HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-12-05 City Council Agenda PacketCity Council
1
MATERIALS RELATED TO AN ITEM ON THIS AGENDA SUBMITTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL AFTER DISTRIBUTION OF THE AGENDA
PACKET ARE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION IN THE CITY CLERK’S OFFICE AT PALO ALTO CITY HALL, 250 HAMILTON AVE.
DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS.
December 5, 2016
Special Meeting
Council Chambers
5:00 PM
Agenda posted according to PAMC Section 2.04.070. Supporting materials are available in the Council Chambers on the Thursday 10 days preceding the meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT Members of the public may speak to agendized items; up to three minutes per speaker, to be determined by the presiding officer. If you wish to address the Council on any issue that is on this agenda, please complete a speaker request card located on the table at the entrance to the Council Chambers, and deliver it to the City Clerk prior to
discussion of the item. You are not required to give your name on the speaker card in order to speak to the Council, but it is very helpful.
TIME ESTIMATES Time estimates are provided as part of the Council's effort to manage its time at Council meetings. Listed times are estimates only and are subject to change at any time, including while the meeting is in progress. The Council reserves the right to use more or less time on any item, to change the order of items and/or to continue items to
another meeting. Particular items may be heard before or after the time estimated on the agenda. This may occur in order to best manage the time at a meeting or to adapt to the participation of the public. To ensure participation in a particular item, we suggest arriving at the beginning of the meeting and remaining until the item is called.
HEARINGS REQUIRED BY LAW Applicants and/or appellants may have up to ten minutes at the outset of the public discussion to make their
remarks and up to three minutes for concluding remarks after other members of the public have spoken.
Call to Order
Closed Session 5:00-6:30 PM
Public Comments: Members of the public may speak to the Closed Session item(s); three minutes per speaker.
1.CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS- CAO Compensation
Agency Negotiators: Mayor Burt, Council Member Kniss
Unrepresented Employees: City Manager, City Attorney,
City Auditor, City Clerk
Authority: Government Code Section 54957.6(a)
1a. CONFERENCE WITH CITY ATTORNEY- EXISTING LITIGATION
Subject: City of Palo Alto v. Public Employee Relations Board
(International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1319, real party), Cal
Court of Appeal No. H041407, on appeal from PERB
Case No. SF-CE-869-M
Authority: Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1)
REVISED
2 December 5, 2016
MATERIALS RELATED TO AN ITEM ON THIS AGENDA SUBMITTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL AFTER DISTRIBUTION OF THE AGENDA
PACKET ARE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION IN THE CITY CLERK’S OFFICE AT PALO ALTO CITY HALL, 250 HAMILTON AVE.
DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS.
CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATIONS
City Designated Representatives: City Manager and his designees
Employee Organizations: Fire Chiefs Association, IAFF Local 1319,
POA, PMA
Government Code Section 54957.6(a)
Special Orders of the Day 6:30-7:00 PM
2.Adoption of Four Resolutions Honoring Employees Retiring From City
Service: Joe Saccio (24 Years), Joe Teresi (32 Years), Jane Ratchye
(30 Years) and Scott O’Neill (31 Years)
Agenda Changes, Additions and Deletions
City Manager Comments 7:00-7:10 PM
Oral Communications 7:10-7:25 PM
Members of the public may speak to any item NOT on the agenda. Council reserves the right to limit the duration of Oral Communications period to 30 minutes.
Consent Calendar 7:25-7:30 PM
Items will be voted on in one motion unless removed from the calendar by three Council Members.
3.Approval of a Budget Amendment in the Electric Fund to Complete
Conversion of Overhead Electric Facilities to Underground for CapitalProject EL-11010 Underground Utility District 47 Increasing the Project
From $2,346,000 to $2,946,000; and Finding of CEQA Exemption
Pursuant to Guideline Section 15302
4.Approval of a Contract With Professional Account Management, LLC, in
an Amount Not-to-Exceed $130,000 Per Year for Five Years for the
Handling and Processing of Parking Violations and Approval of Budget
Amendments in the General Fund
5.Adoption of a Resolution Amending the Conflict of Interest Code for
Designated City Officers and Employees as Required by the Political
Reform Act and Regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission
and Repealing Resolution Number 9471
6.Approval of a Contract With Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board in
the Amount of $76,380 for 2017 Caltrain Go Pass Program
7.Approval of a Contract With TetraTech in an Amount Not-to-Exceed
$170,000 for a Period of Five Years for Emergency Operations Planning
Support
3 December 5, 2016
MATERIALS RELATED TO AN ITEM ON THIS AGENDA SUBMITTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL AFTER DISTRIBUTION OF THE AGENDA
PACKET ARE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION IN THE CITY CLERK’S OFFICE AT PALO ALTO CITY HALL, 250 HAMILTON AVE.
DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS.
Action Items Include: Reports of Committees/Commissions, Ordinances and Resolutions, Public Hearings, Reports of Officials,
Unfinished Business and Council Matters. 7:30-9:00 PM
8.Finance Committee Recommends That the Council: (1) Adopts a
Resolution Approving a Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Plan to Achieve a
Carbon Neutral Gas Portfolio by Fiscal Year 2018 With no Greater Than 10¢/Therm Rate Impact; and Terminating the Palo Alto Green Gas
Program; and (2) Provide Direction to Staff Concerning Aspects of Plan
Implementation
9:00-10:00 PM
9.Approval of an Agreement With the County of Santa Clara With
Respect to a Tobacco Retailer Permit Program; and Discussion and
Potential Adoption of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 9.14 to Restrict
Smoking in Multi-Family Housing
10:00-10:30 PM
10.Colleagues’ Memo Regarding East Palo Alto Water Shortage
Inter-Governmental Legislative Affairs
Council Member Questions, Comments and Announcements
Members of the public may not speak to the item(s)
Adjournment
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITY ACT (ADA) Persons with disabilities who require auxiliary aids or services in using City facilities, services or programs or who would like information on the City’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact (650) 329-2550 (Voice) 24 hours in advance.
4 December 5, 2016
MATERIALS RELATED TO AN ITEM ON THIS AGENDA SUBMITTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL AFTER DISTRIBUTION OF THE AGENDA
PACKET ARE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION IN THE CITY CLERK’S OFFICE AT PALO ALTO CITY HALL, 250 HAMILTON AVE.
DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS.
Additional Information
Standing Committee Meetings
Sp. Finance Committee Meeting December 6, 2016
Schedule of Meetings
Schedule of Meetings
Tentative Agenda
Tentative Agenda
Informational Report
Annual Report to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the
2016 Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public
Information on Flood Preparedness/Awareness
Public Letters to Council
Set 1
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7536)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Special Orders of the Day Meeting Date: 12/5/2016
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Resolutions Honoring Retirees
Title: Adoption of Four Resolutions Honoring Employees Retiring From City
Service: Joe Saccio (24 Years), Joe Teresi (32 Years), Jane Ratchye (30 Years)
and Scott O’Neill (30 Years)
From: City Manager
Lead Department: City Clerk
Attachments:
Attachment A: Resolution Honoring Scott O'Neill (DOCX)
Attachment B: Resolution Honoring Jane Ratchye (DOCX)
Attachment C: Resolution Honoring Joseph Saccio (DOC)
Attachment D: Resolution Honoring Joe Teresi (DOCX)
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF PALO ALTO EXPRESSING APPRECIATION TO
SCOTT O’NEILL UPON HIS RETIREMENT
WHEREAS, Scott O’Neill has conscientiously served the citizens, City Council and City
Departments of Palo Alto for over three decades working in Revenue Collections and managing the
City’s warehouses; and
WHEREAS, Scott has diligently protected City assets under his care and with minimal year- end
adjustments; and
WHEREAS, Scott has ensured the timely delivery of Council packets and the transportation of mail,
supplies, materials, and library books among City libraries; and
WHEREAS, Scott has fostered a productive, cohesive, and dedicated Warehouse staff; and
WHEREAS, the Warehouse staff have received numerous compliments from City departments such
as the Library and City Clerk for their excellent customer service; and
WHEREAS, Scott has championed the highest standards of accountability, efficiency, and
effectiveness in managing materials and supplies both within and outside of the warehouses.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Palo Alto
recognizes Scott O’Neill for his steadfast work and thanks him for his 31 years of dedicated service to
the community.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED: December 5, 2016
ATTEST: APPROVED:
___________________ ______________________
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________ ______________________
City Attorney City Manager
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF PALO ALTO EXPRESSING APPRECIATION TO
JANE RATCHYE UPON HER RETIREMENT
WHEREAS, Jane Ratchye has enthusiastically served the citizens of Palo Alto for over three decades as an
innovative, compassionate and sustainability-focused leader who has developed successful programs, fostered
strategic partnerships, enhanced community assets and achieved measurable results for climate action and
sustainability goals; and
WHEREAS, Jane first joined the City of Palo Alto in 1985 on a temporary one-year job assignment as an
Associate Engineer in the Energy Services group, was hired permanently in 1986 and served in many capacities,
including her promotion to her current role as Assistant Director of Utilities, Resource Management in 2007;
and
WHEREAS, since joining the City of Palo Alto Utilities, Jane has worked tirelessly to improve upon the
ways the City manages its utility resources, always with a focus on making the City of Palo Alto a leader in
environmental sustainability, energy and water efficiency, renewable energy portfolio management and climate
change initiatives; and
WHEREAS, Jane has served as Board Member of the Bay Area Water Users Association and as Steering
Committee Member for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Water Supply Master Plan; and
WHEREAS, in the early 1990’s, Jane completed the City’s first Urban Water Management Plan, the Water
Shortage Contingency Plan and the City’s first Water Integrated Resources Plan analyzing all potential water
resource alternatives for Palo Alto; and
WHEREAS, Jane pioneered the City’s implementation of a Carbon Neutral Electric Supply Plan, Local
Solar Plan, long-term energy efficiency goals, 25-year Water Supply Agreement with the San Francisco Public
Utilities Commission, revised Utilities reserves guidelines, long-term financial plans for all Utilities funds,
updated Utilities Strategic Plan, and the Utility’s plan to exceed all state Renewable Portfolio Standard goals,
executing the lowest priced solar Power Purchase Agreement to-date; and
WHEREAS, under Jane’s leadership and guidance, the City launched numerous programs such as the Palo
Alto Clean Local Energy Accessible Now (CLEAN) feed-in tariff solar program, an innovation test-bed
Program for Emerging Technology pilot program, the CustomerConnect advanced metering pilot program, the
PaloAltoGreen Gas voluntary carbon offsets program, and the solar Net Energy Metering Successor program.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Palo Alto recognizes Jane
Ratchye for her tireless and enthusiastic commitment to the people of Palo Alto and thank her for her 31 years
of dedicated service on their behalf.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED: December 5, 2016
ATTEST: APPROVED:
_______________________ ______________________
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
________________________ ______________________
City Attorney City Manager
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF PALO ALTO EXPRESSING APPRECIATION
TO JOSEPH SACCIO UPON HIS RETIREMENT
WHEREAS, Joseph Saccio has conscientiously served the citizens, City Council and City departments of
Palo Alto for over 24 years; and
WHEREAS, Joe spent his time at the City working in Finance and oversaw Treasury functions including
banking services, cash management, investments, and debt financing; and
WHEREAS, Joseph Saccio ensured that the City’s nearly $500 million in cash and investments were
managed carefully to safeguard the preservation of principal, sufficient liquidity, and to obtain a sound,
secure rate of return; and
WHEREAS, Joe worked on debt financing of numerous capital projects such as the Mitchell Park, Main
and Downtown Libraries, the Mitchell Park Community Center, two University Avenue parking garages, the
Wastewater Treatment facility improvements, and an underground 2.5 million gallon reservoir for emergency
water demands; and
WHEREAS, Joe has worked extensively on the General Fund’s ten year financial forecasts, projected and
monitored tax revenues, and produced capital budgets; and
WHEREAS, Joe has worked on a wide variety of City projects including the Airport, Fiber to the Home,
numerous Infrastructure Plans, labor negotiations, and he supported three Blue Ribbon Committees; and
WHEREAS, Joe has successfully managed Revenue Collections, the Warehouses, Printing & Mailing,
and Middle Office Energy Risk Management Operations; and
WHEREAS, Joseph Saccio created a productive, cohesive, and loyal team that, under his leadership,
worked independently, creatively solved problems, and expressed their views directly and honestly; and
WHEREAS, Joseph Saccio conducted his 24 years of public service with fairness, professionalism and
high standards.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Palo Alto, hereby
gratefully records and extends its sincere appreciation and the appreciation of the community to Joseph
Saccio for 24 years of faithful and excellent service rendered to the City.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED: December 5, 2016
ATTEST: APPROVED:
___________________ ______________________
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________ ______________________
City Attorney City Manager
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF PALO ALTO EXPRESSING APPRECIATION TO
JOE TERESI UPON HIS RETIREMENT
WHEREAS, Joe Teresi has enthusiastically served the citizens of Palo Alto for over three decades as a
committed, innovative and positive leader who has developed successful programs, served as a role model and
mentor for other staff, and fulfilled commitments to the community to enhance the City’s storm drainage
system; and
WHEREAS, Joe, who grew up in the Midtown neighborhood of Palo Alto, joined the Public Works
Department as an Assistant Engineer in April 1984, and worked on projects to build the Friendship Bridge
over San Francisquito Creek, Foothills Park Fire Station, Foothills Park Dam Seismic Retrofit, Greer Park
Expansion, and Golf Course Cart Paths; and
WHEREAS, Joe oversaw the Storm Drainage Enterprise Fund and worked with local residents to pass the
successful 2005 ballot measure to fund the Storm Drain Program through 2016 and has laid the groundwork
for a follow-up ballot measure to be voted on in early 2017. He also managed the development of the Storm
Drain Master Plan and the implementation of numerous storm drain capital improvements; and
WHEREAS, Joe has represented the City of Palo Alto in regional partnerships with the Santa Clara
Valley Water District, San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority, Federal Emergency Management
Agency, and Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program to reduce flood risk, improve
storm water quality, and “green” the urban landscape; and
WHEREAS, Joe reached out to residents, school children and many others, enlightening and entertaining
them, both in and out of the “Flo-the Raccoon” Palo Alto storm water mascot costume. His dedication, wit
and wisdom touched everyone he served, as he explained that storm flows can carry pollutants to the Bay, and
that such pollution must be prevented; and
WHEREAS, Joe’s career has come full-circle with his recent work on projects to extend the Friendship
Bridge as part of the Bay-to-Highway 101 Flood Protection Project and to replace the golf cart paths with a
fully-reconfigured municipal golf course.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Palo Alto recognizes Joe
Teresi for his tireless and enthusiastic commitment to the people of Palo Alto and thanks him for his 32 years
of dedicated service on their behalf.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED: December 5, 2016
ATTEST: APPROVED:
___________________ ______________________
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________ ______________________
City Attorney City Manager
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7193)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 12/5/2016
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Approval of a Budget Amendment in the Electric Fund for
Underground Utility District Number 47
Title: Approve a Budget Amendment in the Electric Fund to Complete
Conversion of Overhead Electric Facilities to Underground for Capital Project
EL-11010 Underground Utility District 47 Increasing the Project From
$2,346,000 to $2,946,000; and Finding of CEQA Exemption Pursuant to
Guideline Section 15302
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Utilities
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1) Amend the Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Appropriation Ordinance for the Electric Fund by:
a) Increasing the Capital Improvement Project Underground Utility District No. 47
(EL-11010) appropriation in the amount of $600,000; and
b) Decreasing the Electric CIP Reserve appropriation in the amount of $600,000
2) Adopt a Categorical Exemption under Section 15302 of the California Environmental Quality
Act.
Background
Underground Utility District No. 47 (“UUD 47”) involves converting the overhead utility lines to
underground in the Area of Middlefield Road, Homer Avenue, Webster Street, and Addison
Avenue. In March 2015, construction began with the installation of conduits and vaults after
the City Council approved and authorized the execution of contract with MP Nexlevel of
California, Inc. (Staff Report #5469). MP Nexlevel has completed installation of substructures
for electric, communication, telephone and cable television systems. The City has received
reimbursement of $1,100,000 from AT&T and Comcast for work performed by MP Nexlevel on
their facilities.
The next step is construction of Utilities’ underground electric system and eventual removal of
overhead facilities. Staff’s latest cost estimates for construction of the underground systems
and connection of customer services, are higher than originally budgeted in 2011. Therefore,
City of Palo Alto Page 2
staff is requesting additional funding of $600,000. The additional funding will allow for the
purchase of electric equipment, streetlighting poles, cables, and labor for completion of the
electric installation work for the underground distribution system for UUD 47.
Discussion
The original estimate for the conversion of the overhead utility system to underground was
developed, based on actual costs from past projects, and used for budget approval. In April
2016, Council approved a Budget Amendment Ordinance (Staff Report #6631) in the amount of
$96,000, to fund additional unforeseen work related to the installation of substructures for this
project, which increased the approved budget funding for the project to $2,346,000.
It was anticipated that the remaining funding in the budget was adequate for completion of the
project. Upon further review and completion of the estimate for electric construction it was
determined that additional funding was necessary. Several factors affected the cost of the
project resulting in this request for additional funding.
1. For previous undergrounding projects, internal Utilities staff inspected the installation of
substructure work. However, during the construction phase of UUD 47, Electric Operations
expressed their inability to provide an inspector due to shortage of manpower. Electric
Operations had a significant amount of construction work including on-going system
improvement projects and other large commercial projects in the Stanford Medical Center
area.
This necessitated the usage of third party inspection services by Canus Corporation
(“Canus”) to inspect the underground substructure installation. The city has a blanket
contract with Canus to provide inspection services on an as-needed basis. Canus has been
providing inspection services on Electric, Water, Gas, Wastewater, and Public Works
projects for the past several years.
By utilizing Canus Corporation’s services, Utility Department incurred an expenditure of
approximately $195,000 on inspection services, approximately twice the cost of using
internal staff.
2. Since the original estimate was developed, the cost of material (switches, transformers and
associated cables) and labor have increased by approximately 20% and 15% respectively.
3. Changes made in the original design for optimizing reliability of the electric distribution
system and addition of unforeseen items also added to the total cost of the project.
Staff’s assessment, for procuring and installing electric equipment, energizing the new
undergrounding electric distribution system, connecting customers to the new system, and
removing the overhead system for UUD 47, indicates we will require an additional amount of
$600,000 to complete UUD 47.
City of Palo Alto Page 3
Resource Impact
A budget amendment is required in the amount of $600,000, to add funds to CIP EL-11010 and
decrease funds from the Electric CIP Reserve. This amount will increase the total authorized
budget of CIP EL-11010 from $2,346,000 to $2,946,000.
Policy Implications
This project supports City of Palo Alto Key Strategy number 7 – Implement programs that
improve the quality of the environment and Supporting Objective number 2 – Invest in utility
infrastructure to deliver reliable service.
Timeline
Substructure installation work pertaining to UUD 47 is complete. Adding money to WBS EL-
11010 will allow for procurement of materials, and completion of electric system construction,
with an anticipated completion of the new underground system by December 31, 2017.
Environmental Review
This project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under Section
15302(d) of the California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3 (conversion of overhead
electric utility facilities to underground).
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7179)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 12/5/2016
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Citation Processing Contract and Budget Amendment
Title: Approval of a Contract With Professional Account Management, LLC, in
an Amount Not-to-Exceed $130,000 Per Year for Five Years for the Handling
and Processing of Parking Violations and Approval of Budget Amendments in
the General Fund
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Police
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve and authorize the City Manager or his designee to execute the attached
contract #C17164727 with Professional Account Management, LLC, in an amount not-
to-exceed $130,000 per year for five years for the handling and processing of parking
violations.
2. Amend the FY 2017 Budget Appropriation Ordinance for the General Fund by:
a. Increasing the revenue estimate for Fines, Forfeitures, and Penalties in the amount
of $35,000; and
b. Increasing the Police Department appropriation for General Contract Service in the
amount of $35,000.
Background
Since 1992, the City has contracted with the City of Inglewood for the handling and processing
of parking citations. The City was part of a consortium of other municipal agencies utlizing
Duncan Solutions software for the processing of parking violations, of which the City of
Inglewood managed the overall account. The City renewed contracts with the City of
Inglewood in 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011. However, in 2014, we were notified by the City of
Inglewood that they were discontinuing as a vendor for citation processing but would honor the
remainder of our contract ending on Ocbober 31, 2016. A Request for Proposal (RFP) was
developed (RFP# 164727) and potential vendors were identified and notified of the RFP in
PlanetBids.
Discussion
Project Description
City of Palo Alto Page 2
The vendor will accept and process approximately 43,000 parking citations per year. The
vendor will enter and store the citation in a database and provide City staff access to software
to accept payments, adjustments, suspension and dismissal of citations. The software will
identify the registered owner of vehicles cited and send out notices outlining payment options.
The vendor will also handle the comprehensive collections of penalties if they remain unpaid.
The account will be managed by an account representative who is available to City staff to
provide ongoing support and training as needed, and the system will provide a range of stock
and ad hoc reports on a monthly basis or as needed. The City does not have adequate staffing,
hardware, or software to effectively manage this program in-house.
Summary of the Bid Process and Vendor Selection
The Police Department Parking Manager, with input from Administrative Services staff,
prepared an RFP for the processing of parking citations. The RFP requested vendors to submit
proposals for services that included accepting citations, maintaining a citation database,
identifying vehicle registered owners, mailing courtesy notices to registered owners, identifying
delinquent parking violations, placement and removal of vehicle registration liens with the
Department of Motor Vehicles, and a comprehensive collections program that included
participation in the State of California Franchise Tax Board’s Tax Offset Program.
Nine potential vendors were identified. The potential vendors were notified that the RFP was
available in PlanetBids on July 19, 2016. A non-mandatory pre-proposal telephone conference
was held on July 26, 2016. A number of questions were received and Addendum number one
was issued on July 27, 2016.
An evaluation committee comprised of three representatives from the Police and
Administrative Services Departments reviewed and ranked the seven proposals received. The
evaluation committee selected the three highest ranked vendors (Phoenix Group, Turbo Data,
and Professional Account Management, LLC) to attend a Consultant Interview on September 8,
2016. The evaluation committee interviewed all three potential vendors and staff recommends
that the proposal submitted by Professional Management, LLC be accepted.
This recommendation is based on the contractor’s experience and prior relationship with the
City. Although the prior contract was managed by the City of Inglewood they have always used
software and support from Duncan Solutions (DBA Professional Account Management, LLC in
California). There would be no transitional costs or data conversion issues that could result in a
potential loss or disruption of revenue and customer service that may be involved with a new
vendor. They provide excellent customer service and adaptable and user-friendly software.
Other factors include cost per citation to process, the ability to provide 24-hour per day urgent
software support, a comprehensive collections program for delinquent citations, the ability to
provide on-line Department of Motor Vehicle registered owner address information (California
and out-of-state), on-site and online training as needed, an account representative that will
make on-site support as needed, and security and disaster recovery protections of the software
and database.
City of Palo Alto Page 3
Resource Impact
Expenses under this contract are based on per citation fee and a 35 percent fee charged for
comprehensive collections. Penalties paid are submitted to the Parking Revenue Account in the
General Fund, which means the collections 35 percent fee has to be reimbursed to the vendor.
Actual expenses have ranged from $95,000 to $130,000 depending on activity levels. Due to
the enhanced comprehensive collections program offered by the vendor, the Police
Department has also seen a significant increase in the revenue of delinquent parking penalties
that have been collected. However, the Parking Services Division’s budget within the Police
Department contains $95,000 for this contract. Therefore, an increase in the appropriated
funds and a corresponsing estimate in the revenue estimate for Fines, Forfeitures, and
Penalties to adjust for this increased cost and activity level are recommended. Ongoing
implications of this will be evaluated and adjusted as part of the development of the FY 2018
base budget. While this annual cost is a significant increase in the contract from prior years,
overall, the vendor has decreased the current cost per cite for this contract and ultimately
these activities generate increased revenues.
Policy Implications
This report does not represent any change to existing City Policies.
Attachments:
ATTACHMENT A - C17164727 (PDF)
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 1
CITY OF PALO ALTO CONTRACT NO. C17164727
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AND
PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT, LLC FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
This Agreement is entered into on this 5th day of December, 2016, (“Agreement”)
by and between the CITY OF PALO ALTO, a California chartered municipal corporation
(“CITY”), and PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT, LLC, a limited liability
company, located at 633 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1600, Milwaukee, WI 53203
("CONSULTANT").
RECITALS
The following recitals are a substantive portion of this Agreement.
A. CITY intends to issue parking citations (“Project”) and desires to engage a consultant to
provide parking citation processing and collection services in connection with the Project
(“Services”).
B. CONSULTANT has represented that it has the necessary professional expertise, qualifications, and capability, and all required licenses and/or certifications to provide the
Services.
C. CITY in reliance on these representations desires to engage CONSULTANT to provide
the Services as more fully described in Exhibit “A”, attached to and made a part of this Agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the recitals, covenants, terms, and conditions,
in this Agreement, the parties agree:
AGREEMENT
SECTION 1. SCOPE OF SERVICES. CONSULTANT shall perform the Services described at
Exhibit “A” in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement. The
performance of all Services shall be to the reasonable satisfaction of CITY.
SECTION 2. TERM. The term of this Agreement shall be from the date of its full execution through October 31, 2021
unless terminated earlier pursuant to Section 19 of this Agreement.
SECTION 3. SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCE. Time is of the essence in the performance
of Services under this Agreement. CONSULTANT shall complete the Services within the term
of this Agreement and in accordance with the schedule set forth in Exhibit “B”, attached to and
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 2
made a part of this Agreement. Any Services for which times for performance are not specified
in this Agreement shall be commenced and completed by CONSULTANT in a reasonably
prompt and timely manner based upon the circumstances and direction communicated to the
CONSULTANT. CITY’s agreement to extend the term or the schedule for performance shall not preclude recovery of damages for delay if the extension is required due to the fault of
CONSULTANT.
SECTION 4. NOT TO EXCEED COMPENSATION. The compensation to be paid to
CONSULTANT for performance of the Services described in Exhibit “A” (“Basic Services”), and reimbursable expenses, shall not exceed One Hundred Thirty Thousand Dollars per year
($130,000/year) for a total not to exceed amount of Six Hundred Fifty Thousand ($650,000) for
all five years. CONSULTANT agrees to complete all Basic Services, including reimbursable
expenses, within this amount. In the event Additional Services are authorized, the total
compensation for Basic Services, Additional Services and reimbursable expenses shall not exceed Six Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($650,000). The applicable rates and schedule of
payment are set out at Exhibit “C-1”, entitled “HOURLY RATE SCHEDULE,” which is
attached to and made a part of this Agreement. Any work performed or expenses incurred for
which payment would result in a total exceeding the maximum amount of compensation set forth
herein shall be at no cost to the CITY.
Additional Services, if any, shall be authorized in accordance with and subject to the provisions
of Exhibit “C”. CONSULTANT shall not receive any compensation for Additional Services
performed without the prior written authorization of CITY. Additional Services shall mean any
work that is determined by CITY to be necessary for the proper completion of the Project, but which is not included within the Scope of Services described at Exhibit “A”.
SECTION 5. INVOICES. In order to request payment, CONSULTANT shall submit monthly
invoices to the CITY describing the services performed and the applicable charges (including an
identification of personnel who performed the services, hours worked, hourly rates, and reimbursable expenses), based upon the CONSULTANT’s billing rates (set forth in Exhibit “C-
1”). If applicable, the invoice shall also describe the percentage of completion of each task. The
information in CONSULTANT’s payment requests shall be subject to verification by CITY.
CONSULTANT shall send all invoices to the City’s project manager at the address specified in
Section 13 below. The City will generally process and pay invoices within thirty (30) days of receipt.
SECTION 6. QUALIFICATIONS/STANDARD OF CARE. All of the Services shall be
performed by CONSULTANT or under CONSULTANT’s supervision. CONSULTANT
represents that it possesses the professional and technical personnel necessary to perform the Services required by this Agreement and that the personnel have sufficient skill and experience
to perform the Services assigned to them. CONSULTANT represents that it, its employees and
subconsultants, if permitted, have and shall maintain during the term of this Agreement all
licenses, permits, qualifications, insurance and approvals of whatever nature that are legally
required to perform the Services.
All of the services to be furnished by CONSULTANT under this agreement shall meet the
professional standard and quality that prevail among professionals in the same discipline and of
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 3
similar knowledge and skill engaged in related work throughout California under the same or
similar circumstances.
SECTION 7. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS. CONSULTANT shall keep itself informed of and in compliance with all federal, state and local laws, ordinances, regulations, and orders that
may affect in any manner the Project or the performance of the Services or those engaged to
perform Services under this Agreement. CONSULTANT shall procure all permits and licenses,
pay all charges and fees, and give all notices required by law in the performance of the Services.
SECTION 8. ERRORS/OMISSIONS. CONSULTANT is solely responsible for costs,
including, but not limited to, increases in the cost of Services, arising from or caused by
CONSULTANT’s errors and omissions, including, but not limited to, the costs of corrections
such errors and omissions, any change order markup costs, or costs arising from delay caused by
the errors and omissions or unreasonable delay in correcting the errors and omissions.
SECTION 9. COST ESTIMATES. If this Agreement pertains to the design of a public works
project, CONSULTANT shall submit estimates of probable construction costs at each phase of
design submittal. If the total estimated construction cost at any submittal exceeds ten percent
(10%) of CITY’s stated construction budget, CONSULTANT shall make recommendations to CITY for aligning the PROJECT design with the budget, incorporate CITY approved
recommendations, and revise the design to meet the Project budget, at no additional cost to
CITY.
SECTION 10. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR. It is understood and agreed that in performing the Services under this Agreement CONSULTANT, and any person employed by or
contracted with CONSULTANT to furnish labor and/or materials under this Agreement, shall act
as and be an independent contractor and not an agent or employee of CITY.
SECTION 11. ASSIGNMENT. The parties agree that the expertise and experience of CONSULTANT are material considerations for this Agreement. CONSULTANT shall not
assign or transfer any interest in this Agreement nor the performance of any of
CONSULTANT’s obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the city manager.
Consent to one assignment will not be deemed to be consent to any subsequent assignment. Any
assignment made without the approval of the city manager will be void.
SECTION 12. SUBCONTRACTING.
Notwithstanding Section 11 above, CITY agrees that subconsultants may be used to complete the
Services. The subconsultants authorized by CITY to perform work on this Project are:
Duncan Solutions, Inc.
CONSULTANT shall be responsible for directing the work of any subconsultants and for any
compensation due to subconsultants. CITY assumes no responsibility whatsoever concerning compensation. CONSULTANT shall be fully responsible to CITY for all acts and omissions of a
subconsultant. CONSULTANT shall change or add subconsultants only with the prior approval
of the city manager or his designee.
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 4
SECTION 13. PROJECT MANAGEMENT. CONSULTANT will assign Dean Viereck
as the Region Manager to have supervisory responsibility for the performance, progress, and
execution of the Services to represent CONSULTANT during the day-to-day work on the Project. If circumstances cause the substitution of the project director, project coordinator, or any
other key personnel for any reason, the appointment of a substitute project director and the
assignment of any key new or replacement personnel will be subject to the prior written approval
of the CITY’s project manager. CONSULTANT, at CITY’s request, shall promptly remove
personnel who CITY finds do not perform the Services in an acceptable manner, are uncooperative, or present a threat to the adequate or timely completion of the Project or a threat
to the safety of persons or property.
CITY’s project manager is Karen McAdams, Police Department, Traffic Division, 275 Forest
Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94303, Telephone: (650)329-2411. The project manager will be CONSULTANT’s point of contact with respect to performance, progress and execution of the
Services. CITY may designate an alternate project manager from time to time.
SECTION 14. OWNERSHIP OF MATERIALS. Upon delivery, all work product, including
without limitation, all writings, drawings, plans, reports, specifications, calculations, documents, other materials and copyright interests developed under this Agreement shall be and remain the
exclusive property of CITY without restriction or limitation upon their use. CONSULTANT
agrees that all copyrights which arise from creation of the work pursuant to this Agreement shall
be vested in CITY, and CONSULTANT waives and relinquishes all claims to copyright or other
intellectual property rights in favor of the CITY. Neither CONSULTANT nor its contractors, if any, shall make any of such materials available to any individual or organization without the
prior written approval of the City Manager or designee. CONSULTANT makes no
representation of the suitability of the work product for use in or application to circumstances not
contemplated by the scope of work.
SECTION 15. AUDITS. CONSULTANT will permit CITY to audit, at any reasonable time
during the term of this Agreement and for three (3) years thereafter, CONSULTANT’s records
pertaining to matters covered by this Agreement. CONSULTANT further agrees to maintain and
retain such records for at least three (3) years after the expiration or earlier termination of this
Agreement.
SECTION 16. INDEMNITY.
16.1. To the fullest extent permitted by law, CONSULTANT shall protect,
indemnify, defend and hold harmless CITY, its Council members, officers, employees and agents (each an “Indemnified Party”) from and against any and all demands, claims, or liability
of any nature, including death or injury to any person, property damage or any other loss,
including all costs and expenses of whatever nature including attorneys fees, experts fees, court
costs and disbursements (“Claims”) resulting from, arising out of or in any manner related to
performance or nonperformance by CONSULTANT, its officers, employees, agents or contractors under this Agreement, regardless of whether or not it is caused in part by an
Indemnified Party.
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 5
16.2. Notwithstanding the above, nothing in this Section 16 shall be construed
to require CONSULTANT to indemnify an Indemnified Party from Claims arising from the
active negligence, sole negligence or willful misconduct of an Indemnified Party.
16.3. The acceptance of CONSULTANT’s services and duties by CITY shall
not operate as a waiver of the right of indemnification. The provisions of this Section 16 shall
survive the expiration or early termination of this Agreement.
SECTION 17. WAIVERS. The waiver by either party of any breach or violation of any covenant, term, condition or provision of this Agreement, or of the provisions of any ordinance
or law, will not be deemed to be a waiver of any other term, covenant, condition, provisions,
ordinance or law, or of any subsequent breach or violation of the same or of any other term,
covenant, condition, provision, ordinance or law.
SECTION 18. INSURANCE.
18.1. CONSULTANT, at its sole cost and expense, shall obtain and maintain, in
full force and effect during the term of this Agreement, the insurance coverage described in
Exhibit "D". CONSULTANT and its contractors, if any, shall obtain a policy endorsement naming CITY as an additional insured under any general liability or automobile policy or
policies.
18.2. All insurance coverage required hereunder shall be provided through
carriers with AM Best’s Key Rating Guide ratings of A-:VII or higher which are licensed or authorized to transact insurance business in the State of California. Any and all contractors of
CONSULTANT retained to perform Services under this Agreement will obtain and maintain, in
full force and effect during the term of this Agreement, identical insurance coverage, naming
CITY as an additional insured under such policies as required above.
18.3. Certificates evidencing such insurance shall be filed with CITY
concurrently with the execution of this Agreement. The certificates will be subject to the
approval of CITY’s Risk Manager and will contain an endorsement stating that the insurance is
primary coverage and will not be canceled, or materially reduced in coverage or limits, by the
insurer except after filing with the Purchasing Manager thirty (30) days' prior written notice of the cancellation or modification. If the insurer cancels or modifies the insurance and provides
less than thirty (30) days’ notice to CONSULTANT, CONSULTANT shall provide the
Purchasing Manager written notice of the cancellation or modification within two (2) business
days of the CONSULTANT’s receipt of such notice. CONSULTANT shall be responsible for
ensuring that current certificates evidencing the insurance are provided to CITY’s Chief Procurement Officer during the entire term of this Agreement.
18.4. The procuring of such required policy or policies of insurance will not be
construed to limit CONSULTANT's liability hereunder nor to fulfill the indemnification
provisions of this Agreement. Notwithstanding the policy or policies of insurance, CONSULTANT will be obligated for the full and total amount of any damage, injury, or loss
caused by or directly arising as a result of the Services performed under this Agreement,
including such damage, injury, or loss arising after the Agreement is terminated or the term has
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 6
expired.
SECTION 19. TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF AGREEMENT OR SERVICES.
19.1. The City Manager may suspend the performance of the Services, in whole
or in part, or terminate this Agreement, with or without cause, by giving ten (10) days prior
written notice thereof to CONSULTANT. Upon receipt of such notice, CONSULTANT will
immediately discontinue its performance of the Services.
19.2. CONSULTANT may terminate this Agreement or suspend its
performance of the Services by giving thirty (30) days prior written notice thereof to CITY, but
only in the event of a substantial failure of performance by CITY.
19.3. Upon such suspension or termination, CONSULTANT shall deliver to the City Manager immediately any and all copies of studies, sketches, drawings, computations, and
other data, whether or not completed, prepared by CONSULTANT or its contractors, if any, or
given to CONSULTANT or its contractors, if any, in connection with this Agreement. Such
materials will become the property of CITY.
19.4. Upon such suspension or termination by CITY, CONSULTANT will be
paid for the Services rendered or materials delivered to CITY in accordance with the scope of
services on or before the effective date (i.e., 10 days after giving notice) of suspension or
termination; provided, however, if this Agreement is suspended or terminated on account of a
default by CONSULTANT, CITY will be obligated to compensate CONSULTANT only for that portion of CONSULTANT’s services which are of direct and immediate benefit to CITY as such
determination may be made by the City Manager acting in the reasonable exercise of his/her
discretion. The following Sections will survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement:
14, 15, 16, 19.4, 20, and 25.
19.5. No payment, partial payment, acceptance, or partial acceptance by CITY
will operate as a waiver on the part of CITY of any of its rights under this Agreement.
SECTION 20. NOTICES.
All notices hereunder will be given in writing and mailed, postage prepaid, by
certified mail, addressed as follows:
To CITY: Office of the City Clerk
City of Palo Alto Post Office Box 10250
Palo Alto, CA 94303
With a copy to the Purchasing Manager
To CONSULTANT: Attention of the project director
at the address of CONSULTANT recited above
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 7
SECTION 21. CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
21.1. In accepting this Agreement, CONSULTANT covenants that it presently
has no interest, and will not acquire any interest, direct or indirect, financial or otherwise, which would conflict in any manner or degree with the performance of the Services.
21.2. CONSULTANT further covenants that, in the performance of this
Agreement, it will not employ subconsultants, contractors or persons having such an interest.
CONSULTANT certifies that no person who has or will have any financial interest under this Agreement is an officer or employee of CITY; this provision will be interpreted in accordance
with the applicable provisions of the Palo Alto Municipal Code and the Government Code of the
State of California.
21.3. If the Project Manager determines that CONSULTANT is a “Consultant” as that term is defined by the Regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission,
CONSULTANT shall be required and agrees to file the appropriate financial disclosure
documents required by the Palo Alto Municipal Code and the Political Reform Act.
SECTION 22. NONDISCRIMINATION. As set forth in Palo Alto Municipal Code section 2.30.510, CONSULTANT certifies that in the performance of this Agreement, it shall not
discriminate in the employment of any person because of the race, skin color, gender, age,
religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, housing status, marital status,
familial status, weight or height of such person. CONSULTANT acknowledges that it has read
and understands the provisions of Section 2.30.510 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code relating to Nondiscrimination Requirements and the penalties for violation thereof, and agrees to meet all
requirements of Section 2.30.510 pertaining to nondiscrimination in employment.
SECTION 23. ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERRED PURCHASING AND ZERO WASTE REQUIREMENTS. CONSULTANT shall comply with the CITY’s Environmentally Preferred Purchasing policies which are available at CITY’s Purchasing Department,
incorporated by reference and may be amended from time to time. CONSULTANT shall comply
with waste reduction, reuse, recycling and disposal requirements of CITY’s Zero Waste
Program. Zero Waste best practices include first minimizing and reducing waste; second,
reusing waste and third, recycling or composting waste. In particular, CONSULTANT shall comply with the following zero waste requirements:
(a) All printed materials provided by CCONSULTANT to CITY generated from a
personal computer and printer including but not limited to, proposals, quotes,
invoices, reports, and public education materials, shall be double-sided and
printed on a minimum of 30% or greater post-consumer content paper, unless otherwise approved by CITY’s Project Manager. Any submitted materials printed by a professional printing company shall be a minimum of 30% or greater post-
consumer material and printed with vegetable based inks.
(b) Goods purchased by CONSULTANT on behalf of CITY shall be purchased in
accordance with CITY’s Environmental Purchasing Policy including but not limited to Extended Producer Responsibility requirements for products and packaging. A copy of this policy is on file at the Purchasing Division’s office.
(c) Reusable/returnable pallets shall be taken back by CONSULTANT, at no
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 8
additional cost to CITY, for reuse or recycling. CONSULTANT shall provide
documentation from the facility accepting the pallets to verify that pallets are not
being disposed.
SECTION 24. COMPLIANCE WITH PALO ALTO MINIMUM WAGE ORDINANCE. CONSULTANT shall comply with all requirements of the Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter
4.62 (Citywide Minimum Wage), as it may be amended from time to time. In particular, for any
employee otherwise entitled to the State minimum wage, who performs at least two (2) hours of
work in a calendar week within the geographic boundaries of the City, CONSULTANT shall pay such employees no less than the minimum wage set forth in Palo Alto Municipal Code section
4.62.030 for each hour worked within the geographic boundaries of the City of Palo Alto. In
addition, CONSULTANT shall post notices regarding the Palo Alto Minimum Wage Ordinance
in accordance with Palo Alto Municipal Code section 4.62.060.
SECTION 25. NON-APPROPRIATION
25.1. This Agreement is subject to the fiscal provisions of the Charter of the
City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Municipal Code. This Agreement will terminate without any
penalty (a) at the end of any fiscal year in the event that funds are not appropriated for the following fiscal year, or (b) at any time within a fiscal year in the event that funds are only
appropriated for a portion of the fiscal year and funds for this Agreement are no longer available.
This section shall take precedence in the event of a conflict with any other covenant, term,
condition, or provision of this Agreement.
SECTION 26. PREVAILING WAGES AND DIR REGISTRATION FOR PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS
26.1 This Project is not subject to prevailing wages. CONSULTANT is not
required to pay prevailing wages in the performance and implementation of the Project in accordance with SB 7 if the contract is not a public works contract, if the contract does not
include a public works construction project of more than $25,000, or the contract does not
include a public works alteration, demolition, repair, or maintenance (collectively,
‘improvement’) project of more than $15,000.
OR
26.1 CONSULTANT is required to pay general prevailing wages as defined in
Subchapter 3, Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations and Section 16000 et seq. and
Section 1773.1 of the California Labor Code. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 1773 of the Labor Code of the State of California, the City Council has obtained the general prevailing rate
of per diem wages and the general rate for holiday and overtime work in this locality for each
craft, classification, or type of worker needed to execute the contract for this Project from the
Director of the Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”). Copies of these rates may be
obtained at the Purchasing Division’s office of the City of Palo Alto. CONSULTANT shall provide a copy of prevailing wage rates to any staff or subcontractor hired, and shall pay the
adopted prevailing wage rates as a minimum. CONSULTANT shall comply with the provisions
of all sections, including, but not limited to, Sections 1775, 1776, 1777.5, 1782, 1810, and 1813,
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 9
of the Labor Code pertaining to prevailing wages.
26.2 CONSULTANT shall comply with the requirements of Exhibit “E” for any
contract for public works construction, alteration, demolition, repair or maintenance. SECTION 27. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
27.1. This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of California.
27.2. In the event that an action is brought, the parties agree that trial of such
action will be vested exclusively in the state courts of California in the County of Santa Clara,
State of California.
27.3. The prevailing party in any action brought to enforce the provisions of this
Agreement may recover its reasonable costs and attorneys' fees expended in connection with that
action. The prevailing party shall be entitled to recover an amount equal to the fair market value
of legal services provided by attorneys employed by it as well as any attorneys’ fees paid to third
parties.
27.4. This document represents the entire and integrated agreement between the
parties and supersedes all prior negotiations, representations, and contracts, either written or oral.
This document may be amended only by a written instrument, which is signed by the parties.
27.5. The covenants, terms, conditions and provisions of this Agreement will
apply to, and will bind, the heirs, successors, executors, administrators, assignees, and
consultants of the parties.
