[45:28] and encourage more close congregating of customers.

[45:36] Okay.

[45:38] And then with respect to the program for businesses, there's an option for loans and an option for grants.

[45:49] Can you explain that a little bit better or more?

[45:51] Sure. We can go either way. We can do a loan, which would

[46:03] require loans to be repaid and

[46:07] then that money could be reallocated for different purposes upon repayment. Or we can simply

[46:14] the issue grants and provided that they meet the provisions of the program, that money is

[46:24] free and clear.

[46:28] Our consultant and LACDA discourage the loan programs because of the underwriting requirements.

[46:41] the more the more scrutiny that is required for for monitoring the expenses made with those those

[46:56] proceeds so and then since it seems that agencies that are doing loan programs now they're also

[47:09] making them forgivable. So as long as they provide with or comply with the provisions of their program,

[47:15] the loan is exonerated at the end of the term. So they put themselves through the underwriting

[47:24] and monitoring obligations for what's essentially a grant. If we do go with the grant program,

[47:31] Is that program, does that have to be farmed out to LACDA and we have to pay the servicing charge or can we do that in-house and use that money instead for really basically grant money?

[47:49] We believe that for the business grant program that we can administer it in-house without asking

[48:01] LACDA to handle that. And also that's what our consultant concurs with. As far as the residential

[48:14] assistance programs. That gets to be a lot more complicated with income

[48:20] verification requirements, household income documentation, and subsequent

[48:29] documentation and monitoring.

[48:33] Those

[48:37] types of activities are beyond the

[48:43] The scope of staff's capabilities, even though we're in a period of improvising and learning

[48:51] very quickly, our consultant's recommendation is that if we do a residential program that

[49:00] we do have LACDA administer it, and if we did that, then there would be up to a 20%

[49:11] administration costs associated with it?

[49:15] Your report documented that, you know, certain cities had received an enormous amount of applications

[49:23] within a very short period.

[49:25] So that demonstrates the need there for businesses to have access to these funds.

[49:32] What do you know about the need for the rental assistance fund?

[49:42] Those programs have been sold out as well.

[49:50] And we would expect more applicants than whatever funding that we provide.

[50:03] Is there a way to quantify or say what this particular need is in our community?

[50:15] I'll talk about the rental assistance.

[50:21] We could look into that.

[50:24] I believe we have some estimates on that.

[50:35] This is Nancy again.

[50:36] And if we do that, though, we lose 15% to 20% off the top, right, on the rental?

[50:45] If LACB does administer that program for us, yes.

[50:49] We would lose that money.

[50:50] Whereas if we allocated money to businesses or to senior groups, we could do it in-house

[50:56] and we wouldn't lose that money off the top.

[51:01] Yeah, that's correct.

[51:03] We're confident that we could handle that in-house.

[51:06] I talked to some of my colleagues on the cog about this and this was about business grants

[51:16] and there was a big demand for it.

[51:19] And so what they did was they opened it for like a two-day period for businesses to get

[51:25] their applications in.

[51:27] And then after that two-day period, they closed the window and then they went through

[51:32] and they made sure that, you know, of who was actually had a valid application versus who didn't,

[51:39] then after they did that, they did, of all the valid applications, then they did a lottery.

[51:46] Otherwise, if you just say, well, we're open until we're full, then, you know, it's kind of the

[51:52] people that get up early that, you know, get their applications in and get funded,

[51:56] I was opposed to giving everybody, you know, whatever, 48 hours or something.

[52:01] So, my comments on that.

[52:03] This is.

[52:06] Go ahead.

[52:09] Andrew, go ahead.

[52:11] Oh, okay.

[52:12] Question and comment.

[52:13] So just want to clarify.

[52:14] So the proposal that we see on the SAP report on page.

[52:19] 170 of the PDF or page packet page 170.

[52:24] So the breakdown between business grants, residential, rental grants, and senior programming, that's arbitrary. That's just a proposal, right?

[52:33] There's no guideline coming with the Community Development Grant Fund that we have to allocate, certainly.

[52:39] If the council wanted to, we can have the whole thing appropriate into one grant, one type of grant. Is that correct?

[52:46] Yeah, you can put it all into one program and you can set the dollar amount per recipient

[52:53] to whatever you want.

[52:55] Okay.

[52:56] Then here's kind of my thought on it.

[52:57] So I think while we have to keep in mind what we're trying to accomplish, I think most

[53:04] of our business are suffering and as they try to reopen, there will be new guidelines

[53:11] line from both the LA County and probably the state on how they can operate.

[53:16] So I think we should – and given the relatively small amount of grant that we received, we

[53:21] started dividing up into different programs.

