Acton Town Council Regular Meeting Minutes August 7, 2017

1. Flag Salute & Roll Call – The meeting was called to order at 7:07 pm by President Tom Costan.  Present at the meeting; Dylan Lunde, Jacki Ayer, Russ Fawkes, Tom Costan, Ruth Brock and Kelly Teno.  Absent; Angela Toghia
2. Community Comments – Resident Rick Ward inquired about AT&T looking to put in more towers.  ATC members told him all we knew.  A resident asked about an issue he had during the recent flooding with his neighbor blocking the Vditch which spread debris all over his property.  It was recommended that he take pictures of the shed blocking the Vditch and the debris and go talk to Building and Safety over on K-6, talk to someone in Grading and Drainage and also talk to Regional Planning about the plot plan.
3. Minutes of Last Meeting – Everyone received a copy and will postpone till later in the meeting.
4. Treasurer Report – Bank Balance – $1,359.27 no receipts or expenses.  We have a bill to renew PO Box at The Print Shop.  Jacki Ayer made a motion to renew the PO Box at The Print Shop for $168.00.  Ruth 2nd the motion. The motion carried.
5. Sheriff Report – Deputy Short reported 34 incidents that resulted in reports.  He was asked if he had any stats from the Homeless Count.  He had not gotten anything as of yet but that info was supposed to be shared.  He was asked about where the Acton Sheriff Sub Station stands.  It is now being looked at by the legal team.  The CHP are also interested in being there also.
6. Library Report – Librarian Jim Wall reported August events and reminded everyone that the library will be closed on Labor Day September 4th.
7. Announcements and Correspondences – 2 emails came in to the ATC website that needed to be addressed.
8. County Wide CSD Revision Methodology – The County wants to know if communities want to work together by topic or by individual communities on CSD’s.  Questions that were brought up: How does it benefit us to work together?  Do communities have common goals and will we ever get to the things we want to work on?  What would our list of topics be?  Can we opt out at any time?  After discussion we decided our community has nothing to lose and if we want surgical strikes we need to work together.  Jacki Ayer made a motion that we are willing to do work by topic providing we work on one piece at a time, we need some customization, we need to bring it back to the collective, we need a topic list, and we want to be able to opt out by topic or completely.  Our preliminary list of topics include Home-Based Business, Signage, Cannabis, Industrial Development Standards, and Equestrian Trails.  Ruth Brock 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.
9. SEA (Significant Ecological Areas) Ordinance – Tom put in a request for a meeting with Kathryn Barger and has not heard anything.  If he doesn’t hear soon he will call the Board of Supervisors and ask for a meeting directly.
10. Acton CSD Zoning/CUP Revisions – The County is getting rid of Directors Review in CSD’s and they want our comments.  They propose to replace it with a Minor CUP.  Two sections of Acton’s CSD will be affected, Property Brushing and Home Based Business. After discussion it was decided to make the following motions: Since there are already so many restrictions in our CSD for Home Based Business,  Jacki Ayer made a motion for Home Based Businesses to use a site plan instead of County’s recommendation for a minor CUP. Pam Wolter 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.
11. Acton CSD Future Drive-Through Prohibition – The continuation hearing date is August 16, 2017. Jacki has not heard whether anyone who has testified at the 1st hearing can testify again.  Jacki Ayer made a motion to send a letter including talking points and a reminder that this is a Board of Supervisors ordered motion.  Ruth Brock 2nd the motion.  The motion carried.
12. Cannabis Listening Session – Tom gave a talk about the background of what the County is working on and the ATC concerns.  Member Russ Fawkes went to a Cannabis Listening Session put on by the County and he gave a report on how the session worked and how he felt it went.  He found out that August 15, 2017 is the last day for public comment to go in the record but that they will take comments after that.  Our concern is that the survey deadline is August 31, 2017.  Residents made comments that included : One woman spoke about a new neighbor who is telling all his neighbors that he already has a permit in order to grow on his 5 acres and she is worried about the distance from residential. ( We don’t believe any permits can be given for large growing, and residential can only grow up to 6 plants and we believe it can only be indoors) There was talk of it bringing crime to the area and it belongs away from where we live. Another woman encouraged the ATC to present that we don’t want it at all, that growing pot is producing a drug and it belongs where other drugs are produced. Why can’t we ban it like Santa Clarita? We took a poll of the people in the audience and about 1/2 wanted it banned completely. Most felt it should not be grown near schools, churches, and residential/agricultural.   One resident thought it could be beneficial to the community by growers having to give us revenue.  It was explained that since we are not incorporated we would have no way to take revenue it would go to the County. As a council we have already agreed to write a letter.  We should write our letter with info about survey’s that have already been turned in and then do an add on after the survey is complete.
13. Committee Reports – A. Planning, Coordination, Trails and Open Space – We have had no contact yet with potential Trails Committee member Kathy from Rainbow Ridge.  Jacki will follow up on this.  B. High Speed Rail – Good news the California Supreme Court ruled that High Speed Rail has to follow CEQA.  Pam received a text from Henaveva that they want to come back out and take pictures at Blum Ranch.  C. Publicity & Assoc. of Rural Town Councils – Tom will work on updating the website.  Jacki spoke about the ARTC meeting.  D. Finance Ways and Means – None.  E. By-Laws, Community Standards & Decorum – The committee had its meeting and we are about 1/2 way through the By Laws.  The next meeting date is August 14, 2017, 10am at Perkin Up.  F. Public Works & Utilities – None.  G. Emergency Response & Disaster Planning – None.  H. Beautification, Illegal Dumping, and Perspective – None. I. Election Committee – Election Day will be November 8, 2017.  Application needs to be available by August 23, 2017 and Tom will try to get it out earlier. The application will be on the ATC website, The Acton Country Store Market, The Print Shop and Acton Auto Parts.  They are due back by September 22, 2017, and candidates will be announced at the ATC October 2, 2017 meeting.
14. Unfinished Business – Their was a Traffic Study done at Soledad Canyon Road and Santiago due to complaints by residents.  The Traffic Study warrants stop signs on Soledad Canyon Road (stop signs are already present at Santiago).  It now has to go before Kathryn Barger for her support which will happen in November.
15. New Business – We need to put the Traffic Study on next meeting for community comments.  Russ spoke about traffic studies and the need for a committee.  1 in 78 people will die in a traffic accident and 1 in 20 people will be injured in traffic accidents.  We got this conversation rolling with the County.  We need to start a Traffic Safety Committee and put it under Public Works & Utilities.  Russ reported that he contacted Bob Keller about all the large real estate signs.  He will give it 10 days and if he gets no response he will contact Regional Planning Zoning Department.
16. Adjournment – 11:18pm