CIYOFHIDDENH HILLS REGULARCITY COUNCIL MEETING (IN-PERSON AND MREO CONFERENCE) 6165 Soring Malley Road Monday, March 11,2024 5:30 p.m. MINUTES  CALLTO ORDER. AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE  Aregular meeting oft the City Council oft the Cityo of Hidden Hills was duly held viat teleconference andi in person on Monday, March 11, 2024 at the hour of 5:30 p.m. Mayor Eniko Gold called the meeting to order and  presided thereover. ROLLCALL Council:  Mayor Eniko Gold Mayor Pro Tem Larry G. Weber Council Member Joe Loggia Council Member Laura McCorkindale Interim City! Manager Marcella Marlowe Interim CityAttorney Michaellenkins City Engineer Dirk Lovett' : $ Administrative Analyst Aaron Williams City Clerk Deana L. Gonzalez  Staff:  PUBLIC HEARING-APPROVAL OF VARIANCE NO. V-386 AND ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION NO. 1024  (25067 Jim Bridger Road)  City Engineer Lovett presented the following report:  The HHCA and the City of Hidden Hills approved plans for the newly constructed residence at 25067 Jim Bridger Road, which included removing all non-conforming walls from the front yard setback; to save existing mature trees, the developer requested some retaining walls be retained and that the basement garage walll be raised during construction; in the RA-S-2zone, Hidden Hills Municipal Code section 5-2C-4E1(b) prohibits the construction of retaining walls greater than 21 feet in height, which is why the developer is requesting a variance for new and existing retaining walls in the front yard; the loti isj just over an acre with al limited building pad; the front yard downslopes steeply to the street and the rearyard downslopes steeply away from the pad; there isar new1 17,104 square foot two storyhouse with a basement on the RA-S-2: zoned property; the variance application is to save existing retaining walls that support mature trees ini thet front yard; to access the basement garage, a retaining wall over    City Council Minutes Regular Meeting March 11, 2024 Page 2  2feet in height is required to protect these trees; among the non-çonforming walls in the front yard setback are those over 2 feet high; the existing walls extend up: to 47 inches in height, and the proposed basement walls are shown to range from 2f feet to7.42 feet in! height; andi finally the Hidden Hills Community Association has reviewed and approved the proposed encroachments.  At this point, since there were no technical questions from the City Council and no comment from the applicant, Mayor Gold opened the public hearing. The Applicant was in the Council Chambers in case the Council Member McCorkindale asked the Applicant to go to the podium as she had some questions for him. The Applicant answered those questions, and as there were no more comments or objections, Mayor Gold As there was no further discussion, upon MOTION of Council Member Loggia, seconded by Council Member McCorkindale, and unanimously carried on roll call vote, it was resolved to approve and waive reading in full of Resolution No. 1024 entitled: Al RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HIDDEN HILLS APPROVING VARIANCE NO. V-386 FOR NEW NON-CONFORMING RETAINING WALLS AND TO KEEP OTHER EXISTING NON-CONFORMING RETAINING WALLS, ALL WITHIN THE FRONT YARD SETBACK  City Council had any questions.  then closed the hearing.  LOCATED AT: 25067. JIM BRIDGER ROAD.  PUBLICCOMMENT  Resident Mathy Wasserman expressed concern over the consent calendar including sO many important aspects of city business. She explained that items that were previously discussed lon aj per-item basis have now been incorporated into a consent calendar for mass approval, limiting how much time individuals have to  comment. CONSENT CALENDAR A. B C. D. E. F. G. I. J.  Approval of the Register of Demands for March 11, 2024 Approval of the Disbursement List for. January 2024 Receive and File the Financial/reasurer's Report for. January 2024 Receive and File the Investment Statement for. January 2024  Receive and File the City Engineering and Community Development Report for March 2024 Receive and File the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Report January 2024 Receive and File the Los Angeles County Fire Department Report- January 2024 H. Approval of Professional Services Agreement with Fire Grazers Inc. to Perform Expanded Approval of Agreement with Michael Lang Design to Provide Graphic Design Services for the Approval of Agreement with Seed Landcare to Provide Landscape Maintenance Services for  Brush Clearance at the City's Perimeter Cityi in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $14,448 the City in an Amount No-to-Exceed $54,168    City Council Minutes Regular Meeting March11,2024 Page 3  K.  Approval of a Professional Services Agreement with Resolute to Provide Lobbying and Legislative Services on Behalf oft the Cityi in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $30,000 L. Approval of a Contract with In-N-Out Burger and a $1,000 Deposit for the 2024 Fiesta M. Adoption of Resolution No. 1025 Opposing Initiative No. 21-0042A1, The Taxpayer N. Adoption of Resolution No. 1026 Approving a Classification Plan and Salary Schedule for O. Adoption of Resolution No. 1027 Approving the Appointment of a Retired Annuitant to the Interim City Attorney. Jenkins observed that thei indemnification provision was accidentally omitted from ai few linesi in items H,L, N, and. J when the final agreements were prepared or transmitted to the city. He explained that this has been rectified, andi the cityl has been provided with the corrected versions containing the omitted lines. Mr. Jenkins further explained that these lines address the definition of 'indemnity' within the indemnification clause, and that the indemnity