It was understandably a minuscule crowd at the Coronado City Council meeting this week with extra space between chairs. The city has postponed all non-critical meetings at this time, but the council meeting was deemed critical so went on as scheduled. Floyd Ross has been a fixture starting off the meetings with a heartfelt invocation for more than 20 years, but couldn’t make it in this week due to the coronavirus restrictions. He was there in spirit as he sent a special prayer to Mayor Bailey who read it aloud.
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sue Gillingham emphasized the ways they are working to help local business during this coronavirus crisis. They have compiled a list of all the restaurants that are currently offering takeout and delivery food services. They will be continuing to update it and encourage residents to support local business as much as possible. They are also offering resources for local employers and employees. She also mentioned that SDG&E has programs to help impacted residents and businesses.
City Manager Blair King asked the Council to add an additional agenda item of a local emergency declaration, which is also being done by most of the cities in the county. Mayor Bailey said that this “would provide the City Manager with more flexibility in managing the crisis at this time.” This declaration was unanimously approved by the council.
In the City Manager’s Report, King emphasized that the city is doing everything it can to help control the spread of coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19. Following the lead of regional and state health officials, the City of Coronado has taken a number of unprecedented precautionary measures, including closing City facilities, opening up a call center for questions, and creating a Coronavirus Information webpage https://www.coronado.ca.us/covid-19.
The city will temporarily close facilities where there is close-contact interaction with the public, including the John D. Spreckels Center and Lawn Bowling Green, Library, Community Center, pool and gymnasium, and the Club Room. The closures, which include all classes and programming scheduled at the closed facilities, will be in effect until at least April 4. At this time, the city will be keeping public restrooms, the Golf Course, tennis courts, skate park, parks and beaches open, and implementing new Library services to allow the community to continue enjoying reading materials. There will also be live programming on Coronado TV at http://tv.coronado.ca.us/
King said that the Call Center is open to help answer questions and concerns of residents and to help those in isolation. You can call (619) 522-6380 if you are concerned about a neighbor or family member, have concerns about food and other resources, or if you have questions about local schools, City services or City business. The call center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
“We are looking at the impact on our city revenues which are dependent on sales tax from our local businesses. We want them to remain viable and we are making thoughtful decisions based on ever changing information,” King stated.
Councilmember Benzian advocated for keeping an open line of communication with the business community and asked if there was a way to work with the Governor’s office to assist businesses and employees saying, “We have a responsibility to do what we can.” The mayor asked King to look at the city’s latitude for assisting our business community, to which he replied, “My staff will look into it and bring back options in these unprecedented times.” As a local business owner, Councilmember Sandke pointed out “that both large and small businesses will feel this big time and even the hotels have single digit occupancy.”
Former Councilmember Al Ovrom gave a presentation on Sharp Coronado Hospital and Foundation’s finances and future plans. He pointed out the hospital’s fiscal soundness citing that the inter-agency account balance is currently at $41 million as compared to negative $12 million when the hospital almost closed before the city stepped in. When asked what percentage of Emergency Department (ED) visits were by Coronado residents, Ovrom said 16 percent, but also pointed out that 70 percent of Coronado residents go to the Coronado hospital for their medical needs. The Foundation has currently raised $7 million of a $12 million goal to move the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to the fourth floor and enlarge the ED by five beds. They recently replaced the roof and are getting ready for internal remodeling, new CT and radiology equipment, and exterior seismic upgrade projects for the 181-bed hospital. They are continuing to expand their outpatient business by offering da Vinci robotic equipment for orthopedic surgeries and authorizing privileges for Balboa Naval Hospital doctors.
Ovrom said that there are currently no coronavirus cases in Coronado, but the hospital has an exterior tent for screening and negative air rooms if needed. The hospital has implemented the county health recommendations of no visitors for both long-term and acute patients and other precautions. Both Councilmembers Benzian and Heinze asked about their expansion capabilities if more beds were needed. Sharp Coronado has additional capabilities and is working with other hospitals around the county on this ongoing situation.
The lengthiest discussion of the meeting was on granting encroachment and commercial use permits for a newly proposed Buona Forchetta dining patio on C Avenue. Principal Engineer Ed Walton presented this issue which proposes an eight-foot patio extension versus the five-foot extension staff recommendation based on the 2010 City Council sidewalk encroachment policy. The Buona Forchetta proposal includes 18 seats in a 344 square foot area with a removable wrought iron railing and planters. A lengthy discussion followed with questions directed to Kraig Nicolls, contractor on the project, who pointed out examples of other restaurant patio variances and said the business couldn’t execute the project with less space, and helped clarify questions. The mayor said, “We can exercise discretion to help make this business successful and to revitalize our business district.” The council voted 3-2 with Councilmember Sandke recusing himself due to a business conflict and Councilmember Heinze voting no, to approve the patio on a six-month trial basis, so the sidewalk accessibility can be determined. Councilmember Donovan asked that the corner table clearance be evaluated and possibly be changed from a four-person to a two-person table.
The Council unanimously approved a resolution implementing annual indexed adjustments to Police, EMS/Ambulance, and development-related user fees, wastewater capacity fees, library services and recreation room rental fees. This annual user fee update is to help keep fees in line with inflation rates. Increases include a 2.4 percent adjustment, which is the Price Consumer Index (PCI) for the San Diego region and 0.675 percent increase for the ENR Construction Cost Index adjustment. King highlighted the fee reductions which include:
- A 40 percent lower rate for resident use of the Spreckels Center Grand Room
- A reduced $99 fee from $125 for residents to use the Clubroom at the Boathouse, with nonresident use increasing nine percent for this and for the Nautilus Room.
- The Library will be reducing the replacement card fee from $5 to $1, and allowing for multiple automatic renewals.
In Council reports, Councilmember Benzian said that he and Mayor Bailey had a meeting with the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) where they dialogued about keeping fields and joint use facilities open for the public to use for recreational outlets in appropriate group sizes.
After a brief presentation by Marissa Smith, Community Development, the Council unanimously approved a resolution approving a two-lot tentative parcel map at 1201-1211 Eighth Street, which is zoned R-1B, a single-family residential zone.
The appellant asked for the appeal of the Historic Resource Commission (HRC) decision for 1113 Adella Avenue be continued which the council unanimously approved.
The Citizen Recognition and Emerald Keepers poster award presentations were postponed to a future meeting.
Items approved on the Consent Calendar included:
- Authorization of a food delivery zone for the Summer Concert Series on Sundays from 3:30 pm to 8 pm on the Seventh Street side of Spreckels Park.
- Approval of the 2020 Legislative Policy Guidelines. Councilmember Sandke thanked the city for including the Ferry in these guidelines.
- Acceptance of a $5,000 donation from the Hotel del Coronado, Hilton Hotels, to support the Library 2020 Summer Festival.
- Authorizing transmission of the 2019 annual Housing Element Progress Report to the State Office of Housing and Community Development.
