• City Council Meeting June 2015

The meeting started with a moment of silence for marine Sgt. Eric Seaman, who died in a helicopter crash in Nepal; Wally Edgerton, the first mayor of Menifee; and Joe Semon, a Wildomar city staffer. 

Presentations

• Recognition of the 2014 Miss City of Wildomar Queens.

If you go to any city events, you're bound to see these young ladies there.

• Fire Department update

Fire Chief Joel Vela reminded us all about the drought conditions and the ever present fire danger. He also reminded us about fireworks, and that ALL fireworks are illegal in Wildomar. Something tells me that the people that love to shoot these off really don't care about the danger they pose to others. 

Public Comments

This is where comments about things NOT on the agenda are given by residents.

• Pam Nelson spoke about the Sierra Club and the recent ribbon cutting ceremony for Murrieta Creek Regional Trail being a success.

• Ken Mayes spoke about the Murrieta Creek Trail.

• Patti Hatch spoke about the proposed name changes to the streets.

Council Communications

Mayor Ben Benoit mentioned that we got a grant from RCTC for $250,000 for the bike path on Grand project.

2.1 2015 development Impact Fee Update (DIF Fee)
This was the most interesting part of the evening and it was the most energetic I've seen the council get about something in the last 20 months. There were two public speakers on this agenda item. Ken Mayes and Nathan Miller.

I uploaded a video of it [the link is below] if you'd like to see the public comments and the council discussion and vote.

(The start of the video) The take away quote from Mayes was in his final words, as he was clearly in support of this: "Developers should want to build in Wildomar not because it's cheap, but because it's a nice place to live."

(Starting at 2:12 in the video) Nathan Miller, basically a shill for the Riverside County Building Industry Association, let the council know that he his group are against any fee increases. Well knock me over with a feather, who'd a thunk such a thing to be possible? He basically did his best hand wringing/woe is me act for the remainder of his time at the podium.

The council members all had good points, but I sympathized more with the Bob Cashman/Bridgette Moore side that felt the DIF Fees needed to be raised now. The other side of the point had Tim Walker, Marsha Swanson and Ben Benoit not wanting the fees hiked (or at least not as proposed).

DIF fees are what is charged for those that want to build in an area. Historically speaking, Wildomar has had some of the lowest fees by far. Low fees are attractive to developers because that is less money they will have to payout (ie MORE PROFIT). One problem with such low fees is that not nearly enough money gets collected for things that a modern city needs (take a look at present day Wildomar and you'll quickly see what low fees do to an area).

So you have two basic choices here. Either keep the fees low to appease the developers, or boost them up to what the neighboring cities are charging and stop being a doormat for them.

We all hate taxes, but we live in a modern world and to pretend that we can live on the cheap is silly. Life costs money, and most of us want to live in a nice city. Sorry, but I'm tired of being the Building Industry's booty call. If they want to build here, let them pay the same as they would pay to build in other cities. 

The upper portion of the graphic is our current DIF fees. The lower one is what was voted on tonight.
A 76% increase from total fees, with a 657% increase in the Parks Improvements portion.

You can see in the graph above that the Park Improvements fee went from $597 to $3,926. An increase of 657%. Thing is, we were WAY under what neighboring cities charged and it's time we stopped acting as if we were happy to be treated like a rented mule.

As you can see, the new fees take us from the bottom of SWRivCo to top dog here.
Sorry about the image quality, this was rehabbed from a cellphone pic of the presentation.

Below are a few pull quotes from the City Council. 

Bob Cashman (6:24 in the video) We don't have to build all the houses this year. There's no problem building the houses because they're going to come some time or another in the future. We don't have to have special rates to make sure we get more houses this year when I know these houses are going to come later.

Bridgette Moore (7:55) As I said last time, I'm for it and (looking towards the developer rep) I understand and I hear you, but they're building in other cities and their prices (fees) are higher than ours. I don't see why our city should be shortchanged.

Marsha Swanson (8:20) Again, this is a really tough decision for me. I see both sides of it... I cannot support this unless we phase it in. Maybe even just a three year period. 

Tim Walker was fiery in his opposition, particularly about the Park Improvements increase. He spoke of how people (like his kids) won't be able to buy a home in the city they were raised in.

Tim Walker (10:22) I see it [the proposed increases] as a negative, with the numbers, because my kids won't be able to buy a house here in Wildomar. They can't afford a $400,000 home, it's not possible.

My problem is that it's going to be $12,000 and that doesn't include school bonds and everything else. By the time you're said and done [a new house] is costing $50,000 more than it should.

I'm just not for it. I'm sorry but unless it can come in slowly or something I'm going to be against it.

(13:35) Walker started talking about people "not paying their fair share." Sorry, but I disagree. Where is the precedence that people that bought their homes years ago, and paid the appropriate fees then, are supposed to be hit with more developer fees as new houses go in? If you want to make things fair, propose a new city-wide tax.

Ben Benoit  (15:00) It's a huge price tag and whether or not it can be burdened or not is a question for anyone coming out here to buy a home someday. They look at that bottom dollar and [ask] can they afford it?

Here's something that I wish Cashman or Moore would have reminded their colleagues: Wildomar property taxes are generally much lower than they are in the surrounding cities and that would be a big incentive for people to choose Wildomar even with the newer DIF fees.

So what was the final upshot?

The new higher fees did pass with a 4-1 vote, but they are going to be phased in over three years. The first third on January 1, 2016, the second third in January 2017, and the final percentage in January of 2018. 

The funny thing is that Cashman voted against resolution since the fees were being phased in. I say it's funny because he voted in opposition to what he wanted, as did Walker from what I could tell.

Considering how slowly things move in government, this should be considered a win for those that wanted the fees hiked and a loss for those that wanted them to remain lower. Now let's see if there is a rush of pillow talk from developers to get their projects in the pipeline, with the old fee structure, while they still can.

2.2 Accessory Structures Code Amendment

This was discussed in the past meeting. It was to remove the need for a plot plan application for outdoor buildings larger than 20'x20', which had cost $3,940. This passed 5-0.

←•→

Below is a short video snippet that happened during 2.2. Since they referenced the camera, I decided to upload the clip... even though I didn't quite get it. My guess is that they seldom agree on matters...?

 

Remember that there is a Movie in the Park at Windsong this Saturday evening. Also, on June 23rd, the Mayor is having a community coffee at Starbucks (near D'Canters). Get your gripes primed and ready so you can pepper him over a latte.

•      •      • 

Since trifles make the sum of human things,
And half our mis'ry from our foibles springs.
 — Hannah More

Wildomar Rap wants to wish Sharon Heil a speedy recovery from her recent heart attack.