covers the city, including its officers, employees, and agents. Mr. Jenkins stated that the updated language clarifies this, ensuring that when the Council approves the consent calendar tonight, it will be endorsing the amended versions, not the ones in their packet. He further stated that the modifications are confined to thei indemnification clause, which relates to the contractor's legal obligation to protect the city, its agents, employees, and officers from any liability arising from the contractor's Council Member Loggia directed his question to Interim City Attorney Jenkins and Interim City Manager Marlowe. Does it make sense to approve disbursement lists where the disbursements have already been made? In his opinion, he would understand receiving it and filing it sinçe it was approved on the list of demands. Dr. Marlowe responded that shei thinks Council Member Loggia is correçt, but she will discuss it furtherwith Mr. Jenkins and they will come back next month with whichever way is correct. In addition, Council Member Loggia expressed his appreciation for Accounting Specialist Hernandez's changes, and he believes the newi format has been improved. Even though these documents are on consent, Resident Mathy Wasserman commented on the Consent Calendar regarding the following: Hand watering costs by SeedLandcare; the City paying Rethinking Libraries andy whether that money comes from libraryfunds; the $2,300 additional costs for Covered 6 hours; and the housing element. Her comments also included the Round Meadow/Mureau Road Landscaping project, her concern about City committees and subcommittees only having Council Members and no other community members; and her gratitude to Council Member Resident Bret Katz introduced himself and asked for updates on the following projects: the citywide fiber network and its status; the Round Meadow/Mureau Road landscaping; and the undergrounding of overhead  Protection and Government Accountability Act Employees and Rescinding Resolution No. 1012  Position ofl Interim Public Safety and Emergency Services Manager  negligence should they causei injurytoa athird party.  hev wants to assure the public that he reads every document thoroughly.  Loggia for the question regarding the disbursement list.  power lines.    City Council Minutes Regular Meeting March 11, 2024 Page 4  Mr. Jeff Kiernan, from the League of California Cities, addressed the City Council and staff concerning item 7M on the Consent Calendar. Hei is pleased to see the City of Hidden Hills taking up the Taxpayer Protection Government Accountability Act. He explained that since the California Business Round" Table began planning for gathering signatures on thisi initiative, Cal Cities has been working on this issue for a number ofy years, and itwould adversely affect funding of vital local services, such as public health, public safety, homelessness, infrastructure, etc. Mr. Kiernan offered to answer any questions, for which there were: none. Upon MOTIONE by Council Member Loggia, seconded by! Mayor Pro Tem Weber, and unanimously carried on roll call vote, ity was resolved to approve items A-O on the Consent Calendar.  CITY COUNCIL APPOINTMENT  Interim City Attorney. Jenkins presented thet following report:  Tonight, the City Council will consider appointing a resident to fill a vacancy on the Council. This vacancy arose by operation of law on February 19th, and the Council has 60 days to make an - appointment as per the law. Ati the February 26th meeting, it was decided to appoint someone rather than hold a special election. Staff was instructed to request applications from residents interested in completing the remainder of former Council Member Freedland's term, which lasts until the November election, after which the City Council will reorganize. As a result, city staff released an application form to the community. By the March 7th deadline, the City Clerk reçeived two applications from residents, Debbie Sutz and. Adam Wasserman. The City Clerk confirmed both are registered voters ande eligible tos serve ont the council, ifa appointed. Followingt the procedure approved at thel last meeting, the City Council will nowi interview both applicants and then deliberate to make a Mr. Jenkins explained that each Council Member will ask the applicants one question each, with the applicants being given an opportunity to answer those questions. Once the interviews have  decision.  concluded, the Council will reconvene to announçe their decision.  A.  Conduct Interviews of Qualified Applicants and Selection of Appointee to Fill Vacancyof City  Council Seat  Mayor Goldh began withintroducingt thet first appliçant, resident Debbie Sutz. Each Council Membert tookt turns asked a question, with Ms. Sutz responding to each question. Once Ms. Sutz's interview was concluded, resident Adam' Wasserman was then asked a question by each Council Member and provided a response. Once Mr. Wasserman concluded his interview, Ms. Sutz withdrew her name from consideration, stating that she was very satisfied with Mr. Wasserman's answers and that he was the right person for the job. The City Upon MOTION by Council Member Loggia, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Weber, and unanimously carried! by  Council wholeheartedythanked Ms. Sutz for her willingness to serve.  roll call vote, it was resolved to appoint resident Adam' Wasserman to the City Council.    City Council Minutes Regular Meeting March 11, 2024 Page 5  B. Oath of Office to Appointed Council Member  Resident and Superior Court Judge Michael Harwin administered the Oath of Office to the newly appointed  Council Member, Adam Wasserman.  There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned.  6o Eniko Gold, Mayor  ATTEST:  Peana L. Gopzaléz, CMC