Home Minutes Acton Town Council Meeting Minutes October 3, 2022, Approved

Acton Town Council Meeting Minutes October 3, 2022, Approved

  1. Call to Order, Flag Salute, & Roll Call – The meeting was called to order at 6;36 pm by President Jeremiah Owen.  Present at the meeting;  Pam Wolter, Jeremiah Owen, Jacki Ayer, June Perkins, and Kelly Teno.  Absent : Tom Costan
  2. Community Comments – A resident reported that Animal Control came again to her home. She rescues cats and she was told she could not have any outside cats.  She has been ordered to fix the garage and get rid of the outside cats.  will put this on the ATC Agenda for October 17th.  Another resident who is having issues with an NOV on her property and trying to refinance.  Kathryn Barger and Mike Garcia sent emails to HUD East Branch on her behalf and she has 6 more months on her mortgage and needs a letter from the County.  County Counsel has a form for her to sign so the NOV can be temporarily removed while she is gaining a new mortgage.  Jacki made an announcement that Regional Planning is willing to get together to talk about NOV’s.
  3. Announcements and Correspondence – Regional Planning released revisions to Title 21 and Title 22, and Hillside Management.  The comment period ends October 10th. Department of Parks and Recreation released their Regional and Rural edition to the park needs assessment, they would like comments as soon as possible.  The Atc had a discussion with the California department of Housing and Community Development regarding the homeless encampment at Smith Street.  Last week we sent out a 7 signature letter to Congressman Garcia, Supervisor Barger, Senator Wilk, and Assemblyman Lackey requesting collaboration between them and federal, state and local agencies addressing the violations at the Smith street Encampment.  Congressman Garcia is co-sponsoring the WATER for California Act that will provide federal funding for water storage projects across the state.  He is hosting a workshop on October 14th, you must RSVP, Flyer is on our website.  Supervisor Barger has allocated $2.3 million from her discretionary fund to increase services in the Fifth District for homeless.  Assemblyman Lackey will speak at the November 7th meeting.  Santa Clara River WASC has cancelled its October 6th meeting. California High speed rail Authority has extended the comment time period on the DEIR to December 1st. Clean Power Alliance will be switching all their customers in Acton over to the 100% green energy program.  You still have the option to switch out.  We have still not received notice of stakeholder meetings to discuss developing decarbonization of new and existing buildings.  Their report is due November 15th, so not much time left.  We asked again when the process would start, no answer back.  Regional Planning (RP) is proposing changes to the Parking Ordinance for multifamily housing.  They have scheduled workshops for October 11-13th.  Announcements of upcoming County and Local events and Free Disposal Days.
  4. Sheriff’s Report – No stats. Off road vehicles can not be enforced on private property.  They can site them for dust and noise if someone complains.  Deputy Martinez said it is enforced by the courts.
  5. Sierra Sports/Baseball Fields – Mr Coonis – Nick Coonis is looking for help to fix the baseball fields.  He is hoping for County help.  He found out that the County has the land up for sale and that Public Health managed it.  What will happen to the baseball fields?  Kathryn Barger wants to have the ball fields still available.  The question is could the County just keep the sliver, subdivide ii and let Sierra Youth use it.  Jacki made a motion to write an all signature letter to Supervisor Barger and request the ball fields be subdivided and held separately from the sale of the re-hab facilities and dedicated for future local sports activities.  June 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.
  6. Parks Development Report – Mr Lau, LA County Parks and Recreation –  Mr Lau went over the highlights and will share a link to the report.  They released the parks needs assessment for rural and regional areas.  They did the study in 2021 and looked at new areas and vulnerabilities .  Even though Acton has lots of land we are amenities poor.  Even though we have a park we want more amenities.  There are recommendations in the report if we have changes let them know.  Jacki said we appreciate their time.  Water is very important as we found out during Covid.  Our school Swim Team is having to practice in backyard pools.  Jacki asked about Appendix A and where the map on A43 came from.  Large areas on the map are areas where people live.  You cited lots of camping on pages 18-20.  The maps are not accurate and we would like to meet to review them.  Question from a resident – Time line to see any of our needs?  Mr Lau stated that swimming pools and improvements to existing parks or facilities are quicker.  The ATC has thoughts of maybe pooling funds maybe for regional facilities.  Mr Lau stated that Parks and Rec has a grant writing department.  Jacki spoke about the HSR preferred Route and maybe Parks and Rec asking them to donate land for a park and building it.
  7. Buddhist Meditation Center – The owner came to let the community know about his plans for the meditation center and to answer community questions.   He passed out his literature.  He spoke about going to the County to ask if the property could be used as a meditation center, they said it could be used without a permit.  He asked about the statue and they said it could be erected as long as there is no building.  He was asked about who he talked to at the County but he could not remember.  He was asked if they were planning on a building being built? He commented not right now, they will use the small building.  His comments included that they have submitted a site plan, when they get all their money together they will plan a building, they are a non-profit 501(c).  He was asked if they are planning for the site to be like a monastery and have monks live there?  He said hopefully in the future. Our community really needs to know what their full intentions are.
  8. ATC Election Committee – The committee chair stated that as of the deadline date ( which it has been more than a week past)we had only received 3 applications for the 4 empty seats.  Kelly Teno made a motion to waive the Acton Town Council Membership Election due to not having more candidates than open seats.  Jacki 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.
  9. Councilmembers Comments – Pam commented about our bank balance of $204.05 and the PO Box payment of $332.00 which is what brought our balance down to the 204.05.   She also thanked John and Aiden Vidic for putting up the HSR posters around town.   June commented on how much she is learning.
  10. Committee Reports – The following committees had reports b. Planning and Coordinating – Jacki gave a report on ordinance revisions.  Jacki made a motion to submit comments on the ordinances by the October 10th deadline.  Pam 2nd the motion.  The motion passed.  d. Publicity – Jeremiah will put a notice up about the HSR on the website.  g. Community Standards/Decorum – we need to move forward in 2023.  h. Trails, Open Space, and Recreation – the county has been meeting quarterly but not addressing big issues.  Trails meetings and all Parks and Rec working on getting trails.  i. Utilities – complaint on SCE with the PUC is still going on.  Intervenor compensation is a yes.  j.  By-Laws – We need to write a definition for the Education Committee.  o. Traffic Safety – need to write emails to LA County about collaborating for stop signs and talking about the HSR.
  11. Unfinished/New Business – Should write a letter of thank you to Supervisor Barger and Congressman Garcia for contacting HUD on behalf of a resident.
  12. Items for the Next Agenda – Cat Rescue, Assemblyman Smith
  13. Adjournment – 9:00 pm
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Comments are closed.