[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:27] Butty, I'd like to call our regular City Council meeting Tuesday, September 8, in session, and I'd like to ask our City Clerk, please, to call roll. Councilmember Cork is running late. Councilmember Gasteland? Here? Deputy Mayor Spelich? Mayor Martinez? Here. All right. And we had no closed session today, so there'll be no report out on that. And I'd like you ask please to join me in the pledge of allegiance. I
[0:57] pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
[1:01] And should the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all?
[1:18] All right, next I would ask Sarah if we have any public communications, each person wishing to speak in person or remotely.
[1:28] You need to let Sarah know and she'll tell you how to do that if you're accessing us remotely.
[1:33] If not, anything that's not on the agenda, you can fill out a speaker slip and give it to our city clerk.
[1:39] Sir, do you want to give directions to people who are remote?
[1:42] Yes, ma'am.
[1:43] For remote comments, speaker must indicate they wish to speak when the item they want to speak on is announced.
[1:51] And by using the raised hand feature or dialing star 9 if they're joining by their phone.
[1:56] When called upon, please unmute yourself by using the unmute button or dialing star 6 if you're on your phone and
[2:01] state your name and affiliation if applicable.
[2:03] and I'm seeing no speakers now mayor for non-agent items both remotely or in person.
[2:09] Let me know if that changes.
[2:11] Okay, all right.
[2:13] Any community announcements from many of our city council members?
[2:19] Okay, I have an announcement.
[2:22] Some sad news to share with the community.
[2:25] Louise Kayley and Pasdawian August 29th at age 95.
[2:28] She was a prominent Delmar resident known for her love for Delmar and her contributions to it.
[2:35] It was fitting that Louise Keeling chose to serve on the Village Character Committee of the Citizens Task Force that worked collectively to create our community plan.
[2:45] Louise had a clear insight into the Delmar's distinct character and culture.
[2:51] Until Louise Delmar was worth significant investment in time and talent to preserve its character.
[2:56] Louise also was the glue that held her remarkable family together. Her husband, Dave, was
[3:01] our community plan chair and world-class scientist, and they had five children who have had
[3:09] distinctive careers and made a positive mark on the world. Louise legacy in Del Mar
[3:15] is her success, an example, in defining and protecting what Del Mar is at its core.
[3:22] Our life represents a challenge for all of us to continue that work.
[3:26] And as we can, and we can aspire to match her example of life, of a life well-lived in
[3:32] service to her family and community.
[3:35] This is a sad end of a chapter in Delmar.
[3:39] Dave and Louise legacy lives on through their children as well as our community plan and
[3:43] other contributions they made to Delmar and beyond.
[3:47] Our heartfelt condolences to Louise's family.
[3:50] And
[3:55] now we'll move on to presentations, and we have one of the most important presentations I've been part of since today.
[4:11] Matt's more important than you, but I'll let you go first, so thank you.
[4:14] If it makes anybody feel better, my report out is relevant to both Matt's departure as well as our fire presentation.
[4:23] I'm introducing two new employees.
[4:25] Great. So I'll do that ahead of our fair well. I'm trying to keep that. I'm trying to push that out as long as I get the end of the meeting, make it the next meeting.
[4:37] Yeah, exactly. Stop smiling, Matt.
[4:42] Yeah, all right, with that. So after two and a half years of construction, I'm very pleased to report that the Delmar Bluffs 5 Stabilization Project is substantially complete.
[4:52] as of August 31st was ahead of the Sandag Schedule,
[4:57] their original schedule that gave us.
[4:59] Crews are finishing final punch list items,
[5:02] so residents will continue to see some activity out there,
[5:05] but there will be reduced equipment and fewer workers
[5:07] at the street ends and along the bluffs and the beach
[5:10] in the coming weeks.
[5:12] And I'm sure you've all noticed
[5:13] that the temporary construction fencing has come down.
[5:15] That's a huge improvement.
[5:17] The project now enters a one-year plant establishment period
[5:20] running through roughly August of next year.
[5:23] The temporary irrigation controllers and solar panels supporting the new
[5:27] plantings will stay in place through the establishment period and will be
[5:30] totally removed once that's complete. On behalf of the city I want to thank all
[5:34] of our residents for their patience and encouragement during this project.
[5:38] I know it was tough. We got through it and we're on the other side of it
[5:41] are almost done. Next I would like to introduce our new principal planner
[5:47] in the Planning Department. That's Kevin Parker. He will be replacing Matt and he's had an
[5:54] opportunity to work alongside Matt since early July, learning what we all know is the Delmar way.
[6:02] So that's been fantastic and Kevin's been a great addition to our team. He's fitting right in with
[6:06] everybody and we're really happy to have him. A little bit about Kevin. Kevin has a master's degree
[6:12] in city planning and 12 years of experience in municipal and coastal planning. Having worked for
[6:17] of the city of Poway, which I also came from, but we didn't have the opportunity to work together.
[6:23] Port of San Diego and the cities of Laguna Beach, Incinitas, and Santa Monica.
[6:27] Kevin also has an AICP and CEQA professional certifications.
[6:32] And with that, I'd like to invite Kevin to say a few words.
[6:35] Well, it's a pleasure to be here.
[6:37] And I got to be under the two lids of one of the best planners I've ever met with Mr.
[6:41] Betoer, and so it's been a real honor.
[6:43] I definitely goes without saying I worked hard to put myself in a position to be here in the past life
[6:49] I'm a ship captain and for the last 12 years I was able to transfer over into the city planning world where my true passion is
[6:56] Definitely have appreciation for the ocean and the city of Del Mar has that intrinsic value that I definitely have come to really appreciate
[7:03] Being born raised here in San Diego. This is a true honor to be here. Thank you Kevin
[7:10] all right
[7:12] Next up, I would like to invite our new Fire Marshal to come up,
[7:16] Meeting Maldonado.
[7:18] In mid July, Meeting Maldonado was hired as the Fire Marshal for the
[7:22] Cities of Delmar and Salonabeech.
[7:24] Meeting has extensive experience in wildfire mitigation, community
[7:28] risk reduction, fire investigation management, development review,
[7:32] public education, and fire code enforcement.
[7:35] Most recently, Meeting worked for the City of Vista, and previously
[7:38] for the cities of Carlsbad, Elkohon, and Hartland Fire Rescue.
[7:43] Additionally, meeting maintained private prevention systems and served as a certified ship board firefighter during her time with the US Navy.
[7:52] As the Fire Marshall Media will oversee fire prevention operations for both agencies.
[7:57] She will be overseeing the plan review and building permit review, managing inspections, investigations, and will be in charge of public outreach and education for the fire department.
[8:08] So welcome, Meeting.
[8:09] Thank you, Ashley, and Mayor, City Council members and residents of Delmar.
[8:14] It's an honor to be the Fire Marshal of this great establishment.
[8:19] Please tune in today, or this month is emergency preparedness month.
[8:25] And every Friday of this week, we will have a publication in the Delmar News letter.
[8:30] So please tune in to some preparedness information there.
[8:34] And this weekend we'll be at the Delmar Farmers Market
[8:36] from 10 or 12 o'clock to 4 p.m., sharing preparedness information with our farmers market.
[8:44] So thank you, it's been an honor and I look forward to continue to serve this great community and provide some outreach.
[8:52] Thank you, meaty.
[8:53] All right, that concludes my.
[8:59] All right, now we really are moving on again to the presentations and I have the distinct honor of providing a proclamation to Matt Vittor.
[9:08] I'm going to ask him to come forward,
[9:17] that really is so happy.
[9:25] Those of you that know me know I cry, so Madam, I'm going to try not to cry on this one.
[9:32] All right, so City of Delmar Proclamation, honoring Matt Petour's retirement in 29 years of service.
[9:39] Whereas Matt Petour joined the City of Delmar Planning Department in November of 1997 as a planning intern.
[9:47] And over the course of nearly three decade career, advanced through the ranks to principal planner,
[9:52] while demonstrating unparalleled dedication and leadership.
[9:56] Matt's vast knowledge of Delmar planning and building codes
[9:58] as well as zoning regulations made him invaluable asset
[10:02] to the planning and community development department
[10:05] and the city overall.
[10:07] Over a long career, Matt has been involved
[10:09] in nearly every development project in Delmar
[10:12] and in countless planning and zoning code updates.
[10:16] And among the projects, Matt is most proud to have accomplished
[10:19] or the Pacific Stra, Pacific Astratford 10 unit subdivision
[10:23] in residential development, restoration of an addition to
[10:27] the Canfield Wright House, which is listed on the U.S.
[10:31] National Register of Historical Places, two different
[10:34] developments, one commercial and one housing on the
[10:38] Watermark site, preparation and management of the citywide
[10:41] design guidelines and multi-unit residential objective
[10:44] design standards.
[10:45] and Matt has will be cemented into Delmar history as the city's tree guy who
[10:53] drafted the public tree policy manual, overhauled the tree ordinance, worked on
[10:58] countless trees, scenic views and sunlight known as TSVS applications, drafted
[11:03] the 2002 TSVS ordinance and spearheaded the 2025 comprehensive update to the
[11:10] TSVS code. And Matt received numerous accommodations over the years from
[11:15] residents and co-workers for his friendliness, positive attitude, professionalism, thoroughness,
[11:21] exceptional work ethic, that was even proclaimed the Zonians are within the planning department
[11:29] in 2002 for his strong familiarity and provisions of the Zoning Code.
[11:35] And that is known and appreciated for building great relationships with his colleagues, community
[11:40] committee residents and committee members over the years, serving as a staff liaison to
[11:45] the design review board and several other advisory committees.
[11:49] Something truly impressive about Matt is his incredible memory in encyclopedic recollection
[11:55] of all city projects throughout his tenure.
[11:58] Somehow he manages to know every resident and remembers the background of virtually every
[12:03] property.
[12:04] And outside his professional life, Matt shares a passion for outdoor activities such as
[12:10] camping, surfing, and snow sports.
[12:13] It's safe to say that Matt is perhaps even more proud of maintaining his surf career
[12:17] longer than his professional career as a city planner.
[12:22] And to keep the record clear, Matt has never, ever crossed the train tracks to surf in Delmar
[12:28] because he always follows the rules as a good planner does.
[12:33] And in addition to being an outstanding planner, Matt is known within the planning department
[12:38] and around City Hall for his creative Halloween costumes.
[12:43] His unmatched love for root beer floats, and single-handedly keeping Coke Zero in business.
[12:51] An in-retirement Matt plans to enjoy spending time with his wife Katie, his two sons Colin
[12:57] in Patrick, driving his camper van, spending time outdoors, surfing, and finally having enough
[13:04] time to clean out his garage and prepare dinners for his wife.
[13:08] And Matt serves and uses the city showers so frequently that after his retirement, he
[13:15] will be required to submit a formal 30 page application to the city requesting special
[13:21] permission to continue using the Beach Safety Center public showers after his morning
[13:28] surfing sessions.
[13:30] And while many around town are happy for Matt as he begins this new chapter of his retirement
[13:37] there will be a void in city hall.
[13:39] He will be greatly missed by all city staff and residents for his cheerfulness, incredible
[13:44] friendliness, famous DelMar 3-hour tour, and institutional knowledge he's so generously
[13:50] shared over the years. But most of all, Matt will be missed for his countless friendships
[13:55] and genuine relationships. He's built with everyone fortunate enough to have worked with him.
[14:01] Now, therefore, be adhered by proclaimed that DelMar City Council declared September 8,
[14:11] for his 29 years of dedicated service and significant contributions to the community and the city of Delmar and extends its heartfelt congratulations to Matt on his retirement.
[15:04] I can't sit at the staff table alone.
[15:09] Well, I don't have anything really prepared, because
[15:14] I was enjoying my first day of retirement so much.
[15:19] I procrasted a little bit, but I do want
[15:22] to thank the council. Thank you so much. This is such an honor. Very much appreciated. And
[15:29] in doing so, I also want to thank the current staff, the staff I've been working with every
[15:35] day for the, you know, for the, for the current period in past
[15:43] half because, you know, those are all really, those are a lot of
[15:47] nice accolades, but I never could have gotten to where I am to
[15:52] have that set about me without all the tutoring and mentoring
[15:56] that I had over over 20, almost 29 years. So it's been a pleasure
[16:04] in a privilege to work with all the staff members and all the councils, the past councils.
[16:12] And when I first started here at Delmar, I knew nothing about Delmar.
[16:19] I worked at the Fish Market and I thought it was in Delmar.
[16:22] So that goes to tell you right there that, you know, I quickly learned, you know, that
[16:28] Delmar is only roughly two square miles and it's not what I thought it was.
[16:32] I thought I'd came to Delmar a lot, but I never really did.
[16:36] I didn't serve in Delmar very much until I started working here.
[16:43] But I do, I've had great teachers, and I've tried to pass that on, and Delmar is such a special
[16:51] place.
[16:53] It will, you know, spend half my life.
[16:56] I just turned 60.
[16:57] I started here when I was 31, so almost half my life, and it will remain in my heart forever.
[17:08] And I will always treasure the last 30 years and the people I worked with and the people
[17:15] I've met and the people that I can start to be my friends and that I've met along the way.
[17:23] Okay, so thank you very much, this is more than anyone could really ask for.
[17:29] Thank you.
[17:33] We're going to miss you, who's going to explain TSPS to us from now on.
[17:38] We're going to miss you a lot.
[17:42] We have a couple public speakers for this item.
[17:44] The first speaker is Dwight Warden, followed by Amy Cheshire.
[17:47] And Amy will be representing Shirley Weiss who couldn't be here this evening.
[17:51] Mayor and council members, Dwight Warden, see view Avenue.
[17:55] It was about 30 years ago.
[17:57] I was no longer a city attorney, but I was special counsel for the city on certain projects
[18:01] so I happened to be in the old city hall and they brought in what I thought was a student intern this young guy
[18:06] with a big smile in his face and that was Matt Vator and I have worked with him ever since I worked with him as a council member and
[18:14] during those days and
[18:16] What I wanted to say about him is there is nobody with a better knowledge and understanding of our planning and zoning codes than Matt
[18:25] He's the go-to guy for everything large to small from the rules for setbacks on through lots
[18:31] If you happen to need to know what that is to rules for air conditioners and condos
[18:35] to macro projects and everything in between Matt was the guy that everybody on council and everybody on the staff
[18:42] Went to when they needed to understand the code and it makes me a little bit nervous that he's gonna leave who's gonna do that for us now
[18:49] new guy you got your work cut out for you and I and I hope wish you well
[18:55] Matt has shown time and time again his ability to understand and resolve problems in a cooperative and friendly way that wasn't always the case.
[19:05] Before Matt got here we had an incident where a guy showed up at City Hall with a rifle because he was angry at the planning department at the time.
[19:12] And at some other time I'll tell you the more details of that, but Matt had
[19:16] this Cheshire smile that he still has that he had this afternoon
[19:20] that he could disarm anybody, and he did that,
[19:24] and he also did training for planning commissioners and
[19:29] DRB members over the years that was really invaluable.
[19:32] And I like to think of Matt, he's one of those essential people that's
[19:37] worked in the engine room of our little city for 30 years.
[19:40] not visible to most people unless you happen to be in the engine room with him,
[19:45] but he kept our little engine going and has made our city work.
[19:51] And we will miss him.
[19:52] We owe him a very large debt of gratitude for his years of service.
[19:56] All of us can appreciate his contributions every time we look around town
[20:00] and see that good planning has occurred.
[20:04] If you see that, you are seeing Matt's work.
[20:06] Thank you, Matt, and I wish you nothing but good in the future.
[20:17] Next speaker is Amy Cheshire, filed by Sir Indy Tia.
[20:20] My name is Amy Cheshire.
[20:22] I'm going to read a letter written by Shirley Weiss, who could not be here today.
[20:27] Dear honorable Mayor Martinez and other distinguished members of the City Council and to all city residents, friends and neighbors, I'm a long time resident of Del Mar.
[20:35] Although I am visiting family out of state, this Tuesday, September 8th, and cannot personally attend the City Council meeting to speak.
[20:42] which I would have. I wish to make sure to publicly and earnestly thank Matt Vator for his wise and dedicated service to Delmar these city these 29 years.
[20:52] Among many, many other services Matt has helped draft shepherd and oversee implementation of the city's trees, scenic views and sunlight ordinance.
[21:01] This has been a very difficult task. The city's precious assets and overall beauty are addressed by this ordinance and there are many affected people.
[21:09] Prospectives on the topic have been heartfelt and passionate, Matt's calm, even handed and wise approach to proposing solutions and implementing planning commission and city council rulings have benefited all concerned about preserving Delmar's stunning gifts.
[21:25] It's trees, scenic view and sunlight and has greatly helped our city balance rights and obligations in this very important area.
[21:33] We all owe Matt a very big thank you for his extraordinary public service these many years.
[21:39] Matt, a personal note from Shirley, retirement is a total misnomer.
[21:44] You will be busier than ever, but we'll get to broaden your enjoyment and recreation activities.
[21:49] Very best wishes since Shirley, Shirley Weiss.
[21:57] Next speaker is Seren Dutia.
[22:07] Seren Dutia, 11th Street.
[22:11] Mayor Martinez and council members.
[22:13] years. I would like to acknowledge, based on my own experiences, a truly remarkable career
[22:23] and would like to express heartfelt thanks to Matt Petter, who has become the very heart
[22:30] and soul of our city. When we look back at your 29 years, and by the way, I have six more
[22:39] years of seniority over you, a few words immediately come to my mind. Professionalism,
[22:49] responsiveness, thoroughness, diligence, having interacted with you great many times over
[22:58] the years, I can state that no matter what the task or request, I made, you always handled
[23:07] it with sensitivity, patience, and level of care that is truly rare to find. But beyond
[23:16] your incredible work ethics, what we will miss most is your institutional memory, your
[23:24] smile, and pleasing personality. You haven't just served this community, Matt. You have truly
[23:32] blessed it. Thank you for your years of dedicated service and we wish you nothing but joy,
[23:40] relaxation, and happiness in your well-deserved retirement.