[53:23] My concern is that each business won't receive a material amount that can make a

[53:28] meaningful impact on helping them come back to operate.

[53:32] So I would think that – and also given the fact that we had to give a 20 percent

[53:36] the grant to have an outside agency help us administer the residential rental grant.

[53:41] In addition to that, we, as I asked earlier, we appropriated almost $47,000 to senior programming

[53:47] just a couple months ago.

[53:49] So I'm inclined to have the whole thing go to business grant to help specifically our

[53:54] business community come back, not just to survive this time, but to thrive and help

[54:00] and buy new equipments, specific PPP equipments

[54:03] for their employees, install maybe spit guards.

[54:07] I'm starting to go to different restaurants

[54:08] and a lot of them are asking for help as they try

[54:11] to come out of this pandemic.

[54:14] You know, I was talking to Simon at Fusion to anyone.

[54:17] He said, yeah, he's happy to put out tables

[54:19] and a balcony, but that means they had to buy umbrellas.

[54:22] They have to install physical barriers between the tables.

[54:26] So there's some additional costs that will come

[54:28] with restaurant trying to comply with the new rules.

[54:31] So I'm inclined to have the whole thing allocated

[54:34] to business grant.

[54:35] Now, we probably should talk about more specifically

[54:38] the amount that would be granted to each business.

[54:41] I do agree with, I think it was Councilwoman Lyons.

[54:45] That's the model I think Supervisor Han used

[54:50] when she was allocating or giving out $5,000 grants

[54:53] for businesses.

[54:54] They had a 48-hour window and you go sign up.

[54:57] I actually signed up myself just to see what the process was like.

[55:00] Unfortunately, I didn't win the lottery, but I did sign up just to see what it was like.

[55:04] But I think that process works a lot better than there was a previous grant that came out

[55:08] saying that you have to register at 12 o'clock on noon and you have an hour until it runs out.

[55:13] So I think that approach probably won't be as conducive,

[55:17] versus just open it up for maybe a 40-hour window,

[55:20] and the staff can do a lottery at the back end to pick the top winners

[55:24] and given the amount that we think is appropriate. Thank you.

[55:31] Council Member Lowe, I thought you had a question also.

[55:33] Oh, yes, I did. Thank you, Mayor. I do actually agree with Mayor Pro Tem Lyons about the lottery

[55:41] system. I think that's a good system. And I think it's fair and it's orderly. So,

[55:47] I think that's a good system. I also agree with Council Member Chow's observations

[55:54] concerns that we want to get our restaurants and other small businesses up and running and

[56:00] helping them as much as we could.

[56:04] So I would be okay with moving all of it to business grants.

[56:11] I mean, honestly, it's really isn't that we don't really have a really large part

[56:15] of money to divide.

[56:18] But the amount that we give should be meaningful so that they can actually, it would be actually helpful. That's my comment.

[56:28] What are we thinking relative to the minimum? I mean, I thought I heard Councilman Chao say that we will determine it based on the need.

[56:44] And I don't know that that's a good idea. I think we should set maybe a minimum and a maximum.

[56:49] Have we thought that through?

[56:51] Yes.

[56:53] If I can clarify, sorry, this is Councilman Charles.

[56:56] Yes, I meant it should be, we should definitely set the amount.

[57:00] I think it should be a flat amount across the board.

[57:02] So each person or each business that gets picked gets an X amount.

[57:07] And I think, yeah, I agree.

[57:09] Thank you.

[57:10] And I think something, you know, we have $137,000.

[57:13] If we're doing $5,000 grants, we can only benefit,

[57:17] someone help me with the math here,

[57:18] it's about 20, 20 events.

[57:20] So given the number of restaurants in that number,

[57:23] I don't think that's enough.

[57:24] So I think the most,

[57:26] I would think something in the 2,000 range might make sense.

[57:29] So at least we'll help maybe 50 restaurants.

[57:32] I think that might be, that might make more sense.

[57:36] That's interesting, but I think $2,000 is way too little money for this amount of work.

[57:44] I'd much rather see more meaningful grants and, you know, maybe it doesn't go to restaurants

[57:51] like Chili's.

[57:54] Yes.

[57:55] I think we do have to limit the type of restaurants and what I've seen from some other cities

[58:00] that will say that a restaurant that employed less than 20 people, for example.

[58:04] So there has to be some sort of qualifier for the business.

[58:08] Yeah, we don't really necessarily get into a situation where a corporation like, you know,

[58:12] just give a bad example like the Lakers, you know, apply for a PPP loan.

[58:16] I don't think we want to get into that situation.

[58:18] So this grant should help mom-and-pops and local-owned restaurants.