27.6. If a court of competent jurisdiction finds or rules that any provision of this Agreement or any amendment thereto is void or unenforceable, the unaffected provisions of this
Agreement and any amendments thereto will remain in full force and effect.
27.7. All exhibits referred to in this Agreement and any addenda, appendices,
attachments, and schedules to this Agreement which, from time to time, may be referred to in any duly executed amendment hereto are by such reference incorporated in this Agreement and
will be deemed to be a part of this Agreement.
27.8 In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Agreement and the
exhibits hereto or CONSULTANT’s proposal (if any), the Agreement shall control. In the case of any conflict between the exhibits hereto and CONSULTANT’s proposal, the exhibits shall
control.
27.9 If, pursuant to this contract with CONSULTANT, CITY shares with
CONSULTANT personal information as defined in California Civil Code section 1798.81.5(d) about a California resident (“Personal Information”), CONSULTANT shall maintain reasonable
and appropriate security procedures to protect that Personal Information, and shall inform City
immediately upon learning that there has been a breach in the security of the system or in the
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 10
security of the Personal Information. CONSULTANT shall not use Personal Information for
direct marketing purposes without City’s express written consent.
27.10 All unchecked boxes do not apply to this agreement.
27.11 The individuals executing this Agreement represent and warrant that they
have the legal capacity and authority to do so on behalf of their respective legal entities.
27.12 This Agreement may be signed in multiple counterparts, which shall, when
executed by all the parties, constitute a single binding agreement
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have by their duly authorized representatives executed this Agreement on the date first above written.
CITY OF PALO ALTO
City Manager
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Attorney or designee
PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT, LLC
By:
Name:
Title:
Attachments: EXHIBIT “A”: SCOPE OF SERVICES
EXHIBIT “B”: SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCE
EXHIBIT “C”: COMPENSATION EXHIBIT “C-1”: SCHEDULE OF RATES EXHIBIT “D”: VISA/SasS Security, Privacy Policy
EXHIBIT “E” PAM DUNCAN PCI CERTIFICATE
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Tim Wendler
CEO
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 11
EXHIBIT “A” SCOPE OF SERVICES
Parking Citation Processing and Comprehensive Collections
A) Scope of Work
Contractor shall provide the following services:
• Access to system and training a) AutoPROCESS is a comprehensive hosted citation processing solution, which is
accessed via the Internet using Citrix. It is a Windows-based, menu-driven, account-centric citation processing system for processing parking, traffic, and municipal ordinance citations. The software and Database is a fully hosted,
turnkey type system.
b) Training and support on an on-going basis by vendor will be provided, which
shall not exceed four eight hour days annually. c) Respond to all telephone and electronic mail inquiries. Our account management team will provide timely responses to City inquiries, requests for service and will
engage in periodic program update meetings to ensure coordination of operations
and objectives are being met.
d) Update meetings. Vendor Manager and/or Account Representative shall communicate regularly with the Project Manager of the City as required.
• Services
a) Collection of citations transmitted to vendor for system entry on a daily basis. Citations are issued manually (handwritten) or by portable electronic ticket writers. Electronic ticket writers currently utilize PinForce citation issuance
software from Database Consultants of Australia (DCA). The City is
transitioning from Motorola and Trimble Windows Mobile handheld devices with
Bluetooth Intermec printers to Android based Samsung phones and Bluetooth O’Neil printers. b) Shall accept daily citation file via secure SFTP.
c) Shall have the ability to manually enter parking citations into the system if
needed.
d) Vendor shall export to a SFTP site a current habitual offender file to City each day which consist of accounts with 5 or more delinquent citations. e) Reconciliation. Provide the ability to generate a daily report of the number of
citations entered into processing system by vendor.
f) Violation screening. The system should screen each citation manually entered by
the City to determine whether the citation contains the information necessary to enter it into the system. g) Shall notify Project manager by email if no citations are received electronically
(except on weekends and holidays).
h) Notice of delinquent parking violation. The system shall generate a notice for
each citation, which remains unpaid based upon the notice schedule required by the City.
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 12
i) Shall have access to NLETS. City is required to complete and maintain the
necessary paperwork for access.
j) Shall provide real time access to the California DMV registered owner
information. City is required to complete and maintain the necessary paperwork for access. R/O updates shall be done in a batch mode nightly on scheduled
business days.
k) Identification of registered vehicle owners. The system shall make attempts to
obtain the name and address of the registered vehicle owner from the DMV
and/or NLETS for each vehicle for which a citation has been issued, but payment for which has not been received within the required time period.
l) Verification of ownership through the DMV/NLETS.
m) Send notification to the lessee and/or second reported owner when delinquent and
follow the lien process under California law.
n) Vehicle registration holds. The system shall automatically place a hold with DMV on the registration of vehicles for which citations and fees remain unpaid
by the registered owners of such vehicles.
o) Removal of registration holds.
p) Process and collect on citations issued to vehicles with out-of-state registration.
q) Suspension of procedures. The system shall suspend the handling of any citations issued by the City upon receipt of appropriate notice by the City.
r) Citation dismissal. They system shall suspend the handling of any citations
issued by the City upon receipt of appropriate notice by the City.
s) Assistance with citation design if requested by the City (not required at this time).
t) Quality control procedures in the system. u) Use of approved forms. All forms, delinquency notices, and correspondence sent
by vendor shall conform to applicable law and shall be initially approved by the
City.
v) Local and National Fleet Management. If and when City is ready to move forward
with this option. w) IVR System. If and when the City is ready to move forward with this option.
x) We require that the vendor provide the ability for customers to pay citations via
the internet.
y) Payments for citations can also be mailed to the City of Palo Alto Revenue
Collections Department and processed by City staff. z) Customer Account Website. If and when the City is ready to move forward with
this option.
• On Going Training and Support a) Contractor will provide ongoing training and support as needed either in person or through web meetings or conference calls up to three, eight hour days annually.
• Reports and Document Storage a) Vendor shall provide the City access to the following reports via its AutoPROCESS platform:
1. Revenue reports and violation tracking reports
2. Violation statistics and officer report
3. Violation statistics by issue area reports
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 13
4. Habitual offender report
5. Statistical and year-to-date revenue reports
6. Citation suspension reports
7. Citation dismissal reports 8. Citation status reports
9. Processing exception reports
10. Registered owner reports
11. Habitual offender reports
12. Court fee reports 13. Special reports as requested by the City
14. Ability to create Ad Hoc reports
b) Quarterly closed violation reports
c) Maintain computer files in standard format for records of payments, collection efforts, disposition, and any and all other information required to provide an audit
trial of citation history
d) Reports should be exportable in PDF and/or excel format
e) Record retention and storage for a period of at least five years
• Comprehensive Collections a) Assignment and program business rules. Will work with the City to implement
business rules regarding collections procedures that are acceptable to the City
b) Will work with the City on changes to the program business rules if required c) Commercial Collections. Will work with the City to implement business rules regarding commercial collections if and when City is ready to move forward with
this option.
d) Outbound Calling. Will work with the City to implement business rules regarding
outbound dialing If and when City is ready to move forward with this option. e) Legal Collections. Will work with the City to implement business rules regarding outbound dialing if and when City is ready to move forward with this option. The
rate for this service option would be 45% of the revenue collected.
f) Collection Letters. Shall present proposed collection letters to the City to review,
edit and approve. The collection letters may include: 1. Notice of Assignment to Collection Agency 2. Demand for payment
3. Impending DMV Lien
4. Impending Tax Offset
5. Impending Assignment to Collection Attorney g) Skip tracing. Shall provide skip tracing services to locate violators at a current address for all accounts assigned with a “bad address” indicator and from
accounts that are “return to sender” via mailings
h) DMV information. Shall use its resources to verify DMV information and obtain
registration information for any accounts prior to collections assignment i) Customer service. Shall provide a toll-free customer service number which will be listed on all correspondence for violators to contact should they have any
questions or want to dispute the validity of the debt
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 14
j) Dispute resolution. Shall provide dispute resolution services to review customer
claims of non-liability and forward accounts to Client Agency where is has been
determined that there is a valid reason for dismissal of the debt. The system
would be updated to reflect the Client Agency decision either by the Client Agency
k) Lockbox remittance processing. Shall provide lockbox remittance processing and
include a return remittance envelope with all delinquent collection notices
l) DMV lien process. Shall provide for delayed filing of DMV liens until 100-120
days before the renewal date if requested by the City This allows maximum time to collect citations without waiting up to one year for the renewal date. The
contractor shall mail a “Notice of Impending DMV Lien” prior to the lien being
filed, and will pay all monthly DMV lien fees
m) Franchise Tax Board. Shall include participation in the annual Franchise Tax
Board’s Tax Offset Program including: 1. Selecting qualifying accounts per Client Agency guidelines
2. Obtaining social security numbers
3. Obtaining updated addresses
4. Consolidating multiple plates owned by a single violator
5. Mailing “Impending Offset Notice” 6. Receiving calls from violators resulting from “Impending Offset Notice”
7. Lockbox remittance processing
8. Filing with FTB the balance of accounts remaining unpaid from
“Impending FTB Notice” process
9. Handling calls from violators whose tax refund has been intercepted 10. Updating FTB with modify records; payments received at other sources;
additional amount due
11. Issuing refunds at direction of Client Agency for cases found to have been
filed in error
n) Fees, expense reimbursement and revenue distribution: 1. Contractor shall retain the agreed upon fee on payments received from
assigned citations. The collection fee will be applicable in cases where the
Client Agency decides to accept less than the total amount assigned or
where the FTB has intercepted a lesser amount, but in no case shall the
collections agency fee exceed the agreed upon rate 2. Collections agency services are contingency based with no additional
charges for FTB Social Security numbers, DMV liens, plate matching and
mailings
3. Shall issue the Client Agency a credit for DMV lien fees deducted by the
State from collection proceeds 4. On a mutually agreed upon schedule, contractor shall transfer to the Client
Agency’s designated account, via ACH transfer, the Net Receipts for the
prior reporting period. “Net Receipts” means the collection fee due the
collections agency will be deducted from proceeds of collections and the
remaining funds will be transferred to the Client Agency. Adequate funds may not exist in the collections agency trust when payment of assigned
accounts occurs through mail, over the counter, credit card, telephone, or
internet payments are received directly by the Client Agency
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 15
5. Franchise Tax Board (FTB) Tax Intercept Lien Collections shall be
distributed to the Client Agency from funds received monthly from FTB
6. In the event that collection fees due to the collections agency for any
month exceed the amount of funds available in the lockbox account and the monthly FTB distribution, the Client Agency shall be invoiced for the
balance due. Payment terms for the balance due shall be Net 30 days of
receipt of invoice
7. Contractor shall provide the Client Agency a monthly statement and
supporting report that itemizes the collection by citation number and source of payment. The monthly statement will reconcile all payments for
assigned accounts received at the following sources:
• Direct payment to City from mail, over the counter, IVR and
internet credit card payments
• Direct payment to City from DMV for registration hold payments
received
• Payment to collections lockbox service
• Payment from FTB for tax intercept and lottery winning liens filed on behalf of the City
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 16
EXHIBIT “B” SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCE
CONSULTANT shall perform the Services so as to complete each milestone within the number of days/weeks specified below. The time to complete each milestone may be increased or
decreased by mutual written agreement of the project managers for CONSULTANT and CITY
so long as all work is completed within the term of the Agreement. CONSULTANT shall
provide a detailed schedule of work consistent with the schedule below within 2 weeks of receipt
of the notice to proceed.
Milestones Completion
No. of Days from NTP
1. Citations entered into system 1 day
2. Send letter via US mail if not paid 14 days
3. Late fee added if not paid 21 days from date of first letter
4. Forward to Collections 91 days from cite issue date
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 17
EXHIBIT “C” COMPENSATION
The CITY agrees to compensate the CONSULTANT for professional services performed in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and as set forth in the
budget schedule below. Compensation shall be calculated based on the hourly rate
schedule attached as exhibit C-1 up to the not to exceed budget amount for each task set
forth below. The compensation to be paid to CONSULTANT under this Agreement for services
described in Exhibit “A” (“Basic Services”) and reimbursable expenses shall not exceed
$130,000 per year. CONSULTANT agrees to complete all Basic Services, including
reimbursable expenses, within this amount. Any work performed or expenses incurred for which payment would result in a total exceeding the maximum amount of compensation set forth herein shall be at no cost to the CITY.
CONSULTANT shall perform the tasks and categories of work as outlined and budgeted
below. The CITY’s project manager may approve in writing the transfer of budget amounts between any of the tasks or categories listed below provided the total compensation for Basic Services, including reimbursable expenses, does not exceed
$130,000 per year.
BUDGET SCHEDULE NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT Task 1 $1.35/cite/first three years
(Citation Processing) $1.37/cite/year four
$1.39/cite/year five
Task 2 $0.65/letter/first three years (Notices Letters – includes postage) $0.68/letter/year four
$0.71/letter/year five
Task 3 $1.05/transaction/first three years (Internet Payments) $1.07/transaction/year four $1.09/transaction/year five
Sub-total Basic Services $130,000 per year
Total Not-to-Exceed for Basic Services for five years at $130,000 per year.
Maximum Total Compensation $650,000
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 18
EXHIBIT “C-1” SCHEDULE OF RATES
CITATION PROCESSING AND COLLECTIONS FEE SCHEDULE
Current Services Unit Price
1. Citation Processing - per citation entered into the system (1) $1.35
Year Four $1.37
Year Five $1.39
2. Notices Letter or Large Postcard Format (2) $0.65
Year Four $0.68
Year Five $0.71
3. Internet Payments - Client's Processor (3) $1.05
Year Four $1.07
Year Five $1.09
4. Obtain California Registered Owner Information (4) Included in processing cost
Obtain Out-of-State Registration Information (4) $0.98 to $4.50
5. Collections Services Options (5)
Comprehensive Collection Services 35%
Special Note: DMV liens are currently used as a collections tool and are included as part of a
comprehensive collections program we reimburse the City $3.00 for every registration hold placed.
Optional Services Unit Price
6. Manual Citation Data Entry/Imaging $0.25
7. Phone Payments - Client's Processor (9) $1.05
Year Four $1.07
Year Five $1.09
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 19
(1) The fee for use of the AutoPROCESS System is a transaction charge per citation processed. The rate charged is dependent on the client agency annual citation volume. Determination of “volume” is based on
a client agency’s citations processed during the prior calendar year. Includes the cost for obtaining
registered owner information from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. If the DMV ever charges for this service the actual cost willl be passed on to the Client Agency.
(2) Rates for notice printing and mailing include postage at the current prevailing rate. This service fee
will be adjusted to offset any increase in the standard U.S. first class postage rate in the future. Client
agencies will be notified of postal rate changes and the impact on service fees for letter and post card notices as they occur. (Client Agency can choose either notice type or a combination of the two first and
second notices)
(3) Duncan can provide the credit card merchant account and transfer funds collected to the client's bank account. If the client agency provides the credit card merchant account, Web and IVR payment fee is
reduced because the Client Agency is responsible for credit card merchant service fees and bank charges.
(4) Costs for obtaining DMV registered owner information is billed to client agencies. California is currently provided by DMV at no cost. The charges for out-of-state registered owners data requests varies from
State to State and ranges from $.98 to $4.50 per transaction. The average cost is $0.98 per transaction,
some states are at a higher rate.
(5) Delinquent account collection services includes skip tracing, research of registered owners, obtaining
social security numbers. Full Service includes telephone customer call center services, return mail processing, notice printing and mailing, payment processing and correspondence processing. Client agencies have the option of adopting "Collection Cost Recovery Fee" charged to add penalty to citation
account balance due to offset collection costs.
(6) Data entry of manual ciations and rejected citation workflow.
(7) Interactive Voice Response service for citation inquiry, payments and answers to FAQ’s.
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 20
EXHIBIT “D” - VISA
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
f
This Exhibit sh
into by and be
for the provisio
In order to
people who
patrons and
City, as a c
including, w
subcontract
services pro
below, whi
Statement o
privacy of t
information
A “secure IT
the City, in
maintenanc
continuity p
and reliable
integrated
managemen
In the event
the Require
writing, on
Requiremen
satisfaction
Part A.
The Consult
(a) Appo
SO
all be made a
etween the City
on of Software
assure the
o do business
d other indiv
condition of
without limit
tors, if any, i
ovider, shal
le it render
of Work, Ex
he personal
n security req
T environme
ncluding co
ce processes
planning; and
e environm
framework,
nt devices, u
t that, after
ements, the
e or more
nts” as set
of the Infor
Requirem
tant shall at
oint or desig
OFTWARE
T
part of the City
y of Palo Alto (t
e as a Service to
privacy and
s with the C
viduals and
receiving s
tation, the S
including, w
l design, ins
rs and perfo
xhibit B, to
information
quirements
ent” include
onnection to
s needed to s
d (c) the IT i
ent and se
, including,
upon which d
the Effectiv
Consultant
alternate
forth in Pa
mation Secu
ments:
all times dur
gnate an em
EX
AS A SERV
TERMS AN
y of Palo Alto’s
the “City”) and
o the City (the
security of
ity, including
businesses,
services from
Software as
without limita
stall, provid
orms the Se
the extent
n of the City
(the “Requir
es: (a) the IT
o the City'
support the
nfrastructur
rvice availa
without l
digital netwo
ve Date, the
shall promp
countermea
art B), whic
urity Manage
ring the term
mployee, pre
XHIBIT ___
VICE SECU
ND COND
s Professional S
d ___________
“Agreement”)
the person
g, without li
who are re
m the City
a Service se
ation, any In
de, and mai
ervices and
any scope o
y’s custome
rements”) se
T infrastructu
s IT system
environmen
re performa
bility to th
imitation, d
orks operate
Consultant
ptly inform t
asure optio
ch may be
er (the “ISM
m of any con
eferably an
Doc
URITY AND
DITIONS
Services Agree
_____________
).
al informati
mitation, ve
equired to sh
or selling g
ervices prov
nformation T
ntain a sec
furnishes g
of work imp
rs. The Cons
et forth in Pa
ure, by whic
ms; (b) the
nt, including
nce monitor
e City. “IT
data cente
e.
reasonably
he City of it
ns to the
accepted o
”).
ntract betwe
executive o
ument Versi
D PRIVACY
ement or any o
____________
on of the C
endors, utilit
hare such in
goods and s
vider (the “C
Technology
ure IT envir
goods, if an
plicates the
sultant shall
art A below.
ch the Servi
e Consultan
g disaster rec
ring services
T infrastruct
rs, comput
determines
ts determina
Requiremen
or rejected
een the City
fficer, as th
City of Informationon: V2.5 [11/Doc: Info
Pa
ther contract e
___ (the “Cons
City’s custom
ty customers
nformation w
ervices to t
Consultant”)
(“IT”) infras
ronment, de
y, described
confidentia
l fulfill the d
ces are prov
t’s operatio
covery and b
s to ensure a
ture” refers
ers, and d
that it cann
ation and su
nts (the “A
in the rea
and the Con
e security li
Palo Alto n Security /01/2012] oSec 110
age 1 of 3
entered
ultant”)
mers and
s, library
with the
the City,
) and its
tructure
escribed
d in the
ality and
data and
vided to
ons and
business
a secure
s to the
database
not fulfill
ubmit, in
Alternate
asonable
nsultant:
aison to
D
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
the C
(b) Prov
Que
to t
impl
adop
anni
majo
(c) Have
docu
Man
http
http
(d) Cond
appr
(e) Deve
vers
(f) Deve
perf
perm
enab
of it
term
(g) Prov
met
(h) Impl
role‐
pers
syste
that
the d
(i) Assis
Serv
impl
and
(j) Prov
conf
(k) Depl
patc
secu
(l) Prov
inclu
(m) Not
unau
City with res
vide a full an
stionnaire (t
the Require
ementation
pt as counte
versary dat
or changes t
e adopted
umented, ar
nagement Sy
://www.iso.
://www.iso.
duct routine
ropriate to t
elop and m
ions and pat
elop an in
orming prof
mit verificati
ble the imm
ts employee
minated.
vide a list of
or has failed
ement acce
‐base acces
onnel, syste
ems security
would requ
detection an
st the City i
vices’ enviro
emented m
secure IT ar
vide and m
fidentiality, i
loy and mai
h and/or rel
urity patches
vide for the
uding on‐goi
ify the City
uthorized ac
spect to the
nd complete
the “Questio
ements, as
plan of req
ermeasures
e of this Ag
o the IT infra
and imple
re accessible
ystems (ISMS
org/iso/hom
org/iso/iso_
e data and
heir role.
aintain deta
tch levels.
dependently
fessional an
ion of empl
ediate denia
es who no
f IT infrastru
d to meet an
ess accounta
s control (“
ems and sof
y approach t
uire more th
nd preventio
n undertaki
onment des
easures in a
chitecture.
aintain sec
ntegrity and
ntain IT sys
lease levels
s must be ins
timely det
ng incident
y within on
ccess to or th
Services to b
e response t
onnaire”) to
and when
uired count
in the perfo
greement th
astructure.
emented in
e to the City
S) Standards
me/store/cat
_catalogue/c
information
ailed docum
y verifiable
nd criminal
loyees’ pers
al of access
longer wo
ucture comp
ny objective
ability (ident
“RBAC”) an
ftware used
to restricting
an one indiv
on of fraud a
ng annually
sign and de
accordance w
ure intersys
d availability
tem upgrad
by not later
stalled withi
tection of, r
monitoring w
e (1) hour
he misuse of
be performe
to the City’s
o the ISM, an
requested.
termeasures
ormance of t
he Consultan
nformation
y and confo
s. See the fo
talogue_tc/c
catalogue_tc
n security co
mentation of
e process,
background
sonal identit
to the City'
uld require
ponents in o
terms and c
tification and
d segregatio
to provide
g access only
vidual to co
nd errors.
an assessm
eployment
with industry
stem comm
y of the City's
des, patches
than one (1
n 24 hours a
response to
with logging
of detectin
f the City's c
Doc
ed under thi
s Supplier Se
nd also repo
. The respo
s, which the
the Services
nt shall rep
security an
orm to ISO 2
llowing:
catalogue_d
c/catalogue_
ompliance t
f the IT infr
consistent
d checks of
ty and emp
s confidenti
access to
order to ver
conditions.
d authentica
on of dutie
the Services
y to authoriz
mplete a se
ment to assu
are known
y best pract
munication
s informatio
and config
1) week afte
after its date
o, and the r
g.
ng a securit
onfidential d
ument Versi
s Agreemen
ecurity and
ort any majo
onse shall
City require
s. In additio
ort to the C
nd privacy
27001/2 – In
detail.htm?cs
_detail.htm?
raining of it
rastructure,
with indus
its employ
ployment sta
ial data and
that inform
rify whether
ation) archit
es (“SoD”) m
s. “RBAC” re
zed users. “S
ecurity task i
ure that: (1)
to the Ci
ices applicab
paths that
on.
urations con
r its date of
e of release.
reporting of
ty incident
data and inf
City of Informationon: V2.5 [11/Doc: Info
Pa
t.
Privacy Asse
or non‐confo
include a
es the Consu
on, as of the
City, in writ
policies t
nformation
snumber=42
?csnumber=
ts personne
including s
stry standa
yees that (1
atus, and (2
information
mation or w
the Consult
tecture and
mechanisms
efers to a co
SoD” is an a
in order to p
all element
ity, and (2)
ble to secure
would ens
nforming to
release. Em
f security in
that results
ormation.
Palo Alto n Security /01/2012] oSec 110
age 2 of 3
essment
ormance
detailed
ultant to
e annual
ting, any
hat are
Security
2103
=50297
l that is
software
rds, for
1) would
2) would
n by any
who are
tant has
support
s for all
omputer
pproach
promote
ts of the
) it has
e coding
sure the
current
mergency
ncidents,
s in the
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
(n) Infor
(o) Perfo
basis
anni
(p) Acco
perf
third
Cons
prac
dete
(q) Coop
regu
auth
(r) Perfo
Serv
(s) Main
earli
thirt
all of
(t) Main
data
(u) Encr
and
(v) Unle
indir
use,
inclu
Part B.
rm the City t
orm securit
s, and provid
versary date
ommodate,
ormance of
d party serv
sultant’s an
ctices, syste
ection and re
perate with
ulations, the
horized third
orm regular
vices.
ntain record
er terminat
ty (30) days
f those reco
ntain the Co
a and inform
rypt the Con
or any autho
ess otherwis
rect or puni
data or pro
uding, witho
Alternate
that any thir
y self‐audits
de the requi
e or any othe
as practica
random site
vice provide
nd its third
ms configu
esponse.
the City to
Confidentia
d party servic
r, reliable se
ds relating to
tion of this A
after the eff
rds relating
onfidential I
ation privac
fidential Inf
orized recipi
se addressed
tive damage
ofits, arising
ut limitation
e Requireme
rd party serv
s on a regu
ired summar
er date agre
ble, and up
e security au
r(s), as app
party serv
rations, acc
ensure that
al Informati
ce provider’s
ecured back
o the Service
Agreement
fective date
to the perfo
nformation
cy laws, rules
ormation be
ient.
d in the Agr
es whatsoev
g out of or i
n, IT infrastru
ents:
vice provider
lar basis an
ry reports of
eed to by the
pon reason
udits at the C
licable. The
vice provide
cess authen
t to the ext
on will be a
s personnel.
ups of all da
es for a perio
and in a m
of expiratio
ormance of t
in accordan
s and regula
efore deliver
reement, sh
ver includin
n any way c
ucture comm
Doc
r(s) meet(s)
nd not less f
f those self‐
e Parties.
able prior
Consultant’s
scope of t
er(s)’ aware
ntication an
tent required
accessible o
.
ata needed
od of three
utually agre
on or earlier
the Services
nce with app
tions.
ring the sam
hall not hold
g, without
connected w
munications
ument Versi
all of the Re
frequently t
audits to the
notice by t
site(s), inclu
these audits
eness of se
nd authoriza
d by applica
only by the
to maximiz
(3) years aft
eeable stora
termination
shall be pro
plicable fede
me by electro
d the City li
limitation, d
with the Cit
.
City of Informationon: V2.5 [11/Doc: Info
Pa
equirements
than on a q
e ISM on the
the City, th
uding the sit
s will extend
ecurity polic
ation, and
able laws, ru
Consultant
ze availabilit
ter the expir
ge medium
n of this Agre
ovided to the
eral, state a
onic mail to
able for any
damages for
ty’s IT enviro
Palo Alto n Security /01/2012] oSec 110
age 3 of 3
s.
quarterly
e annual
he City’s
te(s) of a
d to the
cies and
incident
ules and
and any
ty of the
ration or
. Within
eement,
e ISM.
and local
the City
y direct,
r loss of
onment,
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Info
Release and
Release Date
Document Cl
orma
Version:
e:
assification:
atioon P
1st
31
Ne
Priva
Release, Ver
January, 201
eed to Know
acy
rsion 2.2
13
Pollicy
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Information P
Version 2.2
CONTEN
DOCUMENT
CHANGE RE
APPROVAL .
DISTRIBUTIO
1. OBJE
A) INTEN
B) SCOP
C) CONS
D) EXCE
E) MUNIC
2. RESP
A) RESP
B) RESP
C) RESP
D) RESP
E) RESP
3. PRIVA
A) OVER
B) PERSO
C) METH
D) UTILIT
E) PUBLI
F) ACCE
G) SECU
H) DATA
I) SOFTW
J) FAIR A
4. CONT
Privacy Policy
TS
CONTROLS...
ECORD ..........
.....................
ON ................
ECTIVE ...........
NT ..................
E ..................
SEQUENCES....
PTIONS..........
CIPAL ORDINAN
PONSIBILITIES
ONSIBILITY OF
ONSIBILITY OF
ONSIBILITY OF
ONSIBILITY OF
ONSIBILITY OF
ACY POLICY ..
RVIEW ............
ONAL INFORMA
ODS OF COLLE
TIES SERVICE .
C DISCLOSUR
SS TO PERSON
RITY, CONFIDE
RETENTION / I
WARE AS A SE
AND ACCURAT
TACTS ...........
y
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
NCE ...............
OF CITY STAF
CIO AND ISM
INFORMATION
USERS .........
F INFORMATION
F AUTHORIZATI
.....................
.....................
ATION AND CH
ECTION OF PER
.....................
E ...................
NAL INFORMAT
ENTIALITY AND
INFORMATION
RVICE (SAAS)
E CREDIT TRA
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
F ...................
M ....................
N SECURITY ST
.....................
N TECHNOLOGY
ON COORDINA
.....................
.....................
OICE ..............
RSONAL INFOR
.....................
.....................
TION ...............
NON-DISCLOS
RETENTION ...
) OVERSIGHT ..
ANSACTION ACT
.....................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
TEERING COMM
......................
Y (IT) MANAGE
ATION .............
......................
......................
......................
RMATION .........
......................
......................
......................
SURE .............
......................
......................
T OF 2003 (FA
......................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
MITTEE ..........
.....................
ERS ...............
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
ACT) .............
.....................
InInforma
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
City of nformation Teation Security
Pa
31 Janua
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
......................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
......................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
......................
Palo Alto chnology Services
age 1 of 8
ary, 2013
............ 2
............ 2
............ 2
............ 2
............ 3
............ 3
............ 3
............ 3
............ 3
............ 4
............ 4
............ 4
............ 4
............ 4
............ 5
............ 5
............ 5
............ 5
............ 5
............ 5
............ 6
............ 6
............ 6
............ 6
............ 7
............ 7
............ 7
............ 8
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Information P
Version 2.2
DOCUME
CHANGE
APPROVA
DISTRIBU
Privacy Policy
ENT CONT
Documen
Location
Documen
Documen
Contributo
E RECORD
Date 12-Jul-12 26-Sep-12
09-Nov-12
19-Nov-12
22-Nov-12
26-Nov-12
6-Dec-12
14-Jan-13
31-Jan-13
VAL
Date
06-Dec-12
06-Dec-12
06-Dec-12
14-Jan-13
14-Jan-13
UTION
Name
City of Pa
Providers
y
TROLS
nt Title
nt Author
nt Manager
ors
D
AuthorRaj Pat2 Raj Pat
2 Raj Pat
2 Raj Pat
2 Raj Pat
2 Raj Pat
Raj Pat
3 Raj Pat
3 Raj Pat
Name
2 Raj Pate
2 Jonatha
2 Tom Auz
3 Grant Ko
3 InformatSteering
alo Alto Emplo
, Residents a
Informatio
City of Pa
Raj Patel
Raj Patel
Jonathan Joe Black
r Versitel 0.01tel 1.0
tel 1.5
tel 1.6
tel 1.7
tel 1.8
tel 1.92
tel 2.0
tel 2.2
el
n Reichental
zenne
olling
tion Security g Committee
oyees, Servic
and Businesse
on Privacy Po
alo Alto Webs
Reichental,kwell, Grant K
on ChangFirst dFirst d
Update
Additio
Revise
Revise
Reiche
ReviseJonath
Revise
Grant
Revisefrom In
Comm
Role
InformaManag
Techno
CIO; InTechno
Assista
Utilities
SeniorAttorne
Office
Sponso
Lo
ce
es
Cit
Sh
olicy
ite and Share
Shiva SwamKolling
ge Referencedraft developedraft released
ed first draft f
onal updates
ed table of co
ed followed b
ental and Tom
ed according han Reichenta
ed according
Kolling
ed according nformation Se
mittee
ation Securityger; Informatio
ology Departm
nformation ology Departm
ant Director,
s Department
r Assistant Citey; City Attorn
or
ocation
ty of Palo Alto
harePoint
InInforma
ePoint
minathan, Tom
e ed for review
for review
as identified
ontent
y review from
m Auzenne
to commentsal
to comments
to recommenecurity Steeri
Com
y on
ment
Appr
ment Appr
t
Appr
ty ney’s Appr
Appr
o Website an
City of nformation Teation Security
Pa
31 Janua
m Auzenne,
m Jonathan
s from
s from
ndations ng
mments
roved
roved
roved
roved
roved
d
Palo Alto chnology Services
age 2 of 8
ary, 2013
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Information P
Version 2.2
1. O
The C
Palo provi
approfinan
businlocal
indus1798
somebusin
Califoto en
Protebusin
provi“Pers
“Infoin thi
A) I
The C
persoof me
persothe C
and spolic
Infor
The g
all ussecu
and scomp
B) S
The
requinform
confo
C) C
The Ctheir
Privacy Policy
Objective
City of Palo A
Alto. In promisions of the C
opriate measncial) informat
ness as a locaauthorities a
stry best prac8.24, 1798.79
e of these proness in a man
ornia laws. Thnsure the ong
ected Critical ness with the
ide services. sonally Identif
rmation”) are s Policy by re
INTENT
City, acting in
ons who do beans, includin
ons accessingCity’s staff and
security of theies, rules, reg
mation is coll
goals and obj
sers having arity of databa
security of thepliance with le
SCOPE
Policy will gu
ired to protecmation data a
orm their perf
CONSEQUENCE
City’s employwork implicat
y
e
Alto (the “City”
moting the quaCalifornia Pub
ures to safegtion of person
al governmennd reflected i
ctices, includin.8(b), 1798.80
ovisions do nonner which pr
he objective ooing protectio
InfrastructureCity and rece
The terms “Pfiable Informa
defined in theeference.
n its governme
business with ng, without lim
g the City’s wd/or authorize
e Information gulations and
ected, stored
jectives of the
ccess to the Case informatio
e Information egal and regu
ide the City’s
ct the confidenare intended t
formances to
ES
yees shall comtes access to
”) strives to p
ality of life of tblic Records A
uard the secuns, collected in
nt agency. Thn federal and
ng, without lim0(e), 1798.81
ot apply to locomotes the p
of this Policy ion of the Pers
e Informationaeiving service
Personal Inforation” and “Pe
e California C
ental and pro
or receive semitation, from
website, and ped third-party
collected by procedures,
and utilized i
e Policy are: (
City’s applicaon assets own
provided to tulatory require
staff and, ind
ntiality and prto be covered
the Policy sh
mply with the the Informati
romote and s
these personsAct, California
urity and privan the ordinary
ese measured California law
mitation, the p.5, 1798.82(e
cal governmerivacy of pers
is to describesonal Informa
and Personales from the Ci
rmation,” “Proersonally Iden
Civil Code sec
prietary capa
ervices from thpersons appl
persons who acontractors. T
the City. The and industry
in compliance
(a) a safe, pro
tions and datned by, or ent
he City’s staffements.
directly, third p
ivacy of the Ind by the Policy
ould they enj
Policy in the ion referred to
sustain a supe
s, it is the pola Governmen
acy of the pery course and
es are generaws, the City’s
provisions of Ce), 1798.83(e
nt agencies lisonal informa
e the City’s daation, Persona
ly Identifying ity or a third p
otected Criticantifying Inform
ctions, referre
acities, collect
he City. The Ilying to receiv
access other The City is co
City acknowbest practice
e with applica
oductive, and
tabases; (b) thtrusted to, the
ff and third pa
party contract
nformation ofy and which w
oy conditiona
execution of o in this Polic
InInforma
erior quality o
icy of the Citynt Code §§ 62
rsonal (includscope of con
lly observed bs rules and re
California Cive)(7), and 179
ike the City, tation, as reflec
ata security goally Identifiabl
Information oparty under co
al Infrastructumation” (collec
ed to above, a
ts the Informa
Information isve services p
information pommitted to p
ledges federaes are dedicat
able laws.
inoffensive w
he appropriate City; (c) the
arty contractor
tors, which ar
f the persons will be advised
al access to th
their official dcy. A failure to
City of nformation Teation Security
Pa
31 Janua
of life for perso
y, consistent w250 – 6270, to
ding, without lnducting the C
by federal, stagulations, an
vil Code §§ 1798.92(c). Thou
the City will cocted in federa
oals and objele Information
of persons doontract to the
ure Informatioctively, the
and are incorp
ation pertainin
s collected by rovided by th
portals maintaprotecting the
al and Califorted to ensurin
work environm
te maintenanccontrolled ac
rs; and (d) fai
re by contract
whose persod by City staf
hat informatio
duties to the eo comply may
Palo Alto chnology Services
age 3 of 8
ary, 2013
ons in
with the o take
imitation, City’s
ate and d
798.3(a), ugh
onduct al and
ectives, n,
oing City to
on”,
porated
ng to
a variety e City,
ained by privacy
nia laws, ng the
ment for
ce and ccess
ithful
t
onal ff to
on.
extent y result in
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Information P
Version 2.2
empl
D) E
In the
Policexce
“ISMas m
accoform
storawill c
the reand h
by th
E) M
This
2. RE
A) R
The Ccoord
The Cpartyperfo
The and tin derespoinciddepa
Non-inclu
B) R
The drawfor a
initiaplann
addre
Privacy Policy
loyment and/o
EXCEPTIONS
e event that a
cy, the employption request
”). The emplmay be reques
ordance with gby the City A
age, access, rconsult with th
equest, the ehis or her sup
he CIO, acting
MUNICIPAL OR
Policy will su
SPONSIB
RESPONSIBILIT
CIO, acting bdinate the imp
City’s employy contractors ormance of th
ISM will be rethe effectivenetailed, auditaonsible for theents that arisartment-specif
-Disclosure Ading, without
RESPONSIBILIT
Information Swn from the vall information
tives and actining processe
essed at the a
y
or legal conse
a City employ
yee may requt will be review
oyee, with thested by the IS
guidelines appAttorney. The P
retention, usahe CIO to app
xception requpervisor. The
g by the ISM.
RDINANCE
persede any
BILITIES O
TY OF CIO AND
y the ISM, wiplementation
yees, in particunder contraceir job respon
esponsible forness of the Poble technical e City’s IT enve in regard tofic policies an
greements (Nlimitation, loc
TY OF INFORMA
Security Steerarious City desecurity effor
ivities. The ISes to ensure t
appropriate C
equences.
ee cannot ful
est an excepwed and adm
e approval of M. The ISM w
proved by thePolicy’s guide
age, and proteprove or deny
uest dispositioapproval of a
City policy, ru
OF CITY S
D ISM
ll establish anof information
cular, softwarect to the City tnsibilities.
r: (a) developolicy; (c) the drequirementsvironments; (o potential viond procedures
NDAs) signedcal or ‘cloud-b
ATION SECURI
ring Committepartments, wrts, including
SSC will providthat informatio
City departme
ly comply with
tion by submministered by t
his or her suwill conduct a
e City’s Chief elines will incl
ection of the Ithe exception
on will be comny request m
ule, regulation
STAFF
n information n security me
e application to provide ser
ing and updadevelopment os, which will bd) assisting thlations of the s which fall un
by third partybased’ softwa
TY STEERING
ee (the “ISSCwill provide thekey informatio
de input to thon security ris
nt level.
h one or more
itting Securitythe City’s Info
pervisor, will a risk assessm
Information Olude at a mini
nformation idn request. Af
mmunicated, imay be subjec
n or procedur
security maneasures by the
users and darvices, shall b
ating the Policof privacy stabe designed ahe City’s staff Policy; (e) render the purv
y contractorsare services to
COMMITTEE
”), which is coe primary direon security an
e informationsks are adequ
InInforma
e element(s)
y Exception Rormation Secu
provide any ament of the re
Officer (“CIO”imum: purpos
dentified in thefter due cons
in writing, to tct to counterm
re regarding i
nagement frame City’s gove
atabase usersby guided by
cy, (b) enforciandards that wand maintaineff in evaluatingeviewing and view of this Po
, which will pro the City.
omprised of tection, prioritiznd privacy ris
n security anduately consid
City of nformation Teation Security
Pa
31 Janua
described in
Request.The urity Manager
additional infoquested exce
) and approvese, source, co
e request. Theideration is gi
the City emplomeasures esta
nformation pr
mework to initrnment.
s, and, indirecthis Policy in
ng compliancwill manifest ted by the persg security andapproving olicy; and (f) r
rovide service
he City’s empzation and apsks, programs
privacy stratered, assess
Palo Alto chnology Services
age 4 of 8
ary, 2013
this
r (the
ormation eption in
ed as to ollection,
e ISM iven to
oyee ablished
rivacy.
tiate and
ctly, third the
ce with he Policy sons d privacy
reviewing
es,
ployees, pproval s,
tegic ed and
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Information P
Version 2.2
C) R
All auproce
D) R
The C
City’scomp
intern
E) R
The (NDA
the Sexec
controbjec
by thoccu
The Cappro
3. PR
A) O
The Infor
by, ocontractivother
The tother
desiginformcompmainconfithird
B) P
Exce
doingpersoas a
Privacy Policy
RESPONSIBILIT
uthorized useesses and tec
RESPONSIBILIT
City’s IT Man
s networks, wpliance with th
nal reporting
RESPONSIBILIT
ISM will ensuA), whenever
Software as a cuted prior to t
ractors. The Cctives, policie
he ISM at planrred.
CIO, acting bopriate, comm
IVACY PO
OVERVIEW
Policy appliesmation of per
or entrusted toractors under ities include, r networks, sy
term “informar related orga
gned, implemmation assetspromise, and ntain informatidentiality, inteparties.
PERSONAL INF
ept as permitte
g business wion has conselocal governm
y
TY OF USERS
ers of the Infochnologies wi
TY OF INFORMA
agers, who a
will be responshe City’s infor
of events that
TY OF AUTHOR
ure that the Ciaccess to the
Service (Saathe sharing of
City’s approacs, processes
nned intervals
y the ISM, wimencing from
OLICY
s to activities rsons doing b
o, the City andcontract to thwithout limitaystems, or de
ation assets” aanizations whi
ented, and ms. The City’s sinappropriateion managemegrity, and av
FORMATION AN
ed or provide
ith the City, oented to the Cment agency
rmation will bithin the scop
ATION TECHNO
re responsibl
sible for confirmation secur
t may have co
RIZATION COOR
ity’s employeee Information
aS) Security af the Informat
ch to managin, and procedu
s, or wheneve
ll review and the date of it
that involve tusiness with t
d will be madhe City to proation, accessinevices.
also includes ile those asse
maintained to estaff will act toe disclosure oment systems,vailability of its
ND CHOICE
d by applicab
r receiving seCity’s sharing owith third par
be responsiblee of responsi
OLOGY (IT) MA
e for internal,
guring, maintrity and privac
ompromised
RDINATION
es secure thewill be grante
and Privacy Ttion of person
ng informationures for inform
er significant c
recommend ts adoption.
he use of thethe City or re
e available tovide Softwareng the Interne
the personal ets are under
ensure that oo protect its inor alteration. T networks ans information
ble laws, the C
ervices from thof such informrties under co
e for complyinibility of each
ANAGERS
, external, dir
taining and secy policies. T
network, syst
e execution ofed to third par
Terms and Cons covered by
n security andmation securit
changes to se
changes to th
e City’s informceiving servic
o the City’s eme as a Serviceet, using e-ma
information othe City’s con
nly authorizenformation asThe City will pnd processes assets to the
City will not sh
he City, in viomation duringontract to the C
InInforma
ng with informuser.
rect and indire
ecuring the Chey are also
tem or data s
f Non-Disclosrty contractor
onditions. An y this Policy w
d its implemety) will be rev
ecurity implem
he Policy ann
mation assets,ces from the C
mployees ande consulting sail, accessing
of the City’s entrol. Securit
d persons wilssets from theplan, design, in order to ase City’s emplo
hare the Infor
olation of this the conduct City to provid
City of nformation Teation Security
Pa
31 Janua
mation privacy
ect connection
City’s IT networesponsible fo
ecurity.
sure Agreemers, in conjunct
NDA must bewith third party
entation (i.e. viewed indepe
mentation hav
nually, or as
namely, the City, which ar
d third party services. Theg the City’s int
employees anty measures w
ll enjoy acceseft, damage, limplement anssure the appoyees and aut
rmation of any
Policy, unlesof the City’s be services.