[23:50] I have no additional speaker slips for this item, Mayor.
[23:54] Can I speak? Go ahead.
[23:57] Uh-huh. Great. Matt, it's a real pleasure to hear all of these words about you.
[24:05] I know that they're true, and they're real, and I really got to know you for the very
[24:15] first time when I started on the DRB, and we sat there at that picnic table over in
[24:22] the North Commercial Temporary City Hall, and every month when I would go to get my plans
[24:28] because they were all paper and they were folded up and they were big, they were this big.
[24:31] I looked forward to sitting with you at that picnic table and talking about them
[24:37] and hearing your thinking. And what I realized was that you knew every inch of
[24:45] those four foot by four foot multi-page plans. You had really thought about it.
[24:51] And fast forwarding to now, you really have a legacy here in Delmar.
[24:57] You have made a true and real difference for the positive throughout Delmar, and the
[25:04] number of people whose lives you have touched is more than in the hundreds.
[25:09] It has to be in at least the 1,000 or 2,000.
[25:14] The fish market, Delmar, my husband worked there probably when you did.
[25:19] I'm really curious if you guys worked side by side there.
[25:22] and I only imagine that from those days to now and to what you're going to do in the future,
[25:30] your kindness, your quiet and tranquil approach, and your way of stating what is the most important
[25:40] thing to state at the moment will just continue to shine through. And I'll never forget when you
[25:47] told me. I think this was Ronah Thompson's house down on oceanfront that a scenic view is in the
[25:56] eye of the beholder that each person in the city has their own scenic view. And sometimes the
[26:02] scenic view can be a filtered view through trees. It might be a view of the mountains. It could be a
[26:08] view of the wall next door. If the person really likes that view, that's their scenic view. And what I
[26:14] I learned in those early days on the DRB is from you to put oneself in the mind of the
[26:22] person about whom you're thinking and you're making decisions.
[26:27] And you've taught me that, you've taught Del Mara that, and now you're going to go forth
[26:32] and tell the rest of the world these things.
[26:35] So thank you very much.
[26:38] We're going to miss you.
[26:42] Deputy Mayor Spelich.
[26:43] A lot of good things have been said that I probably could repeat, but I'll just keep it short.
[26:50] All I'm going to say is for anybody out there who likes what they see in Delmar, just realize that Matt's a big reason why it looks the way it does and why we've always been careful as a group to protect what we know is special and what we have.
[27:04] So on behalf of the 3,900 residents of the city of Delmar, thank you so much.
[27:09] We were lucky to have you.
[27:11] Thank you.
[27:13] And I'll just finish Matt by telling you that was the longest proclamation I've ever had to read.
[27:19] And the reason is because everybody wanted to capture everything that you mean to this city, and I think it captured it really well.
[27:26] Well deserved, we are going to miss you, the city is going to miss you, residents are going to miss you, but I wish you nothing but happiness, you deserve it.
[27:35] And please come back on Halloween because I missed those costumes, so I'm going to be looking for them later.
[27:39] So my happiness to you and to your family, congratulations.
[27:47] Okay, all right, so I have an announcement, the Delmar Fire Department presentation will be delayed just a bit.
[27:56] We've moved the calendar around a little bit, so we're going to next move on to the consent calendar, and so I will ask our city clerk to read the items on our consent calendar.
[28:07] Thank you, Mayor.
[28:10] The consent calendar is as follows.
[28:12] Item 3, approval of minutes, August 25th, 2026,
[28:15] regular and special meeting.
[28:16] Item 4, ratification of list of demands,
[28:19] dated September 8th, 2026.
[28:21] Item 5, waiver of reading of ordinances on agenda.
[28:25] Item 6, second reading and adoption of ordinances
[28:28] for implementation of the housing element programs 7F
[28:31] for A and 4B related to reasonable accommodation
[28:36] and special needs housing regulations,
[28:38] including residential care, supportive housing, transactional housing, low barrier,
[28:43] and negative navigation centers, emergency shelters, and adult and child day care services consistent with state law.
[28:50] Item 7, Task Order Amendment with NOVA Services Inc. for Jimmy Duranty Boulevard Bluff Stabilization Project.
[28:56] Item 8, Task Order Amendment with Utility Specialist Southwest Inc. for Stratford Court North 1B Utility Underground District.
[29:03] item 9, by annual review, and update of the Delmar conflict of interest code, and item 10,
[29:08] Lagoon Committee appointment, and that's to appoint Karen Lair for a full term.
[29:12] And that concludes the consent calendar.
[29:14] All right.
[29:15] Moved to approve the consent agenda, items 3 through 10, with the exception of item 10.
[29:20] I'm going to go first, I guess.
[29:21] Go ahead, seconded.
[29:23] I'm refused on item 10, so I believe so, but I'm going to second it, but let's just wait.
[29:29] Okay, so you are, you want to approve the whole consent agenda with the exception of I can't vote on item
[29:37] sick, I believe.
[29:38] You can't.
[29:38] So we're going to wait till vote on number six until Council Member Quirk arrives.
[29:43] Is that, you do not have to remove item six from the consent agenda, but you just need to record
[29:49] Deputy Mayor Svelich as not voting, as recused.
[29:53] However, if there are, we need to bring it back for a vote when Council Member Quirk arrives.
[29:57] Is that true?
[29:57] or you can do that as well.
[30:00] We need three. We need three. I think we do. We use your quorum without the without that vote.
[30:06] Okay. So I'd like to put item 11 open and close the public hearing onto the consent agenda.
[30:12] Okay. That's a date for by which the properties must receive underground service and the underground utility district.
[30:19] Okay.
[30:20] And item 12, the, oh, no, that's not, that's, that's an information, I'm sorry.
[30:27] So, 11.
[30:28] Okay.
[30:29] And we have a second.
[30:29] Okay.
[30:29] Seconded.
[30:30] Seconded.
[30:30] Adding 11.
[30:31] Okay.
[30:32] Sarah, can you call the vote, please?
[30:34] Council Member Gasteland?
[30:35] Yes.
[30:36] Deputy Mayor Spelich.
[30:38] Mayor Martinez.
[30:39] Yes.
[30:39] Motion passes with Council Member Cork absent.
[30:41] Okay.
[30:42] And then we'll, we'll bring back, oh, yeah.
[30:47] So, in back six.
[30:48] Yes.
[30:48] So I'm going to open the public hearing for item 11, resolution establishing the date by which properties must be ready to receive
[30:57] undergranting service and undergranting utility district X1A, Crescanyon, work zone 3.
[31:03] Do we have any public comment on that?
[31:05] No public speakers.
[31:06] All right, so I'll close that and now we can do the vote.
[31:10] I need to open and close public comment.
[31:14] Okay, Council Member Gasterland, yes, Deputy Mayor Spellig, Mayor Martinez.
[31:20] Yes, motion passes.
[31:21] Council Member Quarantine.
[31:21] Thank you and Sarah, let's keep the reminder that we'll bring back six for a vote when
[31:25] Council Member Quarantine arrives.
[31:28] Okay, very good.
[31:29] All right, now we will be moving on to other business, and next is an update on citywide preparedness
[31:37] for the 2026-2027 rainy season and forecasted Elmenial Conditions, and we will have that presentation by our Assistant City Manager, Clem Brown.
[31:58] Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tonight's presentation is an update on the city's preparations for the 2026-2027 rainy season.
[32:07] And you may have heard about it in the news that NOAA is forecasting what could be a significant Elmenial winter season.
[32:13] And so what I'm going to do with this presentation is walk through what our Public Works Community Services Department and Fire Department are going to be doing to prepare along with go over some resources that are available to our residents on what they can do to protect their property as well.
[32:31] So as I mentioned, NOAA is calling for a high probability of a significant El Nino this winter with sea surface temperatures that could exceed historical records.
[32:41] That means Southern California is in the region favored for above normal winter precipitation.
[32:48] Though the timing and the intensity of individual storms remains unpredictable this far out.
[32:55] However, Delmar is unique with our bluff's canyons and low-lying drainage.
[33:00] It makes us more vulnerable than most communities if one of these scenarios were to play out.
[33:10] So NOAA has, and I have this quote here, I attended a webinar today with NOAA on the
[33:18] El Nino Conditions, and I thought this quote was telling that it's a little bit hard
[33:22] to predict, but it sets a baseline high probability that there are likely to get some significant
[33:27] storms this year.
[33:28] And so, you know, there are caution that, you know, while El Nino raises the risk of close
[33:35] the flooding, damaging surf and severe weather, current forecast confidence isn't high enough
[33:41] to issue specific predictions without risking warning fatigue.
[33:46] However, as we move into the winter months, their models will get more accurate as we get closer
[33:53] to real storm events and their messaging will change and then the city will be reflecting
[33:57] that in our messaging and our preparations for any significant weather events.
[34:04] So first I'll cover what public works is doing.
[34:07] So public works has a long standing storm checklist that gets activated ahead of every major rain event.
[34:12] We've been doing this for years.
[34:14] Right now, what that means to be proactive and to be out ahead of it is that we're clearing our storm drains and
[34:20] enlets and channels citywide to make sure that we have capacity for drainage.
[34:26] We have 30 flood prone locations that we proactively deploy sandbags where we've had historical localized flooding and we will continue to do that.
[34:37] Residents can also pick up 10 self-filled bags at the public workshard with proof of redundancy.
[34:42] That's a longstanding program and service we've provided to this community and we will continue to provide.
[34:47] Staff also has chainsaws, portable pumps and our on-call tree contractor staged and ready for any down limbs.
[34:54] and they're checking the flapper valve, storm drain pumps, and the stormwater BMPs that the fairground deploys along Jimi
[35:02] to Rannie Boulevard to make sure those are all cleared and in place and ready in anticipation of a storm event.
[35:12] Community service in the fire departments.
[35:14] So our community services department is really our eyes and ears.
[35:19] They monitor the national weather service range forecasts and they coordinate on our sea wall barriers
[35:26] There's our sand push-ups and our street end barricades.
[35:31] Our life guards are highly trained.
[35:33] They complete swift water rescue training every year, and they up staff during heavy rain
[35:39] events or the anticipation of heavy rainfall events.
[35:42] The county also up staffs, swift water rescue teams, whenever there's a flood watch warning
[35:48] or atmospheric river forecast condition.
[35:52] There are two very important efforts worth noting.
[35:55] And that is community service and public works build seasonal sand berms along the beach every fall.
[36:02] We do that every year.
[36:04] And then periodically Southern California Edison schedules its routine inlet
[36:10] dredging of the San Miguel Loon lagoon and they actually have that plan for this November,
[36:15] which is very good timing.
[36:17] I'm going to cover both of those more at the end of my presentation.
[36:20] So I'll provide some more information on that kind of late breaking.
[36:24] So there are a lot of county and regional resources that are available to our residents.
[36:31] Alert San Diego, we've talked about that many times in presentation, public safety presentations,
[36:37] handles all of our emergency notifications throughout the county.
[36:40] And ready San Diego.org is the county's disaster preparedness portal where there is a host
[36:46] of information for residents on what they can do to prepare for any type of natural disaster,
[36:51] but including significant rain events and flooding.
[36:55] The county also runs a flood warning system
[36:58] with more than 100 rainfall and stream gauges.
[37:01] That data is all available to the public
[37:03] at sandiego.1rain.com
[37:06] plus there's no as weather radio.
[37:09] Residents can check their flood zone
[37:11] through the FEMA Flood Map Service Center
[37:13] and our 2-1-1 sandiego is available
[37:16] for disaster-related assistance.
[37:18] And I have the websites up here on this presentation.
[37:23] So what can our residents do?
[37:26] It's going to take a village, right?
[37:28] So I've gone over what the city is planning on doing.
[37:30] There are a few things that we're asking our residents to do on their own property,
[37:35] that they can get out ahead of this and prepare.
[37:37] And that's trim trees, or have an arborist look at anything older or damaged near structures
[37:42] or power lines, secure loose outdoor furniture, place sandbags when we're needed, clean gutters
[37:49] and downspelves to make sure water is directed away from the foundation of your building
[37:54] and check roof and window seals before the first storm hits. Again, it's important that everybody
[38:00] register for Alert San Diego and never drive or walk through flooded roads. I'm happy to report
[38:07] that we have a new web page on our website related to the El Nino, so all of this information and links
[38:14] to the county resources are posted on that new web page which I have on this slide.
[38:18] So I mentioned it earlier, but I wanted to provide a little bit more information on our
[38:24] sand-burning efforts because this has been talked about in the community.
[38:27] So as I said, community service in public works, we build sand-birms along the beach every
[38:32] fall to protect public access, infrastructure, and to limit coastal flooding.
[38:38] With work on this year, berms are starting in the next week, so we're already mobilizing
[38:43] and starting to lay the groundwork for the building up of these berms.
[38:48] In contacting other coastal cities, this practice is consistent with how those other beach cities utilize strategic sand berms to maintain public access, limit flooding and provide public safety.
[39:01] I also want to note that Delmar is in a very different position than during the major El Nino's that hit in the 80s and 90s, in that a lot more of our private property is protected by seawalls than historically.
[39:15] We have barricade ready access points now, and we have the benefit of the restoration of the sand to get a loan to help better manage rainfall, storm surge, and tidal flow.
[39:31] And then finally, I'm going to close with inlet dredging.
[39:34] So this directly helps with flood mitigation.
[39:37] So SE plans routine dredging at the lagoon inlet in early November.
[39:42] So we just got this information late last week, clearing that sand build up and rerouting the RIVAL channel away from the RIP revetment will help protect homes on sandy lane.
[39:53] It keeps the inlet open so it can pass storm flows instead of backing up the lagoon and into the surrounding neighborhoods.
[40:01] Just to remind everybody that effort takes about two weeks.
[40:05] SCE covers the cost under their mitigation, oops, smells is very sensitive,
[40:16] sorry.
[40:23] So yeah, it's a two-week effort and it's part of the $100 million restoration effort
[40:27] that SCE has been working on for more than 20 years.
[40:33] Their permit allows them to dredge up to 20,000 cubic yards and place it as sand nourishment
[40:38] on Del Mars beaches.
[40:40] We expect to have a finalized plan in the next week or two and then we'll be providing future updates to the council and the public when we get more clarity on their efforts but it is scheduled for early November.
[40:53] So with that and I have some photos here just to remind everybody what that operation looks like.
[40:58] So with that concludes my presentation, happy to answer any questions you might have.
[41:02] Thank you. That's a very helpful. Sarah, do we have any public comment?
[41:09] No public speakers for the item there. Okay. Any questions from our councilmembers?
[41:27] My name is Rick Cooley. I live at 1734 Ocean Front and it's been a minute since I've been
[41:33] here since the old retreat days. But thank you for having me. I came to kind of listen
[41:41] to what the city's plans were, and I appreciate his thoughts and so forth a
[41:53] little bit disappointed
[41:55] in him personally because it's what's done every year where it said we can get some free
[42:01] sandbags, you know, trim your trees, clean your gutters, but this is anything but a normal year.
[42:09] And he's right, Noah says this because I was on the webinar as well a week ago.
[42:19] They say they can't be exact, but by the time they can be exact, they tell you it's
[42:26] going to be too late to prepare.
[42:28] And so let me go a few things of what they said.
[42:38] To have an El Nino, I'm sure you can go through this as well, the temperature of the water
[42:45] There has to be above one degree Celsius, above normal, and it's usually 1 to 1.5.
[42:53] They don't call it a super El Nino, but an extreme El Nino is 1.5 to 2.
[43:00] The biggest recorded so far was 2.1 above, and that was when we had our flooding in 1982.
[43:09] They go back and they accord all the way to 1950.
[43:12] 50. They start their work and where they start saying their percentages of everything
[43:21] not until August 15, because that's when they feel reasonably sure, not, I shouldn't
[43:27] say that, they feel reasonable that they can put it out.
[43:33] This, I think it was August 20,
[43:36] if their water temperature was 4 degrees Celsius above, that's double the worst ever.
[43:45] So these are a few things they have said.
[43:49] Noah
[43:55] has recently stated that there is a 90% chance for an egg, they call it extreme,
[44:02] not super, extreme elinium in San Diego and a 70% chance that will be the strongest in
[44:11] in history of San Diego, 70% and that's since 1950.
[44:22] That San Diego will receive double their amount of rainfall,
[44:26] major ocean swells and large surf,
[44:30] historic flooding from the ocean, not the rain.
[44:37] There's another big organization that does it too,
[44:40] which is the world, a meteorological organization
[44:44] and they said it's going to be historic flooding this year as well for San Diego.
[44:53] So I kind of ask everybody to get in front of this thing because if we don't get in front of it,
[45:00] It's going to be too late. We can't burn enough or do enough, and as everybody saw, what happened to Long Beach, San Pedro today, or yesterday. And we're not even in it, or minor in it at this point in time.
[45:18] I live in the beach colony. Mayor, please excuse the adoption of the speakers exhausted their time. You can have another minute. Okay. Thank you.
[45:31] In the beach colony.
[45:32] as you all are aware there is approximately 400 homes and almost all of
[45:40] those are below four to five feet below the houses on the beach. If the
[45:46] water breaches some of those houses not just the ends of the city streets which
[45:51] we do all the time and you do in front of the park which got a cliff but they go
[45:56] through any of those homes you're gonna have 350 homes four or five feet
[46:02] under water and so what I'm saying is we know all this it's leading us to the
[46:09] to the conclusion that we need to be doing a lot more than giving somebody 10
[46:14] sandbags for free because that isn't going to do it and even I talked to the
[46:20] city of Long Beach with my friend is the city manager there he told me two
[46:26] days ago that they were going to increase their berm from eight feet to 18
[46:31] 18 feet, but they're late, storm hit, took those houses, and they don't have 400 houses behind them, that are three or four, five feet lower.