[58:25] We're not limiting it to restaurants, right? We're talking business booths.

[58:28] Right. I think business is okay, but I think it has to be, you know,

[58:32] We don't I don't think we would want to give money to target or to no no I say no chain store. That's easy enough

[58:42] Mayor Tai council member Mulkey

[58:44] I have a question in terms of just a point of distinction and we're talking about businesses

[58:48] Are we going to require that their businesses that operate within our city limits?

[58:52] Are we opening this up to residents who have their own businesses for example if we I know that we have residents that are

[58:58] truck drivers and they have mortgages and they don't have work like if they're

[59:04] a self-contained business like that would they be that would this type of loan

[59:08] be an option for them or would we not allow for that type of thing? I think a

[59:13] storefront and diamond bar. Yeah located in diamond bar. And you're gonna

[59:17] require a storefront specifically? Every other city that has done a business

[59:24] loan or grant program is required them to have a physical storefront in their

[59:30] community that's been in business for at least a year and they have been for

[59:36] fixed amounts. Yes, yes. I think having a physical storefront is a good

[59:42] qualifier. I mean they're because they're the ones I think mostly impacted

[59:46] by social distance requirements. They literally, you know, they survive

[59:50] by based on people coming to the stores.

[59:52] Versus I own the business,

[59:53] but my office is tucked away in the office building.

[59:56] We can figure out a way to comply with the...

[1:00:03] I think the

[1:00:11] other thing is we want to make sure, and I don't know if we do this by address,

[1:00:15] you certainly couldn't do it by last name, I think we want to be sure that it's one grant

[1:00:21] loan, whatever we're going to call it, for business.

[1:00:28] What do you mean? You mean if one person owns five different business diamond bar, would

[1:00:32] No, no, if a couple owns a business and they both apply.

[1:00:38] Oh, okay.

[1:00:40] Yes, yes.

[1:00:41] Her business license or something.

[1:00:44] Pardon?

[1:00:44] We don't know how to do that.

[1:00:48] Yes.

[1:00:48] I think other cities will limit to only those that have had a valid business license within a city going back at least a year.

[1:00:58] Well, I think you can sense where we're going and just need to tighten it up.

[1:01:02] And, you know, I don't want to find us in mid-August still trying to figure out the rules.

[1:01:08] So, I think we're agreed, no chains.

[1:01:12] I don't know if you want to call that a stock exchange listed company.

[1:01:17] We're looking to help mom and pops.

[1:01:20] I didn't hear that we settled on an amount.

[1:01:25] Yeah, maybe we can talk about it a little bit more.

[1:01:28] So, because Councilmember Lyons, I think you had mentioned that you were thinking

[1:01:31] maybe a higher dollar amount.

[1:01:32] Yeah, I don't think $2,000 is enough money at all to make it meaningful.

[1:01:39] I can give you some examples from other cities.

[1:01:43] Great.

[1:01:44] Okay, so Laverne is offering $2,500 per business.

[1:01:50] Covina, $4,500.

[1:01:53] Arcadia, $5,000.

[1:01:56] And Claremont, $20,000.

[1:01:57] But

[1:02:01] did they all receive more funding than we did?

[1:02:04] Because I think it's a function of the funding, right?

[1:02:09] Yeah, that's correct.

[1:02:11] Claremont is, with such a high amount, they can only fund 20 businesses.

[1:02:20] 24, right.

[1:02:22] So I think if we were to round that number off and make it $150, we could fund $50 at $3,000.

[1:02:34] I still don't think $3,000 is enough money to really make a difference to them.

[1:02:40] I wouldn't think it'd be at least $5,000.

[1:02:43] I

[1:02:47] guess I would agree with that when I think of 3,000.

[1:02:53] Are there 50 businesses in Diamond Bar that need to help?

[1:02:56] Maybe not.

[1:02:57] So if we did 5,000, that would be 30 businesses.

[1:03:00] I'm all right with that.

[1:03:02] So, Mike.

[1:03:04] No, that sounds fine.

[1:03:06] Actually, that brings up a point.

[1:03:08] I thought we had other special revenue funds that we can potentially reprogram to this based on our budget session.

[1:03:19] Do we not?

[1:03:21] Or is that not an option?

[1:03:25] We are allowed to repurpose our regular CDBG monies for COVID relief efforts.

[1:03:41] So to give you what those amounts are in the upcoming budget for the CDBG program.

[1:03:49] program. We have, as I said before, $46,900 for senior programs, $100,716 for the home

[1:04:05] improvement program, a little under $178,000 for the Area 2 curb ramp program. And also

[1:04:19] we just received a home improvement loan repayment of $6,700 that we can roll over into COVID relief.

