|
Our Barbara Livingston As you have seen and read, we sadly lost our amazing Barbara on February 23rd. We have created a web page honoring Barbara including remembrances, videos, press articles and so much more. We expect this material may expand over the days to come. Please visit this page at www.carmelresidents.org/barbara Saturday, March 20th at 9:AM - Join us for CRA Beach Clean Up This year marks our 30th Anniversary of this great community volunteer event. We are starting a month early this year, beginning in March through October.
Thursday, March 25th at 5PM, CRA will be hosting My Grandfather, Sam Morse, with Charles Osborne. Charles researched and authored “Boss: S.F.B. Morse, Founder of Pebble Beach”. Charles, a businessman and native son, will share images and stories about his grandfather – who by all accounts was a renaissance man – conservationist, athlete, artist, and entrepreneur. Join us via the ONE CLICK on any smart device, computer or mobile device HERE. And for more information on login options for this session, with pictures and quotes from the author, please visit this page. (Pictures - Book: Boss: The Story of SFB Morse & Charles Osborne)
City Council Meeting - March 2nd, 2021 Extraordinary Agenda Items Proclamation – Honoring American Red Cross with nearly 200 years in service. This month of March is Red Cross Month. Represented by Patsy Gasco, reinforcing The Red Cross is there for all of us 365 days per year, come any disasters and so much more. Public AnnouncementsJC Meyers – Update Council on Sober Grad Night, for Carmel High, that provides a no drugs or alcohol evening celebration at no cost to students. They are looking for local financial support via donations. Please contribute if you can; details are available here. Council Announcements1. C.Rerig – thank you to City staff celebrating anniversaries. Consent Calendar ItemsOnly discussed item was the City Directional Signs – This item is looking for approval on the funding agreement accepting $18,000 from Transportation Authority of Monterey County (TAMC). Decision on the signs and their placement focusing on bike routes and pedestrians, will follow separately. Order of BusinessForest Theater RFP – A.Wright of Activities & Libraries Departments presented; with both Beth Bowman, Managing Director of Sunset Cultural Center and Cristine Sandin, Executive Director also available to take questions. This is requesting approval to issue an RFP for a new master lease/tenant for Forest Theater targeting Fall of 2021. Forest Theater is part-park, part-theater and has potential expanded use, especially in these pandemic times. Sunset Center team will manage the theater until a new lessee is in place. This item will go before the Community Activities Commission meeting this coming week and they will survey residents online and at Farmers Market for added community input. Please take a minute to complete this Special Events Plan – A.Wright also presented. Proposed cancellation of all City events through July at this time, in parallel will continue to leverage and encourage decorations in town as was done in 2020 for standard holidays. Non-city events including Carmel Art Festival, Surfabout and Car Week – are still yet to be determined. Fall events include: Sandcastle Contest, Pumpkin Roll, City Birthday Parade & Lunch, Veterans Day, Homecrafters’ Marketplace and the annual Holiday Celebration – are also to be determined. Where COVID19 restrictions may or may not apply, remember that city event staff is smaller and will be challenged to manage these events, even with volunteer assistance. Carmel CalPERS Liability with potential options for future actions – April’s City Council Meeting will be where decisions will be requested; Tuesday’s presentation was made by NHA Advisors with cost management considerations. City of Carmel has more options than most due to our quality credit ratings AAA – one of very few nationwide. Due to the COVID19 impacts, the City’s General Fund balance has decreased from $9.2M FY End 2019, to $7.8M for FY End 2020 and is projected to decrease to $6.7M for FY End 2021.
NHA Advisors current recommendations are to create a Pension Funding Policy
* Based on preliminary projections, the City could make meaningful contributions towards pension costs if $25% to 50% of annual surplus is set aside into a Section 115 Trust or utilized for ADPs. * Policy should ensure that (1) other minimum reserve levels are maintained; (2) that there is enough flexibility to address other core City projects/objectives; and (3) the City maintains flexibility to address future economic shocks. This in-depth presentation with expanded Council questions covered the second 1.75 hours in this Council meeting. Climate Committee’s work aligning to State requirements. Presentation Only at this time. A.Martlett and B.Swanson of City Planning presented status on this Committee's work in progress here. As they produce the Climate Action Plan, they require technical consultant expertise (and $20K) to update forecast of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and assist in recommendations for reduction strategies. The now dated Greenhouse Gas Emissions as of 2018 were: Residential 25.9%, Commercial 24.9%, Transportation 31.1%, Solid Waste 7.8%.