[46:43] So that's all I'm saying, we need to get ahead of it, and that might be burned the whole beach, but
[46:51] because even a four foot sea wall isn't going to do it,
[46:57] that's all, thank you so much.
[46:59] Thank you
[47:00] See I managed it would you like to make any comments or be bringing this back for any further comment is it possible to
[47:08] Look at the need to increase the plan for the berms to be yeah, I think that's what Clem was trying to explain is that
[47:16] We're closely monitoring that this whole situation and we're participating in meetings
[47:20] We're talking to our city counterparts up and down the coast and we're considering what we're doing
[47:26] And I think, yes, we're doing what we typically do, but we're increasing those efforts.
[47:31] So I don't want there to be this understanding that we're just giving out sandbags,
[47:34] and we're going to be doing the same thing we always do.
[47:37] We are being very proactive.
[47:39] We are talking to other cities.
[47:41] We're trying to figure out what we can do in addition.
[47:43] And maybe that's just increasing the size of the berms, the length of the berms.
[47:47] But this is a process that's going to be ongoing and that we're working on with our lifeguard team
[47:52] in conjunction with other cities and with the County Office of Emergency Services.
[47:57] Everybody's got eyes on this and is working collaboratively to be prepared.
[48:00] So I want to make sure that everybody understands that.
[48:03] And I think also the other dynamic is what the city can do.
[48:08] And there's also the private property dynamic.
[48:11] I mean, I think everybody needs to be thinking about,
[48:13] Clem covered this in his presentation.
[48:16] But there are things as private property owners that everybody should be looking at their property and
[48:21] and thinking about what they can do to address
[48:24] any vulnerabilities that they have to flooding
[48:26] and that does include the beachfront property owners.
[48:29] We have to work in partnership, okay.
[48:31] Well, you then allow us to bring in sand
[48:34] in front of our houses, if you don't.
[48:37] That's not a question for me.
[48:39] That's actually a coastal commission question.
[48:40] I mean, you guys have done it in the past.
[48:44] Yeah, I know your concerns and I appreciate them.
[48:46] I appreciate it.
[48:47] I think what?
[48:50] It's still not giving me a lot of comfort saying that we're going to look at this and
[48:57] do this, because then we're going to be looking at this in October or early November.
[49:02] It's going to be too late.
[49:03] Well, so I don't think that's necessarily true.
[49:05] I think the staff understands the urgency and things that you said about increasing
[49:09] the length and the height of the berm, I think that's something that Klem said that
[49:13] they're looking at right now, which could be a great remedy.
[49:16] the, for me, knowing that the lagoon's going to be dredged is, and we'll have that additional
[49:21] thing as well.
[49:22] And I'll be able to contact you to find out what this process is, or when you're, is
[49:27] that okay?
[49:28] And I'll make sure you have his contact information.
[49:30] Okay.
[49:30] Yes, absolutely.
[49:31] Well, not only is our Assistant City Manager, it's going to be the primary lead on this.
[49:36] It'll be available to answer questions.
[49:38] We'll be updating our website as we have new information available.
[49:42] And I absolutely don't want you to think that we're like waiting and watching.
[49:45] We have plans in place. We are going to be ready. It's just a matter of understanding what we need to do as we're doing it.
[49:52] So the example you gave earlier, if we were planning for four foot berms and we find out actually they need to be higher than we're going to be modifying our plan to have higher berms.
[50:02] So as we have information, that's going to inform how we're responding to this.
[50:06] Having that additional dredge stand on our beach is going to be really helpful because that'll be available for additional berms.
[50:11] When will that be addressed?
[50:13] I think they're saying that they're going to do that in the fall, most likely November.
[50:17] The first two weeks of November is what we've been told, but we're waiting to get their formal plan.
[50:24] And Ashley, I think, and claim to maybe weekly updates in our Delmar Weekly.
[50:30] If you don't get the Delmar Weekly, I suggest you subscribe to that, would be great as well.
[50:36] Great.
[50:37] And then just something to think about later, but not much later.
[50:41] is that there are people in town due to circumstances that might not be able to do some of the things around their property and it would be nice if we could see if other people would be willing to volunteer to do some things for residents.
[50:56] Something to work on, but I just want to put it out there and then maybe Klem we can talk about something like that.
[51:03] Okay, great. Thank you for that great presentation, Klem.
[51:07] Okay, so now do you have a question?
[51:13] Are you moving on, or go ahead and redo a question, okay.
[51:17] So I had a couple of questions, so how are you going about networking with the other
[51:26] cities to know what they're doing and then thinking through adapting them for Dalmar?
[51:31] So our lifeguard chief is part of a network of lifeguard chiefs up and down the coast and
[51:36] And they share information and meet regularly.
[51:38] And as Clem mentioned, a lot of the activities that are going to happen for storm prep are
[51:42] going to be happening between community services and public works.
[51:46] So we're in very close communication with our coastal city partners.
[51:51] Next question is, is there any possibility of working with SoCal Edison to try to do the
[51:59] dredging and the berm building earlier?
[52:01] And the reason I ask is on Sunday at about 6.30 in the evening, driving back from UCSD
[52:08] campus, the penuscitas lagoon was full, you know, it was like a bathtub full to the brim.
[52:18] And it was about the height of the six foot above zero high tide.
[52:23] And the water was still pushing in, you know, that was the Marie Wins, the Hurricane Marie
[52:28] and the high tide, and the lagoon mouth was completely open. It was just water and water and more water, so it may be that dredging sooner rather than later is going to be really important.
[52:41] Yeah, and you may recall, we've reported on, we've been asking SoCal Edison to dredge because we've had a high accumulation of sand in the lagoon for over a year.
[52:50] So that is not, we've been asking them to do dredging. We've been asking them, we've been doing outreach specifically to do their normal dredging early.
[52:58] right now they haven't committed to an earlier time.
[53:01] They're committing to November.
[53:02] We are trying to schedule a meeting with them
[53:04] to try to really push for an earlier dredging,
[53:07] so that's something that we're working on.
[53:08] Can we also push for more than their normal tons of sand
[53:13] of dredging, given that so much more sand
[53:15] has come from the Salana Beach replenishment
[53:18] into the lagoon, then we might be able to get closer
[53:21] to the 18-foot berms.
[53:22] Yeah, that's one of the challenges
[53:23] that we've also been working on.
[53:25] Is that the permit only allows
[53:27] for 20,000 cubic yards and so we've been working collaboratively at with our state and our federal
[53:34] representatives to try to shake some of that loose to be able to to judge a larger volume of sand
[53:39] and we're still working on that. We haven't been getting much headway. I know I've been reporting
[53:43] on that to the council pretty regularly so unfortunately that's the max that we have a permit to
[53:49] to drive at this point.
[53:51] And last question, are we gonna be making burns
[53:53] all the way to the lifeguard station?
[53:56] So from the north all the way south to the lifeguard station,
[53:59] so that places like 17th homes in the 1700 block
[54:03] will be protected.
[54:05] Yeah, that's what we're evaluating now.
[54:07] We're gonna be putting burns in our normal locations
[54:09] and then we're also looking for opportunities
[54:10] to expand beyond that.
[54:13] So my question.
[54:14] Yeah, do you think it would be helpful
[54:16] if we could do a resolution to put the Army Corps
[54:19] and CEE on notice that if they don't address this and there's harm caused by it, we've
[54:26] been asking the Corps of Engineers for two years now to get that sand that they dug up
[54:31] and gave to Solana Beach out of our lagoon.
[54:34] So you're aware, we've had our congressman involved in it, we've asked Adam Schiff's office
[54:38] to help us.
[54:39] The Army Corps of Engineers, which is under the president, isn't helping us.
[54:45] And it's one of the most frustrating things I can imagine.
[54:47] and then we have the Coastal Commission,
[54:48] they'll get me started on all the coordination there.
[54:52] But at some point, I'd like to take a flyer
[54:54] and say to these folks, if you don't get this done,
[54:57] and people get flooded, because all of us do know
[54:59] that those houses are below the sea wall,
[55:03] someone's gonna have to pay for it.
[55:04] And if that means, even if we have the ability
[55:07] to do some of it ourselves and then backfill it to them,
[55:10] I don't think we can wait until November.
[55:13] I mean, this storm's coming in October, is what they say.
[55:16] Yeah.
[55:16] So how do we, how can we, if the council would like to do a proclamation or like a state
[55:27] of emergency, I don't know, there's probably certain criteria we have to meet.
[55:31] But whatever, we can look at it with the city attorney's office and we can bring something
[55:35] back at the next meeting.
[55:36] I would highly recommend that and I think you could do that from everybody.
[55:39] I think the state of emergency is nice from that.
[55:41] Yeah.
[55:41] Yeah, and with what I saw on Sunday with my own eyes and the pen is getting the emergency is here now.
[55:50] Let's start on global war here.
[55:55] All right, anything else?
[55:59] Climb, thank you for the presentation.
[56:02] All right, so now we're going to go back in order and we're going to take.
[56:10] Yeah, we're going to take presentation to Delmar Fire Department and overview response.
[56:15] Once, time and performance by our new Chief Brett Davidson.
[56:20] We welcome you to the, to the Dias for presentation.
[56:26] It's nice to have you.
[56:32] You want me to over there?
[56:34] That's fine.
[56:35] Then everybody can see you.
[57:01] And I appreciate one that's an honor to get to be your fire chief for sure.
[57:06] And you know, it's always an honor to get to come to council and do what I can to educate the community.
[57:14] community as well as the council on kind of what the fire service does and I'm excited
[57:19] to be able to do that.
[57:20] It's one of my favorite topics to talk about so out further ado, I'll go ahead and
[57:25] start it up.
[57:26] So I wanted to take a look at the performance review of the times that we had last year in
[57:32] 2025 and then take a look a little bit of an overview of the fire department itself.
[57:37] So you have one fire station in Delmar that's at the fairgrounds, it's been located there since the early 50s.
[57:46] So believe it or not the station was actually the dormitory in the day room was actually built for camp colon up at the military artillery camp at Tory pines.
[57:57] And then they were built in 1941 and moved down there in 1945 after the World War II.
[58:03] So those are two 85-year-old wood frame buildings that are put together, so they have a few maintenance issues after 85 years that we're dealing with.
[58:12] You have nine response personnel, so every duty those nine people cover all three shifts.
[58:20] So you have one captain, one engineer, and one firefighter on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week out of that fire station covering those three shifts.
[58:28] The geographic area is 2.2 miles, as you guys know, of Dilmar and 3900 residents.
[58:35] And then each fire station really covers about five square miles because we have automatic
[58:41] aid agreements.
[58:41] And those automatic aid agreements mean that most citizens don't care what emblem is on
[58:46] the door.
[58:46] But when you call 911, you expect the same thing from the American fire service.
[58:51] You want us to respond quickly.
[58:53] You want us to be efficient, handle the problem, and be nice and professional.
[58:56] So we have a boundary drop to where the closest engine responds regardless of jurisdiction to the call
[59:03] So we service about five square miles and then the city of Delmar responds to
[59:10] 1685 calls per year
[59:13] Out of that in 2025 58% are medical emergencies and really that's kind of a hidden number because we break out traffic accidents
[59:21] which are also medical emergencies.
[59:24] So another 17% added onto that for traffic accidents.
[59:27] 5.28 are fire-related.
[59:30] Seven, well, here's six, six via claxons out of 17,
[59:35] but fire alarms and then hazmat and then 11% other.
[59:39] So that's kind of the call breakdown.
[59:43] When we look at that, Delmar provides automatic aid
[59:46] to the city of San Diego primarily.
[59:49] to Solano Beach, actually primarily to Solano Beach, and then San Diego.
[59:55] Incinitas, Rancho Santa Fe, and then Mutual Aid is provided throughout the county.
[1:00:00] Do automatic aid where the engines are closest, so it goes, but mutually, we all help each other in the fire service, so if there's a structure fire in San Diego, or there's a structure fire in Incinitas, the closest engines are going to respond to take care of that. And Delmar may be one of the closest engines when we're bringing, so typically for a structure fire, we're bringing four engines, a truck company, a battalion chief and an ambulance to that incident. And we want them to get there as quickly as possible.
[1:00:29] because response times matter.
[1:00:32] So in Delmar, Delmar provided 8, 743 times outside of Delmar,
[1:00:37] and we received 240 times aid back into Delmar.
[1:00:43] So it is a little op-sided.
[1:00:44] We give twice as much as we receive.
[1:00:46] But when it comes to, rather, it's a brush fire, a structure fire,
[1:00:50] we will pull multiple engines into the city of Delmar
[1:00:53] to assist us when we need multiple engines, which is nice.
[1:00:57] And then the majority of those are Salonabeech received 407.
[1:01:02] Part of that is that there's the north side of Via De La Valle and
[1:01:05] there is a convalescent home over there is in the city of Salonabeech.
[1:01:09] That's a high frequency call volume and the Del Mar station is closer in proximity.
[1:01:15] So it picks up those calls naturally because they're the closest unit.
[1:01:19] And then so Salonabeech 407 times and then Salonabeech
[1:01:25] Solano Beach into Delmar was 190 times in 2025.
[1:01:30] So our joint management structure,
[1:01:32] Delmar shares as the management team
[1:01:35] and you guys are aware of that.
[1:01:37] And that includes myself as a fire chief,
[1:01:41] two battalion chiefs, you got Ryan and Eric
[1:01:43] in the back of the room.
[1:01:45] And we have a fire marshal meaty
[1:01:47] and I gotta say you guys introduced meaty earlier,
[1:01:50] but I'm telling you,
[1:01:51] she is one of the best fire marshals in the county.
[1:01:53] We really looked out she understands community risk she understands the code and she is very engaging with the community
[1:02:00] So I'm I'm really excited
[1:02:03] To fire prevention specialists so and then one management analyst
[1:02:08] We just offered a job to and last week and I'm excited that it's a Delmar employee that'll get a promotion into that position
[1:02:15] So really excited about that and then the management team responsible for day-to-day operations
[1:02:21] So we provide a lot of training just last year and are actually just last month because I didn't have the totals for last year when it came to training.
[1:02:32] But I looked at the monthly totals because the crews turn in a monthly report.
[1:02:37] Just last month the nine firefighters that work out of Delmar did 429 hours of training.
[1:02:43] We require a minimum of two hours a day and they far exceed that for their training time.
[1:02:48] They did four inspections, two public events, and they ran 162 emergency incidents.
[1:02:55] With meeting in the fire prevention staff, they did last month, 70 annual inspections, two vegetation management, two construction reviews, two plan reviews, with a total of 76 inspections for the city of Delmar.
[1:03:11] and the media also went to five community outreach meetings as well as meeting with the
[1:03:18] rotary and different groups here within Dumar, which is great,
[1:03:25] all right.
[1:03:26] So fire prevention activities are plan reviews inspections, community risk, and fire investigations,
[1:03:31] encouraging homeowners to become fire wise communities.
[1:03:34] That's what we're really hoping to do here in the future.
[1:03:38] So fire station proximity does matter.
[1:03:41] We talked about it was established the fire department was established in 1957 it was established earlier by Cal fire at the fairgrounds with a brush rig and the brush rig was not adequate.
[1:03:52] We had some major fires and a brush rig couldn't do the fire flow.
[1:03:56] So the city of Delmar or well the Delmar area not city at the time decided to have their own fire station and put their own fire engine and the station there.
[1:04:06] So we talked about it being built in 1941 and moved in 1945.
[1:04:12] The next closest station is Salana Beach.
[1:04:14] It's 2.7 miles away.
[1:04:16] And then San Diego City Station 24 in Delmar Heights is 4.5 miles away.
[1:04:22] And then having a station in Delmar is critical to ensuring our community needs.
[1:04:26] So we want to respond quickly.
[1:04:28] Time does matter as quickly as we can get there, the better it is for us.
[1:04:34] And to explain that, the NFPA has studied fires and says it fires doubles in size every 30 to 60 seconds.
[1:04:42] And you guys know just this last week we had a fire at the Delmar seaside grill.
[1:04:49] And having a station, that fire was contained underneath the car port.
[1:04:56] And the Delmar engine from the time it dispatched the time they arrived at scene was five minutes.
[1:05:00] if we were to wait for an engine from another city,
[1:05:04] even another three or four minutes,
[1:05:06] that fire would have tripled in size.
[1:05:09] And now you're talking about involving
[1:05:11] the first story and the second story.
[1:05:13] The way it was is these guys were able to get there quickly,
[1:05:16] put hose lines on it, and keep it to an exterior fire
[1:05:19] without extending inside.
[1:05:21] The difference that means to us as the city
[1:05:24] is that typically when a commercial occupancy burns down,
[1:05:31] the city.
[1:05:32] We had a windies fire in Poway on Poway road.
[1:05:35] It burned down and windies collected the insurance money and said, you know what?
[1:05:40] We don't like where it's at in Poway.
[1:05:41] We're going to go to Forest Ranch, where Forest Ranch is building and they move the
[1:05:45] windies over there and the city's lost the sales tax revenue.
[1:05:49] So the idea is a fire department.
[1:05:52] We want to keep the fire to the room of origin and keep it from burning less than 30% of
[1:05:57] the structure.
[1:05:57] here. Once the insurance company sees more than 30% of the structure burned, it's a total
[1:06:02] loss and the whole building has to be torn down. It's expensive and it takes a year to year
[1:06:07] and a half to rebuild that building to get tax revenue back into the city. The way it is
[1:06:12] is if we can get to that fire and put it out, we had to pull the meter. But this business
[1:06:17] will most likely make the repairs clean up and be back in business in 30 to 90 days and
[1:06:25] they'll be producing sales tax back for the city.
[1:06:27] So we're really protecting the sales tax infrastructure
[1:06:29] when we protect commercial occupancies.
[1:06:32] So that's really important.
[1:06:34] Our ISO rating, ISO is our insurance rating system.
[1:06:38] That dictates what our insurance policies are.
[1:06:41] That rating is one which is the very best
[1:06:44] and 10 which is uninsurable.