[1:04:31] Okay, Grave, you said $178,000 almost for curb ramps. Is any of this money

[1:04:40] dedicated? There was another figure of $100,716. Is that dedicated to those

[1:04:49] Programs. Yeah, those are the exact dollar amounts that I've got my question. It is. If we take that 178,000 that we're talking about current ramps and we put it into this.

[1:05:07] COVID fund.

[1:05:11] Are we violating any of the parameters of the 178,000 we've been given for current ramps.

[1:05:18] No, they're all those stipulations are suspended right now, so as long as.

[1:05:24] Great, great, great.

[1:05:28] Then I would, I agree that I think 5,000 is a more meaningful amount that would make

[1:05:33] an actual meaningful impact on business.

[1:05:36] But if we extend that to maybe 50 businesses and somehow come up with 250,000 by reprogramming

[1:05:42] some of the previous funds to this, I think they'll be good compromise.

[1:05:47] So, we have a meaningful amount to each business, but also impacting at least 50 business in

[1:05:52] Diamond Bar versus 30.

[1:05:54] Because I can, just on the top of my head, I can think of more than 30 storefront that

[1:05:58] might need this money.

[1:06:02] I don't remember what the category was where you said it was $100,716, but it was $178

[1:06:09] for curbs.

[1:06:09] That's $278,000 right there.

[1:06:11] If we add the COVID money, we're looking at over $400,000.

[1:06:18] Mayor, before we do this, which we might want to do, could we maybe hear from Mr. Liu about

[1:06:26] what would be the effects of not doing the area 2 curb improvements for ADA for this coming

[1:06:33] year?

[1:06:43] Mr. Liu.

[1:06:47] All right.

[1:06:48] What I would say about that is, if they don't get done this year, they'll get

[1:06:51] done in another year. Mayor if I can add this is Dan yeah we did include in the

[1:06:58] capital improvement program those ADA curb ramps for area two those could

[1:07:03] certainly be you know modified and and brought back and deferred another time.

[1:07:10] The amount that we have right now we could as we know this is new for us we

[1:07:17] We can go out, test the waters, see what type of response that we get, and then come back

[1:07:22] with a supplemental allocation to reprogram our existing CDBG funds or wait until we know

[1:07:30] that we're going to get the next version of the CARES Act to have a second or subsequent

[1:07:35] program.

[1:07:35] No, no, wait.

[1:07:36] Why would we go test the waters?

[1:07:38] Why wouldn't we just proceed tonight with this amount of money, and if we get the

[1:07:42] CARES, we can dedicate that to curb ramps?

[1:07:45] That's not COVID related so that would not be eligible.

[1:07:51] Okay. Are we making any progress at all with the county relative to sharing the money they got with the cities?

[1:07:59] Their response is the state has plans in their budget to supplement local cities under that didn't get any funding previously.

[1:08:13] That didn't get any funding previously?

[1:08:15] Correct. So all of the CARES Act funds that went to the counties of over and cities of over 500,000 population, they're not going to share that money, and we can wait for that next round, which we understand may be included in the state's budget for some allocation of funds for cities under $500,000.

[1:08:47] Well, I think we ought to move forward and I appreciate what you're saying about the next bucket of money has to be for COVID-related.

[1:09:00] I mean, why wouldn't we say, okay, we loaned this money to ourselves on the chance it would get repaid?

[1:09:06] I mean, we can certainly figure it out.

[1:09:08] Greg, correct me if I'm wrong.

[1:09:09] We have to come back to the council at your next meeting to kind of officially amend our

[1:09:16] CDBG program and officially allocate those.

[1:09:20] So based upon the direction that we have tonight to put everything into the business grants,

[1:09:25] keep it at $5,000 per business, and we will certainly look at reallocating the

[1:09:33] ADA curb ramps and including as much as we can into that pot of money to be

[1:09:41] allocated towards the business relief. Yeah, if I can just add that the we do

[1:09:49] have to come back and hold the public hearing to to modify the GBBG budget. So

[1:09:58] So, if we were going to reprogram money from other programs, that would have to be included

[1:10:10] in the hearing notice.

[1:10:11] Yeah.

[1:10:12] So we can do, it sounds like we can do both at the same time, the ADA curb ramps, which

[1:10:18] is about $170,000.

[1:10:19] dollars was their interest of amending the home improvement program which is

[1:10:27] roughly a hundred thousand dollars or leave that the way it's currently

[1:10:31] approved and allocated. That seems to be something that we really need to

[1:10:37] continue is giving people an opportunity to bring their house back up

[1:10:42] to code, owning them that money, I really wouldn't touch that.

