During its April 23 meeting, the Signal Hill City Council presented two awards– one for Outstanding Older American and another recognizing excellence in the Signal Hill’s electronic newsletter.
Other council business included approving a petroleum-engineering contract and public-workshop dates to discuss cannabis regulations, and adopting an ordinance resolving a legal issue with a local Nissan dealership.
Two women separately approached the council during public business, asking for assistance involving personal violence in Signal Hill.
Recognitions
Mayor Lori Woods presented former councilmember Larry Forester with this year’s Outstanding Older American award, in honor of the 54th annual Older American Recognition Day to be celebrated in Los Angeles on May 23 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Woods commended the contributions of older Americans– such as sharing their experience, wisdom and understanding to younger generations– and specifically noted Forester’s contribution to the city.
“Larry Forester has dedicated countless hours to the city of Signal Hill through his participation in the Signal Hill Community Foundation as well as serving four terms as mayor,” she said.
During the Signal Hill City Council meeting April 23, Communications Specialist Cristina Bond presented an Excellence in Public Information award for the city’s electronic newsletter from the California Association of Public Information Officials.
Bond said that CAPIO received 210 entries to its various award categories. Signal Hill’s e-newsletter was selected as a winner in the newsletter/magazine category, judged according to research, planning, implementation and results.
“One judge even said, ‘The sharpness of Signal Hill’s e-newsletter is commendable,’” Bond said. “The judges especially took the time to mention that they were enjoying the ongoing updates on the library construction.”
Library
Woods announced August 10 as the grand opening date of the new Signal Hill Public Library currently being built on Hill Street next to Signal Hill Park.
“We’re planning now to have a great party on that day,” she said.
The council also authorized a request-for-proposals (RFP) for the design, fabrication and installation of public art on the library’s outdoor patio retaining wall, to be completed by July 1.
Community Services Director Aly Mancini explained that the patio will be illuminated at night and provide an additional space for reading, gathering, activities and events.
“The outdoor art piece will be comprised of five art panels that will be surface-mounted to the retaining wall,” she said. “The art will capture five unique time frames in Signal Hill history, or five unique aspects of Signal Hill history, to be proposed by the artist.”
The council further appointed two of its members– Woods and Councilmember Tina Hansen– to serve on the art-selection committee, along with Mancini, a parks-and-recreation commissioner, and two members of the Signal Hill Historical Society (SHHS).
SHHS will cover the cost of the art piece up to $50,000, Mancini said.
Engineering contract
The council also approved an on-call contract with Walker Engineering, Inc. to provide petroleum-engineering consulting services to the city and private developers for a total of $90,000 over three years.
Planning Manager Colleen Doan said that the firm will provide two types of services: specialized petroleum consulting for private developers– such as advice on abandoned wells and regulations– and petroleum-related advice to the city.
She said that private developers will pay up to $20,000 to the firm annually, for a total of up to $60,000 over three years, and the city will pay up to $10,000 per year, for a total of $30,000 over the contract term.
Doan said that Tom Walker, the firm’s principal, has a history of consulting for the city, especially related to the approximately 400 abandoned wells throughout the city.
Councilmember Edward Wilson asked Doan if there were other firms that do the same thing as Walker’s so the city could compare contract bids.
“I haven’t found any yet,” she replied. “His services to us in this particular way have been unique.”
City Attorney Dave Aleshire added that Walker’s rates were competitive and his work with the city afforded him deep knowledge of the petroleum issues Signal Hill faces.
Wilson reaffirmed the necessity to still solicit alternative bids, in the interest of transparency and financial best practices, but joined the rest of the council in approving the contract.
Cannabis workshops
City Manager Charlie Honeycutt summarized how California legislation regarding cannabis production, distribution and usage has changed over the last few years.
The passing of Proposition 64: The Adult Use of Marijuana Act in 2016 prompted the council to form a subcommittee to evaluate how best to implement those policies in Signal Hill, Honeycutt said.
The subcommittee consisted of Honeycutt, Wilson, Woods, Deputy City Manager Hannah Shin-Heydorn and Community Development Director Scott Charney.