[1:06:46] Nine is insurable at the highest rate.
[1:06:49] I'm proud to say that Del Mars ISO rating of two.
[1:06:52] So we have a good ISO rating.
[1:06:56] Now if we drop that ISO rating or you move the fire station, our ISO rating could change drastically.
[1:07:04] And if it does, it could easily change our insurance rates by 30 to 50%.
[1:07:09] Now I did a look online and I don't think it was adequate.
[1:07:12] I don't know how accurate it was, but it looked like the average homeowner pays $3,000 a year in homeowners insurance.
[1:07:19] I think that's grossly under reported.
[1:07:21] I don't know how many people are on the fair plan, but I would imagine most people's insurance are probably
[1:07:26] $4,000 or $5,000 a year to ensure they're home.
[1:07:30] If it raises 30 to 50%, that's a lot of.
[1:07:34] And I also looked, we looked and calculated on wine.
[1:07:38] Our per capita costs for the fire department are about $1,000 per citizen.
[1:07:44] And when you look at region wide, that's pretty high.
[1:07:46] But it's because our population is pretty low.
[1:07:49] We have 3,900 residents, and that's a lot, but when you look at the budget that we a lot for the fire department, it consumes about,
[1:08:01] I think well we updated the number. It's a little less than 19% of the general fund budget.
[1:08:07] When you compare that to other regional cities, most regional cities in the northern coastal area, about 25% of the general fund goes towards the fire department.
[1:08:16] So I realize that we are expensive and adding at your own management team has been expensive.
[1:08:23] But I can tell you that Ashley combining those resources with Solano Beach has reduced those cost and
[1:08:31] you're still well under the minimum of what normal cities pay for their fire protection out of their
[1:08:36] general fund. So that's a very good cost savings and again it's good to collaborate with your
[1:08:43] for neighbors and to reduce the cost of providing the service.
[1:08:47] So fire damage that we talked about over 30% and then response times also affect
[1:08:53] conflagation risk.
[1:08:54] So when we're talking about wild and fire and we talk about how the fire enters the community,
[1:09:00] we want to make sure that we get enough fire engines very quick.
[1:09:04] The Cal fire response for wild and fires in state wide is to try to keep fires less than
[1:09:11] 10 acres 90% of the time.
[1:09:12] and that's how they distribute their aircraft.
[1:09:15] In the cities, we try to keep our fires less than three acres, 90% of the time, and by doing
[1:09:21] that, we need to get resources on it very quickly to keep the fire small.
[1:09:26] The larger the fire grows, the more resources we need, and then we're running behind.
[1:09:30] So what we found for configuration risks from the palisades and the eaten fire is that if
[1:09:35] we get more than 10 homes that are on fire, it will exceed any water system that's engineered
[1:09:40] for the city. And we will end up with a
[1:09:43] conflagration where houses are burning,
[1:09:45] house to house until the wind driven
[1:09:47] fire stops. So until the wind stops,
[1:09:49] we're going to be stuck. So the
[1:09:51] importance of response times and getting
[1:09:52] our units in. And that's why the
[1:09:55] importance of emergency access on a
[1:09:58] lot of those roads, not just for
[1:09:59] evacuation, but for apparatus to get
[1:10:01] in quickly to be able to access water,
[1:10:04] to be able to access the canyon
[1:10:06] rims and to be able to protect the
[1:10:07] homes is really important. And
[1:10:10] and media's help, and doing fire-wise communities at home-hardening and engineering that we need to do with the homes to bring the pre-existing, non-conforming homes into the new building standards so that we can protect them.
[1:10:23] If we can encourage homeowners to do that and do their defensible space, we can make grant opportunities available to them.
[1:10:30] That's something we're very much interested in doing, but it's kind of a multifaceted approach in order to protect the community from wildfire.
[1:10:37] So part of its response, a lot of its prevention and engineering.
[1:10:44] And then medical aids.
[1:10:45] We didn't talk about medical aids because it's not part of the insurance service.
[1:10:49] But it is what we go on most of the time as medical calls.
[1:10:53] And we have paramedics on each one of the engines.
[1:10:56] We know cardiac savory, it's decreased 10% for every minute without CPR.
[1:11:00] So that means that the average citizen, if we don't do CPR intervention,
[1:11:05] every minute counts, it's 10% less.
[1:11:07] That's why our dispatchers are providing CPR instructions.
[1:11:11] That's why we want you guys to learn sidewalk CPR.
[1:11:14] You don't have to be certified in CPR to help somebody and save a life.
[1:11:18] That's why Pulse Point is really important.
[1:11:20] But if we can get bystandered CPR on board and
[1:11:23] we can get our guys there quickly to start CPR and continue ALS care.
[1:11:28] We'll have a much better chance at the save rate, so that's really important.
[1:11:32] The military did a study on trauma, the trauma casualty care.
[1:11:37] And they looked at trauma in the military, and it translates loosely to our civilian lifestyle.
[1:11:42] But what it does say is that if we have a traumatic accident, the people that are going to die from fatal injuries are all probably going to die within the first 10 minutes.
[1:11:53] And there will be nothing we can do about that because of the nature of the injury and how catastrophic it is.
[1:11:58] But what we found is that 85 to 90% of the people that don't die in the 10 minutes and
[1:12:05] and don't have a catastrophic injury,
[1:12:07] we can save them if we give them medical intervention
[1:12:09] within 10 minutes.
[1:12:11] So our goal is to get to every vehicle accident,
[1:12:14] to every emergency in your home, if it's traumatic,
[1:12:17] or it's CPR as fast as we can
[1:12:19] because literally minutes do count
[1:12:21] when it comes to emergency response.
[1:12:26] There are two standards out there.
[1:12:28] NFPA 1710 is a measuring stick
[1:12:30] that a lot of fire departments use
[1:12:32] to kind of measure how fast we should be.
[1:12:35] And then there's the accreditation model
[1:12:36] that really doesn't set a standard.
[1:12:38] They just said your community needs to look at the standard,
[1:12:40] and you need to look for continuous improvement.
[1:12:43] So when we look at response calls,
[1:12:45] the federal standard is 60 seconds for 911 call processing.
[1:12:49] From the time you call 911,
[1:12:51] to the time there's an engine dispatch,
[1:12:54] should be less than a minute is what we would like.
[1:12:57] Then 80 seconds, so that gives,
[1:12:59] the turnout time is the amount of time
[1:13:01] it takes for the folks at the fire station
[1:13:03] to get from wherever that and the fire station
[1:13:05] on the rig and out the door. And we tell our folks we don't expect you to run to the rig,
[1:13:10] but we want you to move with a purpose as an emergency. Get to that rig as fast as we can
[1:13:14] and out the door because that's all we can control is how fast we get to that rig.
[1:13:19] And then we have our travel time. We want to make sure that we space out engines close enough
[1:13:24] to have an adequate travel time. So really the first out total response time 90%
[1:13:31] and tile should equal approximately six minutes and 20 seconds with turnout time and travel
[1:13:36] five minutes and 20 seconds.
[1:13:39] So when we look at that, now one other thing that we need to look out for structure
[1:13:43] fires is it for a medical aid vehicle accident, one engine is adequate, but when we get a structure
[1:13:51] fire and there's possible lives at risk or there's a large amount of property, NFPA says
[1:13:56] the most effective firefighting force is if we can get 16 crew members fully assembled.
[1:14:02] I'm proud to say that at the Del Marcy side grill the other day the first engine got there within
[1:14:09] five minutes but the entire 16 person crew got there within 11 minutes. So that means we had two
[1:14:16] hose lines on the fire. We had a hose line from the front door inside then we always do a primary
[1:14:21] and a secondary search because even in commercial property many times we have people living inside
[1:14:26] the property even though it's not zoned for that. So we always check for victims. We always do
[1:14:31] a primary in a secondary search. The truck got on the roof to make sure that we didn't have
[1:14:36] fire on the roof. And that is our typical response to a structure fire. So we want to get all those
[1:14:41] units there. And our battalion chiefs come in and they coordinate all the engine companies and
[1:14:47] they coordinate the truck company. And then we have the ambulance there in case we have any burn
[1:14:50] and victims. So that's what we need to measure.
[1:14:55] And we don't want to measure averages, averages are not great.
[1:15:00] Because that's only 50 percent. What we like is a 90th percentile. Because when you look at 90 percentile, you take out the really quick responses. And you take out the really long ones that are due to some unusual air. So 90 percentile is what we want to measure our performance on. Because that means that we're meeting your needs 90 percent of the time and that is adequate. Here's our fire hazard. Well, actually, this isn't our fire hazard severity zone. This is our drive time maps for Delmar and Salona Beach.
[1:15:28] each. So this shows you where each of the fire stations is. And remember that these are
[1:15:32] just drive time maps. They're not total response time. So when we're looking at this, the
[1:15:38] one minute green, that's excellent, right? We can get the minute to dispatch the minute
[1:15:45] and 20 seconds out the door. And now within two and a half minutes, we can get it seen on
[1:15:50] everything that's green. That's great. The yellow is good too. That's three minutes plus
[1:15:55] the minute and a half, well the two minutes and 20 seconds, so we're still under five minutes,
[1:16:03] right? Well, just over five minutes to get there. So we're meeting the standard. Orange,
[1:16:08] not so great for a first in unit, but acceptable if you have one unit that's out of place,
[1:16:13] at least getting there. So if Delmar is already on a call, you can see that Solana Beach can come in
[1:16:18] and cover the orange. It's not the greatest, but it's not a huge delay. The red, now we
[1:16:25] We start to get into areas that if we're covering that for automatic
[1:16:28] aid or mutual aid, that's okay.
[1:16:30] But you can see that there's good coverage between the two stations,
[1:16:34] but the green and the yellow are really the benchmark that we want to maintain.
[1:16:41] When we look at the comparison, Delmar's 2025 statistics are with the dispatch
[1:16:47] center is on average of two minutes and one second.
[1:16:51] So we want to work with Northcom, but remember they're medical dispatching,
[1:16:55] So there's a lot of triage questions during COVID it was 30 seconds higher because of the COVID questions that were mandated to be to be asked.
[1:17:03] So those have decreased. So we want to get the dispatch center faster.
[1:17:08] Our average response time out the door is a minute 45 seconds and that accounts for daytime and nighttime.
[1:17:14] So it takes a little longer at night to get out, but we would average we don't change the standard.
[1:17:19] It's a standard for both, so but they get mixed in there.
[1:17:22] And then total response time is 7 minutes and 49 seconds.
[1:17:27] So our 90% tile and getting to all emergencies in the city of Del Mar was 7 minutes and 49 seconds.
[1:17:34] That's a really good benchmark to go off of.
[1:17:37] So that's really good for the area.
[1:17:41] And then we haven't been measuring the 16 person crew fully assembled for structure fire.
[1:17:46] So in the future, I will be reporting on that data because that is an important benchmark.
[1:17:50] mark that we need to make sure that we look at.
[1:17:54] And then changes for Delmar severity zones.
[1:17:56] You guys know that the 2025 Delmar severity zone went from 383 parcels to over 853 parcels.
[1:18:05] So a massive area got expanded in Delmar for the hazard severity zones.
[1:18:10] So that total went up to 1,504 lots, resulting in 853 annual inspections by fire prevention
[1:18:18] and staff, and that was compared to 383 just the year before.
[1:18:24] So really, they've almost tripled and a little less than tripled.
[1:18:29] Now, Delmar, we have contacted OES, and we are taking delivery of an OES Type 6 brush rig.
[1:18:35] So the state is allowing us to gift that to us so that we can staff it for mutual aid responses.
[1:18:43] But we can also use it inside the city.
[1:18:45] We don't have a brush rig between Solana Beach and Delmar.
[1:18:48] This rig is a smaller brush rig that can get into the estuaries and into the access roads.
[1:18:54] So now we'll be able to have access in and around the estuaries if we get a fire on the outskirts of that.
[1:19:00] We're really vulnerable with the freeway there.
[1:19:03] When you look at fires throughout the United States, 20% are vehicle fires.
[1:19:07] We are very susceptible with the freeway.
[1:19:09] And if we have east winds, we can have a fire at our doorstep very, very quickly.
[1:19:13] So we want to be able to have a rig that we can get in and out and try to attack that fire right away and get as many units there as we can
[1:19:22] Let's see
[1:19:23] Staff is expected to bring a zone zero ordinance to the city council in
[1:19:27] 2027
[1:19:28] Media and I were able to pass the first zones or zero ordinance by local agency in the state of California and Vista
[1:19:35] We would like to take our lessons that we learned from there and improve upon that and pass it a good ordinance here
[1:19:42] But we also don't want to make poor people poor.
[1:19:46] We also want to help people gain voluntary compliance.
[1:19:49] So we want to work with the garden clubs.
[1:19:51] We want to work with the grant people so that we can have,
[1:19:55] we can identify those that are elderly, disabled,
[1:19:58] and financially disadvantaged.
[1:20:00] And we can try to get help for them.
[1:20:02] I'd like to work with the garden club,
[1:20:04] see if we can't get their 501 C3 to get grant money,
[1:20:07] and see if we can't get a whole array.
[1:20:09] because the hardest part of zone zero is underwriters laboratory has said that it works, but people are emotionally attached to the vegetation right around your home because you want your home to look great.
[1:20:20] So I'd like to meet as planning on working with a garden club and trying to come up with multiple different examples of things that are aesthetically pleasing but are also fire safe and will meet the zone zero requirements.
[1:20:32] So we're looking forward to working with the community groups.
[1:20:34] One really exciting thing about Delmar is you have so many community members that are so active.
[1:20:42] I look at Carol's out there and Carol, besides being part of CERT and part of Rotary and part of the Garden Club.
[1:20:49] And I think she's involved in every club that's out there and I see her and she's very proactive, right?
[1:20:55] So we have a lot of community members that really care about the community and really care about the people in the community.
[1:21:01] I mean, Ashley at the senior group can identify a lot of people that may have that need.
[1:21:08] So we want to work with those groups and do that.
[1:21:12] Here's the High Hazard Severity Zone, we talked about that and then I want to really end
[1:21:18] it with any questions that you might have that I can answer, sorry, I didn't mean to go so long.
[1:21:31] We do. We have some in-person speakers, and I'll note for anyone on Zoom that wishes to comment on this item, they can use the raised hand icon or dial star 9 to indicate that they'd like to speak. The first speaker is Carol Carage, followed by Jess Grohl.
[1:21:56] Carol Carage, from El Amigo. I'm here as a garden club member, and I'm also on the board of the newly established FAR SAVE Council.
[1:22:07] And on behalf of our new organization, I want to convey how thrilled we are to be collaborating
[1:22:14] with the Fire Chief Davison, Fire Marshal Meldenado and our Fire Department.
[1:22:20] They've shown a high level of interest in developing our citizen-led efforts and it's
[1:22:25] clear that they are committed to a high level of community engagement in Delmar.
[1:22:30] We're looking forward to working closely with the Fire Chief Davison and his team.
[1:22:36] and the residents of Delmar to do all we can to create a more fire resilient community
[1:22:42] as we move forward and launch our new website and begin our outreach efforts.
[1:22:48] I hope we can return to the council to provide updates when still in planning right now.
[1:22:54] Lastly, we want to stress how important it is for the fire safety.
[1:23:00] It is for fire safety that our fire department continues to have physical presence
[1:23:05] in Delmar. I hope the council agrees with the Fire Chief, Davidson, and our Fire Safe Council
[1:23:12] that presents this essential to our community safety.
[1:23:18] Actually, I also want to mention that I think there was a little mistake. I wanted to give
[1:23:25] a note to a community announcement. And I just want to say really briefly that we're having
[1:23:34] our next climate event, and four weeks from tomorrow night, and it's going to be focused
[1:23:40] on fire issues.
[1:23:42] And, Jim Davidson is going to be speaking along with a scientist from UCSD on smoke
[1:23:53] inhalation, and also it's going to be moderated by one of our firemen, Joel Carrington.
[1:23:59] So we're getting the invitations out tonight or tomorrow morning where you can register.
[1:24:04] just wanted you to know. Thanks a lot.
[1:24:07] Thank you, Carol.
[1:24:09] What is the date and time of that event?
[1:24:17] I'd say next speaker.
[1:24:18] Next speaker is Jasperiel, followed by Betty Wheeler.
[1:24:21] He'll be reading some comments on behalf of another member.
[1:24:24] Oh, thank you.
[1:24:27] Mayor Martinez and council members.
[1:24:29] Thank you for inviting Chief Davidson for his presentation today.
[1:24:34] On exactly what our fire department does for residents and businesses.
[1:24:39] We need to understand the important role our firefighters play in our community.
[1:24:44] I know firsthand how important medical response times are.
[1:24:49] In 2002, my father, who was visiting from Canada, collapsed one evening out of the blue
[1:24:55] and it was the fast response time from our paramedics that made the difference in his living versus dying.
[1:25:02] Not only was I grateful then for our paramedics, but when I heard our council members suggest
[1:25:08] We closed our fire department in Delmar for me. That was a pivotal moment that I decided to run for one of the two open seats on Delmar council in this year's election
[1:25:19] I do realize that we're all very busy in our lives and it's really only when a person experiences a medical emergency
[1:25:27] Will that person realize that every second matters at that moment nothing matters more than life
[1:25:35] I'll always support having our Delmar Fire Station in Delmar so that our firefighters and
[1:25:42] paramedics are nearby when seconds matter, whether it's a fire or a medical emergency.
[1:25:48] Thank you.
[1:25:50] Thank you, Jazz.
[1:25:51] Next speaker.
[1:25:53] Betty Wheeler is going to provide comments on behalf of Milan Giddleston.
[1:25:57] Okay.
[1:25:58] Betty Wheeler's HVU Avenue and Milan Giddleston was here all evening.
[1:26:03] She just had to leave.
[1:26:04] but her name is Maylon or Alberta Gittleson.
[1:26:09] She's a 93-year-old resident of Delmar and she wanted me to read her statement.