[1:10:48] So how much did we allocate to home improvement last year?

[1:10:54] About 100,000.

[1:10:55] 100,000.

[1:10:56] And how much was used?

[1:11:04] I would have to look at the latest.

[1:11:09] We may have gone through half of it.

[1:11:12] Okay.

[1:11:12] Okay. So, again, maybe that's one of those things that we don't do a very good job of advertising, but I believe that businesses truly need the help.

[1:11:26] I believe we should get this done sooner than later, and I'm fine if we take half of it then, and we use 50,000.

[1:11:36] And so now we got 178, we got 50, and we got 138.

[1:11:40] So we're still in that, at five grand a pop,

[1:11:43] you're still in that 50 or so range of businesses.

[1:11:51] And Mayor, I think there is an opportunity

[1:11:53] to use some of the housing improvement program money

[1:11:56] that we can reallocate towards this.

[1:11:59] As Greg mentioned, you know, we do occasionally

[1:12:01] get reimbursements or payoffs of those loans

[1:12:04] which go back into that pot. So we'll take a look and see where we're at and you'll be able to

[1:12:11] bring back certainly a much larger pot of money when we bring this back to the City Council.

[1:12:19] Greg, with the noticing requirements, will we anticipating bringing this back on the 16th

[1:12:25] or will we need more time for noticing? We can bring it back on the 16th. The

[1:12:33] The temporary regulations have shortened the notice time from 30 days to five days.

[1:12:45] Greg, will you bring this back to us?

[1:12:47] Can we try to make it so it's ready to go?

[1:12:51] Then we can just approve it at that meeting.

[1:12:53] I think we really need to get this funding out into the community as quickly as we can.

[1:12:59] actually I was thinking along the lines of I hate to wait 14 days I mean we're

[1:13:05] we're meeting telephonically we're all in five different places can we get a

[1:13:09] meeting sooner than that well yeah I'm all for it if they can put it together

[1:13:15] sure yeah absolutely yeah I think we need to get this money out to the

[1:13:22] community as quickly as we can.

[1:13:27] As Mr. Government just mentioned, we need at least a five-day notice,

[1:13:34] a five-day public

[1:13:35] hearing notice, so we should be able to maybe have a meeting next Tuesday.

[1:13:41] Okay.

[1:13:42] Is everybody amenable to that?

[1:13:45] I am.

[1:13:45] Can I have a suggestion, though, as to the qualifiers?

[1:13:49] Yeah.

[1:13:49] I think somebody mentioned that we don't want to consider chain stores, but I just want to point out that there are individuals who are actually small business owners and they have actually purchased a franchise.

[1:14:04] So that makes a chain store, but they're really not a chain store. So I think that maybe we should help those people as well.

[1:14:12] No, I agree. So can I round table pizza, ace hardware? Those are all, you know, family

[1:14:17] owned businesses, although they have national names.

[1:14:19] Well, they're franchisees, and I guess that's what we're really talking about. We're willing

[1:14:22] to help a franchisee because they're neighbors. I'm not willing to help Target, Boss, Sprout,

[1:14:30] Smart and Final, Albertsons.

[1:14:35] I would I wouldn't just think that when we bring this back

[1:14:39] Yeah, we will have a list of criteria for the council to review and approve as well

[1:14:45] Okay, so what I'm hearing is we like the lottery idea

[1:14:51] We want to support mom and pops

[1:14:55] Franchise ease are fine. No chains. Did I miss something?

[1:15:01] Most likely, we will have a one-year in business requirement in the business life sense and probably a few others based upon what we're seeing from some of the other cities.

[1:15:11] Okay, good.

[1:15:12] But certainly it is for kind of the small business, the mom and pop type of business.

[1:15:19] If it is a franchise zone, that's fine, as long as, again, they have the clientele and

[1:15:26] the employee pool that is intended for this program.

[1:15:33] Greg, will we be able to have a special meeting next Tuesday or are you planning to have a

[1:15:41] planning commission meeting?

[1:15:43] We are canceling the planning commission meeting, so that's wide open.

[1:15:47] Super.

[1:15:49] Everybody's good on the 9th?

[1:15:51] Yes.

[1:15:53] Good.

[1:15:56] Let's see.

[1:15:56] What do we say?

[1:15:57] One year in business, franchisees.

[1:15:59] There was something else I was thinking.

[1:16:03] What about maximum number of employees?

[1:16:10] Are you saying a minimum number of employees?

[1:16:12] No, I said maximum.

[1:16:14] Maximum.

[1:16:15] Yes.

[1:16:16] I'm assuming there will be some type of maximum number of employees that they have.