Palo Alto chnology Services
age 5 of 8
ary, 2013
y
ns to the
orks in or timely
ents tion with
e y
endently
ve
re owned
se tranet or
nd any will be
ss to the oss, nd ropriate thorized
y person
ss that business
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Information P
Version 2.2
C) M
The Ccolle
businmay
and wforma
The Csite m
City wthe In
the bInter
the ucomp
their on hi
sites
D) U
In theDepa
custoUtiliti
applyother
with
Busin
havemont
residand/o
the s
Busin
coveInfor
E) P
The
couldunles
F) A
The C
acceaffec
Privacy Policy
METHODS OF C
City may gathction of such
ness as a locabe gathered
with other tecation in order
City’s staff wimay use “coo
will note that nternet Protoc
browser softwnet address o
user’s computpromise the u
computers byis or her com
.
UTILITIES SERV
e provision ofartment (“CPA
omers. To theies Rules and
y; provided, hrwise directed
other City dep
nesses and re
e secure accethly utility usa
dents with nonor billing data
standard mon
nesses and re
red by the samation under
PUBLIC DISCLO
Information th
d be incorporass such inform
ACCESS TO PE
City will take
ss to that percted persons w
y
COLLECTION O
her the Informinformation is
al governmenat service win
chnologies, whr to secure the
ll inform the pkies” to custo
a cookie contcol address o
ware and operof the website
ter by using thuser’s privacy
y using any oputer, it will n
VICE
f utility serviceAU”) will colle
e extent the md Regulations
however, any d or approved
partments ex
esidents with
ss through a age and billing
n-standard or a provided to t
thly billing.
esidents with
ame privacy pr applicable fe
OSURE
hat is collecte
ated in a publmation is exem
ERSONAL INFO
reasonable s
rson’s Informawho can revie
OF PERSONAL
mation from a s both necess
nt agency in itndows and co
herever the Ce City’s servic
persons whosomize the brow
tains unique iof the compute
ating systemse from which t
he City’s webor security. U
of the widely aot prevent or
es to personsect the Informa
management or other ordi
such Rules ad by the Coun
cept as may b
standard utili
CPAU websig data. In add
experimentathem through
such non-sta
rotections anederal and Ca
ed by the City
lic record thatmpt from disc
ORMATION
teps to verify
ation. Each Cew and updat
INFORMATION
variety of sousary and appr
ts governmenontact centers
City may interaces.
se Informationwsing experie
information ther used to ac
s used, the dathe user linke
site do not cUsers can refu
available methprohibit the u
s located withiation in order
of that informnances, rules
and Regulationcil. This inclu
be required b
ity meters and
te to their Infodition to their r
l electric, wat non-City elec
andard or exp
d personal inalifornia laws.
in the ordina
t may be subjclosure to the
a person’s id
City departmente that informa
urces and resropriate in ord
ntal and proprs as well as a
act with perso
n are coveredence with the
hat a web siteccess the City
ate and time ed to the City’s
contain the Infuse the cooki
hods. If the ususer from gain
in Palo Alto, tr to initiate an
mation is not ss, regulations
ns must confudes the shar
by law.
d/or having n
ormation, inclregular month
ter or natural ctronic portal
perimental me
nformation exc
ry course and
ject to inspecpublic by Ca
dentity before
nt that collectation at reaso
InInforma
sources, provder for the Cit
rietary capaciat web sites, b
ons who need
d by this Police City of Palo A
e can use to try’s web sites,
a user accesss web sites. C
formation, andies or delete t
ser chooses nning access t
the City of Pad manage uti
specifically ad or procedure
form to this Poring of CPAU-
on-metered m
luding, withouhly utilities bil
gas meters ms at different
etering will ha
change rules
d scope of co
ction and copyalifornia law.
e the City will g
ts Informationonable times.
City of nformation Teation Security
Pa
31 Janua
ided that the ty to conduct
ties. That infby mobile app
d to share suc
cy that the CitAlto web site
rack, among othe identificat
sed the site, aCookies creat
d thus do notthe cookie file
not to accept to or using the
alo Alto Utilitieility services t
ddressed in thes, this Policy
olicy, unless -collected Info
monthly servic
ut limitation, thling, business
may have theiintervals than
ave their Inform
applicable to
onducting its b
ying by the pu
grant anyone
n will afford ac
Palo Alto chnology Services
age 6 of 8
ary, 2013
formation plications,
ch
ty’s web . The
others, tion of
and the ted on
t es from
a cookie e City’s
es to
he y will
ormation
ces will
heir ses and
ir usage n with
mation
o
business
ublic,
e online
ccess to
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Information P
Version 2.2
G) S
Exceperso
partiereaso
perso
The C
Inforinsta
such
If the
occubreac
date(and t
H) D
The C
periodestr
I) S
The C
servi
In ord
thosethe S
proviservi
confi
Theswhic
serviinclu
moniterm
comp
Priorservi
evenrequ
prom
J) F
CPAmana
Privacy Policy
SECURITY, CO
ept as otherwions covered b
es without theonable contro
ons covered b
City may auth
mation of pernces, the City
Information o
e City become
rred, with resch in accorda
(s) of the knowthe proposed
DATA RETENTI
City will store
od is establishruction.
SOFTWARE AS
City may eng
ces, common
der to assure
e who receiveSaaS services
ider, shall desces and/or fu
dentiality and
se requiremenh the services
ces provider’ding disaster
itoring service“IT infrastruc
puters, and da
r to entering inces provider
nt that the Saairements duri
mptly inform th
FAIR AND ACC
U will requireage utility ser
y
NFIDENTIALITY
ise provided bby this Policy
e express writols that are de
by this Policy
horize the City
rsons who do y will require
only in further
es aware of a
spect to the Inance with app
wn or suspecaction to be
ION / INFORMA
e and secure a
hed by law, fo
A SERVICE (S
age third part
nly known as
the privacy a
ed services fros provider and
sign, install, purnishes good
d privacy of th
nts include infs are provided
s operations recovery and
es to ensure acture” refers to
atabase man
nto an agreemto complete a
aS services png the course
he ISM.
URATE CREDIT
utility customrvices to them
Y AND NON-DIS
by applicable as confidenti
tten consent oesigned to pro
.
y’s employee
business withthe City’s em
rance of City-
breach, or ha
nformation of licable laws.
cted breach, ttaken or the r
ATION RETENTI
all Information
or seven (7) ye
SAAS) OVERSI
ty contractors
Software-as-
and security o
om the City, ad its subcontr
provide, and mds to the City,
he Information
formation secd to the City,
and maintenad business co
a secure and o the integrate
agement dev
ment to providand submit an
provider reasoe of providing
T TRANSACTIO
mers to providm.
SCLOSURE
law or this Poial and will no
of the personotect the conf
and or third p
h the City or rployee and/o
-related busin
as reasonable
a person, theThe notice of
he nature of tresponsive ac
ION
n for a period
ears, and the
GHT
s and vendors
a-Service (Sa
of the Informa
as a conditionractors, if any
maintain a secto the extent
n.
curity directiveincluding con
ance processontinuity plann
reliable envired framework
vices, upon wh
de services ton Information
onably determ services, the
ON ACT OF 200
de their Inform
olicy, the Cityot disclose it,
n affected. Thefidentiality and
party contrac
receive servicor the third pa
ness and in ac
e grounds to
e City will notiff breach will in
the Informatioction taken by
d of time as m
ereafter such i
s to provide s
aaS).
ation of those
n of selling goy, including an
cure IT envirot any scope of
es pertaining nnection to th
es needed toning; and (c) t
ronment and k, including, w
hich digital ne
o the City, theSecurity and
mines that it cae City will requ
03
mation in orde
InInforma
y will treat theor permit it to
e City will devd security of t
ctors to acces
ces from the Crty contractor
ccordance wit
believe that a
fy the affectenclude the da
on that is the y the City.
may be require
information w
software appli
who do busin
oods and/or sny IT infrastru
onment, whilef work or serv
to: (a) the IT e City's IT sy
o support the the IT infrastr
service availawithout limitat
etworks opera
e City’s staff w Privacy Que
annot fulfill thuire the SaaS
er for the City
City of nformation Teation Security
Pa
31 Janua
e Information oo be disclosed
velop and mathe Informatio
s and/or use
City. In thosers to agree to
th the Policy.
a security bre
d person of sate(s) or estim
subject of the
ed by law, or i
will be schedu
cation and da
ness with the
ervices to thecture service
e it performs svices implicat
infrastructurestems; (b) the
IT environmeructure perfor
ability to the Ction, data cen
ate.
will require theestionnaire. In
e informationS services pro
to initiate and
Palo Alto chnology Services
age 7 of 8
ary, 2013
of d, to third
aintain on of
the
use
ach has
such mated
e breach,
if no
led for
atabase
City and
e City, s
such tes the
e, by e SaaS
ent, rmance
City. The ters,
e SaaS n the
n security ovider to
d
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
Information P
Version 2.2
Fede
108-credi
and ipreve
CPAwhen
chan
Ther
§ 179
4. CO
Info
Chie
Utili
City
Privacy Policy
eral regulation
159), includinitor” which pro
implement proent, respond
U proceduresnever significa
nges to CPAU
e are Californ
98.92.
ONTACTS
rmation Secu
ef Information
ties Departm
y Attorney’s O
y
ns, implement
ng the Red Flaovides service
ocedures for and mitigate
s for potentialant changes t
U identity theft
nia laws which
urity Manager
n Officer: Rei
ent: Auzenne
Office: Kolling,
ting the Fair a
ag Rules, reqes in advance
an identity thpotential iden
identity theft to security im
t procedures,
h are applicab
r: Patel, Raj <
chental, Jona
e, Tom <Tom
Grant <Gran
and Accurate
quire that CPAe of payment
eft program fontity theft of its
will be reviewplementation
or as approp
ble to identity
Raj.Patel@C
athan <Jonath
m.Auzenne@C
nt.Kolling@Ci
Credit Trans
AU, as a “covand which ca
for new and es customers’
wed independn have occurre
priate, so as to
y theft; they ar
CityofPaloAlto
han.Reichent
CityofPaloAlto
tyofPaloAlto.o
InInforma
sactions Act o
ered financiaan affect cons
existing accouInformation.
dently by the ed. The ISM w
o conform to
re set forth in
.org>
tal@CityofPal
o.org
org>
City of nformation Teation Security
Pa
31 Janua
of 2003 (Publi
l institution orsumer credit,
unts to detect,
ISM annuallywill recomme
this Policy.
California Ci
loAlto.org>
Palo Alto chnology Services
age 8 of 8
ary, 2013
c Law
r develop
,
y or nd
vil Code
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 1 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
Vendor Information Security Assessment (VISA)
Questionnaire
Purpose: This Vendor Information Security Assessment (VISA) Questionnaire requests information concerning a Cloud Service Provider (the Vendor), which intends to provide to the City of Palo Alto (the City) any or all of the following services: Software as a Service (SaaS); Platform as a Service (PaaS); and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
Note/Instructions:
SaaS, PaaS and IaaS are each a ‘cloud’ servicing model, in which software and database applications, computer network infrastructure and/or computer hardware/software platforms is/are hosted by the Vendor and made available to customers interconnected in a network, typically the Internet.
This Questionnaire is for the sole use of the intended Vendor and may contain confidential information of individuals and businesses collected, stored,
and used the City. Any unauthorized collection, storage, use, review or distribution may be prohibited by California and/or Federal laws. If you are not the intended recipient of this Questionnaire, please contact the sender by e-mail and destroy all copies of the Questionnaire.
The Vendor shall provide answers to the questions or information to the requests provided below.
In the event that the Vendor determines that it cannot meet the City’s security and or privacy requirements, the Vendor may submit a request for an exception to the City’s requirements and propose alternative countermeasures to address the risks addressed in this Questionnaire. The City’s
Information Security Manager (ISM) may approve or reject the exception request, depending on the risks associated with the exception request.
Security Exception Request shall be submitted if you cannot comply with this policy/requirements
Upon receipt of the Vendor’s response, the ISM will conduct a security risk assessment, using the following scoring methodology:
A = Meets completely.
B = Partially meets. The Vendor may be required to provide additional requested information.
C = Doesn’t meet. The Vendor may be required to provide missing/additional detail.
Vendor Information:
Vendor Organization Name Professional Account Management, LLC.
Address 1 West Manchester Blvd. Suite 602
Information Security Contact Person Name Dean Viereck, Regional Manager
Email dviereck@duncansolutions.com
Phone 562-619-5439
Date this Questionnaire Completed 10/10/2016
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 2 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
1.0 BUSINESS PROCESS AND DATA EXCHANGE REQUIREMENTS
# Question Response from the Vendor
Score Additional
Information/Clarification
Required from the Vendor
1.1 Please provide a detailed
description of the Vendor’s business process that will be
offered to the City, as this relates to the proposed requirements of the City’s RFP or other business requirements
Parking citation processing and collections
services as agreed to in the Scope of Services with
the City of Palo Alto.
A
1.2 Has the Vendor adopted and
implemented information security and privacy policies that are
documented and conform to ISO 27001/2 – Information Security
Management Systems (ISMS) Standards or NIST 800-53 (National
Institute of Standards – NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-53
Revision 4, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information
Systems and Organizations)
Although we have adopted and implemented
information security and privacy policies, we have
not undertaken a formal project to determine our conformity to any of the standards listed.
B
1.3 What data exchange will occur between the City and the Vendor? What data will be stored at the Vendor’s or other third party’s data
storage location? (Provide data attributes with examples of the data
to be stored)
Electronic parking citation data will be sent from
Database Consultants Australia (DCA) to Professional Account Management for processing.
Scofflaw data will be sent back to DCA to be
imported into the issuing devices.
A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 3 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
Example: Payment Card
Information, Social Security
Number, Driving License number
Patrons Name, Address, Telephone
etc.), which are examples of
personal information, the privacy of
which are protected by California
constitutional and statutory law.
Parking Citation, adjudication and payment, related
transactions and in state and out of state registered owner data is stored in AutoPROCESS.
Social Security Numbers and credit card
information is not stored in AutoPROCESS.
1.4 In the event that the Vendor is required to store Private Information
(PI), Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and Sensitive
Information (SI) about individuals/organizations with the
service provider’s business systems, how does the Vendor
maintain the confidentiality of the information in accordance with
applicable federal, state and local data and information privacy laws,
rules and regulations? [(The City of
Palo Alto (the “City”) strives to
promote and sustain a superior
quality of life for persons in Palo
Alto. In promoting the quality of life
of these persons, it is the policy of
the City, consistent with the
provisions of the California Public
Records Act, California Government
Code §§ 6250 – 6270, to take
appropriate measures to safeguard
the security and privacy of the
personal (including, without
limitation, financial) information of
persons, collected in the ordinary
course and scope of conducting the
City’s business as a local
government agency. These
We comply with the standards in the California Public records act. We store all client data in
transit and at rest using 256 bit encryption.
A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 4 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
measures are generally observed
by federal, state and local
authorities and reflected in federal
and California laws, the City’s rules
and regulations, and industry best
practices, including, without
limitation, the provisions of
California Civil Code §§ 1798.3(a),
1798.24, 1798.79.8(b), 1798.80(e),
1798.81.5, 1798.82(e),
1798.83(e)(7), and 1798.92(c)].
1.5 What mechanism and/or what types
of tool(s) will be used to exchange data between the City and The
Vendor? Example: (VPN, Data Link,
Frame Relay, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP,
FTPS, etc.)
We use SFTP A
1.6 What types of data storage (work in progress storage and backup
storage) are present or will be required at the Vendor’s site?
Example: (PCI Credit Card Info,
SSN, DLN, Patrons Name,
Address, telephone etc.)
We communicate with Lexis Nexus via SSL to obtain the social security numbers. The Social security numbers are stored on the account
records in the Oracle database which resides on
encrypted disk. We follow the State of California
secure communications protocols to transmit and receive data from the state FTB system SWIFT.
We are working on our SSAE SOC 2-Type 2, but
that it will be some time before the audit is
completed and published. I do not have an
estimated date of completion. As soon as I do I will provide it to you. (this is the one we discussed on the phone)
A
1.7 Is e-mail integration required between the City and the Vendor? No A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 5 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
Example: The provision of services
may require the City to provide the
Vendor with an e-mail account on
the City’s e–mail server.
1.8 Has the Vendor ever been subjected to either an electronic or
physical security breach? Please describe the event(s) and the steps
taken to mitigate the breach(es). What damages or exposure
resulted? Are records of breaches and issues maintained and will
these records be available for inspection by the City?
We have not experienced any breaches. To help prevent breaches we use a Juniper Security
Firewall. In addition we use a Barracuda Web
Application Firewall to further limit potential web
payments breaches. In the unlikely event that a breach would occur, We would notify Palo Alto in accordance with the California privacy regulations
A
1.9 Does the Vendor maintain formal
security policies and procedures to comply with applicable statutory or
industry practice requirements/standards? Are
records maintained to demonstrate compliance or certification? Does
the Vendor allow client audit of these records? Note: Please submit
supporting documentation.
Duncan maintains formal security policies and
procedures that are consistent with the industry
best practice standards. We do not participate in
any security certification processes at this time. Since our solutions are multi-tenant, we do not
permit a client audit of our security logs and
records.
B
2.0 What are the internet and the
browser security configurations for the cloud application? What security
standards and requirements does the Vendor maintain to ensure
application security at the user interface? (A set of detailed
documentation should be provided to support the compliance).
SSL and TLS is used in conjuction with Citrix’s
secureICA traffic for Internet and Browser security.
Microsoft Active Directory LDAP is used for user access authenctiaction.
B
2.0 APPLICATION/SOLUTION CONFIGURATION
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 6 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
# Question Response from The Vendor
Score Additional
Information/Clafication Required
from The Vendor
2.1 What is the name of the
application(s) that the Vendor will be hosting in order to provide
services to the City? (List all)
AutoPROCESS and DocuPeak
2.2 What functionality will be provided to the City’s employees or the City’s customers or other recipient of City
services through the application?
City will have the ability to process parking
citations, adjudication matters, payments and parking related transactions and service requests. Customers will have the ability to pay a parking
citation online.
A
2.3 Will the Vendor use a subcontractor and/or a third party service
provider? (List all). If yes, then what data privacy and information
security agreements are in place between the Vendor and any
subcontractor/third party to ensure appropriate and accountable
treatment of information? Note the City requires that the Vendor and
each subcontractor and/or third party formally acknowledge that will
comply with the City’s Information
Privacy Policy and SaaS Security
and Privacy Terms and
Conditions
Fulltech for notice printing and mailing services
Lexis Nexis for Social Security Numbers
and address updates.
National Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System (Nlets)
Non-disclosure agreements and/or contractual
agreements
We communicate with Lexis Nexus via SSL to
obtain the social security numbers. The Social
security numbers are stored on the account
records in the Oracle database which resides on encrypted disk. We follow the State of California secure communications protocols to transmit and
A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 7 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
receive data from the state FTB system SWIFT.
We are working on our SSAE SOC 2-Type 2, but that it will be some time before the audit is
completed and published. I do not have an
estimated date of completion. As soon as I do I
will provide it to you. (this is the one we discussed
on the phone)
2.4 What is the Vendor's application(s) hosting hardware and software platform? Provide a detailed description, including security patches or security applications in
use.
Example: Windows or Unix Operating System (OS) and other detail.
Microsoft Windows 2012 DataCenter R2 on Dell
Hosts patched with MS Security patches
A
2.5 How does the Vendor’s application and database architecture to
manage or promote segregation of the City's data (related to its
function as a local government agency) from the data of individuals
providing services to or receiving services from the City?
Public only has access to the application via defined web sites with limited functionality for
taking payments.
Staff has access to the AutoPROCESS, which is
controlled by security to the applications based on
the level of access granted by authorized city personnel. City staff only have access to data
belong to the City of Plao Alto.
B
2.6 Describe the Vendor’s server and network infrastructure. Please provide server and network infrastructure deployment topology, including data flow architecture,
Access to the Duncan Application is via high
available Netscalar gateway and Juniper firewall.
Authentication into the network is via Microsoft’s
Active Directory. Once authenticate the user
A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 8 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
including but not limited to security management applications, firewalls,
etc.
accesses the Citrix storefront server which then
presents that available application to the user. The user selects the application and is directed to the
Citrix farm of servers to launch AutoProcess.
AutoProcess launches, the user then logs into it
using a separate set of credentials configured for
AutoProcess. AutoProcess uses an Oracle backend running on a High Available Oracle
cluster servers.
2.7 Please provide a detail proposed solution that will be developed as a
part of the Vendor’s implementation to support this project. (For example
detailed solution architecture, secured data flow to support
business processes, etc.).
Duncan will provide the necessary documentation for any new service offering the City of Palo Alto selects. The current services have been provided
to the City of Palo Alto since 2007.
A
3.0 DATA PROTECTION
# Question Response from the Vendor Score Additional Information/Clafication
Required the Vendor
3.1 What will be the medium of data
exchange between the City and Vendor?
Flat files are transmitted via SFTP A
3.2
. How will the data be kept secure
during the data exchange process? Example: (VPN, Data Link, Frame
Relay, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS,
SFTP A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 9 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
etc.)
3.3 How will the City’s data be kept
physically and logically secure at the Vendor’s preferred storage location?
Example: Locked storage, Digitally, Encrypted etc.
Encrypted disk in locked cabinets in a Level II data
center with physical security controls consisting of
badge, pin number and finger print access requirements
A
3.4 What application level protections
are in place to prevent the Vendor’s or a subcontractor/third party’s staff
member from viewing unauthorized confidential information? For
example, encryption, masking, etc.
AutoProcess application incorporates role based
security levels for all screens, functions, and reports
A
3.5 What controls does the Vendor
exercise over the qualification and performance of its team? Of their
subcontractor/third party’s team(s)? (For example, criminal background
verification prior to employment, providing security training after
employment and managing Role Based Access Control (RBAC)
during employment and network and application access termination upon
employment termination.
Standard background, criminal history checks,
previous employement verification and drug testing are performed on staff prior to employement. Subcontrators requirements vary by contract, which
are dependent on the services and work being
performed. We are also bound by requirments from
the California Department of Justice, National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, California Department of Motor Vehicles, Franchise
Tax Board, etc. The ability to access, level of
access, etc. is based on the appropriate job function
and level of responsibility.
A
4.0 DATA BACK-UP
# Question Response Score COPA’s Security Assessment
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 10 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
4.1 What are the Vendor’s method(s) used to keep data
secured during the data backup process?
Locked in a Duncan managed offsite facility in a
physically secured room
A
4.2
.
Is the Vendor’s encryption
technology used to encrypt whole or selective data?
Whole data A
4.3 What types of storage media
will the Vendor use for data backup purposes? For
example, Tape, Hard Disk Drive or any other devices.
Tape is used for standard data backup processes. In
addition, encrypted client data stored in our
AutoPROCESS application database is replicated via
Oracle’s Data Guard product to the DR facility
A
4.4 Are the Vendor’s backup storage devices encrypted? If
‘yes,’ please provide encryption specification, with
type of encryption algorithm and detail process of
encryption handling. If ‘no,’ provide a detailed description
(with processes, tools and technology) to keep data
secured during the back-up process.
Yes. Veritas Backup Exec is used. Backup Exec supports two security levels of encryption: 128-bit
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and 256-bit
Advanced Encryption Standard. A key is created and
applied and the data is backed up.
A
5.0 DATA RETENTION
# Question Response from the Vendor
Score Additional
Information/Clafication
Required from the Vendor
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 11 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
5.1 What is the Vendor’s standard data retention period of the
backed up data? The data retention process shall comply
with the City’s data 7 (seven) years data retention policy.
Note: In the event that the Vendor cannot comply with
this requirement then the City’s Project Manager shall
approval from the City’s data retention schedule/policy
owner.
We will comply with the 7 year policy A
5.2 Are the data backup storage
media at the Vendor’s location or other third party location?
Vendor’s location A
5.3 If the Vendor’s backup storage devices are stored with
another company, please provide:
a. Company Name:
b. Address:
c. Contact person detail (Phone and
Email):
d. What contractual
commitments are in place to
guarantee security compliance from
these vendors
Main COLO
3235 Intertech Dr., Brookfield WI, 53045
Jim Washburn
jwashburn@DuncanSolutions.com
414-847-3746
Only authorized Duncan System and Database
Administrators have access to the secured enclosure where
our equipment is housed at both the main data center and
back up facility.
A
5.5 What is the media transfer
process (I.e. The lock box The Palo Alto data is stored in an Oracle Database within A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 12 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
process used to send tapes off-site)? encrypted disk in the data center and changes are replicated
to the Disaster Recovery site via Oracle Data Guard. In addition, the database is backed up to tape. Only authorized
Duncan personnel transfer the tapes from the primary data
center to the offsite location
5.6 Who has access to the data storage media lockbox(es)?
(Provide Name and Role)
Only authorized Duncan System and Database Administrators A
5.7 Who on the Vendor’s staff or subcontractor/third party’s staff
is/are authorized to access backup data storage media?
(Provide Name and Role)
Only authorized Duncan System and Database
Administrators
A
5.8 What is the backup data
storage media receipt and release authorization
process(es)? (Please submit a soft copy of the process)
Data is stored within a secured location in a Duncan facility
and only authorized Duncan personnel have access to the
backup tapes.
A
6.0 ACCOUNT PROVISIONING AND DE-PROVISIONING (The Vendor must receive formal pre-authorization from the City’s Information Security Manager prior to provisioning and de-provisioning of application access account).
# Question Response from the Vendor
Score Additional
Information/Clafication
Required from the Vendor
6.1 What is the account provisioning/removal process?
Example: how are users accounts created and
managed?)
A new user request is submitted by the City to our service request application. Upon receipt helpdesk staff processes the request for service and adds the account.
A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 13 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
6.2. What is the account deprovisioning/removal
process? Example: how are users accounts created and
managed?)
A user removal request is submitted by the City to our
service request application. Upon receipt helpdesk staff process the request for service and removes the account.
A
6.3 How will the City’s employees gain access to required
application(s)?
Through the City provided internet connection using Citrix A
6.4 Does the application(s) have the capability to restrict access
only from the City’s WAN (Wide Area Network)?
Since we are multi-tenant, we cannot provide this restriction A
7.0 PASSWORD MANAGEMENT
# Question Response from the Vendor
Score Additional
Information/Clafication
Required from the Vendor
7.1 What will be the policy and/or
procedures for the logging, authentication, authorization
and password management scheme? (Please provide a
soft copy of the process)
Standard Active Directory access is used for logging,
authentication and password management. Authorization
user permissions are managed through the AutoPROCESS application
A
7.2. Where will the login and password credentials be
stored?
Active Directory A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 14 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
7.3 Are the password credentials stored with encryption? If ‘yes,’
please provide encryption scheme detail.
Passwords are secured with a Microsoft Active Directory
one way hash
A
7.4 The Vendor’s application must
comply with the following password requirements. Does
the Vendor’s application meet these requirements?
1. First time password
must be unique to an individual and require
the user to change it upon initial login.
2. If the password is sent via plain text email to
the City employee to mitigate security
exposure.
3. The City requires first
time password to have a time-out capability of
no more than 7 days.
4. The e-mail notification
must not be copied to anyone except the
user.
5. The permanent/long
term password must be changed frequently
(at least TWICE a year)
Password Use Policy
User passwords are sensitive, confidential Duncan
Solutions information and must not be shared with others. Passwords are the first line of protection against threats to
network security, whether threats originate internally or
externally.
Minimum Password Length
Wherever the system or application can accommodate, passwords must be a minimum of eight (8) characters in
length.
Administrative user account passwords must be a minimum
of ten (10) characters in length.
Minimum Password Age
Password age refers to the time during which a password
must be used before a new password can be selected.
Where technically possible, the minimum password age at
Duncan Solutions is one day.
Password Expiration and History Management Policy
• The Duncan Solutions standard expiration period is 60
days. No user account is set to non-expire.
• Passwords must not be repeated within 12 generations.
Password Lockout Policy
A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 15 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
6. E-mail notification must be sent to the
user whenever the password has been
updated.
7. User should not be
able to view data or conduct business
unless an initial password has been
updated with a different password.
8. The Vendor shall inform the City’s users
that, when a new password is created,
the user shall not use the City’s LDAP
(Lightweight Directory Access Control
Protocal) password.
9. The password must
have 8 or more alphanumeric (/)
characters and it must contain at least one
character from each of the bullets noted
below (i.e. Each line shall contribute at
least one character):
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
• Users are locked out of their account after three (3) failed
logon attempts. Failed logon attempts are the result of attempting to logon using either a faulty logon ID (user
name) or password.
• The lockout period remains in force for 30 minutes and
the counter is reset after the 30-minute lockout interval.
Temporary Passwords
First-time Duncan Solutions computer users (or those
requiring a password reset) are given a random temporary
password that must be changed immediately after the first
login.
Recommended Strong Password Complexity
Duncan Solutions recommends using the “strong
password” complexity guidelines below. This helps ensure
that all systems, intellectual property, and other sensitive
data are afforded a proven level of protection. Strong
passwords have the following complex characteristics:
• Do not contain personal information (such as the names
of family members, pets, hobbies or personal interests,
etc.);
• Contain both upper (AABBCC…) and lower (aabbcc…)
case letters of the alphabet in any combination;
• Have at least three of the four: one integer (0-9), one
special character (!@#$%^&*()_+|~-=\`{}[]:";'<>?,./ ) upper
and lower case letters of the alphabet;
• Are not whole words in any language (including slang, dialect, jargon, etc.).
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
City of Palo Alto Information Security
Document Version: v2.3 Form: InfoSec 100
VISA Questionnaire Page 16 of 16 Version 2.0 2 November 2016
0123456789
!@#$%^&*()-+=`~,></\"'?;:{[}]
--------------------------------------------------- End Of Document--------------------------------------------------
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
DocuSign Envelope ID: D86B35DC-44A1-44CB-AE20-4144AA51575A
CITY OF PALO ALTO OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
December 5, 2016
The Honorable City Council
Palo Alto, California
Adoption of a Resolution Amending the Conflict of Interest Code for
Designated City Officers and Employees as Required by the Political
Reform Act and Regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission
and Repealing Resolution Number 9471
It is recommended that Council adopt the attached resolution.
The Political Reform Act requires the City to review its Conflict of Interest
Code every two years. Chapter 2.09 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code and the
Political Reform Act require the City to adopt a list of designated positions
and disclosure responsibilities for each position subject to the Conflict of
Interest Code for Designated Employees. Disclosure statements from
designated positions are due each April and within 30 days of a person either
assuming or leaving a designated positon.
The attached Resolution amends the City’s Conflict of Interest Code to
update the list of designated positions to reflect administrative changes,
including title changes and positions added or deleted from the Table of
Organization.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A: Conflict of Interest Resolution (DOCX)
Department Head: Beth Minor, City Clerk
Page 2
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
Resolution No. ____
Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending the
Conflict of Interest Code for Designated City Officers and
Employees as Required by the Political Reform Act and
Regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission and
Repealing Resolution No. 9471
RECITALS
A. The Political Reform Act requires certain City officials, specified in section
87200 of the California Government Code, to file economic disclosure forms (“Form 700”) and
abstain from making or participating in making governmental decisions which have a
reasonably foreseeable material effect on an economic interest.
B. The Political Reform Act also requires the City to adopt a local conflict of
interest code that enumerates specific City positions other than those specified in Government
Code section 87200 which involve making or participating in making decisions which have a
reasonably foreseeable material effect on an economic interest, and to designate for each
position the specific types of investments, business positions, interests in real property and
sources of income which are reportable based on the scope of the decision-making authority of
the position.
C. Consistent with Chapter 2.09 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code and the
biennial schedule established by the Fair Political Practices Commission for amending local
conflict of interest codes, the City reviews and amends its local conflict of interest code by
resolution every two years.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto does RESOLVE as follows:
SECTION 1. Resolution No. 9471 is hereby repealed.
SECTION 2. The Conflict of Interest Code for the City of Palo Alto is hereby
amended to read as follows:
CONFLICT OF INTEREST CODE FOR THE
CITY OF PALO ALTO
The Political Reform Act, Government Code section 81000, et seq., requires
state and local government agencies to adopt and promulgate conflict of interest codes. The
Fair Political Practices Commission has adopted a regulation (2 Cal. Code of Regs. section
18730), which contains the terms of a standard conflict of interest code. After public notice
and hearing the regulation may be amended by the Fair Political Practices Commission to
conform to amendments in the Political Reform Act. Therefore, the terms of 2 California Code
of Regulations Section 18730 and any amendments to it duly adopted by the Fair Political
Practices Commission are hereby incorporated by reference. This regulation and Appendix A
attached to this resolution and a part of it, designating officials and employees and
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
establishing disclosure categories, shall constitute the conflict of interest code of the City of
Palo Alto.
Designated employees shall file statements of economic interests with the City
Clerk who will make the statements available for public inspection and reproduction. (Gov.
Code, § 81008.) Statements for all designated employees will be retained by the City Clerk.
SECTION 3. The Conflict of Interest Code for the City of Palo Alto will be
effective thirty (30) days from the date the City Council approves this resolution.
SECTION 4. The City Council finds that there is no possibility that this resolution
will have a significant effect on the environment and upon that basis determines that this
resolution is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
_________________________ ____________________________
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
_________________________ ____________________________
City Attorney City Manager
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
APPENDIX A
DESIGNATED POSITIONS
Title Assigned Disclosure Category
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Finance Division
Accountant ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Assistant Director, Administrative Services ................................................................................... 1
Chief Procurement Officer ............................................................................................................. 3
Contracts Administrator ................................................................................................................. 3
Manager, Accounting ..................................................................................................................... 1
Manager, Treasury, Debt and Investment ..................................................................................... 1
Manager, Purchasing & Contract Admin ....................................................................................... 1
Manager Revenue Collections ....................................................................................................... 1
Principal Business Analyst .............................................................................................................. 4
Senior Accountant .......................................................................................................................... 4
Senior Business Analyst .................................................................................................................. 4
Senior Buyer ................................................................................................................................... 4
Senior Management Analyst (Senior Financial Analyst) ................................................................ 4
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 4
Warehouse Supervisor ................................................................................................................... 5
Real Estate Division
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 4
Senior Management Analyst (Senior Principal Analyst) ................................................................ 4
Manager, Real Property ................................................................................................................. 4
Budget & Management Analysis Division
Director, Office of Management and Budget ................................................................................ 1
Management Analyst ..................................................................................................................... 4
Manager, Budget ........................................................................................................................... 4
Principal Management Analyst ....................................................................................................... 4
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 4
Senior Management Analyst (Senior Principal Analyst) ................................................................ 4
APPOINTED OFFICIALS
Standby Emergency Standby Council Member ............................................................................. 1
Architectural Review Board ........................................................................................................... 1
Historic Resources Board ............................................................................................................... 1
Human Relations Commission ....................................................................................................... 1
Library Advisory Commission ......................................................................................................... 1
Parks and Recreation Commission ................................................................................................. 1
Public Art Commission ................................................................................................................... 1
Utilities Advisory Commission ........................................................................................................ 1
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
Parks and Recreation Commission ................................................................................................. 1
CITY ATTORNEY
Assistant City Attorney ................................................................................................................... 1
Claims Investigator ......................................................................................................................... 3
Deputy City Attorney ..................................................................................................................... 1
Legal Services Administrator .......................................................................................................... 4
Management Specialist (Attorney) ................................................................................................ 1
Principal City Attorney ................................................................................................................... 1
Senior Assistant City Attorney ....................................................................................................... 1
Senior Deputy City Attorney .......................................................................................................... 1
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 1
Secretary to City Attorney ............................................................................................................. 4
CITY AUDITOR
City Auditor .................................................................................................................................... 1
Performance Auditor I ................................................................................................................... 1
Performance Auditor II .................................................................................................................. 1
Senior Performance Auditor .......................................................................................................... 1
CITY CLERK
City Clerk ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Assistant City Clerk ......................................................................................................................... 3
Deputy City Clerk ............................................................................................................................ 3
Hearing Officer ............................................................................................................................... 1
CITY MANAGER
Assistant City Manager /Chief Operating Officer .......................................................................... 1
Assistant to the City Manager ........................................................................................................ 1
Chief Communications ManagerOfficer ........................................................................................ 1
Chief Sustainability Officer ............................................................................................................. 1
Executive Assistant to the City Manager ....................................................................................... 3
Manager, Economic Development and Redevelopment ............................................................... 1
Manager, Communications ............................................................................................................ 4
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 3
COMMUNITY SERVICES
Administrative Assistant ................................................................................................................ 3
Assistant Director, Community Services ........................................................................................ 1
Director, Community Services ....................................................................................................... 1
Management Analyst ..................................................................................................................... 5
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 5
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
Arts & Sciences Division
Director, Art Center
Manager Community Services Sr. Program (Senior Community Services Manager) .................. 51
Manager, Arts and Science ............................................................................................................ 6
Prod Arts/Sci Prog (Arts Producer) ................................................................................................ 5
Recreation Division
Manager Community Services Manager ........................................................................................ 5
Manager Community Services Senior Program Manager ............................................................. 5
Superintendent Community Services Superintendent .................................................................. 5
Coor Rec Prog (Coordinator, Recreation Programs) ...................................................................... 5
Recreation Division Manager ......................................................................................................... 6
Supervisor, Recreation Programs .................................................................................................. 5
Open Space, Parks and Golf Division
Manager Community Services Manager ....................................................................................... 5
Division Manager Open Space Parks & Golf Open Space, Parks and Golf Division Manager ........ 6
Superintendent, Open Space, Parks and Golf Community Services .............................................. 5
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Director, Development Services Director 1
Manager Development Services Manager 1
Administrative Assistant 4
Assistant Building Official 4
Building Inspector 4
Building Inspector Specialist 4
Chief Building Official 1
Plan Check Engineer 4
Plans Examiner 4
Management Analyst 4
Manager Planning Manager 4
Development Project Coordinator II/III (Project Coordinator) 4
Senior Management Analyst 4
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Fire Chief ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Battalion Chief ................................................................................................................................ 6
Deputy Fire Chief ........................................................................................................................... 1
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Director ............................................................................... 61
Emergency Medical Services Data Specialist ................................................................................. 7
Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal ............................................................................................................. 1
Geographic Information System Specialist .................................................................................... 9
PEOPLE STRATEGIES & OPERATIONS (PSO)HUMAN RESOURCES
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
Director, People Strategies & OperationsHuman Resources/Chief People Officer ...................... 1
Assistant Director, PSOHuman Resources ..................................................................................... 1
Manager, Employee Relations ....................................................................................................... 3
Manager, Employee Benefits ......................................................................................................... 3
Senior Human Resources Administrator ........................................................................................ 3
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 3
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Director, Information Technology/Chief Information Officer ....................................................... 1
Manager Information Technology Security Manager ................................................................... 2
Information Technology Governance & Planning Manger ............................................................ 2
Manager, Information Technology Services .................................................................................. 2
Manager Information Technology ................................................................................................. 2
Principal Management Analyst ...................................................................................................... 3
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 3
Senior Technologist ........................................................................................................................ 9
Technologist ................................................................................................................................... 9
LIBRARY DEPARTMENT
Director, Libraries ........................................................................................................................... 1
Assistant Director, Libraries Services ............................................................................................. 3
Division Head, Library Services Collection and Technical Services Division(Information
Technology & Collections) ............................................................................................................. 5
Library Services Manager Library Services ..................................................................................... 4
OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES
Director of Emergency Services (OES) Director ............................................................................ 1
Office of Emergency Services (OES) Coordinator .......................................................................... 1
PLANNING & COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT (9/19/12)
Director, Planning and Community Environment .......................................................................... 1
Assistant Director, Planning and Community Environment .......................................................... 1
Associate Planner ........................................................................................................................... 4
Chief Planning Official .................................................................................................................... 1
Chief Transportation Official .......................................................................................................... 1
Code Enforcement Officer Lead ..................................................................................................... 4
Code Enforcement Officer ............................................................................................................. 4
Management Analyst ..................................................................................................................... 4
Planner ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Manager Planning (Transportation Parking Manager) .................................................................. 4
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 1
Senior Planner ................................................................................................................................ 4
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
Traffic Engineering Lead ................................................................................................................. 4
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Police Division
Police Chief -Adv …………………………… .............................................................................................. 1
Assistant Police Chief ..................................................................................................................... 1
Police Captain -Adv ........................................................................................................................ 1
Police Lieutenant -Adv ................................................................................................................... 1
Public Safety Program Manager .................................................................................................... 3
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 3
Supervisor, Police Services ............................................................................................................. 3
Animal Services Division
Superintendent, Animal Services ................................................................................................... 7
Supervisor, Animal Services ........................................................................................................... 7
Veterinarian ................................................................................................................................... 7
Communications Technical Services Division
Deputy Director Technical Services Division .................................................................................. 9
Public Safety Communications Manager ....................................................................................... 3
Public Safety Program Manager .................................................................................................... 3
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
Administration Division
Director, Public Works/City Engineer ............................................................................................ 1
Assistant Director, Special Projects ............................................................................................... 1
Senior Management Analyst .......................................................................................................... 3
Airport Division
Manager Airport Manager 1
Management Analyst 3
Manager, Maintenance Operations 5
Engineering Services Division
Assistant Director, Engineering Services Public Works ................................................................. 1
Management Analyst ..................................................................................................................... 3
Project Manager ............................................................................................................................. 4
Senior Engineer .............................................................................................................................. 4
Supervisor, Inspection & Surveying ............................................................................................... 4
Senior Project Manager ................................................................................................................. 4
Public Services Division
Assistant Director, Public Services Works ...................................................................................... 1
Assistant Fleet Manager ................................................................................................................ 5
Coordinator Public Works Projects ................................................................................................ 3
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
Fleet Manager ................................................................................................................................ 5
Management Analyst ..................................................................................................................... 3
Manager Facilities .......................................................................................................................... 5
Manager, Maintenance Operations ............................................................................................... 5
Manager Urban Forester ............................................................................................................... 5
Project Manager ............................................................................................................................. 5
Project Manager (Urban Forester) ................................................................................................. 5
Environmental Services Division
Assistant Director, Environmental Services Public Works ............................................................ 1
Assistant Manager, Water Quality Control Operations Plant ........................................................ 3
Assistant Manager, Water Quality Control Maintenance ............................................................. 3
Coordinator, Public Works Projects ............................................................................................... 5
Management Analyst ..................................................................................................................... 3
Manager, Environmental Control Programs .................................................................................. 4
Manager, Laboratory Services ....................................................................................................... 5
Manager, Solid Waste .................................................................................................................... 6
Manager, Water Quality Control Plant .......................................................................................... 4
Manager, Watershed Protection ................................................................................................... 4
Senior Engineer .............................................................................................................................. 4
UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
Administration
Director, Utilities ............................................................................................................................ 1
Senior Principal Business Analyst - U ............................................................................................. 4
Senior Resource Planner ................................................................................................................ 3
Senior Management AnalystUtilities Strategic Business Manager .............................................. 31
Utilities Manager Communications ............................................................................................... 5
Utilities Compliance Manager ........................................................................................................ 5
Customer Support Services Division
Assistant Director, Utilities Customer Support Services ................................................................ 1
Manager, Utilities Credit, and &Collections ................................................................................ 41
Manager, Customer Service and Meter Reading ......................................................................... 41
Manager, Utility Marketing Services ............................................................................................. 4
Resource Management Division
Asst Dir Ut/Res Mgmt (Assistant Director, Resource Management) ............................................ 1
Manager Utilities Program Services ............................................................................................... 4
Resource Planner ........................................................................................................................... 3
Senior Resource Planner ................................................................................................................ 3
Engineering Division
Assistant Director, Utilities Engineering ........................................................................................ 1
Supervising Electric Project Engineer (Electric Supervisor Project Engineer) ............................... 4
Engineering Manager, Electric ....................................................................................................... 4
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
Engineering Manager, Water-Gas-Wastewater ............................................................................ 4
Mgr Util Telecomm (Manager, Utilities Telecommunications) ..................................................... 1
Project Engineer ............................................................................................................................. 4
Senior Electrical Engineer .............................................................................................................. 4
Senior Engineer – U (Senior Project Engineer) .............................................................................. 4
Operations Division
Assistant Director, Utilities Operations ......................................................................................... 1
Manager, Electric Operations ........................................................................................................ 4
Manager, W-G-W Utilities Operations W-G-W .............................................................................. 4
Utilities Supervisor ......................................................................................................................... 4
OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Newly created positions between conflict code amendments…………………………………………….…1-9,
As Aapplicable and , the City Clerk to work with Department to fill outcomplete FPPC Form 804
at the time a new position is created.