Some relevant State regulations include: * State mandates a 40% greenhouse gas emission reduction from 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% by 2050. * State Executive Order B-55-18 established a goal of carbon neutrality by 2045. * California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements are to be applied to any significant projects and be incorporated into a stand-alone Climate Action Plan or directly into the General Plan. Council members comments: * Are there options to leverage findings of other dependent organizations to compile our findings? * Greenhouse Gas Emissions reductions work must addressed by all governmental organizations, at all levels. * This committee’s work has already saved the City $60K in consulting fees that most regional cities have contracted to complete. (See Agenda Packet for the on status of other regional cities). * Could we have a similar outcome to the recent Texas emergency? No, because we are part of the National, Western Grid with expansive oversight & regulations stipulating resilience and backup power sources. Texas is privately managed and is not a part of the National Grid. Exceptions to Uniform Closure Times to Public Outside Seating Spaces. Presented by B.Swanson of City Planning. Currently the Temporary Outside Seating Space uniform closure was previously set for last seating at 10PM with a lights out by 11PM for all categories. Council re-approved the 10-11 PM closing time with a vote of 5 Yes for all Restaurants. The new ask was to consider extended hours for Sade’s (and by extension if requested also for A.W.Shucks and Barmel) for 12:30 AM last call and 1AM hard close – with one strike requiring reverting back to 10PM closing – approved with 3 Yes and 2 No. Plus, there was a need for an updated uniform closure time for Public Space Wine Tasting Rooms, approved for 7PM supporting the upcoming daylight savings time – approved by 5 yes votes.
Appeal on the Fees Assessed on unauthorized tree removals at NW corner of Junipero & 13th. Presented by Sara Davis, Carmel Forrester and Plaintiff, Vivian Price also presented. Repeated concerns expressed by Council on Plaintiff not submitting for prior approvals. Council approved (with votes of 3 to 2) a decrease in fees to $2,500. Dave Potter adjourns Council Meeting in Memory of Barbara Livingston
END of City Council – at almost 9:30 PM CRA was at Community Table at Thursday's Farmers Market 10-2 Feb 25, and will be again in the coming weeksThe Carmel Farmers Market is rotating local organizations to host a table to connect with shoppers in this outdoor, masked, social distanced setting. Your CRA leadership was there February 25th, handing out reusable shopping bags and sharing stories of Barbara. We look forward to seeing you there, as we host this table again over the months to come. Stop by to get your "Loving Carmel-by-the-Sea" shopping bag. We will post on our Facebook page on when you can see us there next.
COVID-19 Slow But Sure Vaccine Rollout and Purple Tier Everything COVID-19 continues to evolve. Please continue to wear masks, wash hands and social distance. And always make sure to source information from your trusted medical or pharmaceutical professional and our County web sites. Here are a few links you may find useful. www.mtyhd.org/covidtesting and www.mtyhd.org/covid.
Please also visit this Monterey County page at www.mcvaccinate.com to register for vaccinations as they become available from the county. Currently our county allows all 65 and up, plus others in special work categories clarified on the links shown here.
Monterey County is expecting to move out of the Purple Tier classification soon with regard to what our businesses are permitted under this designation. The color tier matrix is available to you HERE. We are all looking forward to updates supporting expanded access and services in the days to come.
Save Our Shores has upcoming Programs & Events Just one of these programs includes Wednesday, April 14th for the Ocean Climate Action Virtual Capitol Hill Lobby Day. To learn more about this organization, how your can participate and contribute by visiting https://saveourshores.org/ And, we extend our Thanks to all of our Members who have submitted their 2021 Membership Dues. We appreciate and value your continued support. You can also join or renew your membership on our website at www.carmelresidents.org, or reach out to [email protected] with any questions you may have. Your questions and suggestions are always welcome. Stay safe and healthy.
(c) Carmel Residents Association March 2021
|