[1:16:22] I think I want to say it's 15 or 20, maybe, Greg, what we're seeing.

[1:16:30] 25 or less has been the criteria that seems to be generally used.

[1:16:38] Well, that's good because sometimes you get a whole bunch of students, you know, and they're all bunch or something, so that'd be fine.

[1:16:47] So definitely no banks.

[1:16:53] I think too we need to, I mean, I guess we're picking winners and losers, but I don't want

[1:16:58] to see a Starbucks qualify for funds, but I do want somebody like, oh golly, it's, what's

[1:17:06] it called now?

[1:17:07] It's a good day or, it's every day, it's every day or, or a coffee bean, both small,

[1:17:15] I mean, one's a very small operation.

[1:17:17] The other one's, you know, a few hundred stores

[1:17:19] in how many different states.

[1:17:22] So I think you get the gist of what we're trying to do, right?

[1:17:26] Yep.

[1:17:27] You know, we'd be happy to put together criteria

[1:17:29] that hopefully we'll clarify things a little bit more.

[1:17:33] And certainly there's an opportunity at the next meeting

[1:17:36] to be able to refine those if needed.

[1:17:41] Okay, so we will meet on a week from tonight.

[1:17:47] We will work on that and confirm if we can get this all done with the noticing and confirm a date and time and meeting set up with the council.

[1:17:57] Very good.

[1:17:58] Perfect.

[1:18:00] And if need be, I mean, I'm looking at the calendar,

[1:18:04] so you're worried about it not being enough time, right?

[1:18:09] Well, one, the noticing, which it sounds like with a five-day notice, if we get it out, we should be able to, you know,

[1:18:17] you know, tomorrow or Thursday, we should be good with that. I am a little bit concerned on the fast turnaround for the staff report

[1:18:25] for that to be able to get something to you by the end of the week. It is a special meeting, so we all technically only need

[1:18:37] digested you know by the end of the week but you know we'll see if we can

[1:18:43] have the resources with everything going forward with the budget and the next

[1:18:47] council meeting to try to make it work the best we can perfect okay and

[1:18:58] do we

[1:18:59] need a motion for this for both items no I think we have enough direction and

[1:19:03] consensus on this all right any other thoughts from council no I think it's

[1:19:09] I'm really happy that we're moving this direction.

[1:19:13] Yep, good.

[1:19:15] Okay, that brings us then to Council subcommittee reports and no meeting attendance reports.

[1:19:23] Councilman Chow.

[1:19:25] Thank you, Mayor. And thanks again to staff for putting together such a detailed proposal and report for us to consider.

[1:19:31] I think this is a difficult time we're in, but I'm continuing to be impressed by our staff,

[1:19:37] my council colleagues, and most importantly, our residents in the way that we act as a pandemic.

[1:19:42] I wanted to give a brief report.

[1:19:45] So I held a virtual office hour last Tuesday, and we had a decent turnout, and I invited

[1:19:52] a lot of business owners to come on the call, and much of the concerns are addressed

[1:19:55] tonight.

[1:19:56] They really want to see the city help them come back, not just to survive, but

[1:20:00] to thrive in a post-pandemic situation.

[1:20:03] And I think we're taking important steps tonight

[1:20:05] to do just that.

[1:20:06] So I'm very proud of the work that we're doing.

[1:20:09] Secondly, I do want to congratulate

[1:20:10] to all the graduating class,

[1:20:13] both at Dunbar High School,

[1:20:14] down to the middle school and elementary school.

[1:20:17] Yes, you did a class of 2000.

[1:20:19] I'll go forth and conquer, carry the torch,

[1:20:22] stake your claim and make a difference and make us proud.

[1:20:25] And I will be so proud one day

[1:20:28] some of them come back and run for office and be one of our colleagues. That'll be great.

[1:20:32] Lastly, I do want to touch on this a little bit. I vividly remember the LA right of 1992,

[1:20:39] after the Rodney King trial. I remember the pain, the outcry, and the outrage.

[1:20:44] We again feel the same pain and outrage over the killing of George Floyd.

[1:20:50] I stand in solidarity against the death of unarmed black men at the hands of law enforcement.

[1:20:55] But with that said, though, we need to express our collective pain reasonably and responsibly.

[1:21:02] We must stop these outside forces and bad actors from destroying neighborhoods and burning

[1:21:07] down buildings.

[1:21:08] That is not the way to get your message across, and we should never stand for destruction

[1:21:13] of private properties.

[1:21:14] So with that, I'll say good night and thank you.

[1:21:17] Thank you, Councilman Chow.

[1:21:19] Councilwoman Mulkey.

[1:21:23] Thank you, Mayor Tye.

