Wednesday, January 14, 2015

• City Council Meeting January 14, 2015 Recap

Let's go down the agenda.

First up was Wildomar City Attorney Thomas Jex reporting on a new lawsuit against the city and Cornerstone Church.

A group calling themselves "Cornerstone Concerned Area Residents" which if it were a more honest name would be something like "Area Residents That Hate Everything About Cornerstone Church" but what's in a name... right?

The reportable action on that topic was that the City Council unanimously voted to defend the lawsuit. This was another Ray Johnson special, but this time the group is headed by a guy named Jim Filanc.

Interesting that the last time Cornerstone had a proposed project in front of the council, this guy had said, "We want the city to have all the facts on what the impact will be on traffic on Monte Vista," he said. "We don't want to stop them from developing. We just want to make sure they pay their fair share and that it's a condition of the project."

Well, I guess times have changed since there is a comprehensive EIR and they [Cornerstone] are more than paying "their fair share" for this project.

Presentations
  • Ethan Edwards received recognition for his Eagle Scout project. 
Eagle Scout Ethan Edwards with Mayor Ben Benoit.
  • We met the outgoing Fire Chief Steve Beech's replacement Joel Vela and Division Chief Geoff Pemberton.


Public Comments
There were seven public speakers tonight. Of note were:

  • Kenny Mayes speaking about the need for a Food Truck ordinance and wondering when we will be getting the promised Parks Commission. 
  • Miss Miller wanted the council to set aside other work and put their efforts on stopping Chemtrails and Global Warming. 
  • Bill Keane (sp?) wanting a stop sign on Wesley at Union to slow down the speeders.
  • Kristan Lloyd spoke about the historic significance of The Brown House and wanted it known as Wildomar Heritage Museum from here on out. She also took issue with the word, dilapidated, that the city has used in connection to the Wildomar Heritage Museum.
Just to be fair, the word may not be along the lines of "Cozy" or "Quaint" or "Historic" but a person would be hard pressed to find a more apt word for the current condition of the Wildomar Historic Museum than Dilapidated.


  • Matt Patrick was speaking about speed issues on Via Sarah.
  • Judy Gugliemana represented the Wildomar Chamber and some of their coming events.
  • Kathy Bundy spoke about a planned Volkswalk on June 6th which is National Trails Day.

2.1 and 2.2 were continued to the February meeting.

3.1 Baxter/Susan GPIP
This was covered in Wildomar Rap last year when it was in front of the planning commission. 
This was one of those, "yes you can ask permission to ask permission" moments again. If I were the developer/landowner I'd seriously think about scrubbing this plan the way they envision it. 

You know you're in trouble when Council Member Tim Walker says, "Miss Miller was right" and Mayor Ben Benoit says, "I'm with Miss Miller here." Referring back to her public comments on the project and the area in general.

My favorite part of her comment was when she blamed all the concrete in the area for a bee sting she recently got in the jugular vein which now requires her to sleep with gloves for the next two weeks. She also saw some lion foot prints near Clinton Keith... then she slammed her papers against the podium and stormed out.



This passed 3-0 with Bob Cashman recusing himself since he lives near the project.

3.2 Gracepoint Church Public Use Permit Extension
They need a two year extension to complete their project due to funding and illness that hit the project manager. It passed 4-0.

3.3 Professional Services Agreement
Dan York was speaking about the Parks Masterplan and Traffic Signals in relation to DIF fees and TUMF fees. It was more sausage making and after my eyes finished glazing over I heard the vote go 4-0 to approve. 

City Manager Report
Gary Nordquist mentioned the coming Walmart public hearing on January 21, 2015 at 6:30pm. A scoping meeting for the Grove Park project this coming Monday at 6:00pm.  

He also gave the final numbers for the Green Waste Cleanup Event. The Marna O'Brien location had 132 signers and went through 16 bins and collected 30 tons at a cost of about $2300 paid to CR&R. On the other side of the freeway, at the La Estrella area, there were 78 signers (no bin count) but the services were donated by Waste Management.

He mentioned how the new Subway on Bundy Canyon is progressing.

City Clerk Debbie Lee thanked the City Staff, the City Council and her "Wildomar Family" for the condolences she received after her mother passed. 

Future Agenda Items
Bridgette Moore wants construction project signs to be addressed. (Example: A sign at the new Subway construction telling passersby what the project is, and projected finish dates).
Bob Cashman wanted Wildomar's historic structures designated or recognized. He's counted 14 such structures. 
Tim Walker wanted to get school test scores for Wildomar specific schools, away from LEUSD.
Ben Benoit Wants an option for various neighborhoods to be able to avoid the Windsong Valley slurry boondoggle when their neighborhoods are scheduled to be re-slurried, by paying additional monies through their HOAs if desired.
Marsha Swanson wasn't at tonight's meeting.


Mayor Ben Benoit adjourned the meeting in honor of Debbie Lee's mother.

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9 comments:

  1. Sorry I miss you all. Thank you so much for this recap. I will be listening to the recorded meeting when I return.

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  2. Interesting your disdain for Bob Cashman has you crediting "him" with the count of 14 structures of historical significance in Wildomar. This count was derived by the County of Riverside when Wildomar was going through its run up to cityhood. As to the Brown House, originally the County wanted to document then bulldoze this house where it stood until convinced by those that where hell bent on cityhood that they could restore this mishmash of history. That project is going about as well as cityhood.
    Kenny Mayes

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I do seem to have some issues with Bob Cashman. I'm sure he's a good guy and probably interesting to talk to, but in the year and a half that I've been at the city meetings I've seen a lackluster performance in what I'd want in a city councilmember. Not just his missing of most extracurricular activities, but based on statements from his own mouth, his seeming lack of preparation for the material that is on the agenda.

      As far as "structures of historical significance in Wildomar" I've just never been a fan of such silly things. I lived in San Clemente for many years, and they enshrined the original founder's house (Ole Hansen) too. The difference is that it was on a blufftop that overlooked the pier, and they hold weddings and other private events there. After they finally got it up to standards, it's been more of a money maker and a feather in the cap of that city. I don't see that ever happening with David Brown's simple farm house myself.

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    2. Clever words from Kenny! Always a dig at the city! Don't you need to go buy some more pink paint?

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  3. Did you post the pronunciation of "dilapidated" for Kristan Lloyd's benefit? Seems to me she had some general difficulty with the English language, but if she mispronounced that word one more time, I might have run and and bashed her in the head!!

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    Replies
    1. Oh no you di-n't.

      I noticed that too, but wasn't in any cranium crushing moods myself.

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    2. So someone shows an interest in local civic events and misprounces a word and that is what you focus on? I know Kristan and I wonder who is more involved in the community? Her or the person posting criticizing her pronunciation?

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    3. Anonymous Jan 17,
      I agree. I like Kristan. I voted for her when she ran in 2010 for City Council. We all flub words at times. The other day I used "absorbent" when I meant "exorbitant". As for the actual definition, she knew what it was, just prefered a gentler term so that fundraising will be easier... also something that is understandable.

      Thanks for your comment.

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  4. I think Kenny keeps pushing for the parks committee just so he has another group in the city to complain about. Although he does love going to meetings, maybe its just a social event for him?

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