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Meeting Minutes

April 10th, 2008

PIERPONT COMMUNITY COUNCIL

APRIL 8, 2008

The Chairperson John Whitman called the meeting to order at 7PM at the
Marriott Hotel.  Approximately sixty members of the Pierpont Community
attended.

POLICE REPORT
Lt. Vance was unavailable but spoke to John prior to the meeting and
had nothing to report.  Gil de Ande asked about a particular evening
when he saw nine police cars in the Pierpont area.  John will follow
up on that inquiry.

A member asked where responsibility lies when someone falls on the
sand clogged stairs going to the beach.  John and Scott Carlson stated
that that would call for a legal opinion but it is city property and
it is part of the responsibility of the Public Works Department to
keep it clear.

TREASURER’S REPORT:
Rosemary Icardo was unavailable but provided John with her report.
Statement Balance 3/31                  $1,736.15
Deposit 4/7/08                                      200.00
Check #1001 Marriott Hotel                          -75.00
Balance on hand 4/8/08                  $1,861.15

Additionally, Trace and Ted presented the PCC with a check for
$300.91. This money was leftover from the lifeguard fundraiser and we
are very grateful for their generous support.

SHORT TERM VACATIONAL RENTAL COMMITTEE REPORT:
Sandy Bothman reported that if you see any short-term rentals in your
neighborhood call Janie Dunn at 658-4773 to report the address and
confirm that they have registered with the city.  Murray Robertson did
a search on the Internet and found many that are advertising but not
registered.  Approximately 23 are formally registered and a guess is
that about that same number have not registered.

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE:
Dan Clarke was unavailable, Kioren Moss gave the report.

1.      The Anastasi Project applied for a HAP but it was sent back to
them.  In the meantime they hired a new architectural firm and are
reapplying.  The number of units in the development has fallen to
approximately 120.  The slant of the property caused the lower number
of units.  There will still be commercial units on Seaward and Harbor
Blvds., with underground parking and affordable housing scattered
throughout.  The project is still three stories but the units are
staggered for views.  For questions call Barbara Asbell at 642-7711

2.      Proposed Hyatt Place extended stay hotel, across the 101
Freeway where El Torrito restaurant was.  This hotel is NOT within the
Pierpont Community Council borders but will obviously have an impact
on traffic, beach usage, local businesses etc.  It is zoned “community
tourist oriented”.  The plan calls for 147 rooms, 182,000 square feet
and three stories in height.

3.      The area known as the “Tank Farm”.  This property also is not
within our council borders and belongs to the city.  It is west of
Seaward off of Alessandra.  Rod Gilbert wants to buy it from the city
but there are zoning issues.

CITY PROPOSED SAND MANAGEMENT PLAN:
Scott Carlson lead us through all the stages of the City’s Sand
Management Plan from the first presentation at City Hall by biologists
and botanists, the city council meeting after that presentation, our
last Pierpont Community meeting, and meetings held by PCC leaders with
Mayor Weir, and another meeting Rick Cole, Ariel Calonne and Public
Works staff.

Unfortunately, there are many competing interests for a limited number
of dollars.  The California state budget is currently at a $21 billion
deficit.  The city of Ventura needs to cut $4 million from its budget.
The PCC wishes to convince the city that our needs are greater than
competing projects.  But not only is the city anticipating not giving
us any additional monies for beach maintenance, they are contemplating
reducing monies dedicated from the previous budget.  Scot and Sandy
Bothman have reframed our “ask” for budgeting for outcomes, which is
how the city plans for budgeting.  There is a very strong consensus in
our community as to our needs and we are a very densely populated
community.  Surveys from the Visitors Bureau state 51% of visitors to
Ventura do so for the beach.  It was stated that there are disabled
members of our community that cannot access the beach because of the
conditions on the stairs.