Consultants (Defined in FPPC Regulation 18701(a)(2)) .............................................................. 1-9,
As Aapplicable1, and the City Clerk to work with Department to complete FPPC form 805 at the
time a consultant is hire.
Members of Task Forces, Special Committees and Similar Advisory Bodies Created by the City
Council…………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………...1,
ifAs applicable2
1 Pursuant to Palo Alto Municipal Code section 2.09.060, the City Manager or his or her designee may determine in
writing that a particular consultant, although a designated position, is hired to perform a range of duties that is
limited in scope and thus is not required to fully comply with the disclosure requirements. Any such written
determination shall include a description of the consultant's duties and, based upon the description, a statement of
the extent of disclosure requirements, if any. The City Manager or his or her designee may also determine whether a
particular contract consultant constitutes a "consultant" as the term is defined in the Political Reform Act and
regulations promulgated there under or whether the contract consultant is a registered professional engineer or
licensed land surveyor exempted from the conflict of interest provisions under Government Code Section 87100.1.
The City Manager's determination is a public record and shall be retained for public inspection in the same manner
and location as the Conflict of Interest Code.
2 The City Attorney and City Clerk shall coordinate to determine whether a newly created body provides that
committees, boards, or commissions possesses decision making authority pursuant to Fair Political Practices
Regulation 18701 and make a recommendation to the Council on whether the body should be subject to the
disclosure requirements. Factors to be considered include but are not limited to whether the body will perform a
role that compels or prevents a governmental decision, or make substantive recommendations that may be regularly
approved without significant modification by another public official or governmental agency over an extended
period of time.
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
APPENDIX A
DISCLOSURE CATEGORIES
1. FULL DISCLOSURE
What to report? All investments and business positions in business entities, sources of
income including gifts, loans and travel payments, and interests in real property.
What Form 700 schedules? All Schedules (A through E)
2. ALL INCOME
What to report? All investments and business positions in business entities and sources
of income including gifts, loans and travel payments.
What Form 700 schedules? A, C, D, E
3. CITY-RELATED INCOME
What to report? All investments and business positions in business entities and sources
of income including gifts, loans and travel payments if the source is of a type which
provides, manufactures, or supplies services, supplies, materials, machinery or
equipment of the type utilized by or subject to the review or approval of the City.
What Form 700 schedules? A, C, D, E
4. CITY-RELATED INCOME, REAL PROPERTY
What to report? All investments and business positions in business entities and sources
of income including gifts, loans and travel payments if the source is of a type which
provides, manufactures, or supplies services, supplies, materials, machinery or
equipment of the type utilized by or subject to the review or approval of the City and all
interests in real property.
What Form 700 schedules? All Schedules (A through E)
5. DEPARTMENT-RELATED INCOME
What to report? All investments and business positions in business entities and sources
of income including gifts, loans and travel payments if the source is of a type if the
source is of a type which provides, manufactures or supplies equipment, supplies,
material, services or machinery of the type utilized by or subject to the review or
approval of the department in which that person is employed.
What Form 700 schedules? A, C, D, E
6. DEPARTMENT-RELATED INCOME, REAL PROPERTY
What to report? All investments and business positions in business entities and sources
of income including gifts, loans and travel payments if the source is of a type if the
source is of a type which provides, manufactures or supplies equipment, supplies,
material, services or machinery of the type utilized by or subject to the review or
approval of the department in which that person is employed and all interests in real
property.
What Form 700 schedules? All Schedules (A through E)
Not Yet Approved
161108 019/EP/MS/COI
7. DIVISION- RELATED INCOME
What to report? All investments and business positions in business entities and sources
of income including gifts, loans and travel payments, which provide manufacture or
supply supplies, equipment, machinery, services or material of the type utilized by or
subject to the review or approval of the division in which that person is employed.
What Form 700 schedules? A, C, D, E
8. DIVISION-RELATED INCOME, REAL PROPERTY
What to report? All investments and business positions in business entities and sources
of income including gifts, loans and travel payments, which provide manufacture or
supply supplies, equipment, machinery, services or material of the type utilized by or
subject to the review or approval of the division in which that person is employed and
all interests in real property.
What Form 700 schedules? All Schedules (A through E)
9. CITY-RELATED COMPUTER HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
What to report? All investments in business entities and sources of income including
gifts, loans and travel payments, which provide supply, manufacture or service
computer hardware or software of the type utilized by the City.
What Form 700 schedules? A, C, D, E
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7460)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 12/5/2016
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Caltrain Go Pass Reauthorization for 2017
Title: Approval of a Contract With Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board in
the Amount of $76,380 for 2017 Caltrain Go Pass Program
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Human Resources
Recommendation:
Staff recommends that City Council approve and authorize the City Manager or his designee to
sign an agreement with the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board for continuation of the
Caltrain Go Pass program for City employees for the 2017 calendar year.
Background:
On February 24, 2014, Council directed staff to move forward with several Transportation
Demand Management (TDM) initiatives, including the authorization for City staff located in
Downtown Palo Alto offices to participate in the Caltrain Go Pass Program for a 9 month trial.
The trial period resulted in 51 employees participating in the program.
On November 11, 2014, the City Council reaffirmed the action by approving the extension of
the program through December 2015. The cost of the program was funded out of the General
Benefits Fund, an internal service fund that collects funds from City departments to pay for
various employee benefits, such as health insurance, pension contributions, and commuter
benefits. As of October 31, 2016, 175 employees have participated in the program which
represents an increase of 37% ridership from 2015 with an average of 15 round trips per
month. Through a survey distributed to the Go Pass program participants, 97% of respondents
said that they would use the program just as often or more in 2017. Also 69% responded that
they use Go Pass between 6-35 times per month. It is expected that the City will see increased
ridership as we continue outreach and promote the Go Pass program. Extending the Go Pass
program will continue to reduce the inflow and outflow of traffic during peak commute hours.
Discussion
Staff is returning to Council for re-authorization of the program as parking and traffic remain a
concern in Downtown Palo Alto. The City is focused on developing a commuter incentive
City of Palo Alto Page 2
program to encourage employees to use sustainable transportation modes. Staff recommends
that all employees located at Civic Center (City Hall, Development Center, Palo Alto Police
Department and the Downtown Library) receive a Caltrain Go Pass through 2017.
In preparation for the 2017 program year, staff conducted an employee location audit, as per
the Caltrain program policy. The cost of the program is based on the number of employees at
each eligible site, not the number who actually use it. The results indicated 402 employees
work at the Civic Center sites. Therefore, with Caltrain’s new rate of $190 per employee, the
total cost for 2017 will be $76,380. This total headcount excludes sworn public safety
employees as they are not subject to ridership fees. In addition, the City is liable for the
replacement of any lost passes, estimated to reach $3,800, though actual costs depend on
actual passes lost. Staff members who receive a Go Pass will be required to complete a
quarterly reporting of usage in order to keep their Go Pass active throughout 2017. Staff will
continue to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing the Go Pass at all City work sites in the
coming year and will be promoting increased use of the Go Pass in conjunction with other TDM
initiatives currently being considered. Staff will return to Council in November 2017 with an
update on the program and recommendations for 2018.
Resource Impact:
Sufficient funding for this program was approved in the Fiscal Year 2017 Adopted Operating
Budget General Benefits Fund in anticipation of staff recommending an extension of the Go
Pass Program through the end of calendar year 2017.
Environmental Review:
Approval of this Agreement with the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board is not a project for
purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) and therefore no environmental
review is required.
Attachments:
Attachment A: City of Palo Alto 2017 Agreement (DOCX)
1
12644612.1
PENINSULA CORRIDOR JOINT POWERS BOARD
2017 CALTRAIN GO PASS AGREEMENT
Participant Name: City of Palo Alto
Address:
Legal Notice Address (if different from above):
Contact Person: Email:
Phone: Fax:
Total Payment: $76,380.00 Number of Participating Sites: 1
Number of Go Pass Users as defined below: 402
Go Pass Eligibility
Business
All staff working more than 20 hours per week, excluding temporary employees, interns, contractors, consultants and
sworn peace officers** are considered “Go Pass Users” for the purpose of this Agreement. Temporary employees,
interns, contractors, consultants and sworn peace officers** are not eligible to participate in the Go Pass Program.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if one or both of the Options offered below is selected, employees working less than
20 hours per week and/or interns will be considered “Go Pass Users” under this Agreement.
Options
Include staff working less than 20 hours per week: N/A – Not including
Include interns: N/A – Not including
Residential
All residents five years old and older are considered “Go Pass Users” for the purpose of this Agreement. Employees
of residential developments are excluded from the Go Pass Program.
Educational
All students per selected group (i.e. Part-time, Full-time, Post graduates) are considered “Go Pass Users” for the
purpose of this Agreement.
Agreement Term: January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017
Participant agrees to the attached terms and conditions
CITY OF PALO ALTO *
By:
Print Name:
Its:
By:
Print Name:
Its:
PENINSULA CORRIDOR JOINT POWERS BOARD
By:
Print Name: Seamus P. Murphy
Its: Chief Communications Officer
* If Participant is a corporation or limited liability company, two corporate officers must sign on behalf of the corporation as
follows: 1) the chairman of the board, president or vice-president; and 2) the secretary, assistant secretary, chief financial
officer, or assistant treasurer. In the alternative, this Agreement may be executed by a single officer or a person other than
an officer provided that evidence satisfactory to the JPB is provided demonstrating that such individual is authorized to bind
the corporation (e.g. a copy of a certified resolution from the corporation’s board or a copy of the corporation’s bylaws). **
Uniformed and non-uniformed, sworn peace officers are allowed to ride Caltrain for free subject to showing the proper
identification.
2
12644612.1
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This Go Pass Agreement (“Agreement”) is made between the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, a public agency
("JPB") and the Go Pass Participant (“Participant”) identified on page 1 of this Agreement.
1. PAYMENT: Full payment for all Go Pass stickers shall be due prior to JPB issuing stickers. The total cost of
participating in the Go Pass program will be the greater of $15,960.00 or $190 per eligible Go Pass User, which includes a
non-refundable Administration Fee (the “Administration Fee”) of $3 per Go Pass User. If the number of Users increases
during 2017, the cost of additional Go Pass stickers will be a pro-rated per amount based on Exhibit A on page 5 of this
Agreement. Go Pass Participant may share the cost of participation in the Go Pass program with its Users, but the cost to
a particular User cannot be higher than the first-time replacement rate stated in Section 10 below. Participant must
submit payment for any invoices within 30 days of the date shown on the invoice. Payments after 60 days will be charged
a late fee of $5 per day. Accepted payment methods include ACH, EFT and Participant checks. Personal Go Pass User
checks are not accepted. The return of a check (electronic or paper) issued to JPB will result in a $25 returned check fee
being placed on the account of the Participant.
2. PROGRAM: JPB operates the “Caltrain” rail service between San Francisco and Gilroy, California, and Participant
desires to provide a transit benefit for use on Caltrain to all of the Go Pass Users as defined on Page 1, in the form of a
sticker affixed to a valid Participant-issued, JPB-approved, Go Pass User photo identification card (hereafter referred to as
"Go Pass"). In order to facilitate the Caltrain Go Pass Program (“Program”) JPB shall provide the necessary stickers and
accept the Go Pass as valid fare media for travel on the Caltrain system. Participant is responsible for any stickers in its
possession. Failure to comply with the terms in this Agreement may result in termination pursuant to Section 12.
3. ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS: Only individual Participants are eligible to participate in the Program. Participants with
multiple locations, branches or campuses are eligible to participate in the Program and must provide a Go Pass User
count for each individual Participant site. However, such Participants must enroll in the Program under a single Go Pass
Agreement and designate a single contact and administrator. Such Participants’ employees/students/residents at non-
participating locations are not eligible to participate in the Program.
4. ELIGIBLE GO PASS USER VERIFICATION: Go Passes must be purchased for each and every Go Pass User at
each Participant work site participating in the program (“Participating Site(s)”). Participant will be required, prior to the JPB
issuing the Go Pass stickers, to provide JPB with a Letter of Intent (“Letter”) signed by the Human Resources Director, an
officer of the Participant or Development Manager verifying the then-current number of Go Pass Users of the Participant
at each Participating Site. If a Business Participant selects an Option identified on Page 1, the letter must indicate the
number of Users working more than 20 hours per week, working less than 20 hours per week and/or interns. If there are
multiple Participating Sites, the Letter must indicate the individual site addresses and the number of then-current Users at
each site. Neither Participant nor any of its affiliates shall be required to participate in the Program with respect to other
sites other than the Participating Site(s) identified in the Letter.
5. GO PASS IDENTIFICATION: Participant must have an official Participant-issued photo ID card in order to participate
in the Program and must supply a hard copy of that ID card to the JPB for review. Any Participant that doesn’t have a
photo ID card must create one. The ID card must display a clear Go Pass User headshot, Go Pass User first and last
name, have a 1” x 1” square space for the Go Pass sticker and display the Participant name or logo. The ID cannot
contain Caltrain’s logo as part of the design. If the ID changes, it is the Participant’s responsibility to submit the new
version to the JPB three weeks in advance for approval. Participants may only use one JPB-approved ID card. The JPB
will produce and issue serialized Go Pass stickers which will be distributed to Participant so that Participant can affix them
to the Participant-issued Go Pass User ID card. Participant’s designated administrator shall place the Go Pass sticker on
each eligible Go Pass User’s ID card, preferably on the front. Participant shall not distribute the Go Pass stickers to Users,
as this practice may lead to unauthorized use of the sticker. Participant shall be responsible for retaining the Go Pass
User’s ID card or removing the Go Pass sticker from a Go Pass User’s ID card when a Go Pass User leaves the
employment of the Participant or relocates to non-participating location. Returned ID cards or stickers shall be presented
to the JPB for verification upon request. A photocopy of the identification card with the Go Pass sticker attached is
acceptable as proof that the Go Pass is no longer in use by a Go Pass User who has left the Participant. All Go Pass
stickers allotted to the Participant at the beginning of the Participant’s participation in the Program that are not issued to
Users are to be returned to the JPB by December 15 of the Agreement year. Go Pass sticker is JPB’s property.
6. PROGRAM RECORDS: Participant will create and maintain a file of documents to be available for review upon JPB
request (“Go Pass File”). The Go Pass File must include a log (Go Pass Log) of its Users who currently hold Go Passes.
The Go Pass Log shall include the Go Pass User’s first and last name, unique serial number for the individual pass each
Go Pass User holds, pass status (i.e. active, lost, damaged, etc.), date of issue, date of Go Pass User separation, if
applicable, and any other pertinent information. The file must also include all separated Go Pass User’s ID cards or Go
3
12644612.1
Pass stickers unless sent to JPB and Participant received an acknowledgement e-mail.
7. SURVEY AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Prior to affixing the Go Pass sticker to the Go Pass User’s Participant-issued
ID card, Participant shall require each Go Pass User receiving a Go Pass, for the first time, to complete an online
questionnaire ("Survey"). Once the Survey is complete, Participant administrator will receive an e-mail confirmation from
the Go Pass User via the JPB. As part of completing the survey, the Go Pass User will be required to acknowledge that
he or she understands the proper use of the Go Pass. The Surveys may be used to analyze the success of the Program
and develop ridership projections for the Program. However, the Surveys are subject to disclosure under requests made
pursuant to the California Public Records Act. Prior to disclosing Surveys, any identifying information concerning the
Participant and/or the Go Pass User shall be redacted.
8. PROGRAM ANALYSIS AND AUDIT: JPB reserves the right to audit Participant’s Go Pass Program at any point
during the Program year with five (5) working days' notice. The purpose of the audit is to ensure that appropriate
accounting, sticker distribution and security procedures are in place. JPB has the right to audit any internal Participant Go
Pass-associated records, including Participant’s Go Pass File. A current list of qualifying Users shall be provided to the
JPB upon request. Within 10 working days of receipt of any audit report from the JPB, Participant must, in conjunction
with JPB staff, develop a mutually agreeable action plan to satisfy any audit findings. If no mutually agreeable plan can
be developed, JPB may terminate the Program upon 10-days’ notice pursuant to the terms of Section 12, Termination.
9. PARKING PERMITS: Monthly parking permits for Caltrain lots may be purchased through any Caltrain station ticket
machine. Go Pass Users will be required to complete an application for an access code in order to purchase the permit
through the machine.
10. LOST, STOLEN, DAMAGED AND REPLACEMENT GO PASSES: For lost or stolen Go Passes, JPB will charge a
$190 first-time replacement fee. Participant must submit to the JPB documentation including the Go Pass User first and
last name and Go Pass serial number. For stolen Go Passes, the JPB will replace the Go Pass at no additional charge
provided that a police report is supplied to the JPB which describes the Go Pass as stolen. If the same Go Pass User
loses the Go Pass or has the Go Pass stolen a second time, the replacement fee will be 2x the first-time replacement fee
regardless of whether a police report is provided to the JPB. If a replacement Go Pass is issued and then the original is
found, JPB will not provide a refund. Participant may not resell the Go Passes to Users at a rate higher than the
replacement fee. A Go Pass will not be issued as a replacement for lost or stolen Go Passes a third time.
For Damaged Go Passes: If the Participant or a Go Pass User damages a Participant-issued ID card and thus renders the
Go Pass sticker unusable, or if the sticker itself is damaged, a replacement Go Pass sticker may be issued to the Go Pass
User or taken from the Participant’s Go Pass inventory, provided that the Participant documents that the Go Pass sticker
has been taken out of circulation in its Go Pass File. Participant must retain the damaged ID card or Go Pass sticker in
its Go Pass File unless sent to JPB and Participant received an acknowledgement e-mail. If no additional stickers remain
in the Participant inventory, the Participant shall return damaged Go Pass stickers or ID cards, or a photocopy, with
complete documentation to the JPB prior to the JPB issuing a replacement Go Pass sticker to Participant at no charge.
This courtesy will be extended no more than two times per Go Pass User per calendar year, after which the replacement
cost for a damaged Go Pass sticker will be $190.
For Separated Users: If the Go Pass User separates with the Participant, Participant shall retain the separated Go Pass
User ID card or Go Pass sticker in its Go Pass File and document that the Go Pass sticker has been taken out of
circulation in its Go Pass Log (See Section 6 above) unless sent to JPB and Participant received an acknowledgement e-
mail. If no additional stickers remain in the Participant inventory, the Participant shall return separated Go Pass stickers
or ID cards, or a photocopy, prior to the JPB issuing a replacement Go Pass sticker to Participant at no charge.
For Missing Go Passes: Participant shall be responsible for safeguarding the Go Pass stickers prior to issuing them to
Users and shall be liable for any loss of Go Pass stickers. Replacement Go Pass stickers shall be issued under the lost
terms above.
11. QUARTERLY REPORTING: Participant must submit a quarterly report to JPB by 3/1/17, 6/1/17, 9/1/17 and 12/1/17.
The quarterly report must list all lost, stolen, damaged and replacement Go Passes issued and separated Users. It must
include the reason for replacement, if applicable, Go Pass User first and last name and corresponding Go Pass serial
number and the current number of Users working at the work site(s) /residing in the development enrolled in the program.
Participant may submit its Go Pass Log (See Section 6 above) in lieu of the quarterly report.
12. TERMINATION: Either party may terminate this Agreement by giving the other party written notice at least 90 days
prior to the desired termination date, which shall be the last day of a calendar month. If either party terminates the
4
12644612.1
Agreement pursuant to this provision, JPB shall refund to Participant a pro-rata portion of Participant’s total payment in
accordance with the Proration Schedule attached to and incorporated in this Agreement as Exhibit A, less the
Administration Fee, as listed on Page 1, within 30 days of the termination date, provided that within 10 working days of the
effective termination date: (a) all undistributed Go Passes issued to Participant are returned to JPB and (b) Participant
verifies in writing that it has made every Good faith effort to collect or destroy all Go Passes that have been distributed to
Users. In the event Participant fails to comply with the terms of this Agreement, JPB may terminate this Agreement with
15 days’ notice. Non-compliance by Participant may make Participant ineligible to participate in the Go Pass program in
subsequent years. This Agreement shall automatically terminate if Participant discontinues its business at the
Participating Site(s) and it will be up to Participant to notify its Go Pass Users that the Go Pass will no longer be valid. In
the event that Go Pass Users continue to use invalid Go passes, JPB will confiscate such passes in accordance with
Section 14.
13. MISUSE OF GO PASS: The Go Pass constitutes a Go Pass sticker affixed to a valid, Participant-issued, JPB-
approved Go Pass User photo ID card. Any other use of the Go Pass sticker is prohibited and will not be valid as fare
payment on Caltrain.
Go Pass Participant – JPB agrees not to pursue any claims or demands against Participant for a Go Pass User's
unauthorized use of the Go Pass, unless the unauthorized use is the result of Participant's failure to follow the sticker
issuance procedures in Section 5, gross negligence or willful misconduct. The transfer of the Go Pass sticker constitutes
fare evasion, a violation of California Penal Code 640. At the time of Go Pass issuance, Participant shall (1) notify its
Users that Go Pass stickers are non-transferrable and that transferring a Go Pass constitutes fare evasion under the law,
and (2) shall remind Users of their agreement to the terms of usage provided in the Survey.
Go Pass User - All Go Pass Users shall be subject to JPB's fare inspection regulations. JPB may confiscate and/or
destroy the Go Pass sticker and pursue claims or demands against, or seek prosecution of, anyone who duplicates,
alters, transfers, sells or commits unauthorized use of the Go Pass. Unauthorized use of the Go Pass includes, but is not
limited to, allowing a non-eligible person to use a Go Pass or affixing a Go Pass sticker to any form of identification other
than a valid Participant-issued, JPB-approved, Go Pass User ID card.
JPB may cancel any individual Go Pass if it has reason to believe that the Go Pass was issued and/or used in a manner
that fails to comply with the requirements herein. JPB will notify Participant if it has any such concerns and, after
appropriate investigation, revoke those passes in question. Participant agrees to cooperate with JPB in such an
investigation, including assisting the JPB in determining the identity of the Go Pass User(s) who are alleged to have
misused the Go Pass. Participant waives all remedies and rights to refunds for any Go Passes revoked for misuse. JPB
will incur no liability resulting from confiscation of misused Go passes or Go passes from a Go Pass User whose
Participant’s Agreement has been terminated.
14. PROTECTION OF PRIVACY: JPB acknowledges that it may review documents in the Go Pass File or other
materials that contain personal or confidential information about the Participant or the Go Pass User
(“Information”). Except as required to administer the Go Pass Program in accordance with this Agreement or as
otherwise required by law, JPB agrees not to use or to disclose to third parties the Information. JPB may use Participant’s
name in a list showing Go Pass Program participants. Notwithstanding the foregoing, JPB shall be free to use and
disclose to third parties information in an aggregate format that does not personally identify a Go Pass User.
15. ENTIRE AGREEMENT: This contract contains the entire Agreement between the parties hereto for the term
specified on Page 1 of this Agreement and cannot be changed or altered except by written agreement signed by both
parties hereto. Neither party shall be bound by any oral agreement or other understandings contrary to or in addition to
the terms and conditions as stated herein.
16. SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS: The terms, covenants and conditions contained in this Agreement shall bind and
inure to the benefit of Participant and JPB and, except as otherwise provided herein, their personal representatives and
successors and assigns.
17. NO THIRD-PARTY BENEFICIARIES: There are no third-party beneficiaries to this Agreement.
18. NO JOINT VENTURE: It is expressly agreed that Participant is not, in any way or for any purpose, a partner of the
JPB in the conduct of JPB’s business or a member of a joint enterprise with JPB, and does not assume any responsibility
for JPB’s conduct or performance of this Agreement. It is expressly agreed that JPB is not, in any way or for any purpose,
a partner of the Participant in the conduct of Participant’s business or a member of a joint enterprise with Participant, and
does not assume any responsibility for Participant’s conduct or performance of this Agreement.
5
12644612.1
19. ATTORNEYS’ FEES: In the event that either JPB or Participant fails to perform any of its obligations under this
Agreement or in the event a dispute arises concerning the meaning or interpretation of any provision of this Agreement,
the defaulting Party or the Party not prevailing in such dispute, as the case may be, shall pay any and all costs and
expenses incurred by the other Party in enforcing or establishing its rights hereunder, including, without limitation, court
costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
20. GOVERNING LAW: This Agreement shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of
California. Any action relating to, and all disputes arising under, this Agreement shall be instituted and prosecuted in a
court of competent jurisdiction in the State of California.
21. NOTICES: All notices, requests, communications and legal notices to be made or given to Participant under this
Agreement shall be addressed as shown on page 1 of this Agreement. All notices, including legal notices,
communications and requests to be made or given to JPB shall be addressed as follows:
Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (Caltrain)
1250 San Carlos Ave.
San Carlos, CA 94070-1306
Attn: Market Research and Development
6
12644612.1
Exhibit A
Proration Schedule
New Participants
Effective Date
(falling in month)
Portion of Total Fee per Go Pass
More than Minimum
(includes administration fee)
Portion of Total Fee per Go Pass
Less than Minimum
(includes administration fee)
February $174.42 $14,651.00
March $158.83 $13,342.00
April $143.25 $12,033.00
May $127.67 $10,724.00
June $112.08 $9,415.00
July $96.50 $8,106.00
August $80.92 $6,797.00
September $65.33 $5,488.00
October $49.75 $4,179.00
November $34.17 $2,870.00
December $18.58 $1,561.00
Terminating Participants
Effective Termination
Date
(falling in month)
Portion of Total Fee Returned per
Go Pass More than Minimum
(less administration fees)
Portion of Total Fee Returned per
Go Pass Less than Minimum
(less administration fees)
February $171.42 $14,399.00
March $155.83 $13,090.00
April $140.25 $11,781.00
May $124.67 $10,472.00
June $109.08 $9,163.00
July $93.50 $7,854.00
August $77.92 $6,545.00
September $62.33 $5,236.00
October $46.75 $3,927.00
November $31.17 $2,618.00
December $15.58 $1,309.00
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7400)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 12/5/2016
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Emergency Operations Planning Support Contract
Title: Approval of a Contract With TetraTech in an Amount Not-to-Exceed
$170,000 for a Period of Five Years for Emergency Operations Planning
Support
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Office of Emergency Services
Recommendation
Staff recommends that Council approve and authorize the City Manager or his designee to
execute a contract with TetraTech in an amount not to exceed $170,000 over a five-year period
for Emergency Operations Planning Support.
Background
The Office of Emergency Services (OES) is responsible for the maintenance of the City of Palo
Alto Emergency Operations Plan. This includes the Basic Plan as well as certain hazard and
functional annexes that describe how the Palo Alto community mitigates, prepares for,
responds to, and recovers from the matrix of all hazards. This contract will supplement the
resources of the OES to develop additional emergency operations planning elements currently
not in place or not adequately addressed. We will utilize consultant services to assist in general
emergency related planning concerning the development of hazard and functional annexes,
provide additional expertise in the development of additional plans/procedures and the
facilitation of training workshops, and provide additional program support tasks that are within
the vendor’s capabilities.
Discussion
For the past three years, OES has been establishing the emergency operations planning
framework and developing the fundamental plans the City should have in place. These
planning efforts include:
An updated Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) describing the basic emergency
management framework for Palo Alto (but was also a joint planning effort among the
North Santa Clara County cities of Mountain View, Los Altos, and Sunnyvale) adopted by
Council in January 2016.
A Threat and Hazards Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) that provides a
City of Palo Alto Page 2
description of the hazards we face in our community and the likely impacts from these
hazards.
An Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Manual which describes the process and
procedures for the management of the EOC.
An EOC Staff Development Program Guide that outlines the training requirements to
maintain minimal training proficiency for designated EOC Staff Members.
A Severe Storm & Flood Plan that describes the City’s response to winter weather and
flood risks.
A Damage Assessment Plan detailing the City’s process for executing damage
assessment processes following an incident causing major damage to the community.
For the past ten months, OES has also been leading the revision of the City’s Local
Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) which is underway as a multi-jurisdictional planning
effort in conjunction with Santa Clara County. We will present this plan for Council
adoption in the third quarter of fiscal year 2017.
OES staff members also participate on City planning teams to ensure the proper
integration of public safety topics in these various other efforts.
With current staffing, OES is not able to quickly produce plans without such outside assistance
given the many other functions the department manages. This contract (Attachment A) will
provide consultant resources to work in conjunction with OES staff members to develop plans
still necessary to be in compliance with best practices in our field.
Resource Impact
Funding for this project is included in the Office of Emergency Services’ operating budget. No
additional funding is required.
Policy Implications
The recommendations in this report are consistent with existing City policies.
Environmental Review
The recommendation in this report does not constitute a project requiring review under the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Attachments:
ATTACHMENT A - C171653476 OES Emergency Support Tetra Tech (PDF)
CITY OF PALO ALTO CONTRACT NO. C17165347
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AND TETRA TECH, INC.
FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
This Agreement is entered into on this 5th day of December, 2016, (“Agreement”)
by and between the CITY OF PALO ALTO, a California chartered municipal corporation (“CITY”), and TETRA TECH, INC., a Delaware corporation, located at 1999 Harrison Street,
Suite 500, Oakland, CA 94612 ("CONSULTANT").
RECITALS
The following recitals are a substantive portion of this Agreement.
A. CITY intends to obtain on-going support for the Office of Emergency Services covering
a wide range of emergency planning functions (“Project”) and desires to engage a consultant to
provide the on-going emergency planning support in connection with the Project (“Services”).
B. CONSULTANT has represented that it has the necessary professional expertise,
qualifications, and capability, and all required licenses and/or certifications to provide the
Services.
C. CITY in reliance on these representations desires to engage CONSULTANT to provide
the Services as more fully described in Exhibit “A”, attached to and made a part of this
Agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the recitals, covenants, terms, and conditions, in this Agreement, the parties agree:
AGREEMENT
SECTION 1. SCOPE OF SERVICES. CONSULTANT shall perform the Services described at Exhibit “A” in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement. The
performance of all Services shall be to the reasonable satisfaction of CITY.
Services will be authorized by CITY, as needed, with a Task Order assigned and approved by
CITY’s Project Manager. Each Task Order shall be in substantially the same form as Exhibit A-1. Each Task Order shall designate a CITY Project Manager and shall contain a specific scope of
work, a specific schedule of performance and a specific compensation amount. The total price of
all Task Orders issued under this Agreement shall not exceed the amount of Compensation set
forth in Section 4 of this Agreement. CONSULTANT shall only be compensated for work
performed under an authorized Task Order and CITY may elect, but is not required, to authorize work up to the maximum compensation amount set forth in Section 4.
SECTION 2. TERM.
The term of this Agreement shall be from the date of its full execution through November 30, 2021 unless terminated earlier pursuant to Section 19 of this Agreement.
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 2
The term of this Agreement shall be from the date of its full execution through completion of the
services in accordance with the Schedule of Performance attached at Exhibit “B” unless
terminated earlier pursuant to Section 19 of this Agreement.
SECTION 3. SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCE. Time is of the essence in the performance
of Services under this Agreement. CONSULTANT shall complete the Services within the term
of this Agreement and in accordance with the schedule set forth in Exhibit “B”, attached to and
made a part of this Agreement. Any Services for which times for performance are not specified
in this Agreement shall be commenced and completed by CONSULTANT in a reasonably prompt and timely manner based upon the circumstances and direction communicated to the
CONSULTANT. CITY’s agreement to extend the term or the schedule for performance shall
not preclude recovery of damages for delay if the extension is required due to the fault of
CONSULTANT.
SECTION 4. NOT TO EXCEED COMPENSATION. The compensation to be paid to
CONSULTANT for performance of the Services described in Exhibit “A” (“Basic Services”),
and reimbursable expenses, shall not exceed One Hundred Seventy Thousand Dollars
($170,000.00). CONSULTANT agrees to complete all Basic Services, including reimbursable
expenses, within this amount. In the event Additional Services are authorized, the total compensation for Basic Services, Additional Services and reimbursable expenses shall not
exceed One Hundred Seventy Thousand Dollars ($170,000.00). The applicable rates and
schedule of payment are set out at Exhibit “C-1”, entitled “HOURLY RATE SCHEDULE,”
which is attached to and made a part of this Agreement. Any work performed or expenses
incurred for which payment would result in a total exceeding the maximum amount of compensation set forth herein shall be at no cost to the CITY.
Additional Services, if any, shall be authorized in accordance with and subject to the provisions
of Exhibit “C”. CONSULTANT shall not receive any compensation for Additional Services
performed without the prior written authorization of CITY. Additional Services shall mean any work that is determined by CITY to be necessary for the proper completion of the Project, but
which is not included within the Scope of Services described at Exhibit “A”.
SECTION 5. INVOICES. In order to request payment, CONSULTANT shall submit monthly
invoices to the CITY describing the services performed and the applicable charges (including an identification of personnel who performed the services, hours worked, hourly rates, and
reimbursable expenses), based upon the CONSULTANT’s billing rates (set forth in Exhibit “C-
1”). If applicable, the invoice shall also describe the percentage of completion of each task. The
information in CONSULTANT’s payment requests shall be subject to verification by CITY.
CONSULTANT shall send all invoices to the City’s project manager at the address specified in Section 13 below. The City will generally process and pay invoices within thirty (30) days of
receipt.
SECTION 6. QUALIFICATIONS/STANDARD OF CARE. All of the Services shall be
performed by CONSULTANT or under CONSULTANT’s supervision. CONSULTANT represents that it possesses the professional and technical personnel necessary to perform the
Services required by this Agreement and that the personnel have sufficient skill and experience
to perform the Services assigned to them. CONSULTANT represents that it, its employees and
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 3
subconsultants, if permitted, have and shall maintain during the term of this Agreement all
licenses, permits, qualifications, insurance and approvals of whatever nature that are legally
required to perform the Services.
All of the services to be furnished by CONSULTANT under this agreement shall meet the
professional standard and quality that prevail among professionals in the same discipline and of
similar knowledge and skill engaged in related work throughout California under the same or
similar circumstances.
SECTION 7. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS. CONSULTANT shall keep itself informed of
and in compliance with all federal, state and local laws, ordinances, regulations, and orders that
may affect in any manner the Project or the performance of the Services or those engaged to
perform Services under this Agreement. CONSULTANT shall procure all permits and licenses,
pay all charges and fees, and give all notices required by law in the performance of the Services.
SECTION 8. ERRORS/OMISSIONS. CONSULTANT is solely responsible for costs,
including, but not limited to, increases in the cost of Services, arising from or caused by
CONSULTANT’s errors and omissions, including, but not limited to, the costs of corrections
such errors and omissions, any change order markup costs, or costs arising from delay caused by the errors and omissions or unreasonable delay in correcting the errors and omissions.
SECTION 9. COST ESTIMATES. If this Agreement pertains to the design of a public works
project, CONSULTANT shall submit estimates of probable construction costs at each phase of
design submittal. If the total estimated construction cost at any submittal exceeds ten percent (10%) of CITY’s stated construction budget, CONSULTANT shall make recommendations to
CITY for aligning the PROJECT design with the budget, incorporate CITY approved
recommendations, and revise the design to meet the Project budget, at no additional cost to
CITY.
SECTION 10. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR. It is understood and agreed that in
performing the Services under this Agreement CONSULTANT, and any person employed by or
contracted with CONSULTANT to furnish labor and/or materials under this Agreement, shall act
as and be an independent contractor and not an agent or employee of CITY.
SECTION 11. ASSIGNMENT. The parties agree that the expertise and experience of
CONSULTANT are material considerations for this Agreement. CONSULTANT shall not
assign or transfer any interest in this Agreement nor the performance of any of
CONSULTANT’s obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the city manager.
Consent to one assignment will not be deemed to be consent to any subsequent assignment. Any assignment made without the approval of the city manager will be void.
SECTION 12. SUBCONTRACTING.
CONSULTANT shall not subcontract any portion of the work to be performed under this Agreement without the prior written authorization of the city manager or designee.
CONSULTANT shall be responsible for directing the work of any subconsultants and for any
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 4
compensation due to subconsultants. CITY assumes no responsibility whatsoever concerning
compensation. CONSULTANT shall be fully responsible to CITY for all acts and omissions of a
subconsultant. CONSULTANT shall change or add subconsultants only with the prior approval
of the city manager or his designee. SECTION 13. PROJECT MANAGEMENT. CONSULTANT will assign Christopher
Godley as the Project Supervisor to have supervisory responsibility for the performance,
progress, and execution of the Services to represent CONSULTANT during the day-to-day work
on the Project. If circumstances cause the substitution of the project director, project coordinator, or any other key personnel for any reason, the appointment of a substitute project director and
the assignment of any key new or replacement personnel will be subject to the prior written
approval of the CITY’s project manager. CONSULTANT, at CITY’s request, shall promptly
remove personnel who CITY finds do not perform the Services in an acceptable manner, are
uncooperative, or present a threat to the adequate or timely completion of the Project or a threat to the safety of persons or property.
CITY’s project manager is Nathan Rainey, Office of Emergency Services, 275 Forest Avenue,
Palo Alto, CA 94303, Telephone: (650)617-3197. The project manager will be
CONSULTANT’s point of contact with respect to performance, progress and execution of the Services. CITY may designate an alternate project manager from time to time.
SECTION 14. OWNERSHIP OF MATERIALS. Upon delivery, all work product, including
without limitation, all writings, drawings, plans, reports, specifications, calculations, documents,
other materials and copyright interests developed under this Agreement shall be and remain the exclusive property of CITY without restriction or limitation upon their use. CONSULTANT
agrees that all copyrights which arise from creation of the work pursuant to this Agreement shall
be vested in CITY, and CONSULTANT waives and relinquishes all claims to copyright or other
intellectual property rights in favor of the CITY. Neither CONSULTANT nor its contractors, if
any, shall make any of such materials available to any individual or organization without the prior written approval of the City Manager or designee. CONSULTANT makes no
representation of the suitability of the work product for use in or application to circumstances not
contemplated by the scope of work.
SECTION 15. AUDITS. CONSULTANT will permit CITY to audit, at any reasonable time during the term of this Agreement and for three (3) years thereafter, CONSULTANT’s records
pertaining to matters covered by this Agreement. CONSULTANT further agrees to maintain and
retain such records for at least three (3) years after the expiration or earlier termination of this
Agreement.
SECTION 16. INDEMNITY.
16.1. To the fullest extent permitted by law, CONSULTANT shall protect,
indemnify, defend and hold harmless CITY, its Council members, officers, employees and
agents (each an “Indemnified Party”) from and against any and all demands, claims, or liability of any nature, including death or injury to any person, property damage or any other loss,
including all costs and expenses of whatever nature including attorneys fees, experts fees, court
costs and disbursements (“Claims”) resulting from, arising out of or in any manner related to
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 5
performance or nonperformance by CONSULTANT, its officers, employees, agents or
contractors under this Agreement, regardless of whether or not it is caused in part by an
Indemnified Party.
16.2. Notwithstanding the above, nothing in this Section 16 shall be construed
to require CONSULTANT to indemnify an Indemnified Party from Claims arising from the
active negligence, negligence or willful misconduct of an Indemnified Party.
16.3. The acceptance of CONSULTANT’s services and duties by CITY shall not operate as a waiver of the right of indemnification. The provisions of this Section 16 shall
survive the expiration or early termination of this Agreement.
SECTION 17. WAIVERS. The waiver by either party of any breach or violation of any
covenant, term, condition or provision of this Agreement, or of the provisions of any ordinance or law, will not be deemed to be a waiver of any other term, covenant, condition, provisions,
ordinance or law, or of any subsequent breach or violation of the same or of any other term,
covenant, condition, provision, ordinance or law.
SECTION 18. INSURANCE.
18.1. CONSULTANT, at its sole cost and expense, shall obtain and maintain, in
full force and effect during the term of this Agreement, the insurance coverage described in
Exhibit "D". CONSULTANT and its contractors, if any, shall obtain a policy endorsement
naming CITY as an additional insured under any general liability or automobile policy or policies.
18.2. All insurance coverage required hereunder shall be provided through
carriers with AM Best’s Key Rating Guide ratings of A-:VII or higher which are licensed or
authorized to transact insurance business in the State of California. Any and all contractors of CONSULTANT retained to perform Services under this Agreement will obtain and maintain, in
full force and effect during the term of this Agreement, identical insurance coverage, naming
CITY as an additional insured under such policies as required above.
18.3. Certificates evidencing such insurance shall be filed with CITY concurrently with the execution of this Agreement. The certificates will be subject to the
approval of CITY’s Risk Manager and will contain an endorsement stating that the insurance is
primary coverage and will not be canceled, or materially reduced in coverage or limits, by the
insurer except after filing with the Purchasing Manager thirty (30) days' prior written notice of
the cancellation or modification. If the insurer cancels or modifies the insurance and provides less than thirty (30) days’ notice to CONSULTANT, CONSULTANT shall provide the
Purchasing Manager written notice of the cancellation or modification within two (2) business
days of the CONSULTANT’s receipt of such notice. CONSULTANT shall be responsible for
ensuring that current certificates evidencing the insurance are provided to CITY’s Chief
Procurement Officer during the entire term of this Agreement.
18.4. The procuring of such required policy or policies of insurance will not be
construed to limit CONSULTANT's liability hereunder nor to fulfill the indemnification
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 6
provisions of this Agreement. Notwithstanding the policy or policies of insurance,
CONSULTANT will be obligated for the full and total amount of any damage, injury, or loss
caused by or directly arising as a result of the Services performed under this Agreement,
including such damage, injury, or loss arising after the Agreement is terminated or the term has expired.
SECTION 19. TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF AGREEMENT OR SERVICES.
19.1. The City Manager may suspend the performance of the Services, in whole or in part, or terminate this Agreement, with or without cause, by giving ten (10) days prior
written notice thereof to CONSULTANT. Upon receipt of such notice, CONSULTANT will
immediately discontinue its performance of the Services.
19.2. CONSULTANT may terminate this Agreement or suspend its performance of the Services by giving thirty (30) days prior written notice thereof to CITY, but
only in the event of a substantial failure of performance by CITY.
19.3. Upon such suspension or termination, CONSULTANT shall deliver to the
City Manager immediately any and all copies of studies, sketches, drawings, computations, and other data, whether or not completed, prepared by CONSULTANT or its contractors, if any, or
given to CONSULTANT or its contractors, if any, in connection with this Agreement. Such
materials will become the property of CITY.
19.4. Upon such suspension or termination by CITY, CONSULTANT will be paid for the Services rendered or materials delivered to CITY in accordance with the scope of
services on or before the effective date (i.e., 10 days after giving notice) of suspension or
termination; provided, however, if this Agreement is suspended or terminated on account of a
default by CONSULTANT, CITY will be obligated to compensate CONSULTANT only for that
portion of CONSULTANT’s services which are of direct and immediate benefit to CITY as such determination may be made by the City Manager acting in the reasonable exercise of his/her
discretion. The following Sections will survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement:
14, 15, 16, 19.4, 20, and 25.
19.5. No payment, partial payment, acceptance, or partial acceptance by CITY will operate as a waiver on the part of CITY of any of its rights under this Agreement.
SECTION 20. NOTICES.
All notices hereunder will be given in writing and mailed, postage prepaid, by certified mail, addressed as follows:
To CITY: Office of the City Clerk
City of Palo Alto
Post Office Box 10250 Palo Alto, CA 94303
With a copy to the Purchasing Manager
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 7
To CONSULTANT: Attention of the project director
at the address of CONSULTANT recited above
SECTION 21. CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
21.1. In accepting this Agreement, CONSULTANT covenants that it presently
has no interest, and will not acquire any interest, direct or indirect, financial or otherwise, which
would conflict in any manner or degree with the performance of the Services.
21.2. CONSULTANT further covenants that, in the performance of this
Agreement, it will not employ subconsultants, contractors or persons having such an interest.
CONSULTANT certifies that no person who has or will have any financial interest under this
Agreement is an officer or employee of CITY; this provision will be interpreted in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Palo Alto Municipal Code and the Government Code of the
State of California.