[1:26:14] Good evening. My name is Alberta Gittleson. I'm a Delmar resident.
[1:26:18] I'm here because I strongly support keeping and fully supporting our Delmar fire department.
[1:26:24] At my age, quick, local emergency response isn't abstract. It means safety.
[1:26:31] very recently I needed help and our fire department came to my rescue.
[1:26:36] They were calm, quick, and kind.
[1:26:40] That experience showed me personally how vital it is to have them right here in Delmar.
[1:26:46] Please continue to fully fund and support our Delmar Fire Department.
[1:26:50] It is an essential service for me, for my neighbors, and for everyone who lives in our community.
[1:26:56] Thank you.
[1:26:57] Thank you, Betty.
[1:26:58] Anyone else?
[1:26:59] Next speaker is Philip Posner.
[1:27:13] Philip Posner, Rimini Road, and Delmar, and I'm not expecting answers to questions tonight.
[1:27:23] I'd just like to throw out a lot of questions that should be answered in or I feel should
[1:27:29] be answered in determining whether there should be or shouldn't be a fire department continuation
[1:27:35] in Delmar.
[1:27:36] are. One, how much would the city save annually if there was no fire department? What would
[1:27:45] that savings be used for? Will the savings be for a better use for the city? Has Salana
[1:27:53] Beach agreed to provide services to the city? Fire services, paramedic services, ambulance
[1:28:02] and services. What are the response times projected to be versus the current response times
[1:28:09] that were given tonight? Have the response times been calculated during race season,
[1:28:16] fair season, versus other times? What will happen to our fire insurance costs for commercial
[1:28:24] and residential customers as was mentioned tonight? With the new fire zone maps approved
[1:28:31] last year, Delmore nearly doubled its acreage under the very high hazard category, and
[1:28:38] insurance is going to be an issue.
[1:28:41] We're concerned with sea level rise to protect properties, as we've spoken tonight, about
[1:28:47] the upcoming storms, we're concerned with undergrounding to protect properties.
[1:28:54] Shouldn't we be just as concerned with the fire hazard danger?
[1:28:57] If there's an emergency encompassing Solana Beach and Del Mar who gets priority.
[1:29:06] What we have protection regarding annual raises to the fee charged by Solana Beach for
[1:29:12] this service.
[1:29:15] What is our fallback plan if it doesn't work out?
[1:29:20] Do we lose the fairgrounds facility for the fire department permanently?
[1:29:24] Secondly, if we lose it, where would the fire department be set up in the future?
[1:29:30] We have no land for that.
[1:29:32] How long will it take to set up a new fire department and at what cost?
[1:29:38] These, as I say, are just questions I came up with today in thinking about this and not
[1:29:46] really knowing what the presentation was going to be or what pushback there is, but I really
[1:29:54] feel that if this is going to be an agenda item, that people are going to be...
[1:30:00] Concerned with all the residents of the city as well as our city council members, this should be given a lot of thought, a lot of foresight, a lot of planning. This is very, very, very dangerous to go through with a possible no fire department and no backup plan. Thank you. Thank you for excellent questions. Sarah.
[1:30:29] No, I'm seeing no hands raised for our Zoom participants, so no additional speakers, Mayor.
[1:30:34] Okay, great.
[1:30:34] Any questions from City Council?
[1:30:38] Okay. Council Member Quirk?
[1:30:40] I have some comments and questions, and first of all, I sent some questions and writing to our city manager.
[1:30:46] And I want to thank staff and Chief Davidson for the very thoughtful response on a lot of this.
[1:30:51] I know there's going to be a second presentation later on.
[1:30:54] It's going to focus a little bit more on not today, but in the future on the finances.
[1:30:59] Is that correct?
[1:30:59] Well, it will be the cost sharing agreement.
[1:31:02] So the council has already approved a fire management structure.
[1:31:05] And so what we're working on with Salana Beach is a cost sharing agreement.
[1:31:08] Right now we're working under an interim cost sharing agreement.
[1:31:11] We are working on finalizing the terms and conditions of a long term cost sharing agreement.
[1:31:16] That's what's going to come forward.
[1:31:17] But that would be the time I think to talk about cost and staffing and those other items.
[1:31:21] Sure.
[1:31:22] And I'll just repeat a couple of my questions because I think they're useful for
[1:31:26] the public to understand.
[1:31:27] But in general, she didn't, can you talk about the risk and
[1:31:31] crash canions, maybe some of the things that we're doing, working in partnership with the city of San Diego,
[1:31:37] which is where most of the, and I apologize for being late, there was, I guess,
[1:31:40] a big ice cream truck that crashed or there was an accident on the I-5 and created all sorts of delays.
[1:31:47] So yes, yeah, thousands of gallons of ice cream on I-5.
[1:31:51] And no, it was earlier this morning, but they were still cleaning it up.
[1:31:54] I think it falls under hazardous materials under the fire department.
[1:31:58] So, but can you talk a little bit about Crescane?
[1:32:00] I think at least in my mind, that's where the biggest risk is for the city of Delmar, especially the city.
[1:32:06] I think that we need to evaluate, and what I'd like to do is have a fire study come through that not just evaluates the fire pathways into the city, but
[1:32:15] also looks at where we have a conflagration risk, where we have a concentration of homes that don't meet the standard that are vulnerable.
[1:32:23] So if we could protect those homes as a priority on the edge and we could keep homes from burning house to house downstream, I think it's important, but I would like to see us do that study so we can inform that and create a community wildfire protection plan.
[1:32:39] And then I want me to talk to the homeowners groups and groups of residents to become firewise communities because they can get a 501c3.
[1:32:48] They can apply for grant money to make those retrofits, so HOAs are available to create those as well as groups of I think as small as five or eight homes and as was eight homes and as large as like 2300 homes.
[1:33:03] So I'd like to encourage that. I think this is a group effort. We need to identify the fuel breaks that are needed around our community work with San Diego and the land that's in there so that we have a maintenance cycle that's regular.
[1:33:17] to reduce the fuel, then we need to work with the homeowners about doing the retrofits
[1:33:22] and try to get grant money and try to help those that can't afford to do those to get them retrofitted
[1:33:28] because it is a community issue, but I think it's kind of a multifaceted approach.
[1:33:33] It's identify the risk, get a maintenance plan that's on a regular basis,
[1:33:38] make sure that we have good evacuation routes that we have an adequate response,
[1:33:42] but that we also have the community engaged.
[1:33:45] We're educating them and we're encouraging them to make those retrofits and do their
[1:33:49] defensible space.
[1:33:51] So have we actually done brush clearing in Crest Canyon?
[1:33:54] Can you remind me?
[1:33:55] Is that done on a periodic basis?
[1:33:56] So San Diego has done it along the roadway.
[1:33:59] I would like to see the roadway, which roadway along the upper road of Crest Canyon as you
[1:34:06] come in.
[1:34:08] No, I'm thinking of the evacuation round on the top of Spaghetti Hill.
[1:34:12] That's Crest right at the top.
[1:34:14] So from the city of San Diego and then where it turns into Del Mar at the water tank that area has been done
[1:34:21] It looks like it needs to be redone and we need to take a look at the cyclone which is that which that is done
[1:34:27] But remember that that is habitat so we have to have permission to do it
[1:34:31] We need to have an MOU with them and we need to make sure it's done on a regular basis
[1:34:35] Deeper into the canyon where the homes are that are in Del Mar primarily down at the bottom
[1:34:40] That's a dangerous area that we need to make sure that we can clear and maintain some
[1:34:45] defensible space, but that's very important for homes.
[1:34:49] All that area is very vulnerable to the interstate and to an east wind fire coming up there
[1:34:54] and coming up the canyon.
[1:34:56] And I hike the canyon this weekend.
[1:34:58] It's beautiful there.
[1:34:59] Is there a trade-off for all of us who love the nature and the outdoors of that beautiful
[1:35:05] greenery and brush versus fire safety?
[1:35:09] I think I would rather have the greenery and the brush, maybe some limited clearing, but
[1:35:16] that's probably a discussion for the entire community, but is that the trade-off?
[1:35:20] Well, and I think that that's a common misunderstanding.
[1:35:24] Is fuel reduction is removing 50% of the fuel.
[1:35:27] It's removing all of the dead, and it's trimming the live fuel down.
[1:35:31] It's not removal.
[1:35:32] So we're not clear cutting anything.
[1:35:33] In fact, that's the last thing we want to do, because invasive grasses will take over.
[1:35:37] What we really want to do is keep the root stock and tack we want to we want to drop the height of the brush
[1:35:43] But we want to keep it there and we want to keep all the native plants there
[1:35:46] So it looks more like a shaded fuel break, but it's a fuel reduction zone
[1:35:50] So I think a lot of people think oh we're clear cutting 30 feet
[1:35:54] That is not the case because we want to prevent invasive grasses growing there
[1:35:59] We want to promote the brush and the natural speeches that are there
[1:36:03] but we just want to keep it reduced on a regular basis, so it does look nice and
[1:36:08] it's aesthetically pleasing, but that it keeps the root stock and keeps the natural
[1:36:12] vegetation growing there. Right now there's irrigation there from the
[1:36:18] sinkhole that occurred. I don't know how five, six years ago. In the future, would
[1:36:22] there ever be any sort of benefit to having more irrigation? Obviously not to grow
[1:36:28] big trees, but to keep it lush and green and maybe less dry, somehow maybe
[1:36:32] driving, dropping irrigation down from press road.
[1:36:35] Is that something that would ever be in our tool kit
[1:36:38] to use a phrase?
[1:36:39] We'd really have to evaluate that.
[1:36:41] So to promote more growth, it's to promote more danger.
[1:36:46] Obviously, green fuels are better
[1:36:48] that are irrigated, but there's that tradeoff in there.
[1:36:52] So it's definitely something we need to evaluate.
[1:36:54] And final question, I don't want to monopolize
[1:36:57] too much time on the press canyon.
[1:36:59] What's the most likely source of fire?
[1:37:00] Is it embers coming from east of the five, blowing into Crest Canyon, or somehow locally
[1:37:06] ignited, maybe by someone campaign or something, locally?
[1:37:11] It's a combination of anything.
[1:37:13] I think our freeway is the biggest danger, and obviously the biggest threat to Delmar
[1:37:18] is east winds, so when we get to San Ana winds, that's if we get an ignition on either side
[1:37:24] of the freeway, it could endanger us very quickly.
[1:37:26] I think the West winds, if we get a campfire, we get something small and it's a regular
[1:37:31] windy day, it's going to carry it away and that will give us time to get there and get
[1:37:35] a good perimeter around it.
[1:37:37] So East winds is what would keep me awake at night because of the strong winds, the fast
[1:37:43] moving fire and the potential for growth.
[1:37:45] But our biggest ignition source is the freeway.
[1:37:49] But it is also, you know, roadways, there's any variety of
[1:37:55] Ignitions that can start.
[1:37:57] When you say freeway, something like a cigarette butt being
[1:37:59] Throwing out a window onto the side.
[1:38:02] Could be cigarette butt.
[1:38:03] It could be a chain being drugged down the road on a trailer.
[1:38:06] It gets loose.
[1:38:08] Could be a malfunctioning catalytic converter.
[1:38:10] Could be a car that overheats and catches on fire on the
[1:38:12] Side of the road.
[1:38:13] About 20% of all the fires in the nation are vehicle fires.
[1:38:17] So when you looked in, and you were talking about the 89 fires that we went to and having some context around that for Delmar is a lot of those can be electric cooking fires, a lot of them were vehicle fires and you guys know with the advent of lithium ion everywhere in our homes and our batteries.
[1:38:36] We had two track trucks sketch on fire in Salona Beach this month and the most likely cause was lithium ion batteries that were thrown away and as it goes through their mulcher starting out on fire.
[1:38:48] So we get lithium ion fires more predominantly because that's a new technology.
[1:38:54] Our fire prevention month will be talking about lithium ion batteries.
[1:38:57] I welcome all of you. Please attend October 3rd at the Delmar Fire Station. We'll be doing open house and we want you to see the fire station meet the firefighters tour the engines, but media is going to have a ton of education there for lithium ion batteries and that safety, but that's a changing technology changes the risk as well.
[1:39:17] Chief, what time is that? Please on October 3rd.
[1:39:22] Okay. Thank you.
[1:39:24] One more question. I asked about thermal cameras or infrared imaging. I think Crest Canyon relative to other wild areas is actually pretty small.
[1:39:34] So with the small size on a relative basis, would an infrared camera or thermal camera be of any value if it was focused on that Crest Canyon section or no?
[1:39:43] So we have pretty good coverage right now.
[1:39:46] So Black Mountain in San Diego, looks down Penisquedis Canyon and San de Guido from the east.
[1:39:53] We've got La Costa, at the top of La Costa we've got a camera that can look south into us and UCSD's campus can look north into our area.
[1:40:01] So when we looked at the Penisquedis fires that occurred earlier this year, we had two of them.
[1:40:06] And those cameras caught that right away and were able to send that.
[1:40:12] and they were on watch duty.
[1:40:14] So those are great cameras, they're really good.
[1:40:17] The black mountain gives us a good idea
[1:40:20] if we had an east wind fire
[1:40:22] blowing from the San DeGito River Basin
[1:40:25] or the Rancho Pentecostura side.
[1:40:27] We've got a good chance of picking that up right away.
[1:40:30] The LaCosta and ECSD catch the different sides
[1:40:32] of the canyons.
[1:40:33] Are those cameras using vision
[1:40:35] or are they using infrared to this?
[1:40:37] Black mountains, how far away?
[1:40:39] Black mountains been there a while,
[1:40:40] but UCSD is trying to update all the cameras.
[1:40:45] All the newer cameras have the AI
[1:40:47] and the infrared technology.
[1:40:48] They're trying to retrofit.
[1:40:50] There's a program right now where they're retrofitting
[1:40:52] all the other older cameras that don't have it.
[1:40:54] So I'd have to look at the schedule,
[1:40:56] but they may already be infrared capable.
[1:41:00] So I just understand the black mountain camera
[1:41:02] is 10 miles away or how far away is that?
[1:41:05] It is, but it can zoom really.
[1:41:06] And if you looked at the pictures,
[1:41:07] Here's, if you looked at the pictures of the Penisquitos fire, it was almost down here
[1:41:12] near the mouth and it picked it up perfect from Black Mountain.
[1:41:17] But again, you've got, to the north of us, we've got La Costa and from the south of us,
[1:41:21] we have UCSD.
[1:41:23] So when there's a fire in the area, all those cameras will try and gillate to try to figure
[1:41:27] out which one has the best picture of the fire.
[1:41:30] And soon we'll be able to geolocate the fire on the perimeter and calculate the perimeter
[1:41:36] from the camera which is pretty awesome because right now we have a drone fly over and take a thermal
[1:41:43] perimeter and calculate the perimeter of the fire and that takes us usually 30, 45 minutes to get
[1:41:48] that overhead. Great, thank you. No problem. Any questions from you? Sure.
[1:41:55] Several of us took a tour of SDG and ease op center earlier this year and they talked about
[1:42:01] smoke detection through cameras, they talked about temperature, wind, fuel load, via satellite.
[1:42:09] How much do you coordinate or rely on them as a sort of added set of ears and eyes on
[1:42:15] this?
[1:42:16] What's amazing is SDG&E has probably been one of the more progressive power companies in
[1:42:21] the state.
[1:42:22] When PG&E got sued for lots and lots of money, SDG&E was shielded because of all the proactive
[1:42:28] of approaches they've taken in San Diego County.
[1:42:32] They work well with the fire departments.
[1:42:34] I like their, they put up so many weather stations
[1:42:36] in the county so they can stop power when the winds get high.
[1:42:41] So they're a good partner.
[1:42:42] They send out a fire representative.
[1:42:44] Anytime we have a fire to determine what's going on
[1:42:47] and to help us with power shutoffs.
[1:42:49] So SDG knee has been very helpful as a public utility
[1:42:53] to the fire department and helping us coordinate.
[1:42:55] Very cool. The zone zero thing is, I think everybody is interested in that. We've seen
[1:43:01] La Jolla go first, so we get to learn from their mistakes.
[1:43:07] Has there been any thought given? I feel like Dan touched on it. We almost feel like
[1:43:13] we need to do a guiding principles study that about how do you balance tree canopy versus
[1:43:19] zone zero, because there's going to be folks on both sides of that equation and for good reason
[1:43:24] and Delmar's beautiful city with a lot of tree coverage
[1:43:26] and people want to keep it as much as they can that way.
[1:43:30] How do you sort of see that tension playing out
[1:43:32] when zone zero comes in?
[1:43:34] Well, it's already started to play out
[1:43:35] with the State Department of Forestry.
[1:43:37] So they've given a lot of lenience
[1:43:39] to the original zone zero stance that they took.
[1:43:41] So you are allowed to have trees.
[1:43:43] You just have to trim them up
[1:43:44] so the branches aren't below the Eve line.
[1:43:47] They can be up above.
[1:43:48] So we're not as concerned with tree canopies
[1:43:51] as long as we can trim a third of their height
[1:43:55] or 10 feet off the ground.
[1:43:56] And then we can do that 100 feet from the property.
[1:44:01] So the live trees is not as important as all the dead fuels
[1:44:05] and then the reduction of the fuel that's in those zones
[1:44:08] by bringing it up.
[1:44:10] So we don't want what's really important
[1:44:12] as underwriters laboratory is shown that embers
[1:44:15] right up against the house.
[1:44:16] If we have any combustibles within that first 12 inches
[1:44:19] is two feet, that even if you have a stucco home,
[1:44:23] there's a weep screen at the bottom.
[1:44:24] Any flames will get in there and smolder,
[1:44:27] and it's devastating.
[1:44:29] And then it's really disappointing for us.
[1:44:31] We talk about rekindles and how much we don't like
[1:44:33] rekindles and evil words and the fire service.
