Whether to extend the 60-day period for written public comment on the Wal-Mart Distribution Center proposed to be located in Southeast Merced was an issue hotly debated at Monday night’s Merced City Council meeting.

After hearing pleas from residents on both sides of the issue, including a spokesperson from the Hmong community, the Council voted 5 to 1 that the 60-day period for public comment on the draft Environmental Impact Report would remain in effect.

The majority of speakers and Council members agreed that the 441-page draft EIR and 675-page appendices documents were technical, but the Council’s solution was to direct staff to work with the Lao Family Community and Hispanic Chamber to provide translation services at public hearings relating to the project. No public information meetings to explain or translate the draft EIR were authorized during the 60-day review period.

By way of background, the draft EIR, which analyzes the impact of the proposed 1.1 million square foot warehouse on Merced’s environment, was made available to the public on Feb. 25 by Merced city staff, starting a 60-day time period for members of the public to make written comments. At the previous Council meeting on March 2, several local residents expressed their concerns that the draft EIR is too technical for the average person to be able to understand and make an informed written comment by April 28. They requested an extension of time past 60 days, and for informational meetings where the public could have at least the main parts of the document explained or translated.

During the March 16 Council meeting, Kim Espinosa, the city’s Planning Manager, came to the podium to reveal the Planning Department’s recommendation about the requested extension.

She said, “The city is in receipt of a number of requests to extend the public review period of the draft EIR. Staff feels 60 days is an adequate time to review the document. The recommendation is not to extend the period further.”

In support of this recommendation, Espinosa quoted the portion of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines which states, “The public review period for a draft EIR should not be less than 30 days nor longer than 60 days except in unusual circumstances.”

According to Espinosa, CEQA doesn’t provide guidelines defining “unusual circumstances.”

She was not in favor of providing translations of the document because there is no statutory requirement for doing so, and she was concerned about the cost, and about verifying a translation’s accuracy.

She said, “The Lao Family is willing to provide translators.”

During the ensuing debate, Merced Mayor Pro Tem John Carlisle asked, pointedly, “How long did the draft EIR take to prepare?”

Espinosa replied, “There were a lot of contract amendments so it wasn’t a continuous process. It took almost three years to have the document completed and ready for public review.”

Carlisle then shared his opinion, saying, “We would be doing a disservice if we rush through what has been a three-year process.”

He added, “I support a reasonable extension to address residents’ concerns and digest the report which is not easily read by the average person.”

Resident Lisa Kayser-Grant was also adamant that since it took so long to prepare the document, it was only fair that the public have a longer time than 60 days to understand it.

She said, “It’s up to us average people to understand the impacts and decide if the mitigations are good enough. Who’s getting pinched here? The average citizen, and that’s clearly unfair.”

Resident John Grant agreed with the request for more time, saying, “I undertook to read CEQA documents with the RMP documents. The documents were difficult. You have to read CEQA. It’s far more than complex — it’s compound. You have to know what things mean in terms of CEQA law.”

Resident Jeff Freitas, who introduced himself as a former engineer, also said that he would appreciate additional time. He opined, “We need to be able to voice our own opinions, and look at other examples of environmental concerns. It would be nice to have jobs and know we’re going to have a safe and secure environment, as well.”

Resident Richard Harriman, who is an environmental attorney, requested the review period be extended to 90 days. He said, “I’ve been involved with CEQA litigation for 30 years.” Harriman explained his point of view that the community has a high percentage of Latinos and Asian immigrant from Laos, and there should be “interpretations and translations with help from the Lao Family”.

Voicing an opinion against extending the review period, Espinoa said, “Once the public comment closes, the applicant has to prepare a response to each comment. If there is a longer time, there will be more comments.”

Bruce Logue, Chairman of the Board of the Greater Merced Chamber, agreed, saying, “We believe 60 days is generous. We think that’s a reasonable amount of time.”