21.3. If the Project Manager determines that CONSULTANT is a “Consultant”
as that term is defined by the Regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission, CONSULTANT shall be required and agrees to file the appropriate financial disclosure
documents required by the Palo Alto Municipal Code and the Political Reform Act.
SECTION 22. NONDISCRIMINATION. As set forth in Palo Alto Municipal Code section
2.30.510, CONSULTANT certifies that in the performance of this Agreement, it shall not discriminate in the employment of any person because of the race, skin color, gender, age,
religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, housing status, marital status,
familial status, weight or height of such person. CONSULTANT acknowledges that it has read
and understands the provisions of Section 2.30.510 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code relating to
Nondiscrimination Requirements and the penalties for violation thereof, and agrees to meet all requirements of Section 2.30.510 pertaining to nondiscrimination in employment.
SECTION 23. ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERRED PURCHASING AND ZERO
WASTE REQUIREMENTS. CONSULTANT shall comply with the CITY’s Environmentally
Preferred Purchasing policies which are available at CITY’s Purchasing Department, incorporated by reference and may be amended from time to time. CONSULTANT shall comply
with waste reduction, reuse, recycling and disposal requirements of CITY’s Zero Waste
Program. Zero Waste best practices include first minimizing and reducing waste; second,
reusing waste and third, recycling or composting waste. In particular, CONSULTANT shall
comply with the following zero waste requirements: (a) All printed materials provided by CCONSULTANT to CITY generated from a
personal computer and printer including but not limited to, proposals, quotes,
invoices, reports, and public education materials, shall be double-sided and
printed on a minimum of 30% or greater post-consumer content paper, unless
otherwise approved by CITY’s Project Manager. Any submitted materials printed by a professional printing company shall be a minimum of 30% or greater post-
consumer material and printed with vegetable based inks.
(b) Goods purchased by CONSULTANT on behalf of CITY shall be purchased in
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 8
accordance with CITY’s Environmental Purchasing Policy including but not
limited to Extended Producer Responsibility requirements for products and
packaging. A copy of this policy is on file at the Purchasing Division’s office.
(c) Reusable/returnable pallets shall be taken back by CONSULTANT, at no additional cost to CITY, for reuse or recycling. CONSULTANT shall provide
documentation from the facility accepting the pallets to verify that pallets are not
being disposed.
SECTION 24. COMPLIANCE WITH PALO ALTO MINIMUM WAGE ORDINANCE. CONSULTANT shall comply with all requirements of the Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter
4.62 (Citywide Minimum Wage), as it may be amended from time to time. In particular, for any
employee otherwise entitled to the State minimum wage, who performs at least two (2) hours of
work in a calendar week within the geographic boundaries of the City, CONSULTANT shall pay
such employees no less than the minimum wage set forth in Palo Alto Municipal Code section 4.62.030 for each hour worked within the geographic boundaries of the City of Palo Alto. In
addition, CONSULTANT shall post notices regarding the Palo Alto Minimum Wage Ordinance
in accordance with Palo Alto Municipal Code section 4.62.060.
SECTION 25. NON-APPROPRIATION
25.1. This Agreement is subject to the fiscal provisions of the Charter of the
City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Municipal Code. This Agreement will terminate without any
penalty (a) at the end of any fiscal year in the event that funds are not appropriated for the
following fiscal year, or (b) at any time within a fiscal year in the event that funds are only appropriated for a portion of the fiscal year and funds for this Agreement are no longer available.
This section shall take precedence in the event of a conflict with any other covenant, term,
condition, or provision of this Agreement.
SECTION 26. PREVAILING WAGES AND DIR REGISTRATION FOR PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS 26.1 CONSULTANT is not required to pay prevailing wages in the performance
and implementation of the Project in accordance with SB 7 if the contract is not a public works
contract, if the contract does not include a public works construction project of more than $25,000, or the contract does not include a public works alteration, demolition, repair, or
maintenance (collectively, ‘improvement’) project of more than $15,000.
26.2 CONSULTANT shall comply with the requirements of Exhibit “E” for any
contract for public works construction, alteration, demolition, repair or maintenance. SECTION 27. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
27.1. This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of California.
27.2. In the event that an action is brought, the parties agree that trial of such
action will be vested exclusively in the state courts of California in the County of Santa Clara,
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 9
State of California.
27.3. The prevailing party in any action brought to enforce the provisions of this
Agreement may recover its reasonable costs and attorneys' fees expended in connection with that action. The prevailing party shall be entitled to recover an amount equal to the fair market value
of legal services provided by attorneys employed by it as well as any attorneys’ fees paid to third
parties.
27.4. This document represents the entire and integrated agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior negotiations, representations, and contracts, either written or oral.
This document may be amended only by a written instrument, which is signed by the parties.
27.5. The covenants, terms, conditions and provisions of this Agreement will
apply to, and will bind, the heirs, successors, executors, administrators, assignees, and consultants of the parties.
27.6. If a court of competent jurisdiction finds or rules that any provision of this
Agreement or any amendment thereto is void or unenforceable, the unaffected provisions of this
Agreement and any amendments thereto will remain in full force and effect.
27.7. All exhibits referred to in this Agreement and any addenda, appendices,
attachments, and schedules to this Agreement which, from time to time, may be referred to in
any duly executed amendment hereto are by such reference incorporated in this Agreement and
will be deemed to be a part of this Agreement.
27.8 In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Agreement and the
exhibits hereto or CONSULTANT’s proposal (if any), the Agreement shall control. In the case
of any conflict between the exhibits hereto and CONSULTANT’s proposal, the exhibits shall
control.
27.9 If, pursuant to this contract with CONSULTANT, CITY shares with
CONSULTANT personal information as defined in California Civil Code section 1798.81.5(d)
about a California resident (“Personal Information”), CONSULTANT shall maintain reasonable
and appropriate security procedures to protect that Personal Information, and shall inform City immediately upon learning that there has been a breach in the security of the system or in the
security of the Personal Information. CONSULTANT shall not use Personal Information for
direct marketing purposes without City’s express written consent.
27.10 All unchecked boxes do not apply to this agreement.
27.11 The individuals executing this Agreement represent and warrant that they
have the legal capacity and authority to do so on behalf of their respective legal entities.
27.12 This Agreement may be signed in multiple counterparts, which shall, when
executed by all the parties, constitute a single binding agreement
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 1
CONTRACT No. C17165347 SIGNATURE PAGE
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have by their duly authorized
representatives executed this Agreement on the date first above written.
CITY OF PALO ALTO
City Manager or designee
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Attorney or designee
TETRA TECH, INC.
By:
Name:
Title:
By:
Name:
Title:
Attachments:
EXHIBIT “A”: SCOPE OF SERVICES
EXHIBIT “B”: SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCE
EXHIBIT “C”: COMPENSATION EXHIBIT “C-1”: SCHEDULE OF RATES
EXHIBIT “D”: INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Operating Unit President
Roger Argus
Northwest Operations Manager
Ed Sussenguth
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 2
EXHIBIT “A” SCOPE OF SERVICES
CONSULTANT will be responsible to perform work across a wide range of emergency planning functions, providing ongoing support to the City of Palo Alto OES as well as to the North Santa Clara County Public Safety partners of Los Altos, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale,
to Stanford University, and to other partners (at the sole discretion and cost of the City). As part
of the ongoing services, CONSULTANT will spend regular time in Palo Alto, working with staff
and stakeholders. 1. Planning Assessment. Within 30 days of contract start date and in conjunction with Office of Emergency Services Staff
Proposer will complete an assessment of current emergency and related plans, annexes, and other
related documents, including a preliminary list of "gaps" and improvements. This will include a review of the newly-adopted City Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and
(pending) Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP).
The Proposer will also review the City of Palo Alto's Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) as posted on www.cityofpaloalto.org/thira and Local Hazard Mitigation and Adaptation Plan (LHMAP).
2. Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and General Emergency Planning.
As directed, our staff would assist in developing functional annexes, hazard annexes, and other related documents for the EOP. As provided in the RFP, Tetra Tech staff will develop the plans in addressing the following priorities:
• Earthquake Hazard Annex
• Long Term Recovery Functional Annex
• Mass Care and Shelter Functional Annex
• Additional planning efforts as identified by project manager
Implicit in any planning effort is the ability to engage stakeholders and work as a team – with
both internal City staff and external community and regional stakeholders.
Vendor may serve as indirect representatives of the City and will work to sustain and support
these existing critical relationships.
3. Program Support. The vendor will provide additional expertise in the development of additional plans/procedures
and the facilitation of workshops. Examples include:
• Facilitation of workshop discussions, tabletop exercises, and/or development of plans, tools, and
templates
• Review and Recommend Revisions to the current Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Position
Job Action Sheets based on best practices in Emergency Management and tailored to Palo Alto
EOC operations
• Assist in workshops that help staff members’ complete Communication Mapping formats for
each EOC position
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 3
• Assist with FEMA "whole community" engagement and outreach, including with the Palo
Alto/Stanford Citizen Corps Council (CCC)
4. Supplemental Tasks.
Over the course of five years, the City may identify new, higher priority planning and program
support tasks and in consultation and agreement with the vendor, identify additional tasks that are within the vendor’s capabilities. 5. Administrative Support.
City primary point of contact is the Palo Alto Office of Emergency Services Coordinator, Nathan
Rainey. Vendor may utilize on-site work space when required to be allocated by OES staff; vendor will provide office automation systems necessary to enable work from City work areas. OES will
provide printing, copying, reproduction resources as necessary.
OES in conjunction with the vendor will develop a project roadmap to guide the additional
project tasks over the five-year period.
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 4
EXHIBIT “B” SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCE
CONSULTANT shall perform the Services so as to complete each milestone within the number of days/weeks specified below. The time to complete each milestone may be increased or
decreased by mutual written agreement of the project managers for CONSULTANT and CITY
so long as all work is completed within the term of the Agreement. CONSULTANT shall
provide a detailed schedule of work consistent with the schedule below within 2 weeks of receipt
of the notice to proceed.
Milestones Completion
No. of Days/Weeks
From NTP
1. Planning Assessment Jan. 2017
2. General Emergency Planning
a. Develop Annex Scheme Feb. 2017
b. Earthquake Hazard Annex Oct. 2017
3. Program Support on going
4. Supplemental Tasks on going
5. Administrative Support on going
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 5
EXHIBIT “C” COMPENSATION
The CITY agrees to compensate the CONSULTANT for professional services performed in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and as set forth in the
budget schedule below. Compensation shall be calculated based on the hourly rate
schedule attached as exhibit C-1 up to the not to exceed budget amount for each task set
forth below. CONSULTANT shall perform the tasks and categories of work as outlined and budgeted
below. The CITY’s Project Manager may approve in writing the transfer of budget
amounts between any of the tasks or categories listed below provided the total
compensation for Basic Services, including reimbursable expenses, and the total compensation for Additional Services do not exceed the amounts set forth in Section 4 of this Agreement.
BUDGET SCHEDULE NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT
Sub-total Basic Services $170,000.00
Total Basic Services and Reimbursable expenses $170,000
Maximum Total Compensation $170,000.00
REIMBURSABLE EXPENSES
The administrative, overhead, secretarial time or secretarial overtime, word processing,
photocopying, in-house printing, insurance and other ordinary business expenses are included within the scope of payment for services and are not reimbursable expenses.
CITY shall reimburse CONSULTANT for the following reimbursable expenses at cost.
Expenses for which CONSULTANT shall be reimbursed are:
A. Travel outside the San Francisco Bay area, including transportation and meals, will be reimbursed at actual cost subject to the City of Palo Alto’s policy for reimbursement of
travel and meal expenses for City of Palo Alto employees.
B. Long distance telephone service charges, cellular phone service charges, facsimile
transmission and postage charges are reimbursable at actual cost.
All requests for payment of expenses shall be accompanied by appropriate backup
information. Any expense anticipated to be more than $100 shall be approved in advance
by the CITY’s project manager.
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 6
EXHIBIT “C-1” SCHEDULE OF RATES
These rates are inclusive of computer use, project administration, travel, mileage, minor document production, Palo Alto Police Department fingerprinting and back-end support from a Financial Manager.
Labor Category Year One Year Two Year Three Year Four Year Five
Administrative Specialist I $ 45.76 $ 47.13 $ 48.55 $ 50.00 $ 51.50
Administrative Specialist II $ 49.92 $ 51.42 $ 52.96 $ 54.55 $ 56.19
Research Assistant $ 53.04 $ 54.63 $ 56.27 $ 57.96 $ 59.70
Engineer/Planning Aide $ 83.20 $ 85.70 $ 88.27 $ 90.91 $ 93.64
Project Control Specialist $ 86.32 $ 88.91 $ 91.58 $ 94.32 $ 97.15
Engineer/Consulting Aide $ 93.60 $ 96.41 $ 99.30 $ 102.28 $ 105.35
Assistant
Planner/Engineer/Scientist/Analyst $ 98.80 $ 101.76 $ 104.82 $ 107.96 $ 111.20
Program Planner/ Engineer/ Scientist/ Analyst $ 104.00 $ 107.12 $ 110.33 $ 113.64 $ 117.05
Consultant/Planner/ Engineer/ Scientist/ Analyst I $ 119.60 $ 123.19 $ 126.88 $ 130.69 $ 134.61
Project
Manager/Consultant/Planner/ Engineer/ Scientist/Analyst II $ 130.00 $ 133.90 $ 137.92 $ 142.05 $ 146.32
Project Manager/Consultant/Planner/ Engineer/ Scientist/Analyst III $ 140.40 $ 144.61 $ 148.95 $ 153.42 $ 158.02
Senior Planner/Engineer/Scientist/Analyst $ 150.80 $ 155.32 $ 159.98 $ 164.78 $ 169.73
Supervising Consultant/Planner/Engineer/
Scientist/Analyst
$ 164.32 $ 169.25 $ 174.33 $ 179.56 $ 184.94
Project/Program Manager $ 182.00 $ 187.46 $ 193.08 $ 198.88 $ 204.84
Principal in Charge/Senior
Program Manager $ 199.68 $ 205.67 $ 211.84 $ 218.20 $ 224.74
Senior Technical Specialist $ 213.20 $ 219.60 $ 226.18 $ 232.97 $ 239.96
Principal
Consultant/Planner/Engineer/
Scientist/ Analyst
$ 218.40 $ 224.95 $ 231.70 $ 238.65 $ 245.81
Executive
Consultant/Planner/Engineer/
Scientist /Analyst
$ 234.00 $ 241.02 $ 248.25 $ 255.70 $ 263.37
Subject Matter Expert $ 253.76 $ 261.37 $ 269.21 $ 277.29 $ 285.61
Hourly rates for these additional services are fully burdened to include overhead and profit.
Non-labor expenses for work associated with these additional services shall be budgeted or
billed as follows:
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 7
1) Travel expenses, including airfare and car rental at cost without mark-up
2) Lodging up to the per diem rate according to the GSA rates established at www.gsa.gov
3) Meals and incidentals at the GSA per diem rate (no receipts required)
4) Mileage at the federally published rate
5) Other required non-labor expenses as may be applicable to the project and pre-approved by
Tetra Tech and the City at cost without mark-up.
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 8
EXHIBIT “D”
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
CONTRACTORS TO THE CITY OF PALO ALTO (CITY), AT THEIR SOLE EXPENSE, SHALL FOR THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN INSURANCE IN THE AMOUNTS FOR THE COVERAGE SPECIFIED BELOW, AFFORDED BY COMPANIES WITH AM BEST’S KEY RATING OF A-:VII, OR HIGHER, LICENSED OR AUTHORIZED TO TRANSACT INSURANCE BUSINESS IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. AWARD IS CONTINGENT ON COMPLIANCE WITH CITY’S INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS, AS SPECIFIED, BELOW:
REQUIRED TYPE OF COVERAGE REQUIREMENT MINIMUM LIMITS
EACH OCCURRENCE AGGREGATE
YES
YES
WORKER’S COMPENSATION EMPLOYER’S LIABILITY STATUTORY STATUTORY
YES
GENERAL LIABILITY, INCLUDING PERSONAL INJURY, BROAD FORM PROPERTY DAMAGE BLANKET CONTRACTUAL, AND FIRE LEGAL LIABILITY
BODILY INJURY
PROPERTY DAMAGE BODILY INJURY & PROPERTY DAMAGE COMBINED.
$1,000,000
$1,000,000 $1,000,000
$1,000,000
$1,000,000 $1,000,000
YES AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY, INCLUDING ALL OWNED, HIRED, NON-OWNED
BODILY INJURY - EACH PERSON - EACH OCCURRENCE PROPERTY DAMAGE BODILY INJURY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE, COMBINED
$1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000
$1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000
PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY, INCLUDING, ERRORS AND OMISSIONS, MALPRACTICE (WHEN APPLICABLE), AND NEGLIGENT PERFORMANCE
ALL DAMAGES $1,000,000
YES THE CITY OF PALO ALTO IS TO BE NAMED AS AN ADDITIONAL INSURED: CONTRACTOR, AT ITS SOLE COST AND EXPENSE, SHALL OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN, IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE TERM OF ANY RESULTANT AGREEMENT, THE INSURANCE COVERAGE HEREIN DESCRIBED, INSURING NOT ONLY CONTRACTOR AND ITS SUBCONSULTANTS, IF ANY, BUT ALSO, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION, EMPLOYER’S LIABILITY AND PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE, NAMING AS ADDITIONAL INSUREDS CITY, ITS COUNCIL MEMBERS, OFFICERS, AGENTS, AND EMPLOYEES.
I. INSURANCE COVERAGE MUST INCLUDE:
A. A PROVISION FOR A WRITTEN THIRTY (30) DAY ADVANCE NOTICE TO CITY OF CHANGE IN COVERAGE OR OF COVERAGE CANCELLATION; AND
B. A CONTRACTUAL LIABILITY ENDORSEMENT PROVIDING INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR CONTRACTOR’S AGREEMENT TO INDEMNIFY CITY.
C. DEDUCTIBLE AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF $5,000 REQUIRE CITY’S PRIOR APPROVAL.
II. CONTACTOR MUST SUBMIT CERTIFICATES(S) OF INSURANCE EVIDENCING REQUIRED COVERAGE AT
THE FOLLOWING URL: https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=25569.
III. ENDORSEMENT PROVISIONS, WITH RESPECT TO THE INSURANCE AFFORDED TO “ADDITIONAL INSUREDS”
A. PRIMARY COVERAGE
WITH RESPECT TO CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE NAMED INSURED, INSURANCE AS AFFORDED BY THIS POLICY IS PRIMARY AND IS NOT ADDITIONAL TO OR CONTRIBUTING WITH ANY OTHER
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
Professional Services
Rev. April 27, 2016 9
INSURANCE CARRIED BY OR FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ADDITIONAL INSUREDS.
B. CROSS LIABILITY THE NAMING OF MORE THAN ONE PERSON, FIRM, OR CORPORATION AS INSUREDS UNDER THE POLICY
SHALL NOT, FOR THAT REASON ALONE, EXTINGUISH ANY RIGHTS OF THE INSURED AGAINST ANOTHER, BUT THIS ENDORSEMENT, AND THE NAMING OF MULTIPLE INSUREDS, SHALL NOT INCREASE THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF THE COMPANY UNDER THIS POLICY.
C. NOTICE OF CANCELLATION
1. IF THE POLICY IS CANCELED BEFORE ITS EXPIRATION DATE FOR ANY REASON
OTHER THAN THE NON-PAYMENT OF PREMIUM, THE CONSULTANT SHALL PROVIDE CITY AT LEAST A THIRTY (30) DAY WRITTEN NOTICE BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE
OF CANCELLATION.
2. IF THE POLICY IS CANCELED BEFORE ITS EXPIRATION DATE FOR THE NON-PAYMENT OF PREMIUM, THE CONSULTANT SHALL PROVIDE CITY AT LEAST A TEN (10) DAY WRITTEN NOTICE BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF CANCELLATION.
VENDORS ARE REQUIRED TO FILE THEIR EVIDENCE OF INSURANCE AND ANY OTHER RELATED NOTICES WITH THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AT THE FOLLOWING URL:
HTTPS://WWW.PLANETBIDS.COM/PORTAL/PORTAL.CFM?COMPANYID=25569
OR
HTTP://WWW.CITYOFPALOALTO.ORG/GOV/DEPTS/ASD/PLANET_BIDS_HOW_TO.ASP
DocuSign Envelope ID: B2D4EB26-5FE7-4993-8C9F-8815748BFBDB
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7533)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 12/5/2016
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Carbon Neutral Gas Portfolio
Title: Finance Committee Recommends That the Council: (1) Adopts a
Resolution Approving a Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Plan to Achieve a Carbon
Neutral Gas Portfolio by Fiscal Year 2018 With no Greater Than 10¢/Therm
Rate Impact; and Terminating the Palo Alto Green Gas Program; and (2)
Provide Direction to Staff Concerning Aspects of Plan Implementation
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Utilities
Recommendation
Staff and the Finance Committee recommend that Council:
1. Adopt a Resolution that:
a. Approves the Carbon Neutral Gas Plan, enabling the City to achieve a carbon-
neutral gas supply portfolio starting in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 with a rate impact
not to exceed ten cents per therm (10 ¢/therm); and
b. Terminates the PaloAltoGreen Gas program established by Resolution 9405; and
2. Direct Staff to:
a. Develop an implementation plan for the Carbon Neutral Gas Plan;
b. Provide an option for Council to consider prioritizing local offsets; and
c. Prioritize maximizing carbon reduction within the 10 ¢/therm rate impact cap.
Executive Summary
The proposed Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Plan is designed to achieve carbon neutrality for the
gas supply portfolio by FY 2018 using high-quality environmental offsets at a cost not to exceed
a maximum rate impact of 10 ₵/therm. At current rates, this equates to about a 10% gas rate
increase. The additional cost of a 10 ₵/therm gas rate increase will cost about $43 per year for
the median residential customer usage.
At current costs for environmental offsets and biogas, staff estimates that a 100% carbon
neutral gas portfolio can be achieved for 4 ₵/therm if offsets are used to cover 100% of the gas
use of Palo Alto customers. Alternately, a 100% carbon neutral gas portfolio can be achieved for
10 ₵/therm if offsets are used for 95% of the gas needs and biogas is purchased for 5% of the
gas needs.
City of Palo Alto Page 2
In August 2016, the Utilities Advisory Commission (UAC) recommended that Council approve a
plan to maximize the use of biogas while still achieving 100% carbon neutrality. In October, the
Finance Committee recommended that Council maximize carbon reduction within the 10
¢/therm rate impact cap, which argues for purchasing only environmental offsets, and no
biogas, to achieve the maximum carbon reductions per dollar spent.
Background
The PaloAltoGreen Gas (PAG Gas) program was launched in December 2014. PAG Gas is a
voluntary program providing customers with the option to negate the impact of greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions associated with their natural gas usage by purchasing environmental
offsets. Engagement by some community members interested in accelerating the reduction of
the City’s natural gas carbon footprint led to a proposal to make the gas portfolio carbon
neutral.
The plan presented to and recommended by the UAC included a portfolio of both physical
biogas and environmental offsets. However, the Finance Committee preferred maximizing the
carbon reduction for the money spent, or using only the less expensive offsets and no biogas as
a mechanism for achieving carbon neutrality in the natural gas portfolio.
Discussion
Staff Report 7284 for the October 18 Finance Committee meeting provides detail on the
proposed Carbon Neutral Gas Plan (Attachment B).
To design and implement a carbon-neutral gas portfolio plan, several inter-related variables
must be considered, including:
1. Rate impact.
2. Supply source (environmental offsets or biogas).
3. Timeframe over which carbon neutrality is achieved
4. Percentage of the portfolio to be made carbon-neutral.
With respect to each of the variables above, the Finance Committee recommends:
1. Rate impact: No greater than 10¢/therm annually
2. Supply source: Environmental offsets.
3. Timeframe over which carbon neutrality is achieved: By FY 2018
4. Percentage of portfolio made carbon neutral: 100% or greater
Rate Impact
Staff recommends that Council make a clear determination of maximum acceptable rate impact
for a carbon-neutral gas portfolio. A rate impact of 10 ₵/therm is equal to approximately a 10%
rate increase based on current gas rates and assuming a commodity rate, which fluctuates
monthly with market prices, of 30 ₵/therm.
City of Palo Alto Page 3
Supply Source
An environmental offset is a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) made in order
to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere. For example, installation of
manure management systems on dairy farms reduces methane emissions thus generating
offsets. The California Air Resources Board protocols provide robust methods to quantify and
report the GHG reductions.
Biogas, on the other hand, is methane produced from the decay of organic matter. A dairy farm
that generates offsets by preventing methane from entering the atmosphere can also sell the
biogas as a renewable fuel. The price of biogas is currently driven by the federal renewable
transportation fuel program and is at least 28 times more costly than offsets on a dollar per
carbon dioxide equivalent ($/CO2e) basis.
The current cost of offsets is about $8/ton of CO2e, which is equivalent to 4 ₵/therm. If
environmental offsets were purchased today for 100% of the City’s gas usage, all customers
would experience a rate increase of approximately 4%. A median residential customer’s winter
bill would increase by about $2 per month (about $0.75 in the summer).
Summary of Proposal
The Finance Committee recommended a plan using high-quality environmental offsets to
achieve a carbon-neutral gas portfolio by FY 2018. Rates are anticipated to increase by 4
₵/therm and will increase by no more than 10 ₵/therm.
Cost-effectiveness of a Carbon-neutral Gas Portfolio Compared to Electrification
Staff completed a cost effectiveness study for abating GHG emissions by electrifying building
appliances and passenger vehicles. The report was provided to Council in August 2015 (Staff
Report 5971). Figure 1 shows the societal costs of carbon from that study compared to the
carbon cost of environmental offsets and biogas. Environmental offsets currently cost $8/ton of
CO2e compared to the cost of carbon of $226/ton of CO2e for biogas1.
1 Biogas is estimated to cost $1.50/therm, or $1.20/therm more than fossil fuel-based natural gas, resulting in an
incremental cost of carbon of $226/ton of CO2e.
City of Palo Alto Page 4
Figure 1: Incremental Societal Abatement Cost
As shown in Figure 1, environmental offsets are a much less expensive way to achieve carbon
reductions compared to most electrification options2. When the Finance Committee reviewed
these data, its members questioned the use of biogas since it is so much more costly per ton of
CO2e reduced.
Proposed Offset Criteria for Carbon-neutral Gas Supply
For the PAG Gas program, Council approved the use of high-quality environmental offsets from
protocols approved by the California Air Resources Board (Staff Report 4596, Resolution 9405).
The approved protocols currently include forestry, livestock, landfill, coal mine methane, urban
forestry, ozone depleting substance and rice cultivation projects. Offsets used for PAG Gas do
not need to be certified by CARB as it is an extra expense and only necessary if offsets are to be
used for a regulatory compliance obligation. Staff proposes to apply the same standards to
offsets used for the Carbon Neutral Gas Plan including a preference for California and local
projects. One possible local offsets source may be an urban forestry project in Palo Alto.
In addition to researching the use of local offsets, staff will also continue to review the extent to
which fugitive methane emissions from natural gas production, transportation, and distribution
can be attributable to provision of service to Palo Alto customers. There is currently no
definitive answer on this point, but should the amounts attributable to individual customers
become more concrete and clearly associated with the cost of providing service to Palo Alto
customers, staff will consider whether such fugitive emissions would also fall under the
auspices of the plan.
2 The study concluded that (after federal and state incentives) it is cheaper to own and operate a compact electric
car (Nissan Leaf) than a similarly sized gasoline vehicle (Honda Civic) resulting in a negative incremental abatement
cost.
City of Palo Alto Page 5
Committee Review and Recommendation
At its October 18, 2016 meeting, the Finance Committee reviewed the recommendation from
staff and the UAC that Council approve a Carbon Neutral Gas Plan that would use a
combination of physical biogas and high-quality environmental offsets to achieve a carbon-
neutral gas supply portfolio starting in FY 2018 such that the amount of biogas included in the
portfolio would be maximized with a rate impact not to exceed 10 ¢/therm.
The Finance Committee, however, voted to maximize carbon reduction within the 10 ₵/therm
rate impact cap, rather than include the more expensive biogas as part of the portfolio.
Purchasing enough offsets to cover the volume of natural gas burned in the City (30 million
therm or 159,000 tons CO2e per year) results in a rate increase of about 4 ₵/therm.
The Finance Committee also discussed the proper venue for the discussion of the policy
elements of the plan versus the financial impacts of the plan with the Chair of the Finance
Committee opining that the Finance Committee’s charge is limited to review of the financial
impacts. One Finance Committee member advocated for using local projects such as
gasification projects that could convert local waste to biogas.
After discussion of the differences between—and relative values of—biogas and offsets, the
Finance Committee voted to support the staff recommendation, but to maximize the carbon
reduction with the money spent. Staff interprets this, under current economics and until other
options are available, as a preference for offsets over biogas. As the market changes, the plan
provides flexibility for staff to change that prioritization as well, provided staff adheres to the
goal of maximizing carbon reduction. In addition, the Finance Committee recommended that
Council direct staff to provide Council with an option to “prioritize” local offsets. Staff noted
that local offsets would need to go through the proper certification protocols so that the
carbon neutral claims for the gas portfolio could be verified by an independent party. The
Finance Committee’s vote was 2-1 with Chair Filseth and Wolbach voting yes, Vice Mayor
Schmid voting no and Holman absent. The minutes for the October 18, 2016 Finance
Committee meeting are provided as Attachment C.
Resource Impact
If only offsets are purchased to cover gas burned in the City, rates are expected to increase by
about 4 ₵/therm or approximately 4%. With an additional cost of 4 ₵/therm, the median
residential customer’s bill will increase about $17/year.
At the maximum amount under the rate cap of 10₵/therm, implementation of a carbon-neutral
gas portfolio will increase retail rates (and revenues) and the gas commodity budget. At the
rate impact limit of 10 ₵/therm, commodity costs will increase by about $3 million, from $9
million to $12 million, per year. The retail rate revenue will likewise increase by about $3
City of Palo Alto Page 6
million. If the program is approved, the increased cost and revenues will be reflected in the FY
2018 budget request.
For the median residential customer using 18 therms per month in the summer and 54 therms
per month in the winter, the bill impact will be $1.80/month in the summer and $5.40/month
in the winter, or about $43 per year with the additional 10 ₵/therm rate impact
Policy Implications
The Council-approved Utilities Strategic Plan includes an objective to offer programs to meet
the needs of customers and the community.
Strategy 4 in the Council-approved Gas Utility Long-term Plan (GULP) states:
Reduce the carbon intensity of the gas portfolio in accordance with the Climate
Protection Plan by:
a. Designing and implementing a voluntary retail program using reasonably
priced non‐fossil fuel gas resources; and
b. Purchasing non‐fossil fuel gas for the portfolio as long as it can be done with
no rate impact.
Implementation of a carbon-neutral gas portfolio represents a departure from GULP Strategy 4
because the voluntary program will be eliminated and there will be a rate impact resulting from
non-fossil fuel gas resources being purchased for the portfolio. GULP will need to be revised
accordingly should Council approve a carbon-neutral gas portfolio.
A carbon-neutral gas portfolio would, however, be an important part of meeting Council’s
aggressive sustainability goal to reduce the City’s GHG emissions by 80% by 2030.
Next Steps
If Council approves the Carbon Neutral Gas Plan, staff will execute enabling agreements with
qualified counterparties for purchasing environmental offsets. In addition, new rate schedules
will be developed and brought to the UAC and Finance Committee for recommendations and to
the Council for approval. Staff anticipates that this can be achieved such that the gas portfolio
can be implemented in FY 2018.
Because implementation of a carbon-neutral gas portfolio represents a departure from the
Council-approved GULP strategies, GULP will need to be revised before the program is put into
place.
Cancelling PAG Gas will require communication with the customers, repeal of the rate schedule
via resolution, and removal of the charge on participating customers’ bills by the carbon-neutral
implementation date.
City of Palo Alto Page 7
Environmental Review
The Council’s adoption of this Resolution, which approves a Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Plan
and terminates the PAG Gas program does not meet the definition of a project, pursuant to
section 21065 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Offset, biogas and other
potential project developers will be responsible for acquiring necessary environmental reviews
and permits as those projects are developed.
Attachments:
Attachemnt A: Resolution Carbon Neutral Gas Portfolio (PDF)
Attachment B: Finance Committee Staff Report Regarding the Carbon Neutral Natural
Gas Portfolio Plan (PDF)
Attachment C: Excerpted Draft Minutes of October 18, 2016 Finance Committee
Meeting (PDF)
161102 jb JM/Staff Reports
Attachment A
NOT YET APPROVED
Resolution No. _____
Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Approving a
Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Plan to Achieve a Carbon Neutral
Gas Supply Portfolio by Fiscal Year 2018 with No Greater than
10¢/Therm Rate Impact; and Related Termination of the Palo
Alto Green Gas Program
R E C I T A L S
A. In December 2007, Council adopted the City’s Climate Protection Plan which set
aggressive greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals to be achieved by the year 2020.
B. In March 2013, this Council approved Resolution 9322 directing staff to achieve
carbon neutrality for the electric supply portfolio by 2013 through the use of a combination of
hydroelectric resources, long-term renewable resources and short-term renewable energy
resources and/or renewable energy certificates (“RECs”).
C. On September 9, 2013, this Council approved Resolution 9372 modifying and
suspending portions of the PaloAltoGreen Program, and directing staff to develop a
PaloAltoGreen Gas (PAG Gas Program) Program.
D. On April 21, 2014, this Council approved Resolution 9405 establishing the voluntary
PAG Gas Program to provide the opportunity for residential and commercial customers to
economically reduce or eliminate the impact of GHG emissions associated with their gas usage
through the purchase of certified environmental offsets.
E. In April 2016, this Council adopted a GHG reduction goal of 80% by the year 2030.
GHG emissions associated with natural gas use were 135,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent, or 27% of the City’s GHG emissions, in 2015.
F. Staff initially proposed a Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Plan that would use a
combination of physical biogas and high-quality environmental offsets to achieve a carbon-
neutral gas portfolio by fiscal year 2018 by maximizing the amount of biogas in the portfolio
while holding the rate impact at a maximum limit of ten cents per therm (10 ₵/therm).
G. On August 31, 2016, the Utilities Advisory Commission voted 6-1 to recommend
Council approve a Carbon Neutral Gas Plan using a combination of physical biogas and high-
quality environmental offsets to achieve a carbon-neutral gas portfolio and terminate the PAG
Gas Program.
H. On October 18, 2016, the Finance Committee voted 2-1 to instead recommend that
Council:
(i) Adopt a resolution that (a) approves a Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Plan that would
enable the City to achieve a carbon-neutral gas supply portfolio starting in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018
with a rate impact not to exceed ten cents per therm (10 ¢/therm); and (b) terminate the PAG
Gas Program established by Resolution 9405; and
161102 jb JM/Staff Reports
Attachment A
NOT YET APPROVED
(ii) Direct staff to: (a) develop an implementation plan for the Carbon Neutral Natural
Gas Plan; (b) provide an option for Council to consider prioritizing local offsets; and (c) prioritize
maximizing carbon reduction within the 10 ₵/therm rate impact cap.
The Council of the City of Palo Alto RESOLVES as follows:
SECTION 1. The Council hereby adopts a resolution:
1. Approving a Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Plan, enabling the City to achieve a
carbon-neutral gas supply portfolio starting in fiscal year 2018 with a rate impact not to
exceed ten cents per therm (10 ₵/therm); and
2. Terminating the PAG Gas program established by Resolution 9405.
SECTION 2. The Council’s adoption of this Resolution, which approves a Carbon
Neutral Natural Gas Plan and terminates the PAG Gas program does not meet the definition of a
project, pursuant to section 21065 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Offset,
biogas and other potential project developers will be responsible for acquiring necessary
environmental reviews and permits as those projects are developed.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
Senior Deputy City Attorney City Manager
Director of Utilities
Director of Administrative Services
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7284)
Finance Committee Staff Report
Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 10/18/2016
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Portfolio Plan
Title: Utilities Advisory Commission Recommendation that Council Adopt a
Resolution Approving a Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Portfolio Plan to Achieve
Maximum Carbon Neutrality Using a Combination of Offsets and Biogas in
the Gas Supply Portfolio by Fiscal Year 2018 with No Greater than 10¢/Therm
Rate Impact; and Related Termination of the Palo Alto Green Gas Program
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Utilities
Recommendation
Staff and the Utilities Advisory Commission (UAC) recommend that the Finance Committee
recommend Council:
1.Adopt a resolution (Attachment A) that:
a.Approves the Carbon Neutral Gas Plan, enabling the City to achieve a carbon-neutral
gas supply portfolio starting in fiscal year (FY) 2018 with a rate impact not to exceed
ten cents per therm (10 ₵/therm); and
b.Terminates the PaloAltoGreen Gas program established by Resolution 9405; and
2.Direct staff to develop an implementation plan for the Carbon Neutral Gas Plan.
Executive Summary
The proposed Carbon Neutral Gas Plan will achieve carbon neutrality for the gas supply
portfolio by FY 2018 with a combination of high-quality environmental offsets and physical
“biogas” or “biomethane”. The proposed cost cap to implement the plan is 10 ₵/therm. Based
on current rates, this equates to about a 10% gas rate increase. For the median residential
customer usage, the additional cost of a 10 ₵/therm gas rate increase is about $43 per year.
The PaloAltoGreen Gas (PAG Gas) program was launched in December 2014. PAG Gas is a
voluntary program providing customers with the option to negate the impact of greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions associated with their natural gas usage by purchasing environmental
offsets. Implementation of a carbon-neutral gas portfolio renders the voluntary program
redundant, therefore, termination of PAG Gas is recommended when implementing the Carbon
Neutral Gas Plan.
ATTACHMENT B
City of Palo Alto Page 2
The UAC reviewed the proposed Carbon Neutral Gas Plan on August 31, 2016 and voted to
recommend that Council approve the proposed plan.
Background
City’s GHG Emissions from Natural Gas
Table 1 below, based on data from the 2016 Earth Day report (Staff Report 6754), shows the
estimate for City and community GHG emissions for 1990, 2005, 2012, and 2015.
Table 1
Palo Alto Community and City Greenhouse Gas Emissions (in 000’s of Metric Tons of CO2e)
Emissions Category 1990 2005 2012 2015
Natural Gas Use 194 166 160 135
Electricity Use 186 160 75 0
Mobile Combustion * 332 372 320 330
Other ** 68 54 36 36
Total 780 752 591 501
* Consultant estimate based on population, employment, vehicle miles travelled and
vehicular emission profiles
** Includes landfill, refuse and Regional Water Quality Control Plant emissions
As shown in Table 1, GHG emissions from natural gas use in 2015 were reduced by 4,406 tons
due to the PAG Gas program. The bulk of the reduction in emissions associated with natural gas
use is associated with reduced natural gas use (from 37.2 million therms in 1990 to 30.1 million
therms in 2012 to 25.5 million therms in 2015).
Gas Utility Long-term Plan (GULP) and Early Evaluations of Alternative Gas Supplies
In November 2009, the UAC reviewed an analysis of physical biogas as a resource for the gas
supply portfolio.1 At that time, staff determined that physical biogas cost about 50 ₵/therm
more than natural gas, or about $100 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)2 and would
increase a residential customer’s gas bill by 35%.
GULP includes a strategy to evaluate a voluntary green gas program and evaluate purchasing
non-fossil fuel gas for the gas portfolio. The City Council last approved updates to GULP in April
2012 (Staff Report 2522, Resolution 9244), including GULP Strategy 4:
Reduce the carbon intensity of the gas portfolio in accordance with the Climate
Protection Plan by:
a. Designing and implementing a voluntary retail program using reasonably
priced non‐fossil fuel gas resources; and
b. Purchasing non‐fossil fuel gas for the portfolio as long as it can be done with
no rate impact.
1 http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/17514
2 1 ton/2204.16 lbs * 116 lbs CO2e/1 MMBtu CH4 *1 MMBtu/10 therms = .0053 tons/therm
City of Palo Alto Page 3
In response to the GULP strategies, in April 2013, staff presented alternatives for a PAG Gas
program to the UAC3 including the use of physical biogas for the program, but found that it
would cost about $1 per therm more than natural gas based on responses to a request for
proposal issued by the Northern California Power Agency. In addition, the long-term contracts
required for biogas project developers to secure financing were, and are still, not conducive to
the potentially volatile demand associated with a voluntary green gas program.
PAG Gas
The PAG Gas program was modeled after the highly successful, voluntary PaloAltoGreen (PAG)
program, which allowed participants to receive 100% renewable energy and eliminate the GHG
emissions associated with their electricity use. Participation rates in PAG were the highest
among similar programs throughout the nation earning recognition for the City and creating a
sense of community pride around sustainability efforts. In 2012, approximately 20% of CPAU’s
customers participated in PAG, representing 8% of the City’s total electric usage.
By 2013, the City’s aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goal combined with its
carbon-free hydroelectric resources rendered the electric supply portfolio largely carbon
neutral. In March 2013, City Council approved the Carbon Neutral Plan committing CPAU to
pursue only carbon neutral electric resources beginning in calendar year 2013 (Staff Report
3550, Resolution 9322). In September 2013, City Council suspended PAG and directed staff to
develop a new voluntary PAG Gas program to afford participants the opportunity to eliminate
the GHG emissions associated with their natural gas use (Staff Report 4041, Resolution 9372).4
In April 2014, City Council approved the establishment of a voluntary PAG Gas program (Staff
Report 4596, Resolution 9405) using high quality offsets to back the program. All offsets
purchased to date have been from a livestock methane capture project. The PAG Gas rate is
12₵/therm, which equates to an avoided GHG emissions cost of approximately $22 per ton of
CO2e.
The PAG Gas program goal is a 20% participation rate by 2020 with a corresponding GHG
reduction of 16,000 tons of CO2e per year. The 2020 goal represents a 10% reduction in the
City’s total GHG emissions associated with natural gas consumption. The reductions are
achieved by purchasing high quality environmental offsets, with a preference for California
projects, on behalf of participants in order to reduce or eliminate the impact of GHG emissions
associated with each participating customer’s gas usage. All customers can sign up for PAG Gas
3 https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/33744
4 In June 2014, since the PAG (electric) program is redundant with the Carbon Neutral Plan, Council eliminated the
PAG program for residential customers (Staff Report 4718, Resolution 9422). At the same time, Council also
reactivated the program for commercial customers since some customers (including City facilities) desire to
participate in a voluntary green electric program to achieve environmental recognition and certifications in line
with their own corporate sustainability goals including participation in the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (USGBC LEED) Program and the U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership Program.
City of Palo Alto Page 4
for their entire gas usage; commercial customers also have the option of participating in the
program for part of their natural gas usage.
Since the program launch in December 2014, roughly 4% of the City’s residential natural gas
customers have participated in PAG Gas accounting for approximately 3,200 tons of GHG
emissions per year. City facilities began participating in PAG Gas in July 2015 and account for
GHG emissions reductions of approximately 6,000 tons per year. For a typical residential
customer participating in PAG Gas, the cost is approximately $5 per month for an average use
of 42 therms per month. After the June 1, 2016 UAC meeting, staff began to evaluate carbon
neutral gas supply options and suspended active marketing of the program, resulting in
decreased participation in the program.
Figure 1 below shows the trajectory of PAG Gas participation for January 2015 through July
2016.
Figure 1: PAG Gas Program Participation
Figure 2 below shows the number of PAG Gas participants by customer type. Figure 3 shows the
percentage of total gas usage by customer type. As shown, the vast majority of participants are
residential customers—as was the case with the PAG (electric) program. The bulk of the
City of Palo Alto Page 5
participation in terms of gas usage is for City facilities. Very few commercial customers have
participated in the program to date.
Approximately 4.1% of the City’s residential natural gas customers have signed up for PAG Gas
as of the end of June 2016. In July 2015 all City facilities began participating in the program for
100% of their gas usage.
Figure 2: Number of Customers Participating in PAG Gas
City of Palo Alto Page 6
Figure 3: Percentage of the City’s Total Gas Load Participating in PAG Gas
Utilities Advisory Commission Discussions
At its October 7, 2015 meeting the UAC heard public comment on, and discussed the merits
and drawbacks of, an opt-in versus an opt-out structure for the voluntary PAG Gas program.