[1:44:36] But it is when you protect a home
[1:44:38] and you spend time protecting homes
[1:44:40] only to have a smoldering fire get into a wall the next day
[1:44:45] and burn down a house that you spend hours protecting
[1:44:47] is devastating.
[1:44:48] And that's what happens if people put mulch right up against their home or any combustibles that are in that zone.
[1:44:53] So we really want to concentrate on making stuff look aesthetically pleasing but safe at the same time.
[1:45:00] My last question, the mayor touched on this, I think, with the El Nino item. But have you given any thought to talking to DMCC with regard to using them as a dumb community connections to talk to our their clients and to spread the word about what's coming. And again, maybe to offer some sort of coordination on if something were to happen, you know, how do we look out for all of our residents who may be less mobile or less able to get out on their own?
[1:45:28] Yeah, absolutely the county health department gives us a list of immobile people that are stuck at home that are on oxygen machines in case the power goes out and they need emergency generators or they need oxygen, but also if they need evacuation and they don't have the ability to get out Ashley is a great resource at community connections we've met with her we've talked about sponsoring a seniors lunch at the fire station so we can meet with them and then media is already engaged them with different
[1:45:57] different talks, we want, they do stuff on fall protection,
[1:46:01] media to stuff on fall protection.
[1:46:03] But we want to be able to provide a lot of information on evacuations,
[1:46:07] how to prepare for their wild and fires, make sure that they don't have trips and
[1:46:12] falls and we can assess their homes and that they have working smoke detectors.
[1:46:15] So media already has an established program and we have some interns we'd like to onboard.
[1:46:20] So we can meet with Ashley and identify the priority community members that need that and
[1:46:25] really engage with them but we'd really like to engage with them.
[1:46:30] So we're going to take a few more questions.
[1:46:32] We have a time certain that 6.30 can you keep a brief and then we'll try to get through.
[1:46:37] Well, I also have my comment but I have a question.
[1:46:39] We're taking questions first, exactly.
[1:46:42] So where my 88 year old father lives, the county has a registry where each home can enter
[1:46:50] who's there, how old are they, are they not mobile or mobile.
[1:46:54] and even give floor plans and photos and upload things to make it much easier if there's an emergency response.
[1:47:03] Do you have that kind of plan in place here?
[1:47:07] In the fire department we don't. I don't know if County Health and Human Services does.
[1:47:11] I know they're capturing the data.
[1:47:13] Well, the county manages it, but it's for the fire safety.
[1:47:18] You know, the town where my father is, if he falls down to the ground and can't get up,
[1:47:21] It's the fire rescue who will come and get them off the floor and I find that very reassuring as a daughter who lives on the other side of the country.
[1:47:31] And I could imagine it's a software system and it really is neat. So I'll introduce it to our city manager.
[1:47:37] Yeah, I'd like to know more about it.
[1:47:40] Great. So I just have a brief question. I think it's important for residents to know.
[1:47:44] as a resident registered nurse as well, when I spent the day with the fire department
[1:47:49] at their training center in Rancho Santa Fe, one of the stations was understanding the
[1:47:54] paramedics role, and I learned a lot, and it was all good things that I learned.
[1:47:59] One was the high level of training and the ACLS level of medical care that they deliver.
[1:48:06] Could you just briefly explain how many people in our department are qualified for that
[1:48:11] that medical care and the level of care that they can provide.
[1:48:16] Yeah, I'm proud to say that all nine of your firefighters are paramedic firefighters.
[1:48:20] They all understand the protocol.
[1:48:23] We deliver 30 emergency room medications that we can deliver in your home.
[1:48:28] We do not have to wait for a doctor's order for the doctor to come by the bedside.
[1:48:32] We have standing orders and then we can get on the radio and get base hospital orders from the physician.
[1:48:38] We carry a cardiac monitor, unfortunately.
[1:48:41] They cost about $50,000 right now to replace, but they do 12 lead EKGs.
[1:48:47] We can detect myocardial infarction out in the field and begin stabilizing in treatment.
[1:48:53] And not just that, breathing treatments, we have pain medications.
[1:48:58] There's all kinds of treatments that the paramedics can deliver.
[1:49:03] And then in addition to just being paramedics, because we have single role paramedics on the ambulances.
[1:49:07] But our firefighter paramedics are designed to go into ideal H atmospheres, are immediately
[1:49:13] sorry, dangerous to life and health.
[1:49:15] So when we have a vehicle extrication, when we have hazardous materials called or any type
[1:49:20] of hazards, the private medics that are single roll are not trained in that.
[1:49:24] So they receive the patients out in the ambulances, but it is our paramedics and our firefighters
[1:49:29] that have to get in there, extricate, go in and remove victims and then bring them out
[1:49:34] so that the ambulance can take care for them.
[1:49:36] So, it's not just the paramedic side and the ACLS.
[1:49:40] They learn emergency childbirth and they deliver babies.
[1:49:44] They do all that and we pick a lot of people up and it's probably the more dangerous call
[1:49:48] because you have elderly people that have ailments and we do liftacists and you know,
[1:49:54] we all want to make sure that they don't actually need medical treatment because we don't,
[1:49:58] we want to take them to the hospital if they need it, but if they just need to be put
[1:50:02] back into bed, we do that. And it's, I think it's criminal that some of the care facilities
[1:50:07] have a rule that they won't allow their personnel to do that. So it's, to me, it's hard to see
[1:50:12] an elderly person on the ground for 15, 20 minutes waiting for an engine company to go no code,
[1:50:17] because it's not an emergency call to pick them up off the floor that's sad. But we do it all the time.
[1:50:22] I just wanted to add that I think another impressive component to what the paramedics do is
[1:50:28] in debate, which is a very high level of care.
[1:50:30] So if someone has a respiratory failure or cardiac failure,
[1:50:32] they can intubate in the field, which can be
[1:50:34] a big difference between life and death, for sure.
[1:50:37] Yeah, they do have two airways
[1:50:39] and they do do needle thoracostomy
[1:50:41] and a variety of advanced skills.
[1:50:43] So yeah, they do a great job.
[1:50:45] They do do a great job.
[1:50:47] Okay, I'm going to ask our council members
[1:50:48] to have comments, but we have time certain
[1:50:50] so if they could be brief on any comments.
[1:50:52] Council member Quirk?
[1:50:53] Council member Gasterland?
[1:50:54] Yeah.
[1:50:55] So I want to start my comment with, you know, I had the opportunity to meet with two of our fire fighters and just really listen and understand the concerns of the team and kind of the lay of the land right now and so my comment is based on reading your presentation in advance and really understanding the importance of our fire station here and also talking with the two firefighters who took their time to really help me understand the lay of the land.
[1:51:23] And what I came away with is that our Delmar firefighters are outstanding, you know, really
[1:51:29] the best there are, and committed to our public safety, and that shown through as well when
[1:51:34] you talked about training, you know, two hours of training per day for each person.
[1:51:40] I mean, that's a lot of training, and it keeps everybody on their toes.
[1:51:45] I'll observe that we're paying the firegrounds in the fairgrounds, the fairgrounds, a lot
[1:51:52] of rent for an aging fire station building. And I heard about the limitations of the building,
[1:51:59] the limitations of the facilities, for example, just one shower. It's difficult. So I've myself
[1:52:07] have reached the conclusion that we're overdue to build a modern clean facility in Del Mar. And
[1:52:13] ideally on city land, and I would say to our city manager, let's figure out how we can gear up
[1:52:21] and apply for state grants to build a new fire station, possibly adjacent to public works and if land near the existing fire station cannot be found, let's negotiate a better lease with the state on the fairgrounds, fairgrounds owns that building, you know, if we move out, you know, let's see what they'll do with it, but, you know, we're in the process of construction design for a living levy that will protect public works from flooding and will upgrade the public works buildings.
[1:52:50] So I'd like to see us include a new fire station as we redesign the public works.
[1:52:56] We've heard that Delmar depends on the shortest response times possible, and a minute
[1:53:00] can make a difference between life and death.
[1:53:03] Our Delmar firefighters and our fire station rates smack in the middle of Delmar are essential
[1:53:08] and of the utmost importance.
[1:53:10] I learned that.
[1:53:11] I knew that, but now I understand why at a deep level.
[1:53:16] and if there were a Santa Ana event in a fire erupted in Crest Canyon, it would be devastating
[1:53:22] to our residents on Arabia, San Diego, and Crest potentially, and a new fire station should
[1:53:28] be one of our highest priorities, state grants. Thanks.
[1:53:33] Thank you. I'm just going to close first by thanking you Chief. We're so happy that you're our Chief.
[1:53:38] I also want to put the residents kind of assured them that I will always support the fire
[1:53:47] station in the fire department in our town.
[1:53:51] Some might have another opinion but I think the vast majority of council and residents
[1:53:57] absolutely understand the importance of having them in our town and I will always support
[1:54:01] that.
[1:54:02] And then I just want to recognize not just Chief but we have other people from the fire department
[1:54:07] in the back and I want to thank you for your service and putting your lives on the line
[1:54:11] every day to keep our community safe and I want to so
[1:54:21] thank you very much we really appreciate
[1:54:22] all you do.
[1:54:23] Thank you.
[1:54:23] It's an honor.
[1:54:24] Thank you.
[1:54:26] Okay.
[1:54:27] So last on our agenda is our celebration for the 50th anniversary of the delmar community
[1:54:36] plan.
[1:54:37] Oh, sorry.
[1:54:38] To interrupt because I know you were you're failing right into this.
[1:54:41] Take a break.
[1:54:42] Oh okay.
[1:54:43] before we take a break, can we quickly do item six on the consent calendar just so as I have that's keeping item to get that done right I get excited to go to all that really like great things so I'm two for two of missing up okay since councilmember quirk is now here we are going to vote on the second reading and adoption of ordinance and implementation of housing element programs seven F for a and four be related to reasonable accommodations and special needs housing regulations.
[1:55:13] calculations, including residential care, supportive housing, transitional housing,
[1:55:19] low barrier, navigation centers, emergency shelters, and adult and child daycare services consistent with state law.
[1:55:29] Do I have a motion to approve?
[1:55:31] Some moved.
[1:55:32] Second.
[1:55:34] Oh, you can't.
[1:55:34] Second.
[1:55:35] Okay, Sarah, can you take the vote?
[1:55:37] Noting that there's no public speakers.
[1:55:39] Council member Gasteland.
[1:55:41] Yes.
[1:55:41] Yes, Council Member Quirk.
[1:55:43] Yes.
[1:55:43] Deputy Mayor Spelich.
[1:55:44] No, me.
[1:55:46] Oh, I'm sorry.
[1:55:46] Upstate.
[1:55:47] Mayor Martinez.
[1:55:48] Yes.
[1:55:49] Motion passes.
[1:55:50] All right.
[1:55:50] Council Member.
[1:55:52] Okay.
[1:55:53] So we need just a few minutes to get set up, so we're going to take 5 minute break before
[1:55:59] we start our celebration.
[1:56:00] Thank you.
[2:10:26] Thank you all for being here.
[2:10:42] All right. We're here today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Delmar Community Plan. We're happy you all could be here. We're going to have a little program before we start with just mingling and enjoying our cake in the back. So I will start.
[2:11:01] Tonight we're not just celebrating a document. We're celebrating a community vision that has guided Delmar for 50 years. What stands out most to me is how much
[2:11:11] community involvement went into creating the plan.
[2:11:15] The tradition of residents engaging thoughtfully in the future of our community
[2:11:20] remains an important part of the Delmar way and it's who we are.
[2:11:24] 50 years later, the community plan continues to provide a foundation of how we think about growth,
[2:11:31] development, open space, mobility and the protection of Delmar's unique community character.
[2:11:38] While the challenge facing our community has evolved,
[2:11:40] The values reflected in the community plan remain remarkably relevant.
[2:11:45] We continue to make decisions with the goals of preserving our village character, protecting
[2:11:50] our natural environment, and maintaining the qualities that make Delmar special.
[2:11:56] Our responsibility is not simply to look back and celebrate what the previous generations
[2:12:02] accomplished, but to carry those values forward when we make decisions today so that the future
[2:12:09] two generations can continue to experience the Del Mar that we all know and love.
[2:12:15] This anniversary is really a celebration of our ongoing commitment to protect these
[2:12:20] community values for the next 50 years.
[2:12:23] And tonight we're fortunate to welcome four people who each have played an important role
[2:12:29] in drafting and shaping the community plan.
[2:12:32] Please join me in welcoming here on our dias is former Mayor Tom Shepard, planning
[2:12:39] commission chair, Sage Sweetwood, former council member, Nancy Hoover, and John Weir.
[2:12:46] And now I would like to turn the microphone over to Tom Shepard.
[2:12:51] Thank you very much, Tracy.
[2:12:55] On behalf of those who have played part in creating Delmar's community plan, I want to begin
[2:13:02] by thanking Mayor Martinez, Deputy Mayor Spellich, and administrative services manager Sarah
[2:13:09] a creditor for their work in organizing this event, greatly appreciated.
[2:13:15] When I joined the city council in 1972, there was, there were no stoplights between 15th
[2:13:23] street in Del Mar and La Jolla Shore striped,
[2:13:30] it's always been like that, well for your benefit.
[2:13:39] When I joined the City Council,
[2:13:41] there was no stoplight between 15th Street and Loha Shores Drive.
[2:13:48] It was a very different situation.
[2:13:51] City Hall and the council chambers were in the Rusty's surf shop building.
[2:13:57] And you can imagine what that building would be like with a large public hearing.
[2:14:04] The City of Delmar contracted with the County of San Diego for planning services.
[2:14:08] we did not have a planning department
[2:14:11] and when interstate five opened the central district of
[2:14:18] Delmar was commercial district was devastated. And the opening of UCSD was in the process of
[2:14:27] transforming the demographics of the city.
[2:14:31] It's hard to believe now but multifamily development in
[2:14:34] Delmar was at that time increasing at seven times the rate of single family construction.
[2:14:39] Crest
[2:14:42] Canyon, Seagrow Park, the powerhouse, Anderson Canyon were all in private ownership
[2:14:47] and threatened with development.
[2:14:51] The city's existing general plan, which is adopted in 1968, was ill-suited to address
[2:14:58] the rapidly changing.
[2:15:00] Engaging situation and the pressures on the coastal area of San Diego.
[2:15:09] So in 1973, we authorized
[2:15:10] the preparation of a new general plan under the guidance of our city's first planning director,
[2:15:16] Gary Binger, and in collaboration with our then city manager, Wayne Dernitz. Gary proposed
[2:15:25] proposed a rather unorthodox approach to managing the process of developing the new plan.
[2:15:34] He proposed inviting all city residents to participate directly in identifying the plan's goals, objectives, and recommendations for implementation.
[2:15:44] Over 300 residents responded to that invitation, organizing themselves into task forces and committees focused on each of the major elements of the plan.
[2:15:55] Any resident could attend a task force meeting and any resident could vote on issues considered by the task force, the only requirement, being that residents couldn't vote on an issue unless they had attended the previous task force meeting, which if you ever attended any of those meetings you understand was a relatively high bar.
[2:16:20] Those meetings were very long, very contentious, but they produced actionable results in part
[2:16:26] because of the task force and subcommittee leadership.
[2:16:30] The chairs read like an honor roll of our city's leaders.
[2:16:33] Ken Hayward chaired the open space task force, Richard Simons chaired the commercial task force,
[2:16:40] Stu Short chaired the circulation task force, and Dave Keeling chaired the residential task
[2:16:45] course and served as the general chairman of the citizen's efforts.
[2:16:50] June Strasbourg, Connie Garrett, Lutero, Walter Ross, Joe Lang, John Thunin, Ray Young,
[2:16:58] George Hoover, Phil Newell, Herb Turner, Ray Kirk, Barbara Allen, and Richard Lighthall,
[2:17:04] chaired various subcommittees.
[2:17:08] Eventually, it fell to the Planning Commission chaired by Sage, also a former mayor, to take
[2:17:16] Make the citizens recommendations and formulate them into a plan for a court consideration by the City Council.
[2:17:23] And finally, it fell to the City Council composed of Tom Pearson, Nancy Fletcher, John Weir, Dick Rapinsky myself, to adopt the plan.
[2:17:33] Now, not surprisingly for Delmar, there was considerable controversy regarding the parts of the plan.
[2:17:40] Controversy that resulted in a referendum petition seeking to repeal the plan's adoption.
[2:17:45] Some elements of the plan generated more intense opposition than others.
[2:17:51] And based on an initial and informal plebiscite of voters, the City Council ultimately decided
[2:17:57] to remove three of the most controversial provisions including the housing and trails elements
[2:18:03] in order to improve prospects for securing voter approval of the remaining elements.
[2:18:08] The amended plan went before Delmar voters in 1976, along with a bond measure to finance
[2:18:16] purchase of Crest Canyon, both were approved overwhelmingly by Delmar voters.
[2:18:22] The fact that residents care enough about the community plan, or even remember the community
[2:18:27] plan, to celebrate its 50th anniversary is a measure of the plan's success.
[2:18:32] But as a participant in the process, my takeaway relates less to the content of the plan than
[2:18:38] the process of its creation.
[2:18:42] It was a process that mobilized a substantial fraction of the city's
[2:18:46] residents, caused them to seriously consider what it is about their city that deserved protection
[2:18:52] and enhancement, and forced them to defend their views against opponents who were equally engaged
[2:18:57] and thoughtful. The legacy of that process was a better informed, more engaged citizenry that had
[2:19:05] a stake in preserving and protecting their community.
[2:19:09] We are fortunate to have several of the participants in that process with us here this evening,
[2:19:14] and I'd like to introduce each of them and give them a chance to say a few words about
[2:19:18] that experience.
[2:19:20] I'll start to my left with Sage Sweetwood.
[2:19:24] Thanks, Tom.
[2:19:25] That's a great summary of what is, I think, one of the most incredible experiences I've
[2:19:34] had in my life is chair of the planning commission being involved in this ultimate citizen-driven discussion debate fight.
[2:19:50] And I had just picked up a graduate degree in management back at MIT before coming back to California.