[1:21:24] I would like to echo just a really big thank you to my colleagues on the count

[1:21:27] council and to our hard-working city staff for researching and advocating for options

[1:21:31] that are best for our residents and our local businesses.

[1:21:34] I know we'll continue to look for opportunities to continue to support Diamond Bar and our

[1:21:38] residents.

[1:21:39] We're in such an incredibly challenging time right now as a society.

[1:21:43] As many of you know, I've been continually teaching at Cal Poly Pomona during both

[1:21:48] the pandemic and now the demonstrations and it's given us an opportunity to have

[1:21:53] a lot of discussions and sharing and questions in our learning environment.

[1:21:56] And this is the youth of our community, so it's incredibly important.

[1:22:00] And I think one of the most poignant things that a student shared with a class and specifically

[1:22:05] asked me, he just said, Professor, it's all so much.

[1:22:08] And how am I supposed to know what to do?

[1:22:11] And I thought that was a great question because I think it echoes what a lot of us

[1:22:14] are struggling with.

[1:22:16] But when I look around our community, I'm so proud that people have found a way

[1:22:19] to make a difference even with all the levels of uncertainty and potential anxiety.

[1:22:25] A great example of this is, of course, what Jodi Roberto shared tonight with what DB Connects

[1:22:30] has accomplished, what the Johan Bosch family and community supporters put together each

[1:22:34] week and what many other supporters in our community are doing.

[1:22:38] So I hope that we will just continue to responsibly gather information and make decisions that

[1:22:43] keep our community, neighborhoods, families, and ourselves safe and healthy.

[1:22:48] Thank you so much.

[1:22:50] Thank you, Councilwoman Wolke.

[1:22:51] Councilwoman Lowe.

[1:22:53] Thank you, Mayor. It seemed like yesterday that we learned about the COVID lockdown,

[1:22:59] but so much has happened since March, and it's happened so quickly that, and we use the word

[1:23:05] unprecedented, but that word really doesn't capture all that we're feeling and all that

[1:23:09] we're thinking about and all that we're concerned and worried about. So we really

[1:23:15] need to kind of hang together and stick it out. And I know that just as we thought we were

[1:23:20] turning the corner with COVID-19. And we were all being optimistic that we were going to be

[1:23:26] returning to some kind of normalcy. Now we have the tragedy of George Floyd and the many others

[1:23:31] who died. I work in downtown LA, so that's my reality every time that I'm there to be reminded

[1:23:41] that there's tragedy and people are upset. And I too am appalled about these deaths and

[1:23:49] and join with the folks that are mourning them.

[1:23:53] And I also support peaceful protests to speak for those who perish as well as to seek justice.

[1:24:00] But as my councilmember colleague says, there are bad actors who are among these protesters

[1:24:08] and they're exploiting these events and they're going beyond the mourning and going

[1:24:13] a beyond peaceful protest all to advance their own agendas and all they're doing is doing

[1:24:21] the criminal sprees and their intent on stowing discord and fear even into our city and into

[1:24:28] our society.

[1:24:29] So I just want to reassure our Diamond Bar residents that we're on the lookout for that.

[1:24:35] We have our sheriff's department.

[1:24:36] We're prepared to step in and to keep us safe.

[1:24:39] Our Sheriff's Department also have the ability to call in for reinforcements if necessary.

[1:24:46] And I want to remind our residents that if you see something, say something, call our

[1:24:51] Police Department for assistance.

[1:24:55] I'm really grateful for folks like Jody Roberto and the Diamond Bar Community Foundation

[1:25:00] for stepping up to help others in need.

[1:25:04] That's really a great thing just because that's the last thing you want to worry

[1:25:08] about. So I want to thank them. And I know that there are also many others in our community

[1:25:13] who are doing the same thing. And finally, I want to thank the staff for preparing the report

[1:25:18] on 5.2 and putting the program together. It was a really short term around time.

[1:25:24] And you did great work. It was very thoughtful and thorough. So great job. And I hope that

[1:25:30] our businesses will take advantage of these programs as soon as we get it up and running.

[1:25:34] and we can bring diamond by back and draw it out to our dining and bring our

[1:25:40] business and our community together. With that I'll say good night. Thank you.

[1:25:44] Thank you, Councilwoman Lowe. Mayor Pro Tem Lyons. Thank you Mayor and I would

[1:25:49] just say ditto to all of my council members comments that they just made.

