Acton Town Council Minutes – Draft
March 2, 2015
1. CALL TO ORDER AND FLAG SALUTE; 730 p.m. meeting called to order.
2. ROLL CALL: Present – Chris Croisdale, Tom Costan, Michael Hughes, Ray Billet, Pam Wolter, Jacqueline Ayer, Thor Merich, and Katherine Tucker. Absent: None
3. MINUTES of last meeting: Minutes of 2/2/2015 meeting approved.
4. TREASURER’S REPORT: Balance unchanged – $1842.47
5. CERT – Cal/Oglesby – CERT classes to be held 2/21/2015, 2/28/2015, and 3/7/2015– t Still in the works is the SCE CERT grant.
6. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE:
- Marijuana Dispensary:
- Four letters sent to the Acton Town Council web site. All four against allowing a Marijuana dispenser in town.
- Results of the Country Journal Survey on establishing a Marijuana Dispensary in town: 397 votes received. 297 votes against allowing a marijuana dispensary in town. (67 votes were from Agua Dulce, 27 votes were from other communities, 6 votes were disqualified.)
- Mr. Spooner spoke to the community at the ATC meeting. There were many residents present at the meeting. Mr. Spooner said that they wanted to get the viewpoint of the community. They had hoped to provide a safe and well-managed place of business to provide medical marijuana to the community. From the Country Journal survey and the attendance at the ATC meeting, and the letters sent to the ATC, they see that the community is not in favor of a medical marijuana dispensary in the community of Acton. They are withdrawing their plans to set up the dispensary. They have not taken out any permits from Regional Planning. Mr. Spooner thanked the Acton Town Council and the Country Journal for their professionalism. And, Mr. Spooner was impressed with the demeanor of the community and he is proud of their participation.
- Tom Costan suggested that the State could be lobbied for a different way to handle and dispense medical marijuana.
- Dept. Short said that County Counsel has issued no permits for dispensaries in the County. All of the existing dispensaries are illegal and will be shut down. Of the 1150 collectives in LA County, 27 are legal.
7. SHERIFF REPORT: Deputy: Scott Short (661-272-2571); [email protected]
There were 27 reportable incidents in February. 2 petty thefts, 4 burglaries, 3 grand theft autos, 1 vandalism. There was a burglary on Bootlegger. Chris Croisdale discussed the mail thefts going on the Mary Hill area. It was suggested that FedEx and UPS deliveries should be left at the Post Office.
8.SCE REPORT:
- Street lights were changed out at Crown Valley. Segment 6, hydro seeding is complete.
- FAA lights on Segment 11 and Segment 6 – it was noted that they are not meeting the low impact mitigation measures. The lights on the middle of the tower are a problem for the residents. They need to be shielded. It was also noted that the lights are placed on towers which are located in VALLEYS on private lands; the FAA lights should be on towers located on the ridge lines. Ms. Patricia Bartoli-Wible said that the FAA analyzes each tower. Mr. Ian Forest and the Subject Matter Expert need to come to the Acton Town Council meeting to discuss the towers and FAA lights with he Acton Town Council.
9. LIBRARY REPORT: Valerie Bailey – No report
10. Update on 501 c 3 / c4 Progress / Comments: No report
11. Committees Report
- Planning Coordination, Trails and Open Space, Recreation Committee: J. Ayer
- 3/24/2015 – Hearing on the LA General Plan Update.
- 1000 Trails – Code Enforcement
- LA County Renewable Energy Ordinance – Hearing on 3/18/2015. The Acton Town Council needs to submit a comment letter. On 2/26/2015 the Association of Rural Town Councils voted to send a letter addressing their concerns.