[2:20:01] and part of that experience, I took a number of classes in organization development,
[2:20:09] which is all about how to get people to work together to achieve a goal.
[2:20:15] And when Gary came up with this plan, I thought that it was both incredible.
[2:20:23] and I had a hard time believing we could be successful just given the nature of people and the difficulty of coming together, but I think it was from a process standpoint it was an incredible success.
[2:20:48] Yes. I mean, we had massive disagreements. You know, there were around issues, but everything
[2:20:58] was civil, at least reasonably civil, and it was one of the most substantive-based community
[2:21:10] decision experiences that I've ever gone through in my entire life, and I've spent a number
[2:21:20] of years in both Washington DC and in Sacramento doing political things, so I've had a fair
[2:21:26] amount of experience, but this is a poster child of what a committed community can do. One
[2:21:35] And one specific instance that sticks in my mind is we were, this was late at night.
[2:21:47] We were probably, I think, I don't think we've gotten to midnight yet, but we were still
[2:21:52] in hearings and Dave Keeling, who was chair of the whole process, was presenting a proposal
[2:22:06] and he put up this chart with this interesting little diagram of a rising line and that was,
[2:22:16] is now known as the Keeling Curve, its climate change.
[2:22:21] So it was his plot of temperature rise over time.
[2:22:28] And he described the plot, described what it was all about,
[2:22:34] and said, as a result of this, I can confidently predict
[2:22:40] that every all the all the beachfront housing from 15th Street North should be
[2:22:49] zone floodplain and you know in the long term that was totally you know
[2:22:57] I'm sure it'll turn out to be you know to be true but in the short term I
[2:23:05] So I asked Dave, that's very interesting.
[2:23:10] So what's your time frame on this?
[2:23:13] And he said maybe 50 years.
[2:23:19] So I said, OK, well, let's do something
[2:23:22] that will get us to 50 years.
[2:23:26] And we decided, we used our discretion
[2:23:29] to decide that maybe zoning that area of floodplain
[2:23:33] was a little premature. But that gives you the idea of the kind of conversations that we had.
[2:23:44] And I have to admit that when I was in, when I was testifying before a state assembly committee
[2:23:59] on climate change in the 2002-2005 era, I did dredge up that example to say,
[2:24:11] we've had a warning, you know. So anyway, I just am incredibly pleased that I
[2:24:22] had the opportunity to be part of that experience and to learn from that
[2:24:26] experience and I'm incredibly pleased that the plan has lasted this long and has
[2:24:36] been so widely accepted.
[2:24:40] Nancy Fletcher. Thank you for inviting me tonight. I
[2:24:46] have a really soft spot for Delmar in my heart and it's not because she's so
[2:24:51] beautiful and so wonderful, it's because of the people. We have the most amazing
[2:24:56] people in Delmar and it was the people who drove us and who accepted what we wanted to do and we
[2:25:03] were lucky. We're right next to the UC San Diego, we're right by scripts. We had so many things in
[2:25:10] our favor and so many wonderful people who gave us so many hours and while we were working on this,
[2:25:16] the Coastal Commission law was enacted and started and that was an amazing thing for California.
[2:25:24] lots of really good things happened and we were I was just really happy to be a
[2:25:28] proud of it part of it and I can't tell you what I contributed except a lot of
[2:25:33] time and while we were doing all of this we realized that we wanted open space
[2:25:41] and we passed our open space bond issue with 72% of the vote nobody ever gets 72%
[2:25:49] of the vote. Somehow, everyone talked to us. I wanted to be a part of what we were doing,
[2:25:55] preserving Del Mar, and it worked. You can walk right downtown and you still recognize places.
[2:26:01] Thank you. Thanks, Daisy.
[2:26:04] I'm next. John Weir.
[2:26:06] I wanted to spend a little bit of time just saying why things have, what things really did happen
[2:26:12] from Del Mar, and it's remarkable. The Coastal Commission Nancy just mentioned. We were fortunate
[2:26:17] We sent somebody up to the Coastal Commission almost a few days after it was a stop.
[2:26:22] Did you remember that?
[2:26:23] Yes.
[2:26:26] And we went up and actually I was up there and we came in the Coastal Commission.
[2:26:32] Everybody looked at me like, oh, you're crazy.
[2:26:35] You're the only person I ever saw that any mayor come up to talk to us.
[2:26:39] Everybody else hated them.
[2:26:41] We really liked, so the guy said to me, well, you know, we're having trouble
[2:26:46] with these lines. Where should we put the lines for the Coastal Act? I said, oh, well,
[2:26:52] I think a nice place to put would be right down to the center of Crest Canyon. And over
[2:26:57] through the annex, Kent Wilson, another friend of mine, who everybody knows, also worked
[2:27:02] on that. It was a real stalwart in that area. So that's why Crest Canyon is ours today,
[2:27:09] because that went right through the middle of the big development that was already approved.
[2:27:13] And that gave us, with the general plan, a way to go to the Coastal Commission, say this is inconsistent with the general plan.
[2:27:20] It's also in the coastal zone. That's what stopped that.
[2:27:24] That's a good example. Another good example that I'd love to talk about is the lagoon, the San Diego lagoon.
[2:27:31] My wife started a committee called the lagoon committee. And this was a remarkable thing. I mean, this is so remarkable.
[2:27:39] Well, I still can't believe it because the lagoon was a place where you dumped your refrigerator
[2:27:45] when you didn't want it anymore.
[2:27:48] And there was a recycling center where the parking lot was, it was so filthy that you couldn't
[2:27:52] stand the smell.
[2:27:53] But I used to take my cancer and recycle and get the money anyway.
[2:27:56] But the lagoon, so the lagoon was at that time just a giveaway.
[2:28:02] It had a plan though, there was a plan to make it like Mission Valley.
[2:28:05] So the whole idea was that we were going to make that Mission Valley.
[2:28:08] Nancy and her crowd, I think the developers called them women from hell, but they decided
[2:28:17] that this wasn't going to happen.
[2:28:19] Nancy got money from SDG and when I say Nancy, what I really mean is the people that
[2:28:25] work together.
[2:28:26] The fantastic thing about working in Del Mar with the committees was that you really didn't
[2:28:30] have a leadership.
[2:28:31] You just had people all working together.
[2:28:33] That's a remarkable thing.
[2:28:34] And so she and her friends saved that lagoon area, and they really were important.
[2:28:40] Then somebody came along, Bob Sensabah's name was, and then he put together the conservancy,
[2:28:48] the River Valley Conservancy, and now that's stuck in time, and now we have a path all
[2:28:54] away from, almost all away from here to Volkan Mountain.
[2:29:00] So these things are enormously important.
[2:29:02] And these were done by Dalmar, a little tiny community,
[2:29:06] which shouldn't have any interest at all to anybody,
[2:29:10] but because the people were so clever, so hardworking,
[2:29:13] and I think we had the framework of the General Plan
[2:29:16] to say, this is what we want when we went to the Coastal Commission.
[2:29:19] In those days, the Coastal Commission
[2:29:20] was really a very rigorous outfit.
[2:29:23] I don't know that's happening so much now,
[2:29:25] but anyway, it was then, and we could go with, get them,
[2:29:29] work with them, and they would make things happen,
[2:29:31] And then they really did.
[2:29:32] So Delmar had huge influence, way outside influence.
[2:29:36] I'm going to stop now, because there's
[2:29:37] many more of these things.
[2:29:39] But you don't want to spend all night listening to that.
[2:29:42] So I'm going to Rich Simon's suggested
[2:29:45] that I propose a new logo for Delmar called,
[2:29:50] then it's called, illegitim non-carburendam.
[2:29:55] It's an old saying from the Second World War.
[2:29:59] I
[2:30:00] Jersey Joe or somebody general use that. It means don't let the bastards grabbed you down. And right now we're in that situation. Things are hard. You think you think it go away, but they haven't. They've gone away and they come back in a much worse form. So we still have to fight against all those people who want to make a ton of money and don't give a damn about the about the community or the environment that they wreck. So let's keep going.
[2:30:29] Don't let the bastards try.
[2:30:37] Thank you, John.
[2:30:39] Finally, I'd like to complete our presentation
[2:30:43] by recognizing, acknowledging some of those
[2:30:47] who contributed to the creation of the plan
[2:30:49] who are no longer with us.
[2:30:53] And that would include Gary Binger, George Hoover,
[2:30:56] Stu Shore, Lou Terrell, Dick Row, Faith Goodman,
[2:31:00] and Dempsey, Dave and Lou Keeling,
[2:31:02] Jolang, Rosalind Fireobbant, Herb Turner, Ray and Carol Pittman, Marshall and Walter
[2:31:08] Ross, Jim Meadows, John Carrage, Tom Pearson, Altharkington, and I'm really glad
[2:31:14] Stevie could be with us tonight. Lee Robner, Karen Lockwood, Marco Walshock,
[2:31:20] Carl and Lorraine Rouse, and Carol Mason. I know I've forgotten a few and if you're
[2:31:24] here and I didn't list your name, it's because I'm also getting older.
[2:31:34] And lastly, I'd like to recognize Dick Rapinsky who served as mayor when the plan was finally
[2:31:42] approved by voters and whose spirit and vision guided all of us during the process.
[2:31:48] So again, my thanks to everyone at the city that made this possible.
[2:31:53] I hope there's some wisdom that can be gleaned from our experiences and I'm really pleased
[2:31:58] to be with you here tonight.
[2:32:01] Thank you very much.
[2:32:02] And
[2:32:08] I'd like to just say one word.
[2:32:10] Thank you to all of you who are serving on the City Council right now.
[2:32:14] I know the time and the tension that is generated.
[2:32:20] So I really respect your efforts and commitment.
[2:32:25] Thank you.
[2:32:26] Thank you.
[2:32:27] Appreciate that.
[2:32:32] So next I'm going to present the proclamation on behalf of the City Council.
[2:32:36] Council will follow that by public comments, council comments, and then we'll enjoy the
[2:32:41] celebration and be able to mingle.
[2:32:45] Proclamation commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Del Mar Community Plan.
[2:32:49] Whereas the City of Del Mar Community Plan, also known as the General Plan, serves as a
[2:32:54] city's guiding framework for decisions concerning land use, infrastructure, public services, recreation,
[2:33:01] resource conservation and is compromised of multiple elements that provide a comprehensive slate of citywide and location-based goals, objectives, and policies to guide the city's growth and development while preserving it's unique natural environment, character and charm.
[2:33:18] And work on the city's community plan began in September 1973, and over nearly two years of intensive effort involve countless hours contributed by community members, elected officials, and city staff to develop the foundation document that would happen in the future of Delmar.
[2:33:36] And over 300 Delmar residents voluntarily contributed hundreds of hours during a rigorous 20-month process, brainstorming ideas, examining community needs and developing recommendations which would become the foundation for Delmar's new community plan.
[2:33:55] In several different resident task force groups were involved in the plan development including residential, open space, commercial, and circulation task forces, as well as other, as well as several other committees, including the committee of four ways and means, non-automotive implementation, land use, Delmar today, North Hills, South Bluff planning areas, and ethics and law committee.
[2:34:20] And the proposed community plan was adopted by the City Council on May 15, 1975, followed by a successful referendum petition repeal of the plan, a committee of four rework and an advisory vote on the community which was all very much the Delmar way with an engaged community thoroughly debating every aspect of the plan.
[2:34:45] And the final community plan subsequently approved by Delmar Voters in March 1976 referendum
[2:34:51] resulted in ordinance number 260 of the people of the city of Delmar in resolution 76-1
[2:34:59] of the Delmar City Council cementing the new community plan as a cornerstone of the city's development and preservation goals.
[2:35:08] And this extraordinary community undertaking established a lasting vision that has helped
[2:35:14] protect Delmore Village-like character, outstanding natural features, pristine sandy beaches,
[2:35:21] sandstone bluffs, native trees and vegetation, and the unique small town atmosphere cherished
[2:35:26] by generations and residents.
[2:35:28] And the community plan was later amended in 1985 by adding a recreation element and revising
[2:35:35] the land use element and later by amendments adding to the Community Development Environmental
[2:35:40] Management. Housing and Transportation Elements with additional amendments adopted in subsequent
[2:35:48] years. And throughout its 50 years of existence, the Delmar community plan remains one of the most
[2:35:54] important documents shaping the Delmar community. Now thereby, it hereby be proclaimed that the Delmar
[2:36:01] City Council celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Delmar Community Plan and expresses gratitude to the community members, volunteers, elected officials and staff who participated in the creation of the plan, upheld and protected its vision over the past five decades, and continue to work forward preserving Delmar's unique character for generations to come.
[2:36:24] Thank you.
[2:36:31] And now we'll ask our city clerk if there are any public comments.
[2:36:35] The first speaker is Drew Keeling, followed by Dwight Warden,
[2:36:50] if this speaker right, if you go right there to the podium.
[2:36:53] Yeah.
[2:36:55] I'm here with my back.
[2:36:57] I know that we're going to fix that one day, so.
[2:37:03] I wasn't expecting to be here, so my comments are a little bit ad hoc.
[2:37:11] My involvement with the community plan and with the Pollock's and Delmar, politics in
[2:37:18] Delmar was a fairly short one.
[2:37:21] I graduated from high school at San Diego in 1973 and I left Delmar to go away to college
[2:37:28] in 1974.
[2:37:30] I was a freshman at UC San Diego.
[2:37:33] ago. There was a election that year and a couple of people were elected. I was involved
[2:37:40] with that with a couple of other people who were also involved. And I was on one of
[2:37:47] the task force.
[2:37:50] Tom mentioned something about what the requirements were for the task force.
[2:37:54] And I think maybe there was a requirement that you had to be a registered voter. I'm not
[2:37:58] But I turned 18 and they had passed a lot a few years that were all the voting age to 18.
[2:38:05] So I was probably the youngest person involved on the task force and I had probably one of
[2:38:12] the least important roles.
[2:38:13] I was mostly taking minutes as a secretary for the Open Space Committee, which didn't have
[2:38:18] an awful lot to do because Chris Canyon was already a process that was going to save
[2:38:22] Chris Canyon.
[2:38:23] The Seagrove Park had already been pretty much saved.
[2:38:25] So we were sort of ratifying that and adding to it a little bit, but it was it was an interesting introduction to
[2:38:32] community politics and planning and and governments.
[2:38:38] In those days my father was involved and I was also involved in some of the meetings because I
[2:38:44] remember walking down to the
[2:38:48] city council meeting or the planning commission meeting or the design review board meeting
[2:38:53] And thinking about what happens and what might happen if I actually got up and said something.
[2:38:58] So I would have enough time maybe walking down the Helen ten minutes to sort of come up with something.
[2:39:02] So I was doing that today and I thought maybe it occurred to me that there are different kinds of democracy.
[2:39:09] And what we're celebrating today 50 years ago was a majority rules decision where the voters voted and a majority voted in favor of this plan.
[2:39:22] But that's not the only kind of democracy, that's the most important kind, but it's not the only kind.
[2:39:28] Several times I've seen a card, because I wasn't good at it, I didn't think I was going to be here.
[2:39:34] I sent in a little statement and I included a card, the oldest organization I ever joined, which was the California Coastal Alliance.
[2:39:41] You'll see it when it pops up there.
[2:39:43] That was a group that I joined because there was an attempt to have a coastal zone protection in the California state.
[2:39:51] assembly and they couldn't get it through all the committees and all the local people
[2:39:56] who wanted to oppose it for whatever reason. So they drafted these people and initiative
[2:40:03] based on something they had done in the Bay Area and with commissions and zones and so
[2:40:09] forth and that passed by the voters. But it wasn't just the voters that passed it with individual
[2:40:14] citizens that helped decide to put the initiative together.
[2:40:17] here. So that's another example of democracy that's democracy by citizen law writing
[2:40:26] if you will. Another example comes from Montana. I was just set up in Montana for a burial
[2:40:33] and I was reflecting on coming down here that there was a court case a few years ago where
[2:40:39] high school students essentially sued the state of Montana for violating their right to a safe
[2:40:46] been clean environment. And clearly what happens in the energy policy or the climate policy
[2:40:54] in Montana is not going to have much effect on the global climate. But what was interesting
[2:40:59] about that case was that the judge ruled that the plaintiffs had standing. They had standing
[2:41:05] because the guarantee of a clean safe environment was written into the preamble of the Montana
[2:41:11] a constitution. That constitution was a new constitution in the 1970s, I think, that
[2:41:17] was volunteer citizens' committees that constituted the convention and drafted the constitution
[2:41:24] that later had to get approved. So that's another kind of participatory democracy, a kind
[2:41:33] of participatory democracy. And that's maybe the best analogy to what happened in
[2:41:39] Omar. And for me, it's not 50 years. It's 53, 52 years ago in the initial stages of
[2:41:46] the task forces. So I think you could kind of think of this as democracy by showing
[2:41:58] up and chipping it and doing something. That's important too, not just voting and what the
[2:42:05] majority is. And it's especially important in a small town. I can remember I continued
[2:42:10] voting even though I haven't seen these people for 53 years or whatever. I followed the
[2:42:17] politics and I can remember several elections where it was a question of whether there
[2:42:23] would be enough candidates to fill all the open positions. Never mind having a contest
[2:42:29] between candidates. The issue was there were more positions possibly than there are candidates.
[2:42:34] So, Delmar has been fortunate in always having more people coming in to volunteer, so I want to thank the current council for organizing this and enabling those of us who remember the past and some of those that have heard about it to kind of explore the implications a little bit.
[2:42:52] Thank you.
[2:42:58] Next speaker is Dwight Warden with one donation of time from Betty Wheeler, followed by Bruce Becker.
[2:43:05] Thank you.
[2:43:06] I'm going to be brief because you guys said so eloquently what I was going to talk about
[2:43:10] is one who lived through the history.
[2:43:12] This is not ancient history to me.
[2:43:14] This is living history that we lived through and survived.