“The goal of the subcommittee was to work with industry experts by attending workshops and touring state-licensed facilities as well as learning the experiences of other cities that allow cannabis uses,” Honeycutt said.
The council approved dates for two public workshops for the subcommittee to share its findings, review regulations and allow public comment. Honeycutt said that members of the cannabis industry would also present.
The first workshop will be conducted on Wednesday, May 22, in council chambers with the second on Tuesday, June 16, as part of a planning-commission meeting. Honeycutt said that findings from the workshops will be discussed with the council in July.
Nissan dealership
In its capacity as successor to the Signal Hill Redevelopment Agency, the council considered and approved a resolution settling a legal issue surrounding Long Beach Nissan, a car dealership located at 1800 E. Spring St. in Signal Hill.
Aleshire explained that the resolution includes an amendment transferring the Nissan dealership from Roundtree Automotive Group to Long Beach Nissan LP. Roundtree, based in Texas, which has been selling some of their California dealerships, including Nissan, he said.
Aleshire added that when the dealership was bought by Roundtree four years ago, it accepted an obligation to improve an adjacent property using $700,000 from the successor agency for paving, lighting and landscaping.
“The improvements were not constructed despite many notices from us that they should be,” Aleshire said, adding that the dealership’s subsequent sales did not meet the city’s sales-tax threshold, though the city did not wish for it to close.
Meanwhile, the city was sued for breach of contract by the original operators of the dealership– HNL Properties– because the city had transferred the obligation to improve the adjacent property to Roundtree.
The new buyers are not only willing to settle with HNL to eliminate the lawsuit, but also complete the improvements within six months and increase sales, Aleshire said.
“They feel they can bring in a number of good people and get the sales back up,” he said. “They feel that [the improvements] will greatly enhance the dealership from what it ever was before.”
Personal violence
During public business, two women separately approached the council asking for assistance in matters of personal violence, complaining that they were not adequately served by the Signal Hill police department.
The first woman, Ms. Gomez, spoke with the assistance of a translator about living with her mentally-ill adult son until she no longer felt safe due to his violent behavior.
Despite getting a restraining order against him on April 10, Gomez said that Signal Hill police officers brought him back to her home on April 16, along with another of her sons, to retrieve personal items.
“She pleaded with the officer […] three separate times to not let the son with the restraining order inside her home,” the translator said.
Gomez further said one of the officers mocked her for not letting her children in.
“They don’t have the proper training [for] treating people with mental issues and victims of domestic violence,” she said of the police.
Gloria Rodriguez, a special-needs advocate, then spoke in support of Gomez’s statement.
“Mental health that we don’t talk about enough,” she said. “It’s really sad to know that police officers in many cities are still not aware how to handle a 5150 (involuntary psychiatric hold) call.”
Another woman later approached the council complaining of the lack of security cameras in shopping complexes in Signal Hill. She said she was attacked outside a U.S. Bank at Cherry Avenue and Willow Street on March 20 by her ex-landlord, whose violent behavior she had previously reported to police. She also said she has a disability.
“The police, they came on scene, but my case got disappeared,” she said. “I [came] on the 22nd asking for the chief but he’s not there.”
The Signal Tribune asked Police Chief Christopher Nunley to comment on the complaints of both women, which he did the following day.
“All of our officers– every single one of them– have been to at least 24 hours of training on interacting with the mentally ill,” he said about Gomez’s statements, adding that officers were at her house following up on her case even as she was speaking at the council meeting.
As to the second woman, whom he spoke to directly after the meeting, Nunley said she has had issues in Long Beach, where she lives, except for the one incident in Signal Hill.
“It was a battery case that happened at the U.S. Bank there at Cherry and Willow,” he said. “We took a police report; the case was investigated and it’s down at the district attorney’s office for filing consideration. So there’s not really a whole lot more we can do with that case outside of waiting to see if the district attorney’s going to file it.”
He added that his department would follow up with both women.
The next Signal Hill City Council meeting will take place Tuesday, May 14, at 7pm in the council chamber at 2175 Cherry Ave.
