On Tuesday, July 27th at 6 P.M., Burbank City Council held a regularly scheduled meeting.
Mayor Bob Frutos was notably absent from the meeting. In his absence, Vice Mayor Jeff Talamantes took over the duties of directing the meeting’s agenda.
Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in L.A. County, the city council once again convened over Zoom. This is a sharp departure from the last meeting that took place on July 13th, in which all five city council members were present in the city council’s chambers for the first in-person meeting since the beginning of the pandemic.
Additionally, Vice Mayor Talamantes announced that there will a delay in bringing back meetings that are fully in-person. “Due to recent events, the Burbank City Council will not be open for in-person attendance on August 10th as had been previously announced,” said the Vice Mayor.
There were a total of three items on the consent calendar for the meeting. One of the three items was a resolution that authorizes the acceptance of federal money in order to better fund Burbank police and fire responses to large-scale emergencies such as terrorist attacks. The calendar passed unanimously, 4-0.
Following the approval of the consent calendar, city council received two reports from staff: one report from the Public Works Department and another from the Burbank Police Department.
For the first report, the Public Works Department detailed the need for updated speed limits on the two sides of San Fernando road that stretch from the edge of Burbank (Hollywood Way) to Winona Avenue.
Staff from the department believe that the speed limit should be updated due to the relatively low-frequency of accidents in the area.
However, several on the council expressed concerns over the effect that raising the speed limit in these areas would have on pedestrians and bicyclists.
“We should wait for the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 43 so we can see how Burbank’s Complete Street Plan is affected by the bill” said Councilwoman Sharon Springer, referencing the current California Assembly Bill that affords special protections for pedestrians and other designated special groups.
The council wound up drawing up a motion in order to keep speed limits the way they are on San Fernando and to reevaluate them following the passage of AB 43. The motion passed 4-0.
For the second report to council, Burbank Police Department provided an update regarding the parking citation appeal process and payment plan process. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent county-wide stay-at-home order, BPD temporarily suspended certain parking citations and modified payment processes.
Councilman Konstantine Anthony proposed that these reforms be furthered and that citation payments should be reduced for certain parking offenses. However, no consensus on the types of reforms needed could be reached and the discussion was shelved as a future agenda item through unanimous council approval.
A video recording of the meeting can be viewed here. Additionally, a copy of the meeting’s agenda can be found here.