Acton Town Council Regular Meeting Minutes 5-02-2016 Approved

1. Flag Salute & Roll Call – The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by President Protem Tom Coston.  Present at the meeting were Tom Coston, Angela Toghia, Katherine Tucker, Jacki Ayer, Pam Wolter, and Kelly Teno.
2. Tribute to Mr Ray Billet – After Tom Coston said a few words Ray he asked that everyone take a moment of silence and pray for Ray and his family.
3. Minutes of Last Meeting – Jacki Ayer made a motion to approve the 4-18-2016 meeting minutes as posted. Pam Wolter 2nd. The motion carried.
4. Treasurer’s Report – After a donation of $200.00 and no expenses the checkbook balance is $1464.27.
5. Sheriff’s Report – Deputy Short reported that they are behind on reports but there were possibly 19 reports last month.  Young people have been exploding dry ice bombs in downtown Acton, it is considered an explosive felony.  There is a scam where someone is selling magazines for a cause on facebook.  He addressed the motorhomes parked at Antelope Woods and that it is being taken care of.
6. Library Report – Librarian John Elford announced the upcoming Library programs, they can be found on the Library website.  He announced a reception for Bill Dowd whose photographs are on display at the library, Saturday May 7, 2016 from 5:30 pm till 7:00 pm.
7. Announcements & Correspondences – ATC has received numerous emails regarding a balloon release in Acton and asking for our help in stopping it.  It is a fundraiser for a animal rescue and after speaking with them and going over the code it was determined they are not violating any codes.  They said the balloons will be released 25 at a time, balloons are biodegradable latex and have no strings. The HSR is coming to Acton for us to get together and have questions answered Monday 5-09-2016 at 2:30 at the Library.  There were two voicemails, one complaining about private water companies & their costs and are there any standards they have to follow.  Even though they are private companies we feel they gave standards they must follow.  Another property owner said there next door property is zoned commercial and there are people living there. They were given the number for the zoning  commission.  CHP has been notified about the concerns from Acton residents that  have reported speeding violations on Sierra Hwy. from 4am to about 6 am.  Deputy Short urged community members  that if they called in the complaints they would mean more.  They should report complaints to the CHP Office Antelope Valley  to officer Gill Hernandez , Public Affairs.
8. ARTC 501C3/4 – Update –  Randal Fink says he is close to having by-Laws reviewed .  We should have quotes for Liability  insurance by the end of the week.
9. Community Comments – comments allowed on agenda items only (3 min allotment per speaker may be imposed) – None
10. Vacant Council Seats (Officer Elections) – President Protem appointed 3 members to the election committee to come up with a slate of officers to put to a vote for the ATC members.  President – Tom Coston, Vice President – to be filled at a later date, Recording Secretary – Kelly Teno, Corresponding Secretary – Jacki Ayer, Treasurer – Pam Wolter.  After a silent vote, an Acton resident present at the meeting counted the ballots and announced a unanimous vote.  There are still 3 open sets on the council.
11. Community Comments – Comments allowed on agenda items only (3 minute allotment per speaker) – No comments
12. Developer Presentation- Proposed development of 3771 Sierra Hwy. – Deanne Boublis – Korek Land Company, Inc.,  Adam Fisher – Centerra Retail Group – The proposed development would be a high end coffee house with a drive thru with possibly a drive thru bank and 3 other food type establishments.  Our area has such a dense population and businesses rely on the freeway and require drive thrus.
13. Community Input – Proposed Development of 3771 Sierra Hwy.- Questions included, Have you reached out to other types of businesses.  They said no sit down type restaurants want to come in and the trend is that Sizzler and CoCo’s are going away.  Areas that have dense population rely on the freeway for
14. Brief Summary of Motions Passed at Saturday’s Special Meeting – ATC is requesting meetings with DPW, Parks & Rec, and Regional Planning to address specialty retail and what fits in their domain, traffic analysis protocols subject to C-RU Commercial Zone Code, implementation of trails, then putting all the info together and meeting with Regional Planning. 2nd motion to prepare a petition to gather signatures of people against drive thrus, freeway serving businesses, wanting trails implemented, the petition will be generic enough to continue using in the future.  Petition will be available on the ATC website, Library, Pam Wolters office.  The ARTC voted to support our effort since most rural communities are also facing unwanted development.  ATC will present the petition to them.
15. Discussion – Alternating Scheduled ATC Meetings to Regular & Planning Formats – Jacki Ayer made a motion to change the regular meeting format to one regular meeting and one planning meeting per month, 2nd, Motion carried.  Public will be at both meetings, public can be involved at planning meetings with committees.  No votes taken at a planning meeting. President can change the planning meeting to a regular meeting if it is necessary.
16. Committee Reports – Planning, Coordination, Trails & Open Space – No report; High Speed Rail –Water Petition did not get enough signatures to go on November 2016 ballot.  Signature gathering will continue for November 2018;  Publicity & Assoc. of Rural Town Councils – No report; Finance Ways & Means – ATC had their fundraiser tonight at Don Chatos. Thank you to resident Ruth Brock for setting it up;  By-Laws, Community Standards and Decorum – The ATC By-Laws are up on the website;  Public Works & Utilities – No report;  Emergency Response & Disaster Planning – No report;  Beautification, Illegal Dumping and Perspective –  A call has been made on the mattresses dumped on Sierra Hwy before Ave. V.  The dump no longer takes them, they are a special pickup and considered biological waste.  ATC member Angela Toghia will contact the two trash pickup companies about having a specialty dump day in Acton.
17. Unfinished Business – None
18. New Business – The National Monument public comment period is going on and we need to get the community involved.
19. Open Forum – Subjects not on the agenda only (3 minutes per speaker) – None
20. Meeting adjourned at 9:56 pm the next scheduled meeting 05-16-2016 @ 7:30pm at the Library, Respectfully Submitted Kelly Teno, Recording Secretary.