[1:25:53] I won't repeat them. A couple other things. Yesterday I attended the

[1:25:57] Capital Projects and Construction Committee meeting and a couple of

[1:26:01] of things that you and our audience might find interesting is that the great separations

[1:26:06] that are being worked on at Monavello and Turnbull Canyon, the two projects that are

[1:26:12] under this label, and those two projects are going to be affected by the reduction

[1:26:16] of gas tax revenue or SB1 shortages, metrics told us they'll still provide the funds,

[1:26:22] but they're going to be slower in getting them to us than what was originally promised.

[1:26:26] So, how this is to say that the projects, these two projects are currently projected to be delayed, so it's a big difference.

[1:26:36] In terms of the one that we care about the most, which is the 5760 choke point, Department of Transportation is still saying that mid June is when they're going to announce whether or not we get that $50 million federal

[1:26:49] infragrant. If we do, it's full speed ahead and it will reduce the construction by two

[1:26:55] years, so that would be great.

[1:26:57] I would like to congratulate our high school graduates from Diamond Ranch High School

[1:27:02] and Diamond Bar High School. I saw many of our graduates every place from just driving

[1:27:07] by in the parks and the grocery stores with balloons, and it seems as if they creatively

[1:27:14] found a way to celebrate. So I'm so pleased and I know that's just a sign of creativity

[1:27:21] that they'll show us in the years to come. Finally, something that is really exciting,

[1:27:27] and I don't have all the details on this yet, but starting Monday, June 8th, the Dunbar

[1:27:33] Library is one of 24 libraries that is going to be offering contactless sidewalk pickup

[1:27:41] So that more details I'm sure will be coming in and maybe Mr. Fox has them.

[1:27:47] But if you order books through the website and you put them on hold that when they come in,

[1:27:52] you'll be able to get them curbside without any context.

[1:27:57] So I think there's a lot of demand out there,

[1:28:00] probably especially from those parents that are just completely out of books

[1:28:05] and they want some new materials.

[1:28:06] So I think that's going to be a great thing.

[1:28:09] Anyway, with that, I'll say good night.

[1:28:12] Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

[1:28:14] Again, I want to reinforce what we heard about the Daimbar Community Foundation.

[1:28:19] I'm not sure a lot of people are aware of some of the events that they sponsor.

[1:28:25] The fund run, the golf tournament, the Gala every year is designed to raise funds

[1:28:31] to put back into the community for sports and other things.

[1:28:36] right now with this program they're focusing on those that have lost a job

[1:28:41] those have been furloughed but I think one of the most important things that

[1:28:45] Jody said was the elderly they're they I think as much as a meal they might just

[1:28:53] need a friendly face they just might need a smile we all know somebody like

[1:28:59] that even if it means just picking up the phone to check in on them and say

[1:29:03] hello and they hear a friendly voice I think we can all do that even if that

[1:29:08] means getting out of your car and and talking with one of your neighbors that

[1:29:12] goodness knows we don't talk to our neighbors very much so let's let's reach

[1:29:17] out let's do that extra thing for folks right now in this difficult time you

[1:29:23] know a couple of things I want to say is Martin Luther King hard to believe

[1:29:26] it was 51 years ago in April that that his life was cut short and here

[1:29:31] Here we are in a situation where a man is, his life is snuffed out because of the color

[1:29:39] of his skin.

[1:29:40] And Martin Luther King said a couple of things that really resonate.

[1:29:43] He said, hate begets hate, and I don't know that this is original with him, but hate

[1:29:48] begets hate, violence begets violence.

[1:29:52] Toughness begets a greater toughness.

[1:29:55] We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.

[1:29:58] Our aim must not...

[1:30:00] Never be to defeat or humiliate, but to win friendship and understanding.

[1:30:07] And he went on to say that the ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral.

[1:30:14] I think we're seeing that now. Be getting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead

[1:30:19] of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence, you may murder the liar, but you

[1:30:24] cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence, you murder the hater,

[1:30:29] but you don't murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. Returning violence for violence

[1:30:36] multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot

[1:30:43] drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.

[1:30:51] And when I think of the assemblies that have taken place recently in Chino Hills in Walnut,

[1:30:58] today in Berea, all peaceful because people have something to share. There's no looting,

[1:31:05] there's no rioting, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a peaceful protest.

[1:31:10] But I've heard from enough people around town that they're concerned on Thursday

[1:31:16] what's planned for a grand and diamond bar boulevard. I believe we'll be ready for it. I

[1:31:21] believe that this also can be a peaceful protest. In fact, that would be my plea

[1:31:27] to anybody listening that's going to be a part of that. Let's make sure it's

[1:31:32] peaceful. Let's make sure the point is is driven home about what this is all

[1:31:37] about. So having said that I will say at 801 good night. God bless you. God bless

[1:31:44] the United States of America. Thanks for tuning in.

City Council Regular Meeting

Transcript