- High Speed Rail – Pam Wolter – Michael Hughes noted that the Acton Town Council needs to have a position on the High Speed Rail. He said that it needs to be kept out of Acton; if it is routed through Acton, it needs to be underground and that the water wells need to be avoided. Chris Croisdale agreed and said that the Acton Town Council position on HSR needs to be put in a letter format. It was noted that the Coalition will be writing a letter in opposition to the HSR. It was agreed that Michael Hughes and J. Ayer will put a letter together for the Acton Town Council. It was also noted that HSR has rejected Acton’s position of “keep it out of Acton”. It was also noted that the ATC and the Coalition do not have a preferred route, only that it needs to be made the least impactful to Acton and Agua Dulce. It was also noted that the High Speed Rail engineers are capable of engineering an underground route. Jacki Ayer made a motion for the Acton Town Council to draft a High Speed Rail position statement stating that the Acton Town Council does not want the train in Acton. If the train is routed through Acton, that it needs to be made the least impactful, and to avoid wells and aquifers and that it needs to not have any impact to residents and land owners.” Tom Costan suggested that an Acton Town Council Mission Statement needs to be adopted. C. Croisdale asked for a vote on the ATC HSR position statement. It was unanimously adopted.
- It was also noted that the Core HSR Committee was having a Spaghetti fundraiser dinner on 3/14/2015. Members of the Hanford HSR group are coming to the dinner.
- 3/7/2015 – High Speed Rail Community Meeting
- 3/9/2015 – Core Community meeting at the Library from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. George Andrews, Assemblyman Tom Lackey Chief of Staff will be speaking at this meeting.
- Publicity and Assoc. of Rural Town Councils Committee – co-chaired but Tom Costan and Ray Billet.
- See above for ARTC calling for letter in renewable energy ordinance.
- ATC website-
- Finance Ways and Means – Thor Merich – no report
- By-Laws and Decorum – Michael Hughes – no report
- Utilities Committee – C. Croisdale – No report
- Community Standards – M. Hughes – meeting held on 2/23/2015. Title 22 – county is revising format of CSD’s. Susie Tae and Bruce Dervin and five residents attended.
- CUP revision – Bruce Dervin offered to come to the ATC to speak about the CUP revision – i.e. CUP’s will be categorized by different types. i.e. Minor CUPs would be handled differently than more impactful CUPs. J. Ayer is concerned that the CUP process is being oversimplified. J. Ayer would like to hear more details on the CUP revision process before inviting Bruce Dervin to speak.
- Mike Hughes has meetings scheduled int he library through June. The goal is to achieve consistency with the AV Area Plan and the LA County General Plan.
- Beautification – K. Tucker – no report
- Emergency Response and Disaster Planning – M. Hughes – 1/22/2015 – Medical response group meeting. 1/27/2015 – Burbank Regional Meeting. 2/2/2015 Ranger Blount meeting – regarding USFS involvement with the Resiliency Group.
- Public Works Committee – C. Croisdale – no report
12. Liaisons:
- Community Center Liaison: M. Hughes – No report
- Chamber of Commerce: P. Wolter – no report
- School Board – Lilian Smith – there is a special budgetary session on 3/4/2015 at 6:30 p.m. The construction of the new high school is on schedule.
- Friends of Acton Park – TBD – no report
- Acton Women’s Club – P. Wolter – no report
- Acton Agua Dulce Arts Council – Sandy Madsen
- Boy Scouts of America – TBD
- Girl Scouts of Americal – TBD
13. Unfinished Business
- Open Agenda – Renewable Energy – Open Comment. J. Ayer spoke to Susie Tae regarding wind turbines ridge lines. Susie Tae said that that the wind turbines are supposed to be 50 feet below the ridge lines. Jacki Ayer noted that there are not supposed to be any renewable energy projects in SEA’s. The proposed renewable energy ordinance needs to be agonized for 3/16/2015 ATC meeting.
- The Fire Bill to be paid to State Board of Equalization – it was noted that the residents need to keep protesting the “fee”.
- Open ATC position – No report
14. New Business – no report
Meeting Adjourned at 9:13 p.m.
Next meeting will be held on March 16, 2015 at the Acton Agua Dulce Library
