FROM QUIBBLING TO BRASS TACKS; ROCKY START GIVES WAY TO CITY BUSINESS FOR NEWLY SEATED PANEL.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Daily News Staff Writer

The new City Council met with a packed agenda and long list of public speakers at its first full meeting this week as the bitter campaign season wound down to the business of running the city.

After a bumpy start over seat assignments on the dais, the council tackled a range of issues, from a long debate over the extension of Rolling Oaks Drive to a ham radio operator's ongoing attempt to install a pair of 75-foot antennas in his back yard.

``I thought things went really well,'' said new Councilman Dan Del Campo, who, along with freshman council member Dennis Gillette, had his first full meeting since the November election that brought the two newcomers to the historically divided five-member board. ``I think the rest of the meeting went fairly smoothly.''

The bulk of the speakers turned out for the ongoing debate over extending Rolling Oaks Drive, a main route south of the Ventura Freeway that is missing a section of road that could connect residents on the west with Rancho Road to the east.

Extending the road has been discussed for years, with residents to the west calling for the extension and those to the east not wanting the road to create a thoroughfare through their rural, equestrian neighborhood.

Both sides seemed to find common ground in some of the four options before the City Council on Tuesday, namely a costly $3.2 million option to build a road that would wind around the rural neighborhood instead of traversing it.

``We have now an alternative that will satisfy everyone,'' said resident Bruce Beckwith, president of the Rolling Oaks Property Owners Association, the residents' group in the east side of the roadway. ``If it's only about money, let's solve that.''

The debate had intensified earlier this year, as residents worried over plans to upgrade the nearby Moorpark interchange at the 101 Freeway.

The council, which had not been scheduled to vote on the issue, scheduled another discussion before February, when council members hope to vote on a plan.

A smaller crowd turned out to oppose a family's request to install a pair of 75-foot-tall antennas in their yard for ham radio operations, an area controversy that has been ongoing for two years.

Resident Michael Meehan, a ham radio operator since his childhood, has been trying to install the tall antennas he said are needed to reach other ham operators overseas.

Nearby residents, however, have complained that the towers are an eyesore and one resident said the antennas interfere with television.

Councilman Michael Markey said he voted against the towers because he felt the family's right to have the antennas needed to be weighed against the rights of nearby property owners.

``He wanted more than reasonable use,'' Markey said. ``There's a balance between the two.''

City staff had told the Planning Commission that city law allows such structures, but the Planning Commission had denied the request. The City Council on Tuesday unanimously upheld the commission's decision.

At issue had been a condition that would have required the family to use adjustable antennas that could be lowered when the radios were not being used, a condition Meehan said was not feasible.

``Are you going to ask someone to crank it down every day when you go to work?'' he said Wednesday. ``It's a practicality thing.''

The council also unanimously agreed to change the city's land-use element of the general plan on an 80-acre section of city-owned land on the south side of Lang Ranch Parkway. The land was changed from public land to open space.

Finally, the council also unanimously agreed to attend a workshop in January to help council members learn how to work better together.

The workshop, approved last year by the previous council, was brought before the new group at the insistence of Councilman Andy Fox, who was re-elected to a second term in November, and who said the new members should have a chance to vote on attending the council workshop session.

``We need to get some ground rules down on how we're going to work with the council,'' said Fox earlier this week.