Also in support of retaining the 60-day period, resident Desmond Johnston introduced himself as a “planner for 22 years, mostly implementing CEQA”. He said, “The Executive Summary is not going to say a different thing than the rest of the document. All the impacts and mitigation measures are there. I haven’t seen a review period for an EIR go more than 45 days. The problem is the process becomes more complex by creating opportunity and exposing the project to risk.”

A spokesman for the Hmong community, Ge Thao, said, “I work for the Merced Lao Family. We are also in support, not to extend past 60 days. So far, we have not had any complaint from the Hmong community. We’re also willing to work with the city to provide interpretation to make sure our members understand.”

Councilman William Spriggs also spoke against extending the time period, noting, “It’s a pretty basic document. You can get the significant stuff out of the Executive Summary.”

Councilman Spriggs explained that he read the entire draft EIR of over 400 pages during a plane ride, and that although he usually cannot sleep on a plane, he was able to sleep. He said, “It’s pretty boring stuff.”

He concluded, “60 days is reasonable. I received three or four to one e-mails in favor of moving ahead with the project, not delaying.”

Council members Joe Cortez and Michele Gabriault-Acosta said also that the e mails they had received from the public were 4 to 1 in favor of moving ahead with the project.

Councilman Cortez said, “People are looking for jobs. People are getting laid off. We need to start thinking about jobs. For that reason, I support the staff report.”

Doug Fluetsch, Chairman of the Merced County Jobs Coalition, said, “Our city is being beaten down by the highest unemployment and highest foreclosures. We’re talking tonight about delay of one of the few cures in sight - - more jobs. Any further extension is only a delay. Citizens need jobs as quickly as possible.”

The Council then voted to retain the 60-day time period for public comment, with Mayor Pro Tem John Carlisle casting the only dissenting vote.

In other Merced City Council news,
Council approves relinquishing parcel of land to Cal Trans to allow signal at Childs and 59

During the meeting, the Council voted 4 to 2 in favor of relinquishing a parcel of city-owned land along Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Merced to Caltrans so that Caltrans could proceed to install a traffic signal at Highway 59 and Childs Avenue.

Michael Wegley, Acting City Engineer, who was the presenter, noted that Caltrans has no plan to provide a pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection in connection with the project. He explained that Caltrans does not install crosswalks in rural areas, but that he considers the area urban and believes Caltrans should be responsible to do this.

The Council members and several residents expressed great indignation that Caltrans had not addressed pedestrian traffic, explaining that many pedestrians cross at the dangerous intersection. It was noted there have been many accidents at the intersection, as many cars have been broadsided there while making turns on and off Highway 59.

Resident Ana Garcia, who works at Golden Valley Health Center, said she saw a mother with a child in a wheelchair who had to wait 20 minutes on a hot, summer day to cross the intersection to get to Alicia Reyes Elementary School for her child to participate in educational services. Dismayed, Garcia said, “She arrived, sweating and dehydrated.”

Although some felt it might be a bargaining chip not to relinquish the city-owned parcel until Caltrans agreed to install the crosswalk, Councilman William Spriggs suggested it would be better to move ahead with the project than try to hold out and use this as leverage.

He said, “Go after Caltrans for environmental justice.” He explained that the area was “somewhat disadvantaged”, and making this appeal to Caltrans would most likely be effective in getting a change order to add the pedestrian crossing.

He concluded, “I think the most important thing is to keep the project moving forward.”

Council members discussed the city putting in the crosswalk if Caltrans did not.

Merced proclaims support for UC Merced’s invitation to Michelle Obama

During the meeting, Merced Mayor Ellie Wooten read a proclamation stating that the city supports UC Merced’s invitation to Michelle Obama to be the commencement ceremony speaker on May 16, 2009 for the inaugural graduating class.

South Pacific Dance Company students will perform in festival March 27 - 29

Members of the South Pacific Dance Company performed at the Council meeting, to the spectators’ delight. It was announced that they will participate in the 30th Annual Tahitian Dance Festival to be held in Merced on March 27, 28 and 29.

South Merced Community Meeting April 1st

It was announced that on April 1 from 5:30 to 7 p.m., there will be a South Merced Community Meeting at Golden Valley Health Center in Merced.