By Julie BUTCHER

Early in Tuesday night’s meeting of the Glendale City Council, Councilmember Dan Brotman pulled an item from the consent agenda for additional scrutiny and convinced the other councilmembers to further review a contract addition of “$550,439 … for the installation of a 135 kilowatt PV [photovoltaic cell] system; this system will maximize the use of the roof-top portions of the new building;” he was unable to convince the others to abort a “contract amendment of $25,000 for services to design and build a cultural interpretive exhibit within the new facility” for historic relics found.

According to the city’s report, “[a]s a result of the archaeological monitoring program and evaluation, [consultant] SWCA documented a total of seven new archaeological features and collected 1,512 artifacts that represent the physical remains from a portion of a residential neighborhood of the cities of Tropico and Glendale between the early 1900s into the 1970s when it transformed into a light industrial section associated with the Glendale Transportation Depot and South Brand Boulevard.”

“I can’t imagine school trips through the Beeline maintenance yard,” Brotman argued. “I don’t think those items tell a story or are significant.”

Councilmember Ardashes “Ardy” Kassakhian countered, “I’d rather have all of it preserved for a future Glendale historical museum, perhaps. And it’s grant money.”

The measure to accept the grant funds passed on a vote of four to one.

Glendale Fire Chief Silvio Lanzas updated the council on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations.

“Recognizing this is changing on a regular basis, up until today the county has focused on vaccinating approximately 800,000 healthcare and EMS workers and the residents and staff of skilled nursing facilities. As of today, residents over 65 are eligible to schedule a date, time and location with appointments starting on Thursday.”

Folks can sign up on the website VaccinateLA.com or call (833) 540-0473, Lanzas continued, acknowledging that supplies remain limited while the county gears up to open five large-capacity vaccination sites (at the Pomona Fairplex, the Forum, Cal State Northridge, a county education site, Magic Mountain, and Dodger Stadium).

Vaccines are free, regardless of insurance coverage or any other status, the chief reported.

“The county’s site has faced technological challenges based on the high demand – we urge patience as this information is changing from morning to night,” he added.

Next, the council engaged in an extensive discussion about the possibility of allowing urban beekeeping in the residential parts of the city. Prompted by a resident’s call and then a neighbor’s complaint, Councilmember Paula Devine asked that the matter be considered.

City staff explained the current state of the law: beekeeping is not allowed in residential zones; it is allowed only in special “SR” zones, such as city parks, golf courses and other open space. Beekeeping is allowed at three city locations: near the Sports Complex, near Mayor’s Bicentennial Park, and in the area off Camino San Rafael. Each site has a licensed tenant (not commercial operators) operating up to 100 hives. There is a five-beekeeper waiting list.

Interest in urban beekeeping has been increasing since 2006 when the decline in the number of honeybees became noticeable, city staff told the council. Hives are boxes with frames inside, weighing up to 50 pounds each. One hive makes approximately 25 pounds of honey per year counting 60 to 80,000 bees per hive. Bees travel three to five miles for food.

Concerns about potential aggression, swarming and stinging, are addressed in local ordinances by requiring the safe placement of hives, regulating distances, set-backs, hedges and fencing. Los Angeles’ ordinance mandates a minimum of eight feet above the neighboring lot, staff said concluding the presentation noting places that allow aviaries: Los Angeles, Santa Monica and San Diego, and those that do not: La Cañada Flintridge, Burbank and Los Angeles County.

“I am the neighbor who lives next door to the person who keeps bees,” the caller began. “They have six boxes of hives on their backyard hill. I have to think twice about eating outside or about barbequing. Or turning on my lights. I found a bee in my bed once.”

“Someday this will pass, and we’ll have visitors again. Who is to take responsibility or liability? Is any insurance required? If they weren’t potentially dangerous, handlers wouldn’t wear protective gear head-to-toe,” she noted. “We just don’t have knowledge to provide the nurturing environment these bees need. It’s not just eating free honey. One of our neighbors had flowers the bees moved to and then the flowerbed died. He started remodeling and now there’s a lot of concrete and the bees are becoming attracted to our roses. We’re on less than half an acre here.”

The beekeeping neighbor called in and summarized the importance of honeybees and the potential benefits of legalizing beekeeping with standards and oversight from the county’s Dept. of Agriculture “for citizens and bee lovers keeping legal and safe honeybees.”

“Before we got the bees, we called the city and asked if it was allowed. The city told us it was okay and we joined the LA County beekeepers’ association and took a nine-month certification program where we were trained by master beekeepers,” added the caller. “We’ve not been careless. We inspect the hives on a monthly basis; we’re very responsible. The hives are 20 feet above our neighbor’s yard and there are two oak trees on either side that prevent the flight path over the neighbor’s house. We sent the report to the city showing that the location of the hives, parallel to the property line, with several water stations on the property, is ideal, a perfect scenario for keeping bees safely.”

Another caller commented in general: “Men have kept bees for thousands of years. Bees have become part of the language – the Beeline, for instance – and I hope we can come up with reasonable regulations to allow for safe beekeeping here in Glendale.”

Councilmember Ara Najarian urged the council to ask the city’s newly forming Sustainability Commission to weigh in.

“I don’t think we emphasize the importance of bees enough … for flowers and food … and to the earth. The bee population has been devastated and it is a serious issue,” said Najarian. “I think the Sustainability Commission should look at this. It’s not just about trash.”

Mayor Vrej Agajanian expressed skepticism.

“When your kid gets the bite, and when they tell you your grandfather died from a bee bite, you’ll think about it differently then,” he countered.

Ultimately the council voted to advance the discussion to both the Sustainability Commission and to the Planning Commission, which would be required to adopt changes to zoning regulations.

“It really stings to have no resolution to this tonight,” Councilmember Kassakhian quipped, after the council acted to move the matter to the two commissions. As for the bees, Kassakhian described them as “a gentle species – let’s not demonize them. Perhaps there is an open-space solution, like we do with community gardens. I’m just not ready to simply follow LA on this.”

At the end of the meeting, the council took approximately 20 minutes to determine the process by which it would select one of its members to participate in the discussion of a Design Review Board appeal notwithstanding the requirement to recuse themselves due to contribution conflicts. Names were ultimately drawn to make the random selection. The underlying action was delayed until mid-February.