[2:43:18] So what I did want to contribute that maybe hasn't been covered is just a context for the times.
[2:43:23] When in the early 1970s this started, there was no sequa.
[2:43:28] There was no coastal act.
[2:43:30] General plans were strictly advisory.
[2:43:33] Nobody had to follow them.
[2:43:34] We followed county zoning and large areas of the county zoning were just labeled unzoned.
[2:43:40] There was no zoning.
[2:43:41] It was quite literally the Wild West.
[2:43:44] And this is when the development boom first took a seed and started to go.
[2:43:51] And then in the early 70s, the rules changed dramatically.
[2:43:56] This was when the legislature passed laws that made general plans mandatory.
[2:44:01] You had to have one and you had to follow it and you had to adopt zoning that was consistent with your general plan
[2:44:08] They all had to work together. This was brand new and changed the world and just pause for a minute a little editorial comment
[2:44:15] This was the state of California helping us as a city and other cities control their own destiny
[2:44:22] Compare where we are now where the state of California is taking away all our control and trying to do it themselves
[2:44:29] else. That's a huge challenge for us. But anyway, so all these rules changed and this
[2:44:35] process got started because for the first time people that were smart enough to understand
[2:44:39] it like these folks in day killing, this is for real. If we do this kind of general plan,
[2:44:44] it will actually matter. It will be binding. It will be controlling. And for two years in
[2:44:49] the very Delmar way, we went through fights and arguments and people debated. I think most
[2:44:55] people ended up still kind of liking each other at the end of it but it was
[2:44:59] Tasty.
[2:45:00] At moments. And the final thing I want to say is just the beauty of the plan, and here it is. This is the original Del Mar Community Plan that was given to me by the city 53 years ago. And if you've never seen it, it's worth looking at. There have been a lot of amendments since then, but the core of it remains. The emphasis on a livable, walkable community village center with a vibe.
[2:45:30] vibrant, commercial, downtown, environmental protections,
[2:45:33] view protections, all of that stuff was in this original plan, and still guides us today.
[2:45:39] And I think I'm just going to close by saying 50 years ago, these good folks had a vision.
[2:45:45] And I don't know if you actually believe it was going to come true, but it kind of has.
[2:45:50] And I think our challenge now is what's our vision for the next 50 years,
[2:45:55] under these changed rules of the state usurping our control.
[2:46:00] And that's our mission, and I think you can take inspiration as I do
[2:46:04] from the work that these guys did 50 years ago.
[2:46:08] And wow, what a treat to see you guys all down here.
[2:46:10] You have an age today.
[2:46:11] All these friends.
[2:46:14] I think Tom, you were actually a UCSD student at the time, weren't you?
[2:46:17] I had just graduated.
[2:46:19] Oh, you are old then.
[2:46:20] Okay, thanks, that's all I wanted to say.
[2:46:22] And anybody wants to take a look at the original plan?
[2:46:24] and let me know, I'll share it with you as long as you give it back.
[2:46:31] Gracie?
[2:46:33] Gracie?
[2:46:34] Next speaker is for you to factor something.
[2:46:36] Let me say something about this because it's really important that Dwight was our tip of the spear.
[2:46:42] And that could be pretty bad times.
[2:46:46] There were times when he got attacked.
[2:46:49] All these things we were talking about, when we had to turn down things, people got upset.
[2:46:54] and Dwight was right there for us.
[2:46:56] He was there for every single case.
[2:46:58] And I think we pretty much won every case.
[2:47:00] At least he didn't tell me about the ones we lost.
[2:47:04] So I appreciate that and Dwight has been a stalwart
[2:47:07] for us for many, many years now.
[2:47:10] Thank you, Dwight.
[2:47:10] Thank you for adding that.
[2:47:17] Thank you for giving me a little bit of time
[2:47:19] to talk to council members and our founding fathers
[2:47:22] and mothers of the city of Delmar.
[2:47:24] I'm a long-term resident.
[2:47:25] And then I've been here since, well, basically the fall of 1975, the very first day I was here probably right around the time this was all getting finalized.
[2:47:33] I was a UCSD student. I knew nothing about it. I just knew I'd found my home and that feeling has never changed.
[2:47:39] I care so much about this town. I was a, I participated. I was a founding member of Cape Del Marclean in the early 2000s.
[2:47:47] I was a member and a chair in the sustainability advisory board.
[2:47:52] I served a stint on the DRB and I have the scars to prove it.
[2:47:57] And I was on the sea level rise technical advisory committee as the vice chair.
[2:48:01] I learned from people like Dwight and Don Moser and Matt Betor and other great leaders in
[2:48:06] this town how to participate in city politics.
[2:48:10] But we're here tonight to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the community plan.
[2:48:14] And to me, I wasn't planning on coming tonight and saying anything, but the heat wave that
[2:48:19] we're in the midst of right now just seemed like it needed to be underlined.
[2:48:24] To me, it's more than an odd coincidence.
[2:48:26] It's not the hottest temperatures Del Mar has ever had, but the humidity and the nighttime
[2:48:30] cooling or the lack thereof.
[2:48:32] It feels pretty extreme, I think, to a lot of us.
[2:48:35] And of course, as we've been hearing tonight, this is not going to be just this week.
[2:48:38] we have to expect because of this super El Nino that's still unfolding right
[2:48:43] now a period maybe as much as a year have prolonged an intense weather on top
[2:48:49] of another marine heat wave and those are becoming more and more common now
[2:48:53] as a result of climate change and so what got me up here is it it just strikes me
[2:48:59] that as almost as though as we consider the next iteration of the community plan
[2:49:03] Nature is making sure we take this escalating climate crisis and give it the grave seriousness
[2:49:10] that it deserves going forward.
[2:49:13] We've already heard tonight about further sea level rise from warmer waters and the
[2:49:17] risks of flooding in our community.
[2:49:19] But there are other impacts going on because of the warmed ocean that we have right now.
[2:49:23] And there was a news report I saw yesterday of a sea lion up in Northern California that
[2:49:27] died from demonic acid poisoning.
[2:49:30] This is the toxin that algae blooms create when the ocean waters get to warm, and that causes
[2:49:36] seizures and heart failure and death and sea lions, but it also affects pelicans and dolphins
[2:49:42] and whales.
[2:49:43] So this is no small thing that we're going through, and it's not just us.
[2:49:47] I'm a physician, and I can tell you, and we've talked about this here at a meeting, that
[2:49:52] this heat is a risk to our health, especially along with the humidity that we're having for
[2:49:57] older individuals for people that would have chronic health conditions and for pregnant
[2:50:02] women and their babies is something that I know a fair amount about.
[2:50:06] But I want to talk about going forward, the community plan 2.0, whatever we want to call
[2:50:10] it.
[2:50:11] I hope that you will support a strong update to the climate action plan in this town that
[2:50:16] considers all options based upon the best available science and not on short term thinking.
[2:50:22] I think that's the beauty of the community plan.
[2:50:24] is it built long-term thinking into the way that the city runs and it's been an incredible
[2:50:30] benefit to us. But it's not just elected officials that need to act. I really want to call
[2:50:35] on all of us as citizens to vote on November 3rd, up and down the ballot, get to know what's being
[2:50:42] selected. And I would ask that you vote for people that plan action on the climate crisis now without
[2:50:49] any further delays we have to remind others to vote and to protect democracy this is a critical
[2:50:55] time in more ways than one and if you feel like I do our beloved Del Marr is definitely worth
[2:51:01] protecting thank you
[2:51:09] next speaker is Roger Reynolds followed by Channa Manon I'm
[2:51:19] wondering if
[2:51:19] this technology can be slightly shifted so that there's a little more coverage so I wanted
[2:51:28] to give you a picture briefly, and I wrote it all out because I wanted to stay focused
[2:51:35] of the kind of people who came to Delmar before all of what you have just been hearing.
[2:51:43] In the summer of 1969, Karen and I moved to Delmar from Tokyo, where we had been fellows
[2:51:51] of a curious foundation called the Institute of Current World Affairs. We had been recruited
[2:51:59] by its executive director while staying at the Rockefeller Foundation's Villa, Sebeloni
[2:52:05] North of Milan in Italy. We met Richard Nolte, over dinner at the villa, and afterwards in
[2:52:13] In his room, his initial question to us was, if you could be anywhere, where would you
[2:52:21] be?
[2:52:23] I'm not expected question, of course.
[2:52:26] They're followed.
[2:52:27] I need your answer by tomorrow morning at seven.
[2:52:32] We stayed up all night imagining, and at seven a.m. the next morning we told him our choice
[2:52:38] was Japan.
[2:52:39] Japan. This was the institute's way, then, approach young people who had been secretly
[2:52:47] assessed and give them roughly half a day to change their lives.
[2:52:53] We had decided on Japan marginally over India. Three years later, returning to the U.S.,
[2:53:01] we decided to live in the coastal town of Delmar, the details don't matter now. We found
[2:53:09] a house on the northmost branch of Delmar's Serpentine Drive, and we have lived there just
[2:53:17] shy of six decades. When we arrived, some elderly neighbors just down the Serpentine slope,
[2:53:25] John and Florence Tunon befriended us. It's comical now to realize that we are far older now
[2:53:34] than they were then. Florence was a former dancer and John, a retired illustrator for the Los
[2:53:41] Angeles Times magazine. They were each in their own ways natural wonders. In 1969, this part
[2:53:53] of Southern California was still in the grip of a 30-year drought. Everything, and I mean
[2:53:59] in everything was the color of burnt grass, and it rained maybe a few hours a couple of
[2:54:08] times a year.
[2:54:10] The Tunis were dedicated community participants and recruited us into the regular cadre of
[2:54:17] fellow Del Martians who were then attempting to see the Del Mar did not suffer the fate
[2:54:23] of some northern California towns around Big Sur.
[2:54:29] The regular meetings, and this is one of the interesting things that I see as a contrast
[2:54:35] to what we've been hearing, the regular meetings were lively and entirely convivial.
[2:54:42] I remember no conflicts emerging.
[2:54:45] It was only some years later that the warfare over exploitive and preservative forces
[2:54:53] on the city council, Teter taught her back and forth, threatening and then restoring the
[2:55:00] elements central to the original carefully crafted plan. We have been then continuing
[2:55:09] beneficiaries of the provisions of that original community plan in hope that it may long survive
[2:55:16] for the benefit of this and future generations.
[2:55:19] questions, and I wanted to add one other thing. Another wonder of Delmar was John Wears
[2:55:27] Apple Pies. I don't know how many of you have had one, but they were literally this tall
[2:55:36] and delicious to boot.
[2:55:51] Hi, I'm China Manon, and my husband Frank grew up at Delmar, and told me that the reason Delmar
[2:55:57] incorporated in the very beginning was to fight the freeway coming down by the railroad
[2:56:03] tracks. And so when the opportunity came to be part of the community plan, we joined
[2:56:10] many people spending many hours having many discussions about what the future should
[2:56:16] be, which is a tradition that we're continuing today. So like Dwight, I actually remember
[2:56:23] that I had one and I too would be glad to share it, but even more importantly, like today,
[2:56:29] we had to pull everybody. My contribution is I made the cover, but not surprisingly,
[2:56:36] everybody's chief concern was overpopulation. So I'll be in the back if you'd like to
[2:56:42] look at these. I'd like to share them and congratulations on working on going forward.
[2:56:48] Thank you.
[2:56:49] No
[2:56:55] additional speakers lips there.
[2:56:57] Thank you, sir.
[2:56:58] I do.
[2:56:59] It's wonderful.
[2:57:00] Okay.
[2:57:01] So now that we're done with public comments, I'll ask our fellow council members if they have any comments.
[2:57:07] Deputy Mayor's fellow.
[2:57:08] I want to go first because I know cake is coming and I don't want to be the person keeping you from it.
[2:57:14] When I decided to run for office, somebody took me aside and gave me some wise advice.
[2:57:18] They said nobody ever moves here and says this place is great.
[2:57:21] Now let's change it.
[2:57:22] You know, I mean, what was great is great stays great doesn't happen by accident.
[2:57:28] I mean, obviously we need to remain vigilant, you know, like you do on so many other walks of life.
[2:57:33] But I will say this, I think I speak for all four of us.
[2:57:36] We don't want to be the people that disappoint you guys.
[2:57:38] So we're going to hopefully try to uphold the tradition that you started 50 years ago,
[2:57:42] because you were amazing, you were visionary, you had foresight,
[2:57:47] and I think the whole city owes you a great gratitude.
[2:57:50] So thank you very much.
[2:57:59] I'll just be brief and say I'm going to try to continue the legacy. I am not alone in the opinion that I think Delmar is the best small town on the planet and we're going to try to fight to continue that legacy going forward.
[2:58:12] We have some major challenges ahead, but thank you for everything. And I was a history major to and I love hearing this history is really awesome. Thank you.
[2:58:21] Sure. Yeah. It is an honor to be here among all of you. I see just amazing faces who
[2:58:34] your people who cared so much about Delmar that you took years of your life really thinking about
[2:58:43] how to lay out the next 50 years and created a document that will certainly last another
[2:58:51] 50 years.
[2:58:52] And I thought about, well, what can I say, well, one is when the University of California
[2:58:57] San Diego was recruiting me to come here as a professor, one of my conditions was that
[2:59:02] I find a house that I could afford to buy in Delmar.
[2:59:06] And I found one.
[2:59:07] and it's next door to Karen Lair who we just appointed to our lagoon committee and I really couldn't be happier than living in this little HOA and our residential mix zone next door to a 48 unit per acre apartment building,
[2:59:23] Stratford Beach apartments, you know, it's, it's Delmar is just such a wonderful place and no matter
[2:59:29] where in Delmar you live. The Delmar community plan thinks about it and opines on it, you know,
[2:59:38] the, the group that spent two years putting this together thought about every inch, every street,
[2:59:46] every bird, every tree in this city, and clearly argued about it without arguing.
[2:59:54] So, I have on my commute puter a copy of the community plan.
[2:59:59] And there's yellow...
[3:00:00] Pages. And anybody can get at it. You can print out your own copy if you want. And it'll be yellow because that's what's on our website. But just Google Delmar Community Plan. And this is what will come up. It'll be the development documents web page. And there's a link to both the online searchable version, but this version, which is much, much more fun to read. So I want to read a little bit from our community plan. And these are the very opening sentences.
[3:00:29] The Delmar Community Plan is an expression in words and maps of how the community will
[3:00:36] develop over the next 10 to 20 years was an a vision that it's really lasted for 50 and
[3:00:43] will likely last for another 50.
[3:00:46] And just a few more sentences from this, it is a statement of city policy as to the future
[3:00:52] policy.
[3:00:53] That's the important thing here.
[3:00:54] as to the future of the community and as to be used as a point of reference for all official and administrative decisions.
[3:01:04] Another sentence, all ordinances established to guide development must in the future conform to and be consistent with the community plan.
[3:01:14] And as Chair of the Sea Level Rise Committee that I was fortunate to have Bruce Bacar as co-chair during that four years,
[3:01:20] I learned how important the community plan is and that the mechanisms for adding anything,
[3:01:28] changing the community plan in any way, require four votes for an important reason.
[3:01:34] And that reason is in our plan.
[3:01:36] Any plan will need to be modified as conditions alter over time, sea level rise.
[3:01:41] We needed an adaptation plan.
[3:01:44] And thorough reviews should be undertaken every three years.
[3:01:47] I don't think we've done that, but I don't think we've needed it.
[3:01:50] It should be remembered, however, the community plan represents certain decisions of vital importance
[3:01:56] to the welfare of the people in their city.
[3:01:58] The consequences of these decisions, in part, determine the number and type of people.
[3:02:03] There's that number, the population, the growing population that was such a challenge, and
[3:02:07] still is all around us.
[3:02:10] The number and type of people a community may accommodate.
[3:02:12] The standards by which the city will be developed, decisions of the appropriate amount, amount
[3:02:19] and relationships of different land uses, and the lines of communication that link
[3:02:23] these areas.
[3:02:25] These are beautiful words, and I encourage Google, Delmar Community Plan, and Take A Read
[3:02:31] is coming up weekend.
[3:02:33] It is really a heartening document that, boy, I wish all towns and our entire country had
[3:02:42] We're able to have a community plan like this created by people like you.
[3:02:48] So thank you very much, it's an honor.
[3:02:52] So I'll close, I'll be brief, I wanted to, like probably all of my fellow council members,
[3:02:58] read the community plan as I was thinking about running for city council.
[3:03:02] And I was really just blown away by the vision, the courage, and your relentless effort to come up with such a document that I think is the most important document in the city of Del Mara.
[3:03:11] and it sure been my guiding principle.
[3:03:13] So thank you for all the work that you've done.
[3:03:16] I also want to thank all of you for showing up today.
[3:03:18] I still can't believe I'm meeting all of you.
[3:03:20] So I'm going to like Starstruck.
[3:03:22] So this is a good thing for me and all of us to be able to see you.
[3:03:26] And all of the people who worked on this,
[3:03:28] I've learned that it was really a village of people
[3:03:30] and we really have a lot of gratitude for all of you
[3:03:33] for what you've done and the impact you've made
[3:03:35] on one of the most beautiful coastal town in the state, for sure.
[3:03:40] so thank you. So thank you everyone for coming out and helping us celebrate this important
[3:03:46] milestone for our city. At this time we'll adjourn and there is some coffee and cake in
[3:03:53] the back. I wanted to point out that the posters that you see of 1976, what was happening
[3:03:58] at the time. There's handouts in the back. This was provided, developed and provided by Deputy
[3:04:04] Mayor's Bellage, so thank you for that.
[3:04:08] And then I want to also thank Sarah Crater for all her effort in helping us coordinate
[3:04:13] this beautiful evening for everyone.
[3:04:15] She took care of every detail, every idea we had, reached out to our panelists here.
[3:04:21] So thank you, Sarah, for all you did to make this happen.
[3:04:28] So thank you, meetings adjourned.
[3:04:30] Let's go celebrate.