The following Consensus position was discussed that was presented at
the previous PCC meeting in March. It reflects the requests of the
community to the City regarding the beach sand issue:

“PIERPONT COMMUNITY COUNCIL (PCC)
CONSENSUS POSITION
ON THE CITY COUNCIL’S PIERPONT BEACH STRATEGY
(First draft adopted 3/11/08; Final Adopted 4/8/08; For Use at 4/14/08
City Council Mtg)
The PCC urges the City Council to deliver the following results that
matter most:
1. LIFEGUARD SERVICE: Approve the lifeguard service plan as
recommended for summer of
2008 (i.e., Physical tower at end of Greenock Lane; lifeguard
vehicles, mobile sand stations, on foot service elsewhere). Also,
continue engaging in dialogue with the PCC and State Parks about
reasonable enforcement of beach regulations. This action adds no extra
City cost for FY 2008-09.
2. BEACH CLEANING SERVICE: Continue to supplement State cleaning of
Pierpont State
Beach and deliver the highest maintenance frequency of beach cleaning
service allowed under
Pierpont State Beach’s Level II designation. The City has annually
authorized $65,000 for City public works to clean Pierpont State
Beach. Staff reports that the City can meet resident expectations for
a clean beach during peak season by allocating an additional $16,000
for weekly debris removal by hand from June through August. The City
Council should therefore budget $81,000 to achieve this outcome in FY
2008-09.
3. COASTAL ACCESS AND SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICE: Appreciate
that the City’s nine-year public works cost-saving decision to allow
sand to “naturally” accumulate unencumbered along its 40-foot-wide
right-of-way public access easement requires it to now take
environmental responsibility for the adverse conditions created by
such unprecedented accumulation. The City Council should therefore
budget $96,000 to deliver “Service Level C” in FY 2008-09. Also,
direct Public Works to budget capital improvement to restore safe
beach access infrastructure.
4. SAND MANAGEMENT: The proposed sand management plan is fundamentally
flawed and the
City Council should not authorize staff to “move forward.” Instead,
the City Council should:
(A). Direct staff to work with the adversely affected property owners
who adjoin the City’s 40-
foot-wide right-of-way public access easement and implement publicly
funded immediate short-term relief within the narrowest scope allowed
by coastal regulation. One potential solution would be for the City
and affected homeowners to secure Coastal Commission approval of an
emergency City permit for public works to clear accumulated sand from
its 40-foot-wide right of- way public access easement. That action
would also reduce public works cost of removing sand from City streets
going forward.
B). After satisfaction of 4(A), direct appropriate Staff to join all
responsible stewards of
Pierpont Beach engaging in a year-long consensus-driven stakeholder
process that ends with a
comprehensive sand management plan that manages sand effectively,
shares funding obligations
realistically among potential payers, earns the support of a Pierpont
community majority,
receives approval from the Coastal Commission and delivers sustainable
long-term relief for
implementation starting FY 2009-10. As the voice of the Pierpont area,
PCC should host
monthly meetings to help all stewards of Pierpont State Beach identify
effective solutions. At a
minimum, participating stewards should include representatives of City
Council, City Staff, State
Parks, Coastal Commission, Assembly District 35, Senate District 19,
the public and PCC’s
Executive Board”.

A motion was made to accept the proposal as presented by Scott.  The
motion was seconded.  Discussion ensued and a call for a vote was
made.  The motion was passed unanimously to present the above as a
request to the City.

Please Note:
Monday, April 14th the City Council will again take up this issue.
Our plan will be presented and it is imperative that as many Pierpont
residents as possible come to support our plan.  Certain members of
the community will speak to the plan in specifics.  We want to go not
to rehash old arguments but to provide a strategic, cohesive plan with
the City for a feasible solution to our community problems.

NEW BUSINESS, Elections:
At our May meeting there will be elections of officers. Dena Mercer
and Tag Gilbert have volunteered to be on the nominating committee.
If anyone else is interested in participating in that committee please
contact Carmel Whitman.

Per the by-laws there are four officers; Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer
and Secretary.  Rosemary Icardo has indicated that she cannot serve a
second term as Treasurer.  It is important, as we head into an active
period of negotiating with the city, that we reach out into our
community and find willing, able and competent residents to help us
protect our neighborhood.

Scott has put together a plan of action that calls for much more
involvement that we have ever before mustered.  If you are interested
in knowing how you can be a helper please contact us.

It was agreed by those attending that the Marriott is an excellent
venue for our meetings and worth spending $75 per meeting.  If you are
interested in sponsoring a meeting please let us know.  The hotel
cannot validate parking for us, but if you dine at the hotel before or
after the meeting, or have a drink in the bar your parking will be
validated.

The meeting adjourned at 820PM.  The next meeting will be May 13th at
the Marriott Hotel at 7PM.

Carmel Whitman, Pierpont Community Sectretary
Pierpont Community Council
2419 E. Harbor BL, Suite #166
Ventura, California 93001

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