The minutes from that meeting are provided as Attachment B. At its June 1, 2016, meeting the
UAC was presented with an overview and high-level analysis of several options for reducing the
carbon impact of natural gas use in the City including converting the voluntary program to an
opt-out model (meaning all customers would be automatically enrolled in the program, but
could voluntarily leave the program at any time) and adopting a carbon neutral portfolio for all
customers using either environmental offsets or physical biogas. The four main options
discussed by the UAC at its June 1, 2016 meeting are summarized in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Alternatives for Gas Portfolio GHG Reduction
Pros Cons
Opt-in
Program
Consistent with CPAU’s past practices
of providing program and service
options for those who want them.
Allows participants to feel proud that
they are doing more to help the
environment
Requires significant and continuing
outreach effort to maximize
participation—and minimize
administrative costs—by capturing all
customers who would participate in the
program if they knew about and
understood it
City of Palo Alto Page 7
Pros Cons
Opt-out
Program
Much greater reductions in GHG
emissions associated with natural gas
usage could be achieved sooner and
at a lower cost
After start up, easy and low cost to
administer
Risk of harming CPAU’s reputation as the
program can be viewed by customers as
“slamming” or even taking advantage of
customers who are not paying attention
even after being notified of right to opt-
out
Requires ongoing outreach to notify
customers of their ability to opt-out at any
time
Requires development of detailed
program rules and processes to allow for
opting out/in, securing refunds and
identifying potential sources of funds for
such refunds.
Gas
Portfolio
Backed by
Offsets
Maximum reductions in GHG
emissions associated with natural gas
usage
Minimal administrative costs
No need for complicated program
terms and conditions
Could be perceived as an overreaching
mandate
Small rate increase for all customers
Cost varies with the cost of environmental
offsets
Gas
Portfolio
Backed by
Green
Gas
Maximum reductions in GHG
emissions associated with natural gas
usage if for 100% of the gas portfolio
Minimal administrative costs
No need for complicated program
terms and conditions
Could be perceived as overreaching
Large rate increase for all customers,
especially if for 100% of the gas portfolio
Cost varies with the cost of green gas
Opt-In versus Opt-Out Alternative
Staff provided further analysis for the June 1, 2016 UAC discussion comparing opt-in and opt-
out designs including the cost comparison between the two approaches as shown in Table 3.
City of Palo Alto Page 8
Table 3: Opt-in versus Opt-out Program Cost Estimates
Opt-in Program Opt-out Program
Units Current Post-
2020
First Year Subsequent
Years
Participation % of gas
usage
6% 10% 90% 80%
GHG emissions reduced tons1 9,000 15,000 135,000 120,000
Offset Cost $/ton2 9.25 9.25 9.25 9.25
₵/therm 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.4
Administrative cost $/year
$/ton
$120,000
13.16
$85,000
5.66
$400,0003
2.96
$40,000
0.33
₵/therm 7.0 3.0 1.6 0.5
Total Cost
Retail Rate
$/ton 22.46 14.91 12.21 9.58
₵/therm 12 8 6 5
Residential Bill Impact4 $/month 4.32 2.88 2.16 1.80
Notes:
1. GHG emissions based on projected gas usage of 28.5 million therms per year (150K tons CO2e)
2. Offset costs will adjust with market conditions
3. Communication activities and billing system changes
4. Median residential customer gas use: 54 therms in winter month and 18 therms in summer
A comparison of anticipated customer reactions to the two approaches was also presented and
is shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Anticipated Customer Reactions to Opt-in and Opt-out Programs
Customer Opt-In Program Opt-Out Program
Active
Supporter
Participates in PAG Gas Supports, would not opt out
Passive
Supporter
Intend to opt in, but have
not prioritized signing up
Supports, would not opt out
Unaware
Supporter
Would opt-in, but have
not heard about it
Would not opt out
Ambivalent Don’t pay attention, or
care either way
Unlikely to opt out
Unaware
Opponent
Would not opt in Prefers to opt out, but not paying attention to the City’s
messaging or the resulting changes to their utility bills
Passive
Opponent
Would not opt in Doesn’t support the program, but unlikely to prioritize
opting out
Aware
Opponent
Would not opt in Really don’t want to participate but feel guilty or
embarrassed about opting out, especially if the program
is characterized as being environmentally friendly
Active
Opponent
Would not opt in Would opt-out of the program
City of Palo Alto Page 9
UAC Action on June 1, 2016
On June 1, 2016, the UAC discussed the alternatives to continuing PAG Gas as a voluntary opt-in
program and generally agreed that the current opt-in model was the least desired option.
The UAC discussed the incremental cost of biogas and the availability of environmental offsets
and said that, if the long-term goal was to have a carbon neutral gas portfolio, it would not be
advisable to first convert the program to an opt-out program and then move to a carbon
neutral portfolio since it would look like there was an opt-out option, but then that option
would be taken away. One suggestion was to start with a portfolio that is not 100% carbon
neutral and transition to 100% carbon neutral over time. Another suggestion was to start with
offsets first and move to add more biogas over time. However, at the June 1, 2016 meeting,
the UAC was not presented detailed costs for the different alternatives.
One commissioner expressed support for converting to an opt-out program and advised against
introducing a new program that costs more when gas rates are increasing as shown in the long-
term Gas Financial Plan.
At its June 1, 2016 meeting, the UAC voted 6-1 (with Chair Cook, Vice Chair Danaher, and
Commissioners Ballantine, Forssell, Johnston and Trumbull voting yes and Commissioner
Schwartz opposed) to recommend that Council adopt a carbon neutral gas portfolio and direct
staff to develop an implementation plan. The minutes from the UAC’s June 2016 meeting are
provided as Attachment C.
Discussion
To design and implement a carbon-neutral gas portfolio plan, several inter-related variables
must be considered, including:
1. Rate impact.
2. Supply source (environmental offsets or biogas).
3. Timeframe over which carbon neutrality is achieved
4. Percentage of the portfolio to be made carbon-neutral.
With respect to each of the variables above, staff makes the following recommendations:
1. Rate impact: No greater than 10¢/therm annually
2. Supply source: Combination of environmental offsets and biogas, with exact mix
designed to maximize carbon neutrality within established rate impact limit. Staff
estimates approximate ratio of offsets (95%) to biogas (5%) at the outset of the
program.
3. Timeframe over which carbon neutrality is achieved: By FY 2018
4. Percentage of portfolio made carbon neutral: 100%
City of Palo Alto Page 10
Rate Impact
Staff recommends that Council make a clear determination of acceptable rate impact for a
carbon-neutral gas portfolio. Council took such a step with respect to Carbon Neutral Plan for
electricity where rate impacts, for a variety of reasons, were expected to be less significant than
those potential impacts from a carbon free gas portfolio. The rate impact of achieving carbon
neutrality for the electric portfolio is quite small (on the order of 1-2%) because the
incremental cost to get to carbon-neutrality is diminished by the significant RPS requirement
and the fact that carbon-free hydroelectric supplies provide about half of the City’s energy
requirements in a normal year. The rate cap for the carbon neutral electric portfolio established
by Council is 0.15 cents per kWh (Staff Report 3550, Resolution 9322).
By contrast, the costs associated with a carbon neutral gas supply and associated rate impacts
are not likely to be as low. The gas portfolio is currently supplied 100% by a fossil fuel source,
whereas the electric supply portfolio includes a large fraction of carbon-free hydroelectric
supplies and is subject to the State requirement for renewable supplies to meet a minimum of
33% (now 50% by 2030) of the City’s needs. A rate impact of 10 ₵/therm is equal to
approximately a 10% rate increase based on current gas rates and assuming a commodity rate,
which fluctuates monthly with market prices, of 30 ₵/therm.
Supply Source
Offsets as Supply Source
Using environmental offsets to neutralize the GHG emissions of the gas portfolio is significantly
less expensive than buying biogas. If environmental offsets were purchased today for 100% of
the City’s gas usage, all customers would experience a rate increase of approximately 4%. A
residential customer’s winter bill would increase by about $2 per month (about $0.75 in the
summer). A range of potential offset costs were analyzed and are presented in Figure 4 below.
The current cost of offsets is about $8 per ton of CO2e, which is equivalent to 4 ₵/therm.
City of Palo Alto Page 11
Figure 4: Rate and Bill Impact of Using 100% Offsets to Achieve Carbon-Neutrality
Biogas as a Supply Source
Alternatively, the City’s gas needs could be met with renewable physical biogas, a much more
expensive option.
Biogas is a product of organic conversion (from cow manure at a dairy farm or from a landfill,
for example). Most biogas produced in the United States is used as either a transportation fuel
or to generate electricity. Biogas is most valuable as a transportation fuel due to the Federal
Renewable Fuel Standard program and the state regulations like California’s Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS) and Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Biogas converted to electricity may be
used to meet California’s RPS compliance obligations for electric utilities. State regulation and
pipeline interconnection costs have largely kept biomethane projects out of California, but out-
of-state supply sources are available.
The short-term price for biogas is in the $2-$3 per therm range due to the transportation fuel-
driven demand mentioned above. For a longer-term fixed-price commitment (5-7 years), prices
are discounted to around $1.50 per therm. Two things eliminated the consideration of biogas
for the City’s voluntary PAG Gas program: (1) the cost and the incompatibility between a
voluntary program with uncertain demand; and (2) the biogas project developers’ need long-
term commitments. While cost is still an issue, if it decided to pursue a carbon-neutral portfolio
for the long term, the City would be in a position to make a long-term commitment for biogas.
At a biogas price of $1.50/therm (or $1.20/therm over the projected $0.30/therm cost for
natural gas), supplying 100% of the portfolio with biogas results in about a 120% rate increase
City of Palo Alto Page 12
or about $65 more per month on an average residential customer’s monthly winter bill (or
about $22 per month more in the summer when average residential use is 18 therms/month).
Figure 5 shows both the rate and bill impacts at various biogas prices.
Figure 5: Rate and Bill Impact of Using 100% Biogas to Achieve Carbon-Neutrality
The two supply sources, environmental offsets and biogas, could be combined to achieve
carbon-neutrality. However, even a ratio of 5% biogas and 95% environmental offsets results in
a rate impact greater than 10%. Figure 6 shows the rate and bill impacts for different
percentages of the two supply resources using biogas costing $1.50/therm and environmental
offsets costing $8 per ton.
City of Palo Alto Page 13
Figure 6: Rate and Bill Impact of Using a Combination of Biogas and Offsets to Achieve
Carbon-Neutrality (Assumes $1.5/therm Biogas & $8/ton Offsets)
Carbon Neutrality: Portfolio Percentage & Timeframe
Two other variables may be adjusted when designing a carbon neutral plan. To reduce the cost
impact of buying green gas for the gas portfolio and the GHG emissions reductions only a
portion of the portfolio could be made carbon neutral. Alternately, or in addition, a green gas
portfolio standard could increase over time (e.g. start at 10% in FY 2018 increasing to 100% by
FY 2021).
Figure 7 shows the rate and bill impacts of various biogas to offset ratios if less than 100% of
the portfolio is carbon-neutral. Again, a $1.50/therm biogas price and an $8 per ton
environmental offset price are assumed.
City of Palo Alto Page 14
Figure 7: Rate and Bill Impact of Using a Combination of Biogas and Offsets to Achieve Partial
Carbon-Neutrality (Assumes $1.5/therm Biogas & $8/ton Offsets)
Summary of Proposal
The proposed plan will use a combination of physical biogas and high-quality environmental
offsets to achieve a carbon-neutral gas portfolio by FY 2018. The amount of biogas included in
the portfolio will be maximized while causing rates to increase by no more than 10 ₵/therm.
Given the 10 ₵/therm rate impact cap and current market prices, approximately 5% of the City’s
portfolio can be met with biogas with the remaining 95% neutralized with environmental
offsets.
If the price of offsets increases, the portfolio may need to comprise up to 100% offsets, or the
portfolio may be less than 100% carbon neutral. On the other hand, if the price of offsets
decreases, the proportion of biogas will increase. Purchasing biogas for less than 5% of the total
portfolio demand may be too small for a transaction. In that case, the portfolio will be
comprised of 100% offsets, and the rate impact with be significantly less than 10 ₵/therm.
Cost-effectiveness of a Carbon-neutral Gas Portfolio Compared to Electrification
In May 2015, the UAC reviewed a cost effectiveness study for abating GHG emissions by
electrifying building appliances and passenger vehicles. The report was provided to Council in
August 2015 (Staff Report 5971). Figure 8 shows the societal costs of carbon from that study
compared to the carbon cost of environmental offsets and biogas. The estimated cost of
$1.50/therm for biogas, or an incremental cost of $1.20/therm relative to brown gas, results in
an incremental cost of carbon of $226 per ton of CO2e. Environmental offsets are assumed to
cost $8/ton of CO2e.
City of Palo Alto Page 15
Figure 8: Incremental Societal Abatement Cost
As shown in Figure 8, environmental offsets are a much less expensive way to achieve carbon
reductions compared to most electrification options5. Biogas, however, results in higher
abatement costs than converting from natural gas-fired water and space heaters to electric
heat pump water and space heaters and converting from a gas stovetop to an electric stovetop.
Proposed Biogas and Offset Criteria for Carbon-neutral Gas Supply
Offset Criteria – Same as Approved for PAG Gas
For the PAG Gas program, Council approved the use of high-quality environmental offsets from
protocols approved by the California Air Resources Board. The approved protocols currently
include forestry, livestock, landfill, coal mine methane, urban forestry, ozone depleting
substance and rice cultivation projects. Offsets used for PAG Gas do not need to be certified by
CARB as it is an extra expense and only necessary if offsets are to be used for a regulatory
compliance obligation. Staff proposes to apply the same standards to offsets used for the
Carbon Neutral Gas Plan including a preference for California and local projects (Staff Report
4596, Resolution 9405).
Biogas Criteria – “Displacement” Concept Allowed
Biogas is generated from an organic source such a waste from a dairy farm, other agricultural
waste or from a landfill. Very little biogas is produced in California, but the Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard Program is driving the development of
projects in other states. The EPA recognizes two things: (1) molecules of biogas go into the
pipeline and rarely end up being burned by the purchaser of that gas and (2) gas transportation
5 The study concluded that (after federal and state incentives) it is cheaper to own and operate a compact electric
car (Nissan Leaf) than a similarly sized gasoline vehicle (Honda Civic) resulting in a negative incremental abatement
cost.
City of Palo Alto Page 16
can add significant costs if a biogas purchaser is forced to move gas long distances. The EPA,
therefore, allows for “displacement” whereby biogas is purchased at a point near the project
site and the environmental attributes of that gas are attached to brown gas delivered at a
different location. California’s RPS program, on the other hand, requires entities to contract for
gas transportation from the biogas source to the end use, adding significant cost to the gas.
Because the City is seeking ways to reduce its GHG emissions and is not using offsets or biogas
to meet a compliance obligation, the City has latitude to establish its own criteria for biogas use
and eligibility under the City’s carbon-neutral gas supply program. Staff recommends utilization
of the EPA’s approach, which allows for displacement of biogas in one location for brown gas in
another location under the City’s carbon-neutral gas program.
Alternatives
There are many alternatives to the proposed program, which can be described by varying the
key determinants. The following examples are ways in which the plan can be modified.
1. Rate impact: A rate impact higher than 10 ₵/therm would result in more biogas versus
offsets being part of the portfolio. If the rate impact limit was reduced, the portfolio may
not be able to be 100% carbon neutral. As another alternative, the rate impact could
increase over time—for example, starting out at 5 ₵/therm and increasing to 10 ₵/therm in
five years.
2. Supply: The proposed plan includes a combination of biogas and offsets such that the
amount of biogas is maximized while limiting the rate impact to a set amount (10 ₵/therm).
Instead of a rate impact measure, the program could be developed with a prescribed ratio
of biogas to offsets. In this case, the rate impact would depend on the cost of the offsets
and the biogas and could change year to year.
3. Carbon-neutral coverage of the portfolio: The proposed plan uses the full 10 ₵/therm to get
up to 100% carbon neutrality with the expectation that most (95%) of the supply will be
environmental offsets with the balance being biogas. However, the goal could be less than
100% carbon neutral supplies—for example, the goal could be to achieve 50% carbon
neutral supplies while under the 10 ₵/therm rate impact, which would allow for purchases
of biogas for about 8% of the gas needs and offsets for about 43% of the gas needs given
current prices for offsets and biogas supplies.
4. Timing: The most aggressive implementation schedule, by FY 2018, is recommended.
Carbon-neutrality could be staged over any number of years with changing rate impact or
changing proportion of offsets to biogas.
These program attributes could be combined in any number of ways to develop a program as
shown in Table 5 below.
City of Palo Alto Page 17
Table 5: Proposed Carbon Neutral Gas Plan and Alternatives
Rate Impact
Limit (₵/therm)
Expected Supply 1,2 Carbon Neutral
Portfolio Offsets Biogas
Proposed Program 10 95% 5% 100%
Lower Rate Impact 5 100% 0% 100%
Higher Rate Impact 15 90% 10% 100%
No Offsets
5 0% 4% 4%
10 0% 8% 8%
15 0% 13% 13%
25% Carbon Neutral Portfolio
5 21.5% 3.5%
25% 10 17.5% 7.5%
15 13% 12%
50% Carbon Neutral Portfolio
5 47.5% 2.5%
50% 10 43.25% 6.75%
15 39% 11%
75% Carbon Neutral Portfolio
5 73.5% 1.5%
75% 10 69% 6%
15 65% 10%
Notes: 1 Assumes current prices for environmental offsets and biogas
2 Biogas volumes of less than 5% of the portfolio are likely too small to transact
Commission Review and Recommendation
Staff presented the proposed Carbon Neutral Gas Plan to the UAC at its August 31, 2016
meeting. Commissioners asked if the gas that would be neutralized by buying offsets or
replaced with biogas accounts for all the gas the City uses in addition to whatever is leaked
from source to transportation to the distribution system. Staff explained that the gas needs
were determined by what the City buys at the Citygate and it includes any gas leaked in the
City’s gas distribution system, but not any leaks in the gas transportation system or at the gas
source. The greenhouse gas emission calculation is based on accounting for the gas at the
Citygate as if it was 100% burned and not leaked as methane.
Commissioners generally indicated they liked the flexibility of the proposed program since it
provides for a higher amount of biogas as the cost comes down and it supports the
development of a biogas marketplace. Commissioners also discussed whether carbon neutral
gas would dampen the enthusiasm for electrification and asked if carbon neutral electricity has
dampened the penetration of rooftop solar.
After discussion and hearing public comment, the UAC voted to recommend Council approve
the plan (6-1 with Chair Cook, Vice Chair Danaher, and Commissioners Ballantine, Forssell,
Johnston, and voting yes and Commissioner Schwartz voting no). The minutes from the UAC’s
August 31, 2016 meeting are provided as Attachment D.
City of Palo Alto Page 18
Resource Impact
Implementation of a carbon-neutral gas portfolio will increase retail rates (and revenues) and
the gas commodity budget. The recommendation is to cap the rate impact at 10 ₵/therm. At
that level, commodity costs will increase by about $3 million, from $9 million to $12 million, per
year. The retail rate revenue will likewise increase by $3 million. If the program is approved, the
increased cost and revenues will be reflected in the FY 2018 budget request.
A rate increase of 10 ₵/therm will increase rates by approximately 10%. For the median
residential customer using 18 therms per month in the summer and 54 therms per month in the
winter, the bill impact will be $1.80/month in the summer and $5.40/month in the winter, or
about $43 per year.
Policy Implications
The Council-approved Utilities Strategic Plan includes an objective to offer programs to meet
the needs of customers and the community.
Strategy 4 in the Council-approved GULP states:
Reduce the carbon intensity of the gas portfolio in accordance with the Climate
Protection Plan by:
a. Designing and implementing a voluntary retail program using reasonably
priced non‐fossil fuel gas resources; and
b. Purchasing non‐fossil fuel gas for the portfolio as long as it can be done with
no rate impact.
Implementation of a carbon-neutral gas portfolio represents a departure from GULP Strategy 4
because the voluntary program will be eliminated and there will be a rate impact resulting from
non-fossil fuel gas resources being purchased for the portfolio. GULP will need to be revised
accordingly should Council approve a carbon-neutral gas portfolio.
A carbon-neutral gas portfolio would, however, be an important part of meeting Council’s
aggressive goal to reduce the City’s GHG emissions by 80% by 2030.
Next Steps
Several tasks must be completed before implementing the proposed Carbon Neutral Gas Plan.
For example, existing gas purchasing agreements may be used to procure biogas with details
about the biogas added to the transaction confirmations. Environmental offsets for the current
PAG Gas program are included in the City’s agreement with the program administrator, so new
contracts may need to be developed to purchase offsets for the carbon-neutral portfolio. If the
Carbon Neutral Gas Plan is approved by Council, staff will execute enabling agreements with
qualified counterparties for purchasing environmental offsets.
City of Palo Alto Page 19
In addition, new rate schedules will be developed and brought to the UAC and Finance
Committee for recommendations and to the Council for approval. Staff anticipates that this can
be achieved such that the gas portfolio can be implemented in FY 2018.
Because implementation of a carbon-neutral gas portfolio represents a departure from the
Council-approved GULP strategies, GULP will need to be revised before the program is put into
place.
Cancelling PAG Gas will require communication with the customers, repeal of the rate schedule
via resolution, and removal of the charge on participating customers’ bills by the carbon-neutral
implementation date.
Environmental Review
The Council’s adoption of a resolution implementing a carbon-neutral gas portfolio and
terminating the PaloAltoGreen Gas Program does not meet the definition of a project, pursuant
to section 21065 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Offset and biogas project
developers will be responsible for performing necessary environmental reviews and acquiring
permits as offset and biogas projects are developed.
Attachments:
Attachment A: Resolution Approving Carbon Neutral Gas Portfolio (PDF)
Attachment B: Excerpted Final Minutes of October 7, 2015 UAC Meeting (PDF)
Attachment C: Excerpted Final Minutes of June 1, 2016 UAC Meeting (PDF)
Attachment D: Excerpted Draft Minutes of August 31, 2016 UAC Special Meeting (PDF)
NOT YET APPROVED
160921 jb JM/Staff Reports
Resolution No.
Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Approving a
Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Portfolio Plan to Achieve Maximum
Carbon Neutrality Using a Combination of Offsets and Biogas in
the Gas Supply Portfolio by Fiscal Year 2018 with No Greater than
10¢/Therm Rate Impact; and Related Termination of the Palo Alto
Green Gas Program
R E C I T A L S
A. In December 2007, Council adopted the City’s Climate Protection Plan which set
aggressive greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals to be achieved by the year 2020.
B. In March 2013, this Council approved Resolution 9322 directing staff to achieve
carbon neutrality for the electric supply portfolio by 2013 through the use of a combination of
hydroelectric resources, long-term renewable resources and short-term renewable energy
resources and/or renewable energy certificates (“RECs”).
C. On September 9, 2013, this Council approved Resolution 9372 modifying and
suspending portions of the PaloAltoGreen Program, and directing staff to develop a
PaloAltoGreen Gas (PAG Gas Program) Program.
D. On April 21, 2014, this Council approved Resolution 9405 establishing the voluntary
PAG Gas Program to provide the opportunity for residential and commercial customers to
economically reduce or eliminate the impact of GHG emissions associated with their gas usage
through the purchase of certified environmental offsets.
E. In April 2016, this Council adopted a GHG reduction goal of 80% by the year 2030.
GHG emissions associated with natural gas use were 135,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent, or 27% of the City’s GHG emissions, in 2015.
F. The Carbon Neutral Gas Plan uses a combination of physical biogas and high-quality
environmental offsets to achieve a carbon-neutral gas portfolio by fiscal year 2018 by
maximizing the amount of biogas in the portfolio while holding the rate impact to ten cents per
therm (10 ₵/therm).
G. On August 31, 2016, the Utilities Advisory Commission voted 6-1 to recommend
Council approve the proposed Carbon Neutral Gas Plan and terminate the PAG Gas Program.
The Council of the City of Palo Alto RESOLVES as follows:
SECTION 1. The Council hereby adopts the resolution:
Attachment A
NOT YET APPROVED
160921 jb JM/Staff Reports
1.Approving a Carbon Neutral Gas Plan, enabling the City to achieve a carbon-
neutral gas supply portfolio starting in fiscal year 2018 with a rate impact not to exceed ten
cents per therm (10 ₵/therm); and
2.Terminating the PaloAltoGreen Gas program established by Resolution 9405.
SECTION 2. The Council’s adoption of this Resolution, which implements a carbon
neutral gas portfolio and terminates the Palo Alto Green Gas program does not meet the
definition of a project, pursuant to section 21065 of the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA). Offset and biogas project developers will be responsible for acquiring necessary
environmental reviews and permits as those projects are developed.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
Senior Deputy City Attorney City Manager
Director of Utilities
Director of Administrative Services
ATTACHMENT B
EXCERPTED FINAL MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 7, 2015
UTILITIES ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING
ITEM 2. DISCUSSION: Conversion of the PaloAltoGreen Gas Program From an Opt-In to an
Opt-Out Program
Chair Foster noted that this item is on the agenda due to support for the idea expressed from
members of the community.
Public Comment
Sandra Slater commended the commission for keeping sustainability on the agenda. She said
that it's time to move the needle now. She noted that research shows that participation will be
much higher if the program was converted to an opt-out program. She said that the program
could be changed to make the program supportable by all income levels. Converting the
program to an opt-out program is something the City could do that would have an immediate,
positive impact.
Lisa Van Dusen said that the program is not perfect since it is backed by offsets, but we
shouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We could pay even more by purchasing
more aggressive offsets. There could be mechanisms to get out of the program during an
"amnesty period" and low income customers on the Rate Assistance Program could be retained
as opt-in customers. She said that there was so much staff effort for the PaloAltoGreen
(electric) program just to achieve 24% participation and that there would be savings from lower
marketing and administration costs in an opt-out program.
Chair Foster said that the money paid by PaloAltoGreen Gas (PAGG) program participants fund
offsets that pay to convert waste into methane that is burned to produce renewable electricity
at a dairy farm in Wisconsin and that this wouldn't be done without the revenue from the
offsets. Assistant Director Jane Ratchye indicated that this is correct. She said that the offsets
that back this program are very high quality as they are selected only from those protocols that
have been certified for use in the state’s cap-and-trade auction by the California Air Resources
Board. One of the requirements of those protocols is that the offset be “additive”, or from a
project that would not have been done without the monetary support from the sale of the
offsets. Chair Foster said that he supports an opt-out program and that the additional cost is
only $5 to $6 per month for the average resident.
Commissioner Ballantine noted that there are ongoing costs to maintain an anaerobic digester.
He said that people who opt-in are causing something real to happen. The greenhouse gas
emissions reductions from those sources would not otherwise happen without programs like
PAGG.
Vice Chair Cook noted that the PaloAltoGreen (PAG) Electric program was effectively converted
to cover everyone via the carbon neutral program and was a great way to transfer the new
goal. He asked why PAGG was not made an opt-out program originally. Vice Chair Cook added
that Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs were successful because they were opt-
out programs. Ratchye replied that the carbon neutral electric supply is not the same as PAG
and that it was not developed as a transition from PAG. She noted that PAG purchased
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for 100% of a residential customer’s load at a cost of 1.5
cents/kWh, or about 12% more than the normal electric rate. On the other hand, the carbon
neutral electric supplies consist of about half carbon-free hydroelectric supplies, renewable
supplies that are eligible under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and that RECs
are purchased for the balance of the needs. It is expected that by the end of 2016, the City’s
RPS will be 57% and with hydro supplies (given a normal hydro year), no RECs will be needed
for carbon neutral electric supplies. She said that the state’s new goal for an RPS of 50% would
result in carbon neutrality anyway at no additional cost in a normal hydro year. However, the
increased cost of PAGG for participants is 12 cents per therm, or about 12% more than the
normal gas rate of about $1 per therm. She said that the additional cost for PAGG was a
consideration for making the program an opt-in program like PAG when the program was
originally conceived. In addition, the program was just launched in January 2015 (and has yet
to roll out a comprehensive marketing campaign for the program) and staff was hoping to
determine the community’s appetite for the program. Ratchye agreed that CCAs are successful
opt-out programs, but that they are generally no more costly than the alternative from the local
utility so participants are not paying any extra to be “slammed” into a CCA.
Vice Chair Cook said that our rates are allowed to go up with the carbon neutral electric
supplies and asked what the threshold is for an opt-out versus an opt-in program.
Chair Foster replied that the comparison of PAGG to the carbon neutral plan is different—like
apples and oranges—since the carbon neutral electric supplies is not an opt-out, or opt-in,
program, but is the electric supply for all customers. The percentage increase in cost to electric
rate payers by going carbon neutral is small compared to the percentage increase to a customer
by paying for participation in PAGG. He said that PAGG should be compared to the PAG electric
program.
Chair Foster asked if there is any legal reason that City Council could not adopt an opt-out
program. Senior Deputy Assistant City Attorney Jessica Mullan said that a legal analysis would
have to be completed and the answer may depend on the program design.
Commissioner Schwartz asked if the point of the program was to reduce gas use or raise
revenue. Chair Foster responded that neither of those options is the point, but that the
objective is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with customers’ gas use.
Commissioner Schwartz said that she agreed that more people will do an opt-out program, but
that we need to make sure that participants truly want to participate. We need to provide a
very easy way for people to opt-out and not be penalized for any of the months they were
enrolled if they don’t want to be. A good outreach campaign could be a good way to increase
awareness of the issue and it could have an impact of increasing customers’ awareness. She
said that the program could be a bridge for people to become more conscious of using energy
and would not just be a way to buy ourselves out of the problem.
Commissioner Hall suggested that we not act too hastily, but develop a program like this over
time, similar to the carbon neutral portfolio adoption. He said that he suspects that there
would be a percentage of consumers that would find out later that they were enrolled in a
“voluntary” program and feel cheated. A way forward could be to develop a carbon negative
plan and start with a surcharge that would fund a solution to global warming. He said it could
be a program that would be broadly advertised to ensure that everyone would be aware of the
program.
Commissioner Schwartz noted that she had seen an effective “cow power” video, which is an
example of how the communication can be done in a playful way that would let people
understand that we are in this together, which is a compelling message for many people. She
added that it would be a good messaging experiment.
Commissioner Eglash thanked the public commenters. He also complimented the UAC for
placing the item on the agenda and allowing this discussion to take place. Commissioner Eglash
said that when he weighs the advantages and disadvantages of opt-in versus opt-out, he would
like to avoid disgruntled customers and any worry about customer satisfaction. The greatest
danger of an opt-out plan is potential customer dissatisfaction. We devote a lot of time to
customer satisfaction with the utility. He said it is more risky in this respect and as the price
becomes significant, the danger becomes worse. He said that, with a full marketing campaign,
is it still plausible that people would not be in the program that wouldn't want to be. He added
that perhaps a very successful campaign would result in the same participation of an opt-out
and an opt-in program. Commissioner Eglash indicated that he is leaning towards maintaining
PAGG as an opt-in program. He added that there should be no action on the item at this time
since there is no staff analysis, no fiscal analysis or legal analysis completed at this time. The
discussion is conceptual at this point; there is no proposed design for an opt-out program.
Chair Foster indicated that he disagrees that the participation rates for opt-in versus opt-out
will converge with a great marketing campaign. He added that this is a discussion item on the
agenda tonight so no action can be done.
Commissioner Schwartz said that customer satisfaction depends on transparency. The fact that
CPAU cares about being green will show that an opt-out program is consistent with the brand.
She added that safeguards to allow folks to opt-out will be consistent with transparency.
Commissioner Eglash said that many people in Palo Alto take pride in the City’s environmental
efforts. He stated that safety, reliability, and low cost are primary considerations and to impose
a greener solution that costs extra money is hazardous and must be done carefully.
Commissioner Ballantine noted that offset resources are finite and that pressures from supply
and demand will eventually bite us as the price for offsets will increase as demand increases.
He added that an opt-out program would require sufficient offsets to be supplied.
Commissioner Danaher said that the PAGG program has an environmental benefit, a
psychological benefit, and a moral benefit. He said that the best idea is to make the program
neither opt-in or opt-out, but our gas supply for everyone. He added that an opt-out program
still allows people to opt-out easily since it could be very easy to go to the website and opt out.
Commissioner Hall said that we could conduct a poll to see what the customers’ response
would be to an opt-out program. He said that we should want to have this information before
making a decision.
Commissioner Schwartz advised against a poll as it would defeat the purpose of communicating
the benefits of an opt-out program. Commissioner Danaher added that the poll would only be
answered by the small number of people who read and respond to email.
Commissioner Foster said that the program could be designed so that anyone who failed to
opt-out early enough could still get their money back. He asked if the UAC could make a
motion to recommend that the Council direct staff to develop an opt-out program. Director
Fong stated that it can be added to the rolling calendar. Mullan added that the item is
agendized as a discussion item and that the Commission can add it as a future item to be
agendized under Item 4 on this meeting’s agenda.
Vice Chair Cook thanked the public commenters. Commissioner Hall added his appreciation of
the input from the public commenters, even if some commissioners disagree.
ATTACHMENT C
EXCERPTED FINAL MINUTES OF THE JUNE 1, 2016
UTILITIES ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING
ITEM 2. ACTION: Utilities Advisory Commission Discussion on Alternatives to the Existing
Voluntary Opt-In PaloAltoGreen Gas Program Including an Opt-Out Mechanism and a Carbon-
Neutral Natural Gas Portfolio
Senior Resource Planner Karla Dailey summarized the written report.
Commissioner Schwartz asked why is was so expensive just to convert from opt-in to opt-out
since the rate is not being changed. Dailey explained that changes to the billing system made up
the bulk of costs. Dailey pointed out that, after the initial investment, administrative costs drop
significantly for the opt-out program. Commissioner Schwartz stated that the cost estimate
seemed very high and questioned the advisability of making changes to the billing system,
which is planned for replacement.
Interim Director Shikada said the timing of an opt-out program should take into account the
legacy billing system.
Commissioner Trumbull asked about the bill impact. Dailey confirmed the bill impact is only for
those customers in the voluntary program.
Commissioner Ballantine asked about the customer breakdown. Dailey said 50% is residential,
30% is small commercial and 20% is large commercial.
Commissioner Forssell asked about the variability for a typical residential customer. Dailey said
some residential customers probably have much higher bills.
Dailey described the types of customers with respect to an opt-out program structure: active
supporters, passive supporters, unaware supporters, ambivalent customers, unaware
opponents, passive opponents, aware opponents and active opponents. Dailey said staff is
concerned about the customers who would be opposed to an opt-out structure, but do not opt-
out right away for whatever reason leading to resentment and poor customer relations at a
later date as well as issues around refunding the PAG Gas fee should a customer demand that.
Commissioner Schwartz said that bill impact was so small that it shouldn’t cause harm to most
customers and, if it was easy to opt-out, an opt-out program shouldn’t be a problem for
anyone. If there were customers that found out later and were mad, the program could be
designed to allow for refunding those customers. Dailey said that this is problematic.
Commissioner Schwartz said that the risk to consumer attitude seems not to be a large issue.
Continuing with the presentation, Dailey said that another option is to convert all, or a portion
of, the natural gas portfolio to carbon neutral supplies.
Commissioner Johnston asked if there would be any mechanical issues with running biogas
through the pipeline. Dailey said that there would be no problem since biogas must meet the
pipeline quality standards. Commissioner Ballantine added that the quality requirements
depend on whether the gas is used for generation directly, or put in the pipeline—and the
biogas can be mixed with natural gas to meet the pipeline quality standards.
Chair Cook asked how the $1/therm incremental cost of biogas compared to the cost of natural
gas. Dailey said that the current commodity cost of natural gas is about 20 cents per therm.
Commissioner Johnston asked if there were limits to the number of offsets available. Dailey
said that there would be sufficient offsets for our portfolio.
Chair Cook asked staff to describe the offsets. Dailey said that the protocols for the offsets are
all California Air Resources Board approved although the offsets themselves are not CARB
certified. She explained the extra CARB certification would be needed for offsets used for
compliance purposes rather than a voluntary program.
Public Comments
Sandra Slater stated that she and Lisa Van Dusen have prepared a letter with comments on the
issue. She said that she supports the opt-out program, but her favorite is to have the gas
portfolio carbon neutral. She said that climate change is a huge problem and time is getting
short. She said that offset purchases can be a bridge in a plan to purchase biogas. She said that
the success of the PaloAltoGreen program proves that there is large support for such a
program. She also referenced the 80% GHG reduction goal by 2030 Council directive. She
advised that we need to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels and move to electrification. She said
there will be a few people, maybe as many as a hundred, who will be opposed, but a small
number of people should not dictate the direction of the utility. She said that it would be nice
to have local offsets, but supporting methane capture projects outside of Palo Alto is valuable
since we have a global problem.
Lisa Van Dusen said that the main point is that there is fundamental responsibility to take
control of the impact caused. She advised that the City should take a bold action, noting that
nothing is perfect. The goal is to maximize carbon reductions, minimize the potential for
grumbling customers, minimize the impact to ratepayers, and allowing customers to have a
choice. She said that higher gas prices also acts to encourage additional gas use efficiency.
Commissioner Johnston said that the City should move away from the opt-in program design
and advised that it should be easy for customers to opt out of the program.
Commissioner Ballantine supported the option of moving to a carbon neutral gas portfolio,
rather than transitioning to an opt-out program. He said that during the rate adjustment
process, the larger users had a smaller percentage impact than the lower using customers,
which is due to the fixed costs to operate the system. He said that it is not free to have a carbon
neutral electric portfolio. He said that the move to electrification may be problematic if the
electric portfolio is carbon free, but the gas portfolio isn’t.
Commissioner Forssell asked if he program would only apply to residential customers only. She
asked if we first go to an opt-out program and allow customers to opt out, then transition to a
portfolio could be a problem since you first allow them out, then force them in. She said that
we could start with carbon neutral portfolio that is not 100%, but could transition there over
time.
Commissioner Schwartz said that all points of view are represented in Palo Alto. She said that
she is in favor of an opt-out program since this is an opportunity to practice how to do that. If
there is no way to opt out, this could be a problem for some customers who will create a large
issue in the community as it has been elsewhere with respect to having smart meters.
Commissioner Trumbull said he did not opt-in to the current program. He was also concerned
about opt-out as a transition to carbon-neutrality.
Vice Chair Danaher said he stated at the prior UAC meeting on the subject that he was
supportive of a carbon neutral gas portfolio and, after seeing the analysis, he is even more
supportive of that option. Danaher asked if there was any negative feedback for the carbon
neutral electric portfolio. Assistant Director Jane Ratchye said that there was no negative
feedback that she knew of regarding the carbon neutral electric portfolio. Vice Chair Danaher
said that there could be a cost for morality and that he supports moving to a carbon neutral
portfolio rather than moving to an opt-out program.
Chair Cook asked Chief Sustainability Officer Gil Friend whether the choices would support the
City’s carbon goals. Friend noted that natural gas represents 25% of the City’s GHG emissions.
Interim Utilities Director Ed Shikada noted that there was no staff recommendation for this
item and views this discussion as one of values. He said that a survey of the community could
be done to determine the community’s view on the issue.
Chair Cook noted that staff did not provide a recommendation as it usually does and said he
thought that this was appropriate in this case. He stated that we are talking about this at a time
when gas rates are very low and also at a time when rates across the board are rising
significantly this year. He said that he had not heard any protest regarding carbon neutrality for
electric supplies, but says that a transition to carbon neutral gas can start and increase over
time. It would be perhaps most advisable to start with offsets first and move to renewable
biogas over time. He would recommend #3 and move to #4 by 2030. He would like to see the
costs for these options.
Commissioner Schwartz said that the issue with smart meter rollout happened when there
were many missteps caused by a rate increase, very hot weather and the new meters were
blamed. She said that rising rates are not a good time to introduce a new program that costs
more. The downside is that the program could fail spectacularly if it becomes the rallying point
for complaints.
Commissioner Schwartz advised that a survey could be taken to determine the level of support.
Chair Cook said he appreciated the additional options presented by staff. He pointed out that
gas prices are currently very low and rates in the five utilities are increasing. Chair Cook said he
was not prepared to adopt a carbon-neutral program supplied with only biogas. He said the
rate impact would be less than the opt-in or opt-out options for a carbon-neutral portfolio.
Dailey confirmed that administrative costs for the portfolio are near zero. He said he prefers
starting with offsets and slowing adding biogas to the carbon-neutral portfolio. Chair Cook
recognized that there will be some complaints but said the rate impact is low and the impact of
a carbon-neutral portfolio is high.
Commissioner Trumbull stated that he was supportive of having more detail available for a
program before going to Council with a final recommendation.
ACTION:
Vice Chair Danaher made a motion that the UAC recommend that Council adopt a carbon
neutral gas portfolio and direct staff to develop an implementation plan. Commissioner
Trumbull seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-1) with Chair Cook, Vice Chair Danaher,
and Commissioners Ballantine, Forssell, Johnston and Trumbull voting yes and Commissioner
Schwartz opposed.
Vice Chair Danaher left the meeting at the conclusion of the discussion of item #2.
ATTACHMENT D
EXCERPTED DRAFT MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 31, 2016 – SPECIAL MEETING
UTILITIES ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING
ITEM 2. ACTION: Recommendation that Council Approve a Carbon Neutral Natural Gas
Portfolio Plan to Achieve Maximum Carbon Neutrality Using a Combination Of Offsets and
Biogas in the Gas Supply Portfolio by Fiscal Year 2018 with No Greater than 10¢/Therm Rate
Impact; and Related Termination of the Palo Alto Green Gas Program
Senior Resource Planner Karla Dailey provided a presentation summarizing the written report.
Chief Sustainability Officer Gil Friend said that the Sustainability/Climate Action Plan (S/CAP)
includes a plan to get to a carbon neutral utility and an aspirational goal of a carbon neutral
city. He said that moving to an electrified city will be a long and complex process. He said the
proposed program is a bridge to using less natural gas and that a comprehensive approach
including offsets, biogas, efficiency and electrification will be necessary to achieve the city’s
long-term goals. He pointed out that buying offsets provides capital for more projects in the
U.S. and potentially locally.
Public Comment
Sandra Slater said that proposal is an interim strategy to get to carbon neutrality as soon as
possible and offsets are a good tool to use for the time being. The price signal that the program
cost provides will encourage gas efficiency and electrification of gas appliances. She suggested
the money currently used to market the voluntary program could be redirected to efficiency
and fuel switching programs. Offsets are not a “pass” for consumers as evidenced by the fact
that Palo Altans continue to conserve electricity despite the carbon neutral electric supplies.
Lisa van Dusen said that we must do everything and the beauty of this is that it can be done
now and shows an intention to reduce carbon emissions in the long term. We have policies in
place such as the 2009 proclamation to include environmental externalities and the S/CAP goal
to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80% by 2030. It may be faulted as not enough or
too much, but it’s a good move in the right direction.
Vice Chair Danaher said that the UAC received a comment from a member of the public who
pointed out the proposed offset purchases do not cover fugitive methane losses from natural
gas production and transportation. Vice Chair Danaher added that methane is as bad as coal
due to the fugitive emissions. Commissioner Ballantine said that that position is not reflected in
any DOE report that he searched for. Commissioner Schwartz agreed that the coal and natural
gas are not considered to be equally bad by industry experts.
Vice Chair Danaher said the proposed program is a good starting point and asked about the
value of purchasing biogas. Dailey confirmed biogas is more expensive than offsets and it is
Council’s prerogative to decide whether biogas is worth including. Commissioner Danaher
asked where the methane comes from. Dailey explained the gas comes from landfills and
agriculture, mainly dairy farms.
Commissioner Ballantine said that if the source is dairy farms, then avoided methane emissions
need to be considered. Dailey explained that offsets are generated by preventing methane
from entering the atmosphere and the resulting biogas is a renewable fuel. A specific project
can produce both offsets and renewable biogas.
Commissioner Trumbull said that the request is fine, but he would like to get off gas as soon as
possible. He suggested that rather than buying biogas, extra funds be used for electrification.
Commissioner Johnston asked about the monthly bill impact of the 10 cent per therm rate
increase. Dailey answered that an average residential customer’s winter bill would increase by a
little more than $5 per month and pointed to a chart in the written report with the detail.
Commissioner Forssell clarified the proposed amount of carbon to be covered by offsets is only
that combusted in town and does not include methane leakage from the production fields or
leaks in the transportation system. Assistant Director Jane Ratchye said leakage in the
distribution system is covered. Commissioner Forssell asked about leakage data, and Ratchye
said we know the difference between purchases and sales, but that some of the difference is
due to mechanical meters operating slowly and not measuring all the gas flow so that the
difference cannot all be attributed to leaks.
Commissioner Schwartz pointed out that the strategic plan says customers should be offered
choices for managing their environmental footprint, but this proposed program does not offer
consumers choices and asked if the strategic objective needs to be changed. Ratchye said that
the supply source is a Council decision similar to the decisions made regarding the composition
of the electric supply portfolio. Commissioner Schwartz disagreed. She said where the
electricity comes from is irrelevant, but if she is being told she can’t have an electric stove, that
is a problem. Ratchye explained again that the proposal is about the gas supply portfolio and
not about electrification.
Commissioner Forssell observed there may be confusion between electrification efforts versus
the proposed carbon neutral gas portfolio.
Commissioner Schwartz asked if we need to change the strategic plan. Interim Director Ed
Shikada said that the strategic plan will be updated.
Commissioner Schwartz said biomethane is not very hard to come by. She said Apple can’t find
biogas to serve its facilities. Dailey replied there is biogas available but very little in California.
She explained that the plan is to get gas elsewhere and displace it in accordance with the
federal renewable fuels rules. She said she has talked to all of the City’s regular gas suppliers
and there is biogas available. She explained the some biogas producers are interested selling a
portion of their production for at a longer term at a fixed price discounted to the spot price in
order to diversifying their sales portfolios.
Commissioner Schwartz said if we are pushing everyone to electrify, we should talk about that
in the future.
Commissioner Ballantine said he likes the flexibility of the proposal that allows more biogas to
be included as it becomes available. Natural gas infrastructure is more resilient than electric
infrastructure. He said that, if and electric outage occurs, it would be a dark day in Palo Alto if
all is electric. He said the proposal is good because it includes biogas at a modest rate increase
while we start to work on initiatives to improve the resilience of the electric grid. He added that
this action helps to support a biogas marketplace and level the playing field for other ways to
get heat, including solar thermal heating. He also noted that energy efficiency and the incentive
to reduce local leaked gas is valued more.
Vice Chair Danaher said he likes the flexibility of the proposal to maximize biogas.
Chair Cook said he likes the staff proposal and appreciates the public comment. He pointed out
Carbon Free Palo Alto’s caution that it will be a distraction from the real goal of electrification
to reduce GHG emissions and might discourage fuel switching. He noted the differences
between the carbon neutral electric portfolio and the proposed carbon neutral gas portfolio
but suggested we test the hypothesis by determining whether the carbon free electricity
dampened the penetration of rooftop solar. He said helping to build a biogas market may lead
to lower prices as has happened with renewable electricity, and this program signals a move
away from the GHG emissions associated with natural gas usage.
Commissioner Schwartz asked if staff has done an analysis of where the electricity comes from
with electric used for heating, positing that additional electric load may cause the use of more
gas to power electric generation. Dailey answered that this proposal has nothing to do with
electric generation or increased electric usage.
Commissioner Ballantine asked if we electrify, would we increase our GHG footprint without
realizing it. Ratchye said that a discussion about electrification will happen at a later date.
ACTION:
Vice Chair Danaher made a motion that the UAC recommend that Council approve a Carbon
Neutral Gas Plan to achieve a carbon-neutral gas supply portfolio starting in Fiscal Year 2018
with a rate impact not to exceed ten cents per them; and terminate the PaloAltoGreen Gas
Program established by Resolution 9405. Commissioner Forssell seconded the motion. The
motion passed (6-1) with Chair Cook, Vice Chair Danaher and Commissioners Danaher, Forssell,
Johnston, and Trumbull voting yes and Commissioner Schwartz voting no.
FINANCE COMMITTEE
EXCERPT MINUTES
1 Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Special Meeting
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Chairperson Filseth called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. in the
Community Meeting Room, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California.
Present: Filseth (Chair), Schmid, Wolbach
Absent: Holman
2.Utilities Advisory Commission Recommendation That Council Adopt a
Resolution Approving a Carbon Neutral Natural Gas Portfolio Plan to
Achieve Maximum Carbon Neutrality Using a Combination of Offsets
and Biogas in the Gas Supply Portfolio by Fiscal Year 2018 With No
Greater Than 10¢/Therm Rate Impact; and Related Termination of the
Palo Alto Green Gas Program.
Chair Filseth: Welcome. So next item on the Agenda is the Utilities Advisory
Commission (UAC) Recommendation for Carbon Neutral Gas Portfolio Plan
and I guess there is a Staff presentation, at which point we’ll do public
comment after that and then Committee questions and comments. Okay.
Ed Shikada, General Manager for Utilities: Just a quick intro that Karla Dailey
will report for Staff. We also have two of our UAC Commissioners here
present if the Committee is interested for additional feedback.
Chair Filseth: Super. Thanks for coming. Please proceed.
Karla Dailey, Senior Resource Planner: Good evening. Thank you. My name
is Karla Dailey. I’m a Senior Resource Planner in Utilities, and I do, as we
said, have a short presentation for you. This is just a quick outline of what
we’re going to talk about. So we’ve been doing a number of things over the
past years to address the carbon footprint of our gas utility. I wanted to
point out a couple of policies that are in place right now. The gas utility long-
term plan, which was last revised and approved by Council in 2012 has a
ATTACHMENT C
EXCERPT MINUTES
2
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
strategy, it happens to be Number 4, that says, Reduce the Carbon Intensity
of the Gas Portfolio in accordance with the Climate and Protection Plan by:
1) designing and implementing a voluntary program; and secondly,
purchasing non-fossil fuel gas as long as it can be done with no rate impact.
So that’s what the current policy in place as far as the long-term plan looks
like. So, because of that policy there was designed and implemented a Palo
Alto Green Gas Program that was modeled very closely after the Palo Alto
Green Program, which I know you are all very aware of. It was a very
successful program, won lots of awards, 20 percent participation, kind of a
model for similar programs around the country. The current participation in
the gas program is about four percent of residents, 100 percent of City
facilities and that results in about six percent of the City’s total gas demand.
We supply that program with high quality environmental offsets with a
preference for California projects, but we did go back earlier this year and
take a really close look with our UAC Commissioners at the current program,
looked at the possibility of converting it from an opt-in program to an opt-
out program, but also presented the UAC with some other alternatives to
that and the UAC supported, instead of converting that program to
something like an opt-out program, moving to a completely carbon neutral
gas portfolio. So that’s how we came to work on the program that is being
proposed this evening. Natural gas use accounts for about 27 percent of Palo
Alto’s greenhouse emissions, and you can see that while mobile combustion
is by far and away the largest culprit, since the electric utility is carbon
neutral, the largest, second largest remaining chunk is attributed to the gas
portfolio. The recommended program achieves 100 percent carbon neutrality
with these four sort of constraints. The rate impact being no greater than 10
cents/therm, proposing to use a combination of the same type of offsets that
are used currently for the voluntary program, but trying to incorporate some
biogas into that portfolio as well, as much biogas as possible without
exceeding that 10 cent/therm rate impact. The time frame proposed is Fiscal
Year (FY) 2018 and again, we are proposing that 100 percent of our portfolio
be covered. Now, of course, for all four of those constraints, any one of them
or any combination of them could be changed to come up with a slightly
different program, really a continuum in all directions, but this table shows
you some discrete options for different rate impacts, different combinations
of offsets in biogas and different amounts of the portfolio that could be
covered in a carbon neutral fashion. Of course, the time frame could be,
achieving any of these benchmarks, could be done within any time frame as
well. So, just to talk about the rate impact a little bit more, I think it’s
important to think about the electric program, the electric carbon neutral
program rather than the Palo Alto green program and compare that to what
Staff is proposing on the gas side. The electric portfolio was quite different.
We had a renewable portfolio standard requirement that was quite
EXCERPT MINUTES
3
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
significant prior to moving to a carbon neutral electric portfolio, and the
combination of that RPS requirement and our large amount of hydro supplies
really resulted in a largely carbon-free content of the electric portfolio
already, and so in order to move from that to a 100 percent carbon
neutrality there was a very small rate impact to do that, one to two percent
for a few years, and then almost zero after that. The gas portfolio, on the
other hand, is 100 percent fossil fuel with no renewable aspect to it. Ten
cents/therm is about a 10 percent rate increase based on today’s rates and,
again, part of why that 10 percent or 10-cent number was anchored on in
the proposal is that we could include some biogas in the portfolio at that
level. If you get much lower than a 10 cent/therm rate impact to biogases,
it’s too expensive to include in it. So…
Jane Ratchye, Assistant Director of Utilities: Can you go back one Slide,
point out the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) rate.
Ms. Dailey: Oh yeah, down at the bottom of that Slide you can see the
difference between Palo Alto’s rates and PG&E’s bundled rates. So for
residential customers Palo Alto’s rate is significantly lower.
Council Member Wolbach: Is that gas only, or is that gas plus electricity?
Ms. Dailey: Just gas.
Chair Filseth: And is commercial and large commercial the other way? Am I
reading that right?
Ms. Dailey: It’s very close for commercial and we are slightly higher for large
commercial. So should the program be approved ultimately by Council, our
next steps would be to execute enabling agreements for purchasing
environmental offsets. Right now, even though we are purchasing some for
the voluntary program, we are doing that through a turn-key contract with
our marketing consultant, so we are not directly buying those. We would
need to develop new rate schedules for Council approval, given the gas
utility long-term plan that says we won’t do anything that has any rate
impact whatsoever, we would have to go back and revise the gas utility
long-term plan, and we would need to do some communication and outreach
with the existing Palo Alto green gas participants and perform some fairly
insignificant administrative tasks to terminate the program. The request
before you this evening is from the UAC and Staff to adopt a resolution
approving the Palo Alto, the proposed carbon neutral gas plan and
terminating the Palo Alto green gas program established by Resolution
EXCERPT MINUTES
4
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
(Reso) 9405, and secondly, to direct Staff to develop an implementation
plan for getting to carbon neutrality for the gas portfolio. And that’s all the
official presentation I have. We can take questions or public comment.
Chair Filseth: Okay. Thank you very much. I think the next step is we should
do public comment, so the first speaker, there are six speakers, I think, so
you will each have three minutes. The first speaker is Sandra Slater.
(crosstalk)
Chair Filseth: Ah, let’s see. Should we have the UAC. Actually, why don’t we
do that. Is that okay, the Chair of the UAC speak. Sorry Sandra.
James Cook, Chair, Utilities Advisory Commission: I was last to arrive and
did not fill out a card, so sorry. James Cook. I’m currently the Chair of the
Utilities Advisory Commission, and I live at 730 College Avenue. So I just
wanted to briefly run down how we looked at this. We voted 6-1 in favor of
the Staff recommendation, as we thought this was a great way to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions for the City. You know, obviously, natural gas is,
at least for the utilities, is the next big hurtle to overcome in terms of
greenhouse gas emissions, the biggest greenhouse gas emitter for the gas
utilities and a big part of what the City does. So we thought this was a great
way to raise awareness and take some action on the issue, and also a great
way to replace the Palo Alto green gas, and at the same time to replicate the
success we’ve seen in the carbon neutral portfolio on the electrical side.
They are not the same thing. The carbon neutral electricity is based on
having actually, if the market system is a lot more open to inexpensive
electricity that is green, so it’s not the same thing. Here you’re facing a
market situation where there really isn’t a market for the biogas, or there is
a very small one, but it gives, I think it gives a good market signal for that
industry possibly to develop in a greater way. Also, the offset, using offsets
versus Renewable Energy Certificates (RECS) are not the same thing. So it’s
not considered, I would consider it not as high quality a way to offset your
emissions, but it is what the green gas system uses right now is offsets.
There is also a cool opportunity to use local, potentially local offsets because
the system isn’t as clearly defined as RECS are. You know, there is a
possibility you can fight climate change and reduce greenhouse gases here
locally with those offsets, so I like that possibility. Also, I think we liked it as
a good policy to improve what we’re doing, and it’s a policy that can be
adjusted over time, so if, you know, we tried, like the carbon neutral
electrical side we tried to cap it. I think that came from the Staff, but it was
replicated, certainly a good part of the policy on the carbon neutral
EXCERPT MINUTES
5
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
electricity. But it also says, recognizes that biogas isn’t ready now, but it
might be in the future, or there might be other ways to do it, so I like that it
sort of establishes this framework, gets everyone involved in it right away as
opposed to your four or five or six percent or whatever who are involved
now in the green gas. And, so I think we like this as a great way to take
action locally to do something different than we’ve been doing in a much
greater way and reduce greenhouse gases. So I think there wasn’t that
much debate at the UAC level. The question really was, are these quality, is
this one-time or I think I’m on different sides from our friends at, Zero
Carbon Palo Alto, what’s is it?
Chair Filseth: Carbon Free Palo Alto.
Mr. Cook: Carbon Free Palo Alto, thank you very much. You know, we talked
about this and we don’t see it as a problem with, if the City were to try to
push for a greater electrification, which would be a real great way to also
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it looks like, we don’t see that this is in
conflict with that, and we also don’t see that would take any energy away
from that, so we did discuss that. Obviously you guys can decide whether or
not you feel that’s true or not, but that was the other thing we wanted to
consider when we were looking at this policy. But I think as far as we were
concerned, that we did spend a lot of time discussing this. This has been a
long discussion. Obviously, it started back in 2013 really, and I think what
Staff ended up with is really, we felt like this was the best option of the
things we’ve seen over the last three years. Thanks very much.
Council Member Schmid: Question.
Chair Filseth: Let’s see, so how should we do this? I mean if we have
questions for the UAC do we do that now?
Council Member Wolbach: I’d say, since we are saving questions for Staff till
later, let’s also save questions for the UAC till later and hear from the public.
Chair Filseth: You’d like to ask them now.
Mr. Cook: I’d be happy to stay, so…
Council Member Wolbach: I have a million questions for Staff and UAC but
I’d kind of like to…
EXCERPT MINUTES
6
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Chair Filseth: I’ve got a few too. Let’s see.
Council Member Schmid: It’s your decision.
Chair Filseth: Yeah, um. If you’ve got a million questions for Staff and UAC,
then we’ll probably have Steve up here for a long time.
(crosstalk)
Chair Filseth: So why don’t we, if Greg only has one, why don’t we let Greg
ask his question, this will be a little bit of a hybrid here, let’s have Greg ask
his question, then we’ll do public and you and I can ask all ours.
Council Member Schmid: There was one dissenting vote on several
meetings. Could you articulate what the…
Mr. Cook: Yeah, sorry, I was going to bring that up too. So Commissioner
Schwartz had a dissenting vote on this and on when we were discussing the,
I think it was the Green Gas Program. I think her concerns centered around
whether or not, I think she is not so concerned about gas, natural gas, and I
also think she felt like, she did have one concern, remember Karla, one time
she was bringing up to you like that she thought that there might be, if you,
and I think this is, it gets, I think some of her thoughts were sort of led off
into more on the electrification question, but she was concerned that if we
encourage more electrification would that possibly somehow lead to higher
use of gas, because you are using some gas in the grid that is being used in
order to create electricity and that we have the carbon neutral portfolio.
Lisa Forsell: If I may.
Mr. Cook: Commissioner Forsell.
Lisa Forsell: My recollection of her opposition was concern for rate payers.
(crosstalk)
Lisa Forsell: Lisa Forsell, also Utilities Advisory Commissioner. If I recall,
Commissioner Schwartz was mainly concerned about the impact to rate
payers and she favored the opt-out program because it gave customers
choice and her dissenting vote wasn’t that she didn’t, you know, want the
EXCERPT MINUTES
7
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
carbon neutral gas portfolio is that she wanted to maintain choice for the
rate payers.
Mr. Cook: Yeah, that’s a more articulate and short (crosstalk). There were a
couple of other things that she had brought up, but her probably number
one concern was choice, whether or not you were forcing people to do
something or not. And, again, one of the things we discussed was, of course,
we did that we did that on the electrical side.
Chair Filseth: Which is one of your options up here.
Mr. Cook: That’s right. So it was more, and it was also when we were talking
about opt in and opt out in previous meetings as well.
Chair Filseth: Okay, why don’t we do the public comments now and then
we’ll come back and if you guys, especially if you guys will still be able to be
here, okay? So first public speaker is Sandra Slater.
Sandra Slater: Thank you Council and Staff for all your hard work and for
allowing me the opportunity to address you this evening. I got to expand on
a letter that Lisa VanDusen and I wrote to the UAC back in August, which is
on the record. You can take a look at that, and we’re very grateful for the
support of both the UAC and Staff for the green gas program. Natural gas
was originally considered as a way to wean the country off of coal and it was
touted as sort of a cleaner bridge to a renewable energy future, and we
were, frankly, I think, misinformed. Natural gas is an extremely potent
greenhouse gas. In fact, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists,
“the drilling and extraction of natural gas from wells and its transportation
and pipelines results in the leakage of a methane that is 86 times stronger a
greenhouse gas over 20 years.” In addition, the calculations we were initially
given regarding natural gas versus coal does not take into account the
fugitive emissions from extraction and you can think of the Porter Ranch
leak that was so pernicious just last year, which produced 1,200 tons of
methane every day, and in terms of greenhouse gas output per month it
“compares to the equivalent effluvia of 200,000 cars a year”. So preliminary
studies in field measurements show that these so-called fugitive emissions
are just the tip of the iceberg. They occur not only in extraction, but in the
transporting of gas right here in Palo Alto even, there are fugitive emissions
in our gas pipelines. This is no clean energy bridge to a renewable future.
It’s imperative that we wean ourselves from fossil fuels as quickly as
possible, and in the meantime, purchasing a biogas in offsets is basically, as
far as I can see, the least we can do. It’s not a panacea, but it’s a great step
EXCERPT MINUTES
8
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
in the right direction. Palo Alto has a set goal of reducing our Greenhouse
Gases (GHGs) by 80 percent by 2030 and this green gas initiative supports
that effort and will send a signal to Palo Altons that we are using all the tools
in our toolbox to try to reach that goal. Green gas offers an interim strategy
of carbon offsets that can be used as a bridge to get us weaned off of gas
entirely, something that's going to take quite a few years, if not a decade or
more. I’m a firm believer in an all of the above strategy to get us quickly to
carbon neutrality as possible. We need quick and effective efficiency
programs. We need a fuel switch to cleaner sources for our cars and our
homes, and we need a real tax on carbon, but all these things take time.
The program Staff outlined will begin to place a price signal to consumers
that gas is something that should be used sparingly, if at all. It makes
efficiency that much more attractive, because the more expensive the gas,
the more attractive efficiency measures will be and electrification will
become. So this is not an infrastructure investment or spend. We can dial
the cost up or down and efficiency is certainly the low-hanging fruit. This is
not giving a pass to Palo Altons to use as much gas as possible. The Electric
Utility I see Palo Altons every day trying to reduce their electric usage and
we have a carbon neutral electricity, so I think Palo Altons want to do the
right thing if they can so this is a roadmap, interim tool, what we got. Thank
you.
Chair Filseth: Thank you. Next speaker Catherine Martineu.
Catherine Martineu: Thank you. Good evening. I’m the Director of Canopy,
which is an urban forestry organization based here in Palo Alto. I’m here
actually to talk about another maybe more fun aspect of this project, which
is the potential for local carbon offsets. There is a group of people, a climate
action reserve, who are working right now on a new protocol for urban
forestry carbon offsets that will, should allow a city like Palo Alto to use local
tree planting programs, such as for example, tree plantings in South Palo
Alto, which is something that we want to do to bring South Palo Alto tree
cover at parity with North Palo Alto to use these type of programs and with
this new protocol and obtain the offsets. So obviously, then you get the cake
and you get the revenue as well, because we can get the offsets, all of the
extra benefits of a healthy tree canopy and we get to keep the revenue to
fund the program itself. So this is something that is being worked on right
now. This replaces an older protocol that was basically not practical to use, it
was very onerous to administer. This one uses new technology such as
remote sensing, which makes it cost effective, so I’m very hopeful. And it
looks like probably in the spring of 2017 we will see this protocol sent to the
ERB and other agencies for validation and then vetting and so forth, and we
might see potential program by the end of 2017. We are very lucky that
EXCERPT MINUTES
9
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Walter Passmore, our urban forester, is one of the advisors on the carbon
action reserve team. So there is absolutely no risk that either he or I would
forget to let you know when the protocols are available, but I wanted to
make sure, and I think actually, Commissioner James Cook mentioned that
the program that Staff is recommending allows for local programs. But I just
want to make sure that when the time comes, it is a possibility, that it is
evaluated as part of the carbon offset portfolio.
Chair Filseth: Thank you very much. The next speaker is Bruce Hodge.
Bruce Hodge: Hello. I’m Bruce Hodge from Carbon Free Palo Alto. I’ll be
speaking on what we view as problematic aspects of this plan, and my
colleague, Bret Anderson, will explain our alternative proposal. Carbon Free
Palo Alto does not support this plan. The use of offsets and biogas are
nonscaleable solutions that don’t address the root cause of our natural gas
emissions. The plan is a stand-alone effort that doesn’t serve as a bridge to
more robust solutions. It is an underprised green washing approach that will
most likely be hard to move away from when required additional
investments and real solutions are proposed in the future. Many local
community stakeholders, likely the majority, prefer directly addressing
natural gas problem without using offsets. Other entities, such as the
innovative Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Utility are very
interested in Palo Alto’s approach to reducing the use of natural gas and will
not be impressed with an offset solution. Instead, Palo Alto should be
advising innovative solutions that are scaleable and affordable. An offset
solution was vigorously debated during lead up to the Sustainability and
Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) and offsets were eventually dropped from the S-
CAP 80 by 30 plan because of opposition to them. Solving the natural gas
situation here at home is crucial. Offsets will result in approximately $3
million a year leaving the community, money that could be spent more
wisely on investing in our own infrastructure. The use of offsets is essentially
a green washing approach for several reasons. Number one, the market has
failed to price carbon emissions realistically and hence offsets based on an
unrealistically low cost of mitigation was not grounded in reality. And
secondly, offsets only count the combusted emissions from gas and discount
the real cost by as much as 50 percent by ignoring the impact of fugitive
emissions of natural gas itself, as Sandra mentioned earlier. Just to be clear,
the cumulative emissions from natural gas are estimated to be
approximately double the reported figure. This means that in Palo Alto
natural gas accounts for about half of our total emissions and that reduces
the transportation percentage from two-thirds down to about half. We object
to the use biogas as well. Biogas is not a scaleable solution, supplies are
likely to remain limited because of lack of feed stocks and it just perpetuates
EXCERPT MINUTES
10
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
the use of a leaky gas infrastructure with fugitive emissions. Lastly, the plan
is presented in isolation, with no linkage to other efforts that will be
occurring in the same time frame. The proposed expenditure is somewhat
arbitrary and there is no way to compare the potential costs (inaudible) to
other approaches. We urge a more comprehensive approach.
Chair Filseth: Thank you. The next speaker is, you already know that, Bret
Anderson.
Bret Anderson: So I’m also a member of Carbon Free Palo Alto. I’m going to
explain a little bit about what we are proposing as an alternative. What we
think of this alternative is that it’s really Plan A. This is what we should be
doing to reduce gas use in Palo Alto and Plan B could be offsets, but we
should only do that if we have a full comprehensive plan for what plan A
really entails. We’re talking about efficiency measures, electrical equipment
upgrades and upgrades to the electric panels in our homes and in our
businesses and amid infrastructure upgrade to Palo Alto’s grid. So these are
the things that we must do. We know we’re on the path to do them, but we
have not yet, from our Utility Staff, a comprehensive plan that addresses
how we’re going to get these adopted, these measures adopted. So we need
to flush that out. That’s, goal number one would be to lay that plan out, look
at how much it costs, how much it’s going to take from Staff to develop and
run that program, how much would it take to fund that program. The key to
all of this is the high up-front cost of these measures. We know these
measures are tough and they’re going to be mostly done in a retrograde
situation, so we have to come up with a way to finance this. The utility mode
for financing using on-bill financing, tariff based financing is the best pass
forward to get adoption rates high in a retrofit situation, which is really what
we’re dealing with in an 80/30 scenario for reducing gas use in Palo Alto. So
we really have to look at the way we’re going to get on-bill financing for
single measures like a large meter or Heating, Ventilation and Air
Conditioning (HVAC) or efficiency or a whole-house upgrade where we could
finance $30,000 or $20,000 worth of upgrades for a home and have that
billed over ten years or whatever it takes to make that flow for the
customer. It should be a check-the-box decision for the customer as an opt
in, but we need to do all the thinking beforehand and the financing
beforehand using the Utility Financing Mode, which is low cost to capital and
a very easy understood relationship with the end-user customer. We need to
define that funding mechanism is a plan drawn up by Staff where we would
love to work with Staff as Carbon Free Palo Alto to flush that plan out, but
we also need to enumerate the (inaudible) benefits of this kind if a program,
doing it ourselves to the rest of the community to sell the fee, maybe a use
fee, that funds this effort, to sell it to our community, because we’re talking
EXCERPT MINUTES
11
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
about improving our infrastructure, our resiliency, benefits for the
environment for not using fracked natural gas. We’ve got local jobs to create
using these measures, or implementing these measures and I’d also add the
home value that is improved by investing in the infrastructure, so you can
improve the value of your home when you make this investment so offsets
really represent a rent moving, exporting our problem outside of Palo Alto,
whereas our own program, if we fund that through (inaudible) financing is
an investment in our own community. Thank you.
Chair Filseth: Thank you very much. The next speaker is Lisa VanDusen.
Lisa VanDusen: Good evening. Thank you for considering this issue and I
just want to say that Sandra Slater and I have been having these
conversations with the UAC and with others for a while, yes, some years at
this point, so it’s great to have come this far. I just want to comment a little
bit on the remarks that these folks made, and I just want to say that all
sounds great and it’s not entirely clear to me how that’s separate and not
combinable with what we’re doing here. So I would hope that would be and I
would contend that this does not slow us down or prevent us from moving in
that direction at all. So great work, both of you. So first, also I want to say
how much the Staff has done a really excellent job of flushing out the
specifics of this, Karla and Jean, in particular. So I think the benefits you’ve
heard, but I just want to reiterate that this program is really flexible. It can
flex with the marketplace, with what’s available, with the tide of where we
are with efforts like that or anything else. It really does, as James said,
create a framework and allow us to really move around with availability, with
rate payer concerns, with sustainability targets, with progress and cost. So
the second thing is that, and I think you also said this, that it sends a signal.
It sends various kinds of signals. It sends a price signal that, in fact, natural
gas should not be less expensive than electricity. It is not the direction we
want to go, so it sends the signal that way. It sends a market signal to tell
the world and the marketplace that we want alternatives to natural gas.
And it tells consumers, rate payers here and elsewhere that we are doing
what we can to move in the right direction. And when I think, you know,
maybe East Bay Municipal Utility District (MUD) is looking at us, but I think
others the world over are looking at what we’re doing and I agree with the
“all of the above” strategy that Sandra mentioned. So the fact that, I want
to just speak to the concern that Commissioner Schwartz had, which was
that the matter of choice and the importance of that and, in fact, we have
competing things. We have consumer choice, but we also have a mandate
and really a moral calling right now to do everything that we can, and the
City has already adopted the 20 by 2020, 80 by 2030 goal and we have also
the proclamation from 2009, the Council said we wanted to be considering
EXCERPT MINUTES
12
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
externalities in our decisions as we do business, so I hope that you will go
forward with this and take this to the Council and we can all move forward
quickly with this. Thank you.
Chair Filseth: Thank you very much. And our final speaker tonight is Lisa
Forsell.
Lisa Forsell: Hi. Lisa Forsell, UAC Commissioner, although tonight I’m not
representing the UAC but I just wanted to share my own thoughts as to why
I support the proposal. A lot of things have been said tonight that I will try
not to rehash at length. I see it as a transition strategy, not the permanent
strategy, that we shouldn’t go like, “okay, we’re done now, our gas portfolio
is carbon neutral, no more work to be done”. It’s a way to start having an
impact now while we implement the long-term electrification strategy. I like
the current proposal because it’s flexible, so Council, there was a good slide
about it, can decide how much appetite you have for rate impact, and if you
feel it is too high you can go with five cents/therm or, you know, another
number, or if you have a great appetite for rate impact, more physical
biogas could be added to the portfolio. I might also throw in there that, you
know, Carbon Free Palo Alto has also raised a very legitimate concern about
fugitive emissions and if I recall, Staff isn’t quite sure what’s the appropriate
estimate for Palo Alto fugitive methane emissions, but one could attempt to
purchase offsets against the fugitive emissions as well, if that was something
that we wanted to pursue. And finally, just a couple of thoughts about the
opt out, because when we started the conversation at the UAC meeting in
June, we did spend a lot of time talking about opt out and one of the reasons
that I was against an opt out program was because a lot of the rate impact
actually went to administrative costs to operate the opt out program and all
the sort of complicated corner cases about what if you only noticed it six
months later and you wanted retroactive opt out and all these things, so it
felt like, for the money rate payers were spending, I’d rather that money go
to the offsets and the physical biogas than to a big administrative burden for
staff. And I also felt that if we went with an opt out, that could not be a
transition to a full portfolio because we then had, you know, let members,
let rate payers who did not want to be part of the program identify that they
didn’t want to be in and then it’s quite rude to pursue upon them later and I
felt it was better for the community to just take a stand and go with the
whole portfolio. Thank you very much.
Chair Filseth: Thank you. I have a couple of procedural comments. Do you
have a question?
EXCERPT MINUTES
13
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Council Member Wolbach: Actually a procedural question for you.
Chair Filseth: Okay.
Council Member Wolbach: Do you want take five before we get into
questions? I just want to go grab a cup of coffee before we get into the rest
of this. If we’re going to lose quorum (crosstalk) Take a couple of minutes to
absorb the comments.
Chair Filseth: Yeah, let me make a couple of procedural comments and then
maybe… Is two minutes enough?
Council Member Wolbach: Sure.
Chair Filseth: A maximum of five. Okay. So thank you very much everybody
who came. My question for you guys. I guess what you guys are suggesting
is that we should proceed straight to figuring out how to move to
electrification, get rid of gas and what’s the financing strategy for that. Did I
get that right? That’s, I’m going to guess, is beyond the scope of our agenda
tonight, and it’s something that would be sort of a complex agendized
process, so we’re probably not going to dive into that. Is that accurate?
Terence Howzell, Principal Attorney: That is accurate.
Council Member Wolbach: Can I ask (inaudible) to that one?
Chair Filseth: Yes.
Council Member Wolbach: To the degree that one program might be an
opportunity, present an opportunity cost that deprives us of funds or Staff
resources to pursue another program, we can talk about, you know, the fact
that, we can talk about it in that context, correct?
Mr. Howzell: In passing.
Council Member Wolbach: In passing.
Chair Filseth: Okay. So the second one is, and there may be some
disagreement a little bit on this side, which is okay, right? But it seems to
me that what we’re talking about here is sort of a long and complicated
decision for the City, right. Are we going to move to sort of a different way
EXCERPT MINUTES
14
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
of doing gas? It seems to me that the heavy lifting on that decision should
be borne by the UAC and by the full Council, right. So the question is, what
is our role here in the Finance Committee, because obviously we could cover
a lot of territory. It seems to me that our role in these kinds of things in the
Finance Committee is not, for example, to go back and revisit policy, so I
don’t think the Finance Committee should say, “no, we think it should be
option number 3 instead of Option Number 4”, right. It seems to me that
sort of the center of gravity, what we should be doing is looking at is, you
know, is the City going to go broke trying to do this, right. I mean, it’s our
money to do this. And to a lesser extent, maybe get into the issue of is the
City getting its money’s worth from this kind of program, right. It seems to
me that’s sort of the space that we ought to spend most of our time today.
Do you guys agree generally with that or disagree?
Council Member Schmid: Disagree a little bit.
Chair Filseth: Okay.
Council Member Schmid: I think the function of the committees are to look
in detail at what the consequences of decisions might be. Primarily financial
but I don’t think exclusively financial.
Chair Filseth: Primarily financial would be my comfort zone for this
Committee, because the Utilities Advisory Committee is another committee
another Council Committee that looks at this, and this is their job, to set
rate and things like that seems to me is the purview of the Utilities Advisory
Committee and we can look at that, right, but it doesn’t seem to me that we,
they ought to be going one way and we ought to be going the other and
they ought to provide the guidance on this.
Council Member Schmid: The difference between the UAC and a Council
Committee is we also are elected and have to go in front of the voters, and
so we should be taking into account the public more maybe than the UAC.
Chair Filseth: Sorry. Maybe I haven’t been clear on that. I think as members
of the full Council, I think we are going to be very, very interested in that.
So, I mean, I sort of see myself as having two hats, one is Finance
Committee and the other is, I’m very interested, I mean, I’m going to be
interested in a lot more aspects of this when it comes to Council than on this
Committee. That sort of has been my thought process. But I don’t want to
constrain you from going outside that, to be too narrow. I want to go outside
that somewhat, and I think have at it. But I think my guidance on this would
EXCERPT MINUTES
15
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
be the heavy lifting on policy issues ought to be borne by the UAC and the
full Council when it comes to this. Okay. But as members of the full Council
we’re going to see this thing again, so it’s not completely divorceable. With
that, why don’t we take a couple of minutes break, two minutes.
The Committee took a break from 8:04 P.M. to 8:08 P.M.
Chair Filseth: Okay, with that let’s do Finance Committee comments and
questions and why don’t we do both at once. Council Member Wolbach.
Council Member Wolbach: So a few questions at the moment. I’ll probably
have more later. I guess a good place to start for me would be if somebody
from Staff or UAC perhaps provide just a quick reminder of the difference
between offsets and RECS, first.
Ms. Dailey: So a REC is only associated with Renewable Electric Energy, so
when you generate electricity from a renewable resource, there is an
attribute attached to that electron that is a renewable energy credit. So it
doesn’t make sense to use, you can’t use that for gas. Those are particular
to energy, not to natural gas. An offset is generated by an action to prevent
greenhouse gases from going to the atmosphere by, for instance, planting
trees to sequester carbon, if it’s an additive tree-planting operation. So trees
that are just sort of hanging round town don’t generate offsets, but a
program that is financed by being able to collect revenue for the offsets in
order to achieve that carbon reduction generates offsets.
Council Member Wolbach: So RECS are not an option for natural gas I heard
you say.
Ms. Dailey: Yes, that’s correct.
Council Member Wolbach: So they’re off the table and that’s why it’s not
part of this discussion.
Ms. Dailey: That’s right.
Council Member Wolbach: Thank you for clarifying that question. Okay, I can
move on from there. Next question, there seems a clear emphasis on biogas
over offsets aside from the concerns about costs, biogas being very
EXCERPT MINUTES
16
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
expensive. Just for our edification, maybe a real quick summary why there is
the emphasis on biogas over offsets?
Ms. Dailey: Well, I think because offsets are kind of a more esoteric product,
there has been an emotional leaning toward liking biogas, but it is a very
expensive resource and Staff felt like the rate impact of achieving carbon
neutrality just with biogas would be unacceptable, and so tried to strike a
middle ground. It’s a matter of personal preference, but…
Council Member Wolbach: Any input from the UAC on that one? See if there
are any further thoughts from the recommending body.
Mr. Cook: No, I think that captures it pretty well. I think there is a sense of
biogas as preferable to the existing stock of natural gas, but this is still seen
as a bridge or some sort of transition to using less gas because it does have
the methane emissions, most of the people who have talked from the public
have said. So I think that, you know, we are seeing either that if there is
more biogas you might have an increased percentage of biogas usage in the
program or if there is some other way to transition away from… You know, I
think ultimately may want to transition away from gas, but it’s just that they
don’t have a better explanation. Karla is the real expert on gas, so maybe
she… But I think there is much more to it.
Council Member Wolbach: Okay, next question. On Slide 8 of tonight’s
presentation, Palo Alto’s gas rates are compared to PG&E gas rates, and I
just want to be clear. These are our current gas rates, correct? And I was
hoping to see a quick side-by-side, if it’s available, of… Are we facing some
expected increases in our gas rates anyway? Aren’t we planning to increase
our gas rates already or and if so…
Ms. Ratchye: Yeah, in the long-term plan, the Ffinancial Plan, we had an 8
percent expected increase for Fiscal Year, the next Fiscal Year.
Chair Filseth: And that goes on for a few years, right?
Ms. Ratchye: Yeah, I can’t remember the whole trajectory, but next year we
did and I think there are a couple of years.
Ms. Dailey: But these rates do include a big rate increase that we
experienced as a result of a lot of the money that’s being spent on safety in
EXCERPT MINUTES
17
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
the PG&E system. It gets passed straight through to us from all the work
they are doing.
Council Member Wolbach: Okay, so we’re including some of that.
Ms. Dailey: Oh yeah.
Council Member Wolbach: But this does not include the potential 10 percent
rate increase from this proposal?
Ms. Ratchye: That’s correct.
Council Member Wolbach: So we could… And you said there was also an 8
percent that we’re going to be increasing this coming year anyway, correct?
Ms. Ratchye: That was the expectation that we had in the long-term
Financial Plan, that next year for FY’18 so July 1 it would be 8 percent.
Council Member Wolbach: That’s what I thought. And so I want to make
sure I did my math right here. Looking at just Tier 1 residential, which is
currently we’re at 0.8707 and multiplying that by 1.18, so adding 10 percent
and another eight percent.
Ms. Dailey: Ten cents is the proposed.
Council Member Wolbach: Oh, I’m sorry, it’s 10 cents. We’re not looking at
10 percent.
(crosstalk)
Council Member Wolbach: But it says it’s about a 10 percent rate increase.
Ms. Ratchye: On a winter bill, yeah, there’s a little apples and oranges.
Council Member Wolbach: So estimating a little bit, so we’re still looking at
less than a PG&E bill. So that would be still under Tier 1, for residential Tier
1.
Ms. Dailey: Right.
EXCERPT MINUTES
18
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Council Member Wolbach: And for, so that would be 0.952. Sorry I’m taking
long doing the math, but doing the same for Tier 2, it would also still be
cheaper, again anyone can check my math here, Tier 2 would still be
cheaper than PG&E at 1.663. Again, these are estimations. So I just want to
get kind of apples to apples what we would be looking at. And I appreciate
the PG&E information being included in this report so we can do a
comparison. As a quick comment on that, one of the most important things I
think about our electricity portfolio which is carbon neutral, is that we are
substantially cheaper than PG&E and being able to stay cheaper than PG&E
on our gas, I think, is also important.
Ms. Ratchye: I want to point out one thing about the gas rates when you’re
making these comparisons, PG&E doesn’t have a fixed charge for residential
and so these rates are the volumetric rates shown, plus you have to add in
this monthly service charge too.
Council Member Wolbach: I got you, thanks.
Ms. Ratchye: So there is another part of it that does kind of effectively bump
up our rates.
Council Member Wolbach: Right but that’s just a fixed $10.32, right?
Ms. Ratchye: Yes.
Council Member Wolbach: And that’s a good reminder. I guess I’m still kind
of sorting out my thoughts about all the public comments we have heard, so
I’m happy to turn it over to colleagues for questions, as I continue to mull
over the different pieces we’ve heard.
Chair Filseth: Very good. Council Member Schmid.
Council Member Schmid: I think there is no question that it is an important
issue and something we’ve got to act on. The opt out decision is a big one.
It’s striking that the Palo Alto Green got four percent of the customers
jumping in and the green electricity had, what, 24 percent? So maybe one
question is, why are there different perceptions out there in the customer
land between gas and electricity.
Ms. Dailey: You know, one answer, and I’ll let Jane chime in too, is we didn’t
market it very heavily, and part of what was going on was so much drought
EXCERPT MINUTES
19
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
messaging over the last couple of years, particularly last year, that there is
some limit to the number of messages that are going out to customers, so a
lot of focus was placed on the drought and not so much on this program. Do
you want to add anything else about why?
Ms. Ratchye: No, I think that’s true. We didn’t market it, and then we
started having all these conversations about, are we going to change it, and
then we’re like, let’s not market it heavily now and then switch it up really
quickly, and so we stopped kind of actively marketing it. The other aspect is,
we did achieve a tremendous number of fraction of customers who joined
the Palo Alto Electric Green Program, but that still amounted to less
percentagewise total electric use than this program, which was not marketed
as a fraction of gas use, and that’s because residential was the bigger
number of participants and so it’s a bigger part of the gas use. So we
actually had more participation in this program, however poorly marketed, in
terms of percentage of gas use than we did after ten years of marketing the
Palo Alto Electric Program.
Chair Filseth: Can I chime in on that briefly? I would concur with that, so I
mean, this focus group of one here, okay, you know we were one of the
earliest adopters of Palo Alto Green, so I asked my spouse, “so are we doing
this?” She said, “no, I don’t know much it”. So… There wasn’t much
information about it so I’m concurring with sort of the, not a lot of
investment in the marketing.
Council Member Schmid: The thought process is a little different. I think the
electricity comes easy to jump on. So my question is, you know, what’s an
offset? Talk to me a little bit about what offsets are. You’re going to depend
for 95 percent of your program on offsets. What is an offset? People have
said gas is worse than electricity in terms of…
Ms. Dailey: Right. An offset is a credit generated from a project that keeps a
greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere.
Ms. Ratchye: Can you give an example.
Ms. Dailey: For instance, urban forestry, it’s a large planting of trees that
stay in the ground for 100 years and are verified to be there year after year.
Council Member Schmid: I guess offset in electricity is easy. You buy solar
power made in the desert. It doesn’t come to Palo Alto, but it substitutes for
what you’re getting.
EXCERPT MINUTES
20
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Ms. Dailey: That’s a Renewable Energy Credit.
Council Member Schmid: Okay, what’s an offset?
Ms. Ratchye: Can you do the cow farm thing?
Ms. Dailey: Right, so if you have a, say you have a dairy farm that obviously
cows leave a lot of manure that emits methane into the atmosphere. You
can take that methane and generate electricity with it. That electricity has a
Renewable Energy Credit associated with it, because it was generated with a
renewable resource. But if you are just capturing that methane and not
letting it go to the atmosphere, that’s generating an offset. So you can
actually have an offset, you can have offset generation and renewable
energy credit generation from the same project.
Council Member Schmid: Okay, but cows in California might offset 1 percent
of our natural gas usage. Where are the other 99 percent of offsets?
Ms. Dailey: So you’re buying offsets from a specific project. Are you saying
there are not enough dairy farm projects in California? Yeah, so they’re
coming from other parts of the country. I mean, the biggest sources are
landfills, but also dairy projects in other parts of the country as well.
Council Member Schmid: So we are shifting our offset to somewhere else,
not to the central Sierras that are most important to us?
Ms. Dailey: Well, I mean, the atmosphere is the atmosphere I would argue,
and you know, we’re concerned about global warming, not necessarily Palo
Alto warming.
Council Member Schmid: There was some discussion earlier about landfill,
garbage being turned into through conversion technologies into gas. Is that
an offset?
Ms. Dailey: If a project is preventing methane from a landfill from going into
the atmosphere, that would generate an offset.
Mr. Cook: If it’s a new program.
Ms. Dailey: If it’s a new program and it’s not required by some existing
regulation.
EXCERPT MINUTES
21
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Council Member Schmid: Right, but stopping garbage going into landfill
would, of course, stop it for the next 50 years.
Ms. Dailey: There’s no protocol for that type of project developed yet.
Council Member Schmid: Why not?
Ms. Dailey: Um.
Council Member Schmid: There are such conversions going on. There is a big
debate in Sacramento about it, so why wouldn’t that be effective? We’re
dumping thousands of tons a year.
Ms. Dailey: Well, we’ve only proposed to use offsets from protocols that are
approved by the California Air Resources Board and…
Council Member Schmid: and so far it’s just cow farms.
Ms. Dailey: Sorry?
Council Member Schmid: So far it’s just cow farms?
Mr. Cook: No, it could be planting trees.
Ms. Dailey: Yeah, I think it’s in the Staff Report actually.
Chair Filseth: Forestry, livestock, landfill, coal mine methane, urban forestry,
ozone depleting projects and (inaudible) projects.
Ms. Dailey: Those are all the Comprehensive Air Resources Board (CARB)-
approved protocols right now.
Council Member Schmid: Yeah, I guess my point about those, that list, is
that list would not deal with California’s gas problem. It might deal with two
percent, three percent, but…
Ms. Dailey: That’s right, it’s Greenhouse Gas Prevention Protocols. Not
necessarily natural gas and they are different.
EXCERPT MINUTES
22
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Council Member Schmid: Los Angeles is working very hard to try to get
landfill gas conversion technologies and they feel it’s the only way they can
really get offsets.
Ms. Dailey: Let me put it another way, I mean, you as an individual could go
out and buy an offset for your airline travel, if you wanted to, to counteract
it. Or you could go out and buy offsets to counteract the gasoline that you
are burning in your car, assuming you don’t have an electric vehicle. So an
offset can be used to cover many different types of greenhouse gas
emissions. It’s not, as opposed to biogas, which is a physical commodity that
could be used in place of natural gas.
Council Member Schmid: I guess I thought landfill conversion into gas is a
biogas.
Ms. Dailey: It is, absolutely, so that’s the other product that we’re proposing
to use in this. So we’re proposing to use two things to get to carbon
neutrality. One is biogas and the other is offsets, and they are separate.
Council Member Schmid: I guess conversion of waste is not technically
biogas because it uses a broader set of inputs than biogas?
Ms. Dailey: Conversion of waste to methane is biogas, yes.
Council Member Schmid: Okay, I worked it out earlier, and it’s not included
on most biogas lists, and I think for that reason it has been difficult to get
approval in Sacramento for it. Let me ask another question…
Chair Filseth: Before you leave that one, I actually had a question on exactly
the same thing.
Council Member Schmid: Okay, good.
Chair Filseth: Would you mind? So, yeah, I was looking at your example of
offsets that pay to convert waste into methane and was used by a dairy
farmer in Wisconsin I think was one of the examples, right? That sounds like
biogas to me.
Ms. Dailey: There is also biogas that’s generated from the same project, so if
you’re preventing the methane from going into the air, that generates an
EXCERPT MINUTES
23
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
offset. If you’re using the methane from the dairy farm, that’s biogas, if
you’re buying the molecules.
Chair Filseth: So why is the offset only worth 12 cents/therm, but the biogas
is $2/therm?
Ms. Dailey: You know, all these different environmental parks have different
markets that they’re being traded in, and biogas can be used for the Federal
Clean Fuels Program. You can’t use an offset for the Federal Clean Fuels
Program, and so that program is driving the (crosstalk).
Chair Filseth: So there’s a limited supply of biogas and it’s bid up by these
other programs? That’s not fair. Got it. I’m sorry, go ahead.
Council Member Schmid: On Packet Page 29, Figure 8.
Council Member Wolbach: Staff Report Page 15?
Council Member Schmid: Page 15 of the Report. You have the environmental
offsets very cheap at the moment. Things like infrastructure, water heating,
space heating, stoves, get more expensive, biogas very expensive. Then you
have compact vehicles pay for themselves. What do you mean by that?
Ms. Ratchye: What this is is the societal abatement cost for the carbon
equivalent ton, so what that’s basically saying if you bought, this is a Nissan
Leaf instead, I can’t remember what it is, a Civic…
Chair Filseth: A Honda Civic.
Ms. Ratchye: A Honda Civic, then it’s cheaper for society just to do that
alone, so if you say that it’s a negative cost divided by how many therms of
carbons you saved, it’s a negative amount. That’s how all the things on this
graph are done.
Chair Filseth:…your cost right, because you have a bunch of government
credits and so forth, right? Isn’t that what it says?
Ms. Ratchye: No, this is the societal one. We do have also the customer, the
participant cost.
EXCERPT MINUTES
24
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Council Member Schmid: So why don’t we spend our $3 million per year in
buying Nissan Leafs?
Ms. Ratchye: This is actually the electrification analysis that we did, and
Council has seen this. So, is your question, yeah, that’s like the most cost-
effective way to get carbon reductions.
Council Member Schmid: Yeah, as Chair pointed out, the role of the Finance
Committee is to try to find the best financial option. Are you saying that we
should be spending our $3 million per year to buy Nissan Leafs?
Ms. Ratchye: Well, it might be a better investment for society to make, but
the problem is, who is going to be making this expenditure is the gas rate
payers. So I don’t know if you had anything to add to that.
Council Member Schmid: I mean, you can spend it on Wisconsin cows or…
(crosstalk)
Ms. Ratchye: It becomes a Proposition (Prop) 26 issue.
Council Member Schmid: But you want to spend it on cows in Wisconsin, and
you say, “oh, that’s good”. I mean, why should we be spending it on cows in
Wisconsin instead of, say, replace the bike program with a Nissan Leaf
program? Put Nissan Leafs all over town bought by the City and drive
(crosstalk) save $183.
Ms. Dailey: Bought by the City would be fine.
Mr. Shikada: Is there a protocol for that?
Chair Filseth: He’s tugging on an interesting thread here. Go ahead.
Mr. Shikada: Jane, is there a protocol there for hybrid cars that would allow
us to do that?
Ms. Ratchye: It wouldn’t be an offset, not an offset. I mean the problem is
this program is to buy something for the entire portfolio for all gas rate
payers. And buying Nissan Leafs, there would be…
EXCERPT MINUTES
25
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Council Member Schmid: I don’t get what the difference is between a cow in
Wisconsin and a Nissan Leaf in Palo Alto.
Chair Filseth: She’s saying it’s a Prop 26 issue, is that right.
Ms. Ratchye: I mean, what this electrification analysis basically shows is
everyone should have a Nissan Leaf, absolutely shows that.
Council Member Schmid: I guess we’re looking at it from the point of view of
the City, how can the City take money from the rate payer and get the most
productive use out of it. And if you are going to have an opt-out program,
you want to be able to say, we are using this money effectively.
Ms. Ratchye: We’re not proposing an opt-out program.
Chair Filseth: UAC’s proposal was to make it mandatory, not opt out.
Mandatory for everybody, right.
Council Member Schmid: Well, even more so then, you have to convince
people if you’re taking $43 from every citizen of Palo Alto, that you are using
it in the most effective way.
Chair Filseth: He’s tugged on an interesting cord here, right, which is, Prop
26 says that we’re allowed to pass the cost of the gas onto the consumer.
We’re not allowed to just tax it and go off and use it to buy park space or
something like that, okay. But what if we spend it on something that reduces
co2 more efficiently than cows in Wisconsin? Is that legal under Prop 26?
Council Member Wolbach: There has to be a protocol. We need a (CARB)
Comprehensive Air Resources Board approved protocol for the offset. It will
have one for car sharing, for electric vehicles, which would be interesting,
but it will have one you just said, right?
Mr. Shikada: Or even like more broadly than the protocol itself is the
question of the legitimacy of the use of the funds, and is…
Mr. Perez: What is the benefit to the gas rate payer…
Council Member Schmid: Okay, let me go a step further then.
Chair Filseth: The benefit to the gas rate payer is less emissions, right?
EXCERPT MINUTES
26
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Council Member Schmid: People earlier said a more effective use of the
money would be to start dealing with heating in the homes, heating water,
warming homes, would that be (crosstalk)
Ms. Ratchye: That’s the same answer.
Council Member Schmid: But it’s not, you cannot justify it?
Ms. Ratchye: You can’t use all rate payer funds to benefit just particular
individuals who are going to do an electrification of their water heating or
space heating or whatever.
Chair Filseth: But the benefit to rate payers by this program you’re
proposing is that they produce less carbon dioxide when they cook their
Ramen, okay, it reduces carbon dioxide, and so if you have some other
program that reduces carbon dioxide even more when they cook that
Raimen, how is that not a benefit to rate payers? If the first one is a benefit
to rate payers?
Council Member Schmid: Let me pursue…
Ms. Ratchye: It’s a use of the funds. It’s basically a Prop 26 issue. It’s, when
you’re buying these offsets or biogas, that is something you’re doing for the
entire customer, all customers.
Council Member Schmid: Let me pursue then the other issue of opt in and
opt out. Wanting to leave the opt out in, and you get rid of 26.
Council Member Wolbach: Is that true?
Council Member Schmid: No one has to do it. It’s their own volition. So Prop
26 is not relevant, then you could spend it on the most effective thing for
Palo Alto.
Mr. Shikada: Again, the nature with the opt out or opt in is the
administrative costs, and effectively running a program that allowed that
choice.
Ms. Ratchye: I’m just trying to contemplate, I mean, we could do that. That
is an option to change the Palo Alto Green Gas opt in program to an opt out
EXCERPT MINUTES
27
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
program. I’m trying to imagine a marketing campaign for it that says pay a
little bit more for somebody who might get (crosstalk).
Council Member Schmid: You would have to effectively convince the people,
which is exactly what you want to do. You don’t have to convince all of
them. You say convince 90 percent of them. And that’s what politics is, so
that’s what we should be doing.
Ms. Ratchye: And as you see, if you’re looking at this graph, the only thing
that’s cost effective is the Nissan Leaf, that’s it. Heat pump water heaters,
no,unless you value carbon at $59 a ton.
Chair Filseth: Well, you’re valuing it at $8 a ton here.
Ms. Ratchye: Offsets, that’s the cost of that.
Council Member Schmid: A question to the Chair, keep on finances?
Chair Filseth: Yes, we are still on, we are in the zone of is the City getting its
money’s worth.
Council Member Schmid: Okay, good. That’s the questions I had.
Chair Filseth: That was yours. Well, you took all the good ones. So I have a
couple of procedural questions and sort of my questions sort of come back in
sort of the some of the same zone, although not as clever as Greg. If we
proceed with this program, there is basically a 10 percent rate hike, right,
does all that go to the commodity price or is there an expansion of sort of,
it’s going to, you know we’re going to have to have… You know, the
administration of it is going to take some resources, and so forth, is some
going to go to overhead, or…
Ms. Dailey: No, that’s just the commodity price and we would just, I mean,
it’s just kind of the normal course of business. We could certainly buy biogas
from the contracts we already have in place for brown gas and have a one
time set up some enabling agreements for offsets, but it’s a very low
administrative cost program.
Chair Filseth: I assume what we’re talking about here is legal with respect to
Prop 26?
EXCERPT MINUTES
28
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Mr. Howzell: It is. And the appropriate use of gas rate payer funds.
Chair Filseth: So the sense of the program is that we said, okay, we think a
10 percent rate increase is a reasonable thing for Palo Alto residents, you
know, to move to a carbon neutral gas supply, okay? We think 10 percent is
about appropriate. Now, we could do it for less than that if we, because
we’re doing, basically we’re going to modulate the amount of biogas versus
the offsets we do right? We could do it for less than that if we use less
biogas and more offsets, or we could do it for more than that, if we said
we’re going to buy more biogas because we think biogas is a better thing
than offsets. But I assume there is a range of quality of offsets, right? I
mean, you pick, for example, one which is animal waste is going to be
converted into methane and it’s just going to be gone, as opposed to planted
trees, which is a good thing, but in 100 years the trees going to fall down,
the carbon is going to be released into the atmosphere again, right. So I
assume there is a range of quality of offsets. Is that an accurate
characterization?
Ms. Dailey: I don’t believe so. I mean, we have placed that onto CARB and if
the project meets the protocol that CARB has laid out, then it’s an offset. So
we’re not going to place, we’re not proposing the place some other layer of
verification or scrutiny above and beyond what CARB says is a verifiable real
offset.
Chair Filseth: Okay, I understand. So if I understand what you just said, it’s,
excuse me, as long as you stick to the CARB schedule, you’re at the highest
quality of offsets that there is?
Ms. Dailey: Right, and another reason for using CARB-certified protocols is
because all those offsets could be used to meet an Renewable Portfolio
Standard (RPS) compliance requirement, so in effect, by us purchasing them
for our gas portfolio voluntarily, we’re taking them off the market and
retiring them so that someone else can’t use them to pollute.
Chair Filseth: So I guess sort of the thing that I’m wondering about this is,
you know, assuming the offsets are real, I mean we said well we think
biogas is a higher quality thing than the offsets, why is that? I mean, Cory
sort of tugged on that one a little bit. Why is that? I mean, the both get rid
of carbon, right?
Ms. Dailey: Right. I mean I think we’d be naïve to say that there isn’t some
public perception that doesn’t quite… Biogas is a very physical, definable
EXCERPT MINUTES
29
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
thing. The offsets you have to have a bit more faith in the verification
system and the CARB protocol, so again, it’s a little bit of an emotional
thing.
Chair Filseth: I mean, we’re paying a non-negligible price for that emotional
thing, right? So let me as the question a different way, the way I’d really like
to ask it. I mean given the immense difference in cost, okay, between biogas
and the offsets, you know, let’s say for the sake of argument, you went to
100 percent offsets and 0 percent biogas, okay, but you kept the 10 percent
rate increase, okay, and used the difference to buy a whole lot more offsets,
I mean, wouldn’t you go from carbon neutral to massively carbon negative.
It’s like ten times as many, or 20 times as many carbon offsets as you’re
buying biogas. I mean wouldn’t that be a better use of that investment? I
mean, did you guys talk about that at all?
Council Member Wolbach: Can I chime in on this?
Chair Filseth: Okay, if they’re done.
Mr. Cook: Yeah, let me just answer (crosstalk) The UAC did not consider
that. I think it’s an interesting thought exercise. That’s primarily why you
guys get paid the big bucks.
Chair Filseth: We’re just the bean counters on this side. Go ahead.
Council Member Wolbach: I think we heard from members of the public
some of the concerns around offsets are that they’re, some people interpret
offsets to be green washing. That perhaps CARB’s protocols aren’t as tight
as they could be. Actually that’s a quick question, do we know if CARB is
considering those criticisms, and considering updating their standards to be
more stringent around how they identify and measure offsets. I don’t know if
you’ve paid any attention to that. Maybe that’s a question we should ask
our…
Ms. Ratchye: I actually think they have the strictest there are. There are
protocols developed by different agencies and then CARB certifies those for
their own use and they only accept a fraction of what other people accept.
They, because they do it for compliance, so they’re pretty strict. I’d say
they’re the strictest.
EXCERPT MINUTES
30
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Council Member Wolbach: So if we did switch to more offsets and less
biogas, that might help make up for any under valuation that was raised by
members of Carbon Free Palo Alto.
Chair Filseth: Or leakage for example, etc.
Council Member Wolbach: And, I’m getting into comments. I’ll let you finish
your questions and I have a couple of comments.
Chair Filseth: I think we’re (crosstalk), so…
Council Member Wolbach: Well then, since I’ve stolen the mike, that’s a
really interesting idea of maybe just focusing on offsets rather than biogas
entirely and my hope is that, I think if we’re talking about, you know, a plan
not for just this year but setting up a process that will probably last a few
years, CARB standards may continue to improve to address the concerns
raised by members of Carbon Free Palo Alto that the offsets might not be as
substantial as they should be, but if we’ve set up a system in saying we’re
going to buy offsets and maybe offsets continue to improve, I think the
concept of offsets, well, that’s the question, right, is the whole concept of
offsets a joke, or is it just that the current system for evaluating them is not
stringent enough? I don’t know if we can ask members of the public who
spoke earlier on this.
Chair Filseth: Well, that’s sort of the rub, right, which is, do we believe in
offsets or not. If you believe in offsets, why are we not looking. If we don’t
believe in offsets, why are we doing this, right?
Council Member Wolbach: Chair, may I, may we?
Chair Filseth: Yeah, you can ask them.
Council Member Wolbach: Let me ask either or both members of Carbon
Free Palo Alto who spoke earlier who were critical of offsets, if you would like
to come to mike and weigh in on this question. Is it impossible that offsets
could be improved in the future through more stringent regulation?
Mr. Hodge: I think that the earlier comments that were made about CARB
and the quality of the offsets is spot on. I think they are probably the
highest offsets that are available, and because CARB has defined those
offsets to be the equivalent of buying allowances so they are for compliance
EXCERPT MINUTES
31
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
purposes. So I don’t, I wouldn’t expect that the quality of the offsets to
somehow get measurably better over time.
Council Member Wolbach: So why is it still considered green washing in your
view then?
Mr. Hodge: It’s considered green washing, we would consider it green
washing because it’s not something which is scaleable. In other words, it’s
something that you can buy, there’s a limited quantity of offsets that are out
there. Certainly Palo Alto could go off and buy these offsets, right, and it
would solve Palo Alto’s problem, but clearly everybody cannot do that, and
so one of the things that we have concentrated on as our group is to focus
on innovative solutions that Palo Alto can deploy and serve as a leader for
the region and state.
Council Member Wolbach: While we’ve got you up there, one other question,
which is people who spoke after you during the public comment period on
this topic expressed their view that this proposal and your ideas are not
incompatible. I would be curious if you would have any further explanation
about why you think this current proposal and your proposals are not
compatible.
Mr. Hodge: I guess one of the things we’re concerned about is this lost
revenue. So that’s the $3 million a year we’re estimated leaving the
community where imagine that $3 million spent on our infrastructure
instead. Buying the offsets does absolutely nothing for our community
except it’s sort of a feel good thing, but it doesn’t really address the issue
that we have directly.
Council Member Wolbach: Did your proposal have a mechanism by which
that same $3 million would be turned around in our own community?
Mr. Hodge: We believe that we have a mechanism that’s too complicated to
describe now, but there are financing mechanisms that are out there that we
believe where the cost actually can be in the same range of costs. In other
words, for the amount of money that we would be spending on offsets, we
believe for instance, that you can have electrification efforts for about the
same price, depending on the driving factors.
Chair Filseth: Although then you may run afoul of Prop 26?
EXCERPT MINUTES
32
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Mr. Howzell: …gas rate payer funds for those efforts, yes, a Prop 26 issue.
And also we need to just be careful to say…
Chair Filseth: We’re getting close to the edges we understand.
Mr. Howzell: Yes, we may be on the edge.
Chair Filseth: So we’re getting close to the edge, we may be on the edge.
Mr. Anderson: Okay, at a simplistic level, we had the idea of a utility fee, a
utility use fee. There’s already one there for gas. You could replace that, you
could put another one on, but that would be used to basically finance or fund
programmatic improvement in the utility to allow your rate payers options to
reduce their gas use through electrification and efficiency, so if you funded it
at the same level as the offset proposal, then you could get some real work
done in terms of getting those options out on the bill for customers. So you
allow them choice to reduce their gas use through electrification, which
allows them to benefit from that investment as a gas user. Just one
additional point on the quality of offsets, so offsets by nature are difficult to
measure. It’s just the nature of the beast. You can put as many, as heavy a
qualification and activity and protocol in place, but you can’t get away from
the fact that they have to be additive. The project that they promise
happens, would not happen otherwise but for your purse with that offset.
They have to be measurable also. Those things are just difficult to do. They
will never be surety around that and there’s always ways to cut corners and
you have five years later saying, well, is it still in place, are they still
monitoring it. So it’s just a hard thing to kind of keep your arms around and
it’s prone to problems. So that’s one of the difficulties in just, that’s why
they’re suspect in terms of…
Chair Filseth: How are we going to manage that, who is going to be… Oh, I
see, if we just use CARB, CARB manages it we don’t have to worry about it.
Mr. Anderson: Yeah, so CARB’s are reliable. There are third parties. There
are watchdogs. We just trust them.
Council Member Wolbach: But you guys are saying don’t trust them.
Mr. Anderson: Well, we’re saying just the principal of offsets doesn’t work in
terms of we’re trying to reduce gas use, not compensate and export that
EXCERPT MINUTES
33
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
problem outside our community with something that is, by nature,
suspicious.
Chair Filseth: Well, I mean if offsets don’t work then we shouldn’t do this.
And if they do work, then we’re sort of, what’s the right mix of biogas versus
offsets, right, you know, because you could go negative, you could
compensate for, you know, losses, transmission losses and stuff like that. So
what’s the right, I mean, that’s what we’re grappling with, right? Mr. Cook.
Mr. Cook: Yeah. I just thought what Bret said last was the most important
thing, and that’s what I wanted to say when I raised my hand earlier. It’s
just that what we want to do is not generate greenhouse gases, right, and
by burning gas we generate greenhouse gases, so where Carbon Free Palo
Alto is going and where I’d love to see this City go ultimately through the
mechanism of this policy, you know they’re saying don’t do this policy, do
something else and I totally respect that. But we all agree on the core
problem with the offsets is just that you’re, you still are generating the
greenhouse gases. Now you’re offsetting that by reducing greenhouse gas
emissions somewhere else, whether it’s Wisconsin or wherever, it doesn’t
matter in the way that it’s the globe, it’s our planet. But is there, should the
money be spent and the effort be spent locally to reduce the initial
greenhouse gas emission by reducing the use of gas to do the things that we
want to do every day, so can you cut straight to that, and I guess what I’m
saying is and I think what the UAC is saying, and I think what, you know,
what Sandra and Lisa are saying is, hey, let’s do this as an interim step, as a
transitional step to ultimately get to where we’re reducing our greenhouse
gas emissions, not an offset.
Chair Filseth: Can I, I don’t think there’s disagreement on that here.
Mr. Cook: So the question is with policy. How do you get to that point, and
we’re just saying this is the transition to that.
Chair Filseth: But we’re not, that’s not agendized for tonight so we can’t…
Council Member Wolbach: I hate to be asking so many questions, because
we, I mean we’re almost 2 hours in, but there was some discussion about
the possibility of local offsets, and that does sound like keeping the money
locally or making the investment locally to some certainty, to some degree.
Can we get any more color on that concept?
EXCERPT MINUTES
34
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Ms. Ratchye: Any urban forestry project is absolutely welcome to go meet
the protocol and get that done and we would then be able to buy those
offsets, but it has to be verifiable. You know, it has to be those same high
quality, and if the local project can actually achieve that, that would be
awesome.
Council Member Wolbach: So when we move to a Motion, I’m not sure if it
was already in the recommendation from the UAC to prioritize identifying
local offset opportunities, if they’re available, and if we move this forward to
the Council, maybe that’s something that we could tag on to say that as
we’re looking for offsets, it’s, what’s that?
Ms. Ratchye: At a premium price?
Council Member Wolbach: Maybe at a premium or...
Chair Filseth: It can’t be as big a premium as biogas.
Mr. Hodge: Your trees, your urban forestry is not going to offset the total
emissions from the canopy.
Council Member Wolbach: I would not expect any one item would be, would
solve the problem, but to the degree that it’s an option, maybe that’s
something we would include in directing the Staff to present an option or
two to the full Council when it comes to Council.
Chair Filseth: I think the point here is that there’s probably going to be a
limited capacity, right, it’s a nice thing to do so I’m not arguing against it.
It’s probably going to be limited.
Council Member Schmid: Let me state one possibility. Palo Alto dumps tens
of thousands tons of garbage each year in landfill, which produces methane
gas for 50 years. If there is a conversion technology that translated that into
gas, biogas.
Chair Filseth: You’d like the anaerobic digester or something.
Council Member Schmid: No, conversion technology (inaudible). That would
directly deal with two Palo Alto problems, the need for an offset and what we
do to stop the creation of future methane gas. That’s a double win.
EXCERPT MINUTES
35
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Chair Filseth: Let me pause for a second and ask our colleague from the
Legal Department. Presumably we’re going to do a Motion at some point,
somebody brought it up, right, and the Motion is going to have to do with
the Staff recommendation and the UAC recommendation adopting the
Carbon Neutral Gas Plan. What does it mean for the Finance Committee to
approve it, right? This is a policy issue that goes far beyond the purview of
Finance, so I mean, let’s say we adopt the Staff recommendation
unanimous. The Council is going to go debate this again, right, and much
more broadly, so it doesn’t go on the consent calendar or something like
that, right?
Mr. Howzell: It could, but there would be a further discussion as to whether
it is appropriate to have it on the consent calendar and based on your
comments suggesting that it really should be something that the Council
would want to necessarily discuss and they will do what they will, what the
recommendation, you know, a unanimous recommendation and interpret it
as they will. But you raise an interesting issue.
Chair Filseth: Well, to me, I’m not comfortable having this Committee sign
off on the whole program. I think it’s beyond our scope, right, to do that. I
think the whole Council should look on it before we just enact it into law,
right.
Mr. Howzell: Well, we have to. (crosstalk) We legally can’t.
Council Member Wolbach: That’s the Staff recommendation?
Chair Filseth: I think in that context, so what is a Motion from us going to
look like? It’s going to look like we adopt this, we vote in favor of the Staff
Motion, but we have these three comments, or what does it look like?
Council Member Wolbach: Can I give it a try?
Mr. Howzell: You could do it that way, or you could inform the full Council of
what the nature of the discussion was. The limits on what your
recommendation is.
Chair Filseth: Okay, right.
Mr. Perez: Let me see if I can add. You have, not necessarily this
Committee, but the Finance Committee have added a condition that it be an
EXCERPT MINUTES
36
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Action Item. You know. So it could be heard and discussed by the full
Council.
Council Member Schmid: I guess another option is we could ask either the
UAC or Staff to come back with some amendments. (Inaudible) so we don’t
have to send it directly to Council without some adaptation.
Chair Filseth: We could.
Council Member Wolbach: I’ll try my hand at a Motion. I’m just looking at
the time. So I’ll move the Staff recommendation with a couple of minor
changes. Do you need me to read the Staff recommendation or… Okay, so
the changes would be to provide an option for Council to consider to
prioritize locally generated offsets or local offsets. That would be the first
change. And the second one would be to prioritize offsets over biogas.
Chair Filseth: I would second that, but I guess I’d be more comfortable with
language on the second piece. It doesn’t specifically say, well I guess the
Council could, maybe it works. The same discussion, prioritize offsets over
biogas, but I’d like to see a discussion of the relationship between biogas,
offsets and emissions. Because of it’s cost, and I’d like to see, if we’re going
to spend rate payer money on reducing carbon, I’d like to see us reduce
carbon as much as we possibly can, and I think that’s kind of the discussion,
I’d like to hear a little more discussion on that, between UAC and Council.
Council Member Wolbach: What if we, instead of saying prioritize offsets
over biogas, say prioritize maximum carbon reduction within the 10 percent,
I’m sorry, within the 10 cent/therm rate impact cap? And that allows
flexibility.
Chair Filseth: Are you okay with that?
Council Member Wolbach: Well, I’ll speak to that if I have a second.
Chair Filseth: So you can speak to it and I’d like to hear the response from
the UAC and the…
Council Member Wolbach: Do I have a second?
Chair Filseth: Sure, I second it.
EXCERPT MINUTES
37
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
MOTION: Council Member Wolbach moved, seconded by Chair Filseth to
recommend the City Council:
A. Adopt a Resolution that:
i. Approves the Carbon Neutral Gas Plan, enabling the City to
achieve a carbon-neutral gas supply portfolio starting in Fiscal
Year (FY) 2018 with a rate impact not to exceed ten cents per
therm (10 ¢/therm); and
ii. Terminates the PaloAltoGreen Gas program established by
Resolution 9405; and
B. Direct Staff to develop an implementation plan for the Carbon Neutral
Gas Plan; and
C. Direct Staff to provide an option for Council to consider prioritizing
local offsets; and
D. Direct Staff to prioritize maximizing carbon reduction within the 10
cents per therm (10 ¢/therm) rate impact cap.
Council Member Wolbach: So that would allow the flexibility by the Utilities
Department within the program to go with biogas or with offsets,
understanding that their priority would be maximum carbon reduction and
again, it also gives to Council the option to promote local offsets.
Chair Filseth: I see a frown over here. So you’re worried about Prop 26?
Ms. Dailey: No, let me take those in two different chunks. The first one was
prioritizing local projects. I mean, we do have a preference for California
projects in here, which could be modified to local. We’ve never put a price
on that. So we’ve never said we’d be willing to spend X more on a local
California project. So we just put that out there that it’s an undefined thing
now and under your amendment it still stays undefined. As far as prioritizing
offsets, to me that just changes the recommendation to use offsets and it
changes it to spend 10 cents/therm and buy as many offsets as you can with
that, no matter, without tying it to the gas burned.
Chair Filseth: The territory you’ll get into is, well, actually if we did it all with
offsets, it would only take a five percent rate increase.
EXCERPT MINUTES
38
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Ms. Dailey: Well, that’s right and it’s in your Staff report already, so you
have that information.
Chair Filseth: But you come back and said if you spend 10 cents (crosstalk)
Then we have Prop 26 issues, right? You’re offsetting more carbon than
you’re actually producing, right? But you also get into the issue of the value
of biogas versus offsets, right, and I think you need to grapple with that.
Council Member Wolbach: Can we ask the City Clerk to read back the
Motion, just to make sure it was captured.
Jessica Brettle, Assistant City Clerk: Sure. Would you like me to read the full
Staff recommendation as well?
Chair Filseth: I think so, yeah.
Ms. Brettle: I have a Motion by Council Member Wolbach, seconded by Chair
Filseth to recommend the City Council adopt a Resolution that: A, approves
the carbon neutral gas plan, enabling the City to achieve a carbon neutral
gas supply portfolio starting in Fiscal Year 2018 with a rate impact not to
exceed 10 cents/therm; B, terminates the Palo Alto Green Gas Program as
established by Resolution 9405; C, to direct Staff to develop an
implementation plan for the carbon neutral gas plan; D, to also provide an
option for Council to consider prioritizing local offsets. And I think D, to
prioritize maximizing carbon reduction within the 10 cents/therm rate impact
cap.
Council Member Wolbach: Right, so it’s not specifically saying prioritize
offsets over biogas. It’s saying whatever Staff is deciding, you know, within
this, because this program does allow flexibility already, it was intended to
and that was one of the benefits we heard by UAC and analyzed it. This
would just provide a little bit more encouragement to Staff to really say, as
you’re working within that flexibility, rather than the emotional bias towards
biogas, our emotional bias is towards maximum co2 reduction, however you
do it.
Chair Filseth: Right. Let me try another slice, another view on it. I’m
(crosstalk)
EXCERPT MINUTES
39
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Ms. Dailey: I’m just wondering what is it that we’re, that we’ll be looking at?
What are the products. There’s biogas, there’s offsets. What other things are
you thinking of that are going to reduce…
Council Member Wolbach: I’m just saying, when deciding what mix, rather
than stipulating fove percent and 95 percent, it’s saying you can stay flexible
on the percentages, depending on Staff’s interpretation or, you know, if
biogas improves, if something changes in the marketplace, if something
changes in technology.
Chair Filseth: …high quality offsets to buy.
Ms. Dailey: If there’s no, I mean the way it’s structured now is to include as
much biogas as possible, staying within the 10-cent rate cap. If it’s
structured the opposite way, we will not buy any biogas, period. I think if
that’s what you’re leaning toward, then it’s a different plan that just says
use offsets.
Chair Filseth: We didn’t understand why there was a bias in favor of biogas
versus offsets. That’s one of the things I think all of came to understand
here tonight, because we were all asking questions about it.
Ms. Dailey: Yeah, and I think, you know, again, over, the main discussions
we’ve had at the UAC and some discussions at Council around the Climate
Action Plan, there’s never been a policy against offsets, but there has been a
feeling about the preference for physical commodity, and so the plan that we
developed was kind of the minimum rate impact you could possibly have and
have any biogas in the portfolio at all.
Chair Filseth: I understand, and that’s part of the reason I like this Motion,
okay, as is. Because we’re not telling, and as I read this Motion, we’re not
telling you to go with offsets and forget about biogas. What we’re saying is,
prioritize CO2 reduction, okay, and if you can translate that feeling into tons
of carbon dioxide, then go for it. But if it’s just a feeling and we really don’t
know, please wait rate payer money and CO2 reduction and go for the max
CO2 reduction, do the 10 percent, you know, take care of Menlo Park
carbon, that’s fine. But prioritize that, because look at it this way, you’re
going to like this, right. You know, look at this Wisconsin example. The
question we asked Greg and I sort of scrummed on earlier, right, said, well
you converted waste into methane and then you’re taking the gas and
making electricity out of it and if you buy the offset, it’s 10 cents/therm and
if you buy the gas it’s two bucks a therm, why is that? Well it’s because
EXCERPT MINUTES
40
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
other people are bidding on the gas. Well, I don’t think rate payers in Palo
Alto, I mean the value here is the offset, right, at least to this program, so it
doesn’t make sense to charge Palo Alto rate payers for these two other guys
bidding against, bidding up the price of the gas, if that makes sense.
Ms. Dailey: Let me try it another way. Would it be, if we could, as we said
somewhere in the Staff Report, cover the entire gas portfolio with offsets,
with a rate impact of two cents, would you rather be there or would you
rather spend 10 cents and do something beyond that?
Chair Filseth: Excellent question. I think that’s a good question for the
Council, not the Finance Committee.
Council Member Wolbach: So the Motion on the table is to spend up to the
10 cents and get as much CO2 reduction as you can within that 10 cent
impact, 10 cents/therm.
Ms. Dailey: Actually, the proposal is to spend 10 cents and to incorporate as
much biogas in that as you can.
Council Member Wolbach: Right and what we’re saying is spend the 10
cents.
Chair Filseth: Spend up to 10 cents.
Council Member Wolbach: And get as much CO2.
Chair Filseth: I’ll take it the way he’s doing it.
Council Member Wolbach: It’s to spend (crosstalk) and get as much CO2
reduction as you can, rather than saying buy as much biogas as you can.
Ms. Ratchye: That’s getting 200 percent of the production.
Council Member Schmid: Let me suggest an alternative.
Chair Filseth: But you’re going to have some flexibility here. You’re going to
have losses in our transmission system. You’re going to have losses in the
nationwide transmission system.
EXCERPT MINUTES
41
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Ms. Dailey: Right, I hear you.
Council Member Schmid: Can I make a suggestion.
Chair Filseth: Okay, go ahead.
Council Member Schmid: The pressure is to do it by Fiscal Year ’18, 100
percent carbon neutral. It seems to me we’re talking about two different
things. You know, get that done, meaning offsets, or work toward a program
that will achieve that with local offsets, and local offsets could involve things
like infrastructure changes and conversion technology, so that says spend
the 10 cents/therm, but let’s use the money to have a plan, a strategic plan,
to get us somewhere three, four or five years.
Chair Filseth: Yeah, give the difference to those guys. Figure out some way
to do that.
Council Member Wolbach: Was that an Amendment, or is that, are you
suggesting that’s still plausible within the Motion as it’s currently drafted.
(crosstalk)
Council Member Schmid: I think we’d have to change A to read, enable the
City to work towards a carbon neutral gas portfolio with the rate impact, and
to add the local offsets, things like conversion technology and infrastructure.
Council Member Wolbach: We already have that in the Motion.
Council Member Schmid: Do we have those words?
Jessica Brettle, Assistant City Clerk: Do you want me to read it again?
Council Member Wolbach: Could you read just the things that we added.
Ms. Brettle: The two things you added were to provide an option for Council
to consider prioritizing local offsets and to prioritize maximizing carbon
reduction within the 10 cents/therm rate impact cap.
Council Member Schmid: Yeah, such as, I want to add after that local, such
as infrastructure and conversion technology.
EXCERPT MINUTES
42
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Council Member Wolbach: I would actually not accept that Amendment. I
don’t think it’s necessary. I think it’s redundant, or I think it’s getting too
specific.
Chair Filseth: Wait a second. Can you repeat the second addition again.
Ms. Brettle: Sure. The second addition said, to prioritize maximizing carbon
reduction within the 10 cents/therm rate impact cap.
Chair Filseth: Right.
Ms. Brettle: And Council Member Schmid added a friendly amendment, such
as, or an amendment, “such as infrastructure and conversion technology”.
Council Member Schmid: That would be under C.
Chair Filseth: What you’d really say is, potentially include infrastructure and
conversion technology.
AMENDMENT: Council Member Schmid moved, seconded by Counci Member
XXX to add to Motion Part C “such as infrastructure and conversion
technology.”
Chair Filseth: But does that take us outside the place where we’re not
allowed to go tonight? I don’t know.
Mr. Howzell: I think at this point I think you’re fine and obviously the caveat
on everything that you’re talking about is that we will also work within the
constitutional limitations of Prop 26 regarding the use of rate payer funds,
won’t go beyond the cost of service parameters.
Chair Filseth: So I don’t have a problem with it the maker of the Motion has
a problem.
Council Member Wolbach: Yeah, I’d prefer, I don’t think it’s necessary and
again, you know, looking at the alternatives that are in the Staff Report on
Page 16, I think that the tweaks we’ve made to the Motion reasonably fall
within that range of alternatives. I think that goes a little bit further and I
think that gets more towards other initiatives that should be agendized
separately. I don’t see how it would be accommodated into this effort.
EXCERPT MINUTES
43
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Chair Filseth: We’re staring into space. You want to get the idea in front of
Council on the Agenda that some of it could go to future mechanisms to
reduce carbon?
Council Member Schmid: Yes, we could start working on things, won’t deliver
them in 2017, but would work to have a long-term global impact.
Mr. Howzell: And I would suggest that that is outside of what we are, the
scope of what we are agendized for this particular meeting.
Chair Filseth: I think you’re probably right.
Council Member Wolbach: And that’s why I didn’t accept it, even though I
think it’s an interesting idea.
Chair Filseth: Okay, your Amendment is not accepted, your friendly
Amendment is not accepted. You can offer it as an unfriendly one.
AMENDMENT FAILED DUE TO THE LACK OF A SECOND
Chair Filseth: Once the City Attorney weighs in (crosstalk). Okay, so we
have a Motion.
Council Member Wolbach: Should we add also that we wanted to come on as
Action rather than consent?
Chair Filseth: Yeah, I think it should go on Action.
Ms. Brettle: I’ll add that on there.
Chair Filseth: Okay, I’m satisfied. All in favor? All opposed.
MOTION PASSED: 2-1 Schmid no, Holman absent
Chair Filseth: Okay, Motion carries with Council Members Filseth and
Wolbach in favor, Council Member Schmid opposed and Council Member
Holman not present. Thank you guys very much. We like it.
Council Member Schmid: Yeah, very important.
EXCERPT MINUTES
44
Finance Committee
Excerpt Minutes
October 18, 2016
Chair Filseth: Yeah, go look at the tradeoff between offsets and so forth.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:27 P.M.
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7371)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 12/5/2016
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Approval of Ordinance and Agreement with the County of
Santa Clara on Tobacco Retailer Permits
Title: Approval of an Agreement With the County of Santa Clara With
Respect to a Tobacco Retailer Permit Program; and Discussion and Potential
Adoption of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 9.14 to Restrict Smoking in
Multi Family Housing
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Public Works
Recommendation
The Policy and Services Committee recommends that Council:
1. Approve an agreement with the County of Santa Clara (Attachment A)
relating to the administration and enforcement of a Tobacco Retail Permit
Program in the City of Palo Alto;
2. Direct staff to draft an ordinance amending Chapter 9.14 Smoking and
Tobacco Regulations) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to establish a
Tobacco Retail Permit Program; and
3. Discuss and potentially adopt on first reading the attached ordinance
amending Chapter 9.14 (Smoking and Tobacco Regulations) of the Palo Alto
Municipal Code to ban smoking in units in multi-unit residences and
common areas, and make other minor amendments to smoking restrictions
(remove bingo games as places and workplaces exempt from the City’s
prohibition against smoking in enclosed places) (Attachment C).
City of Palo Alto Page 2
Background
On February 9, 2016, the Policy and Services Committee directed staff to continue
discussions with the County of Santa Clara on regulatory mechanisms related to
retail sale of tobacco, and report to Council with an ordinance substantially
similar to the County’s Ordinance. In addition, the Policy and Services Committee
approved the draft multi-family smoking ordinance with minor changes for
discussion with Council; and deleting bingo games as places exempt from the
City’s prohibition against smoking in enclosed places (see Attachment D for Policy
and Services Action Minutes and Staff Report).
Discussion
Tobacco Retail Permit Ordinance and Agreement
Staff from the County of Santa Clara and the City of Palo Alto met twice since
February 2016 to develop an agreement for the County to administer and enforce
a new tobacco retail permit program in the City of Palo Alto. Presently the County
only enforces the County’s tobacco retail permit program in unincorporated areas
of the County, but is hoping to establish similar administration and enforcement
partnerships with other cities in the County. Under the Agreement, staff from the
County’s Department of Public Health and Environmental Health would handle
permitting of retailers, collect permit application and annual permit fees
(currently $340 and $425, respectively), review permit applications for new
retailers to determine compliance, provide education to retailers on ordinance
requirements, conduct inspections for compliance with the ordinance, and handle
most enforcement tasks. The City of Palo Alto’s responsibility would be to
conduct annual undercover operations to verify retailers are not conducting
underage sales and to issue citations for such sales. The City and County would
share information on any enforcement and provide annual summaries of retailers
and compliance and alert the County to any new planning applications for
tobacco retailers. The agreement outlining the roles and responsibilities is
contained in Attachment A.
Under the Agreement, the City of Palo Alto must adopt a local ordinance that
contains the same regulatory provisions as the County's tobacco retailer permit
ordinance and any future County amendments to its retail tobacco permit
ordinance. The County’s current retail tobacco permit ordinance is attached as
Attachment B. The County is scheduled in December 2016 to update its ordinance
to better align its provisions with changes in state law, align definitions with
City of Palo Alto Page 3
federal definitions, include a ban of menthol flavored tobacco, and expand the
definition of flavored e-cigarettes. The anticipated operable date of the County’s
December 2016 amendments to its Ordinance is July 1, 2017.
In February 2017, staff will return to Council with a draft local ordinance that will
contain the County’s regulatory provisions, including the December amendments.
The anticipated operable date of the City’s Tobacco Retail Permit ordinance is July
1, 2017.
Smoking Ban in Units in Multi-Unit Residences and Common Areas
Staff made changes requested by the Policy and Services Committee and
completed a final draft of the multi-unit residence smoking ban, including the
one-year implementation time-frame for outreach and education (Attachment C).
The effective date of the ordinance is January 1, 2018. Due to staffing shortages,
staffing capacity and competing projects and assignments for all departments
involved (Police, Planning, Public Works, City Manager’s Office), staff is not in a
position to dedicate resources for enforcement of the ordinance. Nonetheless,
the City would:
1) Require Landlords to give written notice to tenants and buyers and sellers
of units in multi-unit residences of the City’s prohibition effective January 1,
2018, against smoking in units in multi-unit residences and commons areas;
and
2) Require, effective January 1, 2018, Landlords to include the smoking
prohibition as a term in a lease or other rental agreement entered into or
continued.
While there would not be an active enforcement program, Committee members
noted that adopting the Ordinance would help to create a social norm for Palo
Alto. Several Bay Area cities have done this, and believe that it has been
successful. Council may decide that this approach is desirable. There remains a
concern, however, that Palo Alto residents may expect outreach and
enforcement, for which there are no available resources.
Removal of Exemption of Bingo Games from Smoking Ban in Enclosed Places
City of Palo Alto Page 4
As directed by the Policy and Services Committee, Staff made changes to the Palo
Alto Municipal Code Section 9.14.070 to remove the exemption of bingo games
from the places and workplaces exempt from the City’s prohibition of smoking in
enclosed places.
Policy Implications
The adoption of the proposed ordinance would further Comprehensive Plan
policies: N-5: Clean, Healthful Air for Palo Alto and N-6: An Environment Free of
the Damaging Effects of Biological and Chemical Hazardous Materials.
In addition, this effort is consistent with Council’s adopted four priorities that will
"receive particular, unusual and significant attention during the year," including
“Healthy City, Healthy Community.”
Resource Impact
The tobacco retail permit agreement and subsequent ordinance establishing the
program would have a minor impact on the City staff and financial resources and
can be absorbed with existing budgets.
The multi-unit residence smoking ban ordinance could have moderate or
significant impact on City staff and financial