A Proclamation was awarded to the Sierra Club recognizing April 22, 2012 as Earth Day and was accepted by Patti Walker.

Community Development Director Kevin McSweeney presented the Council with an interpretation of the zoning ordinance regarding chickens.

Dr. Scott Barlow, who moved to Fillmore in December 2010 and has seven chickens, addressed the Council asking that they take into consideration those raising chickens in a responsible way and do not impact their neighbors.

The two main topics brought before the Fillmore City Council this week were the proposed Volunteer Coordinator position and the zoning ordinance regarding chickens. There was also a proclamation presented to the Sierra Club and information on the VC Alert program.

The City Council is looking for someone to work in a non-paid position as a Volunteer Coordinator. The position requires recruiting and assigning volunteers to clean the bike path, litter control, graffiti removal and event clean-up along with other tasks the City can no longer afford to maintain. City Manager Yvonne Quiring presented the Council with a list of qualifications and definition of the skills required. The list was three pages long and very extensive. The Council recognized this and agreed that the requirements should be adjusted to meet a non-paid position. Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation is willing to set up the program and have the person who organized the Martin Luther King clean-up day at Two Rivers Park assist with the recruitment of a Volunteer Coordinator.

Mayor Gayle Washburn said she would prefer someone who could apply for grants, which takes some skill in doing. Councilmember Jamey Brooks cautioned the other Councilmembers that they may be expecting too much out of one person, especially for a non-paid position and that they might find someone who is a great coordinator but lacks the skill of grant writing. He suggested the two requirements not be put together and maybe a grant writer could volunteer their services separately.

Councilman Eduardo Gonzalez asked, “If a person is a volunteer, do they have to be covered under workman’s comp?” To which the City Attorney Ted Schneider responded, “Yes…. and the more demands asked of the volunteer the closer they are to being an employee.” The City will also be providing office space to whoever takes on the job, so there is some expense attached to the position.

Also on the agenda was a zoning issue involving chickens. To be exact, the locations in Fillmore where chickens can be raised and where they can’t. The City receives numerous complaints each year from citizens regarding neighbors’ chickens that crow early in the morning, walk around the neighborhood with feathers blowing into their yards and smell foul. The complaints are city-wide and are not isolated to an individual site or citizen and some of the complaints are long-standing.

Community Development Director Kevin McSweeney presented the Council with an interpretation of the zoning ordinance regarding chickens. Chickens are permitted in Residential Low designation, which tend to be lots over 6,000 sq.ft. and Residential Rural, but not in Residential Medium designation area of Fillmore. The Residential Medium designation where chickens are not permitted is located in an area commonly referred to as North Fillmore which is between “A” Street and Goodenough Rd. and between Old Telegraph Rd. and Goodenough Rd. Residential Medium is also located south of River St. between “A” St. and “C” St.

The Council and McSweeney recognized that Fillmore is rooted in agriculture and has a strong Future Farmers of America and 4H program which is a benefit to the town. The many families who have raised farm animals and won ribbons at the Ventura County Fair are a source of pride in Fillmore.

Dr. Scott Barlow, who moved to Fillmore in December 2010 and has seven chickens, addressed the Council asking that they take into consideration those raising chickens in a responsible way and do not impact their neighbors. To which Brooks responded that Barlow was his neighbor and his chicken coop is about 20 feet from his bedroom. Brooks could attest that Barlow’s chickens do not disturb his family.

Another consideration the Council needed to factor in was the cost of a Zoning Text Amendment. This requires a change in language to the zoning ordinance, a noticed public hearing and the City Attorney prepare and defend the new language of the ordinance. The cost of doing this is $5,000, which pays for staff time and estimated attorney fee of $3,000 which would come from the General Fund.

It was decided that the City could not move forward with amending the zoning due to the fiscal situation the town is in and the issue was dropped.

A Proclamation was awarded to the Sierra Club recognizing April 22, 2012 as Earth Day and was accepted by Patti Walker. Walker also announced a book reading sponsored by ‘Friends of the Library’ on April 21st at 10am. The focus of the book is the life of a woman escaping the repressive Iranian regime.

Fire Chief Rigo Landeros addressed the Council about getting the word out about VC Alert. So far 290 Fillmore residents have signed up for the service and all residents listed in the white pages of the phone book are automatically signed up. Landeros said Explorer volunteers and others will be placing doorhangers on resident doors throughout town in the coming days. He encourages people to go to the City website where a sign up form can be found or log onto VCAlert.org.

Councilmember Brian Sipes commented that a Councilmember has not attended enough meetings to have an informed decision on budget matters. He was referring to Councilmember Steve Conaway who has been absent the last two meetings. Brooks told Sipes the City already has a state policy to cover absences and Conaway has met its requirements.

Brooks asked that the American Water contract be put on the calendar and bids be considered. Washburn informed Brooks that she and Quiring have a meeting the next day with American Water and will get back to him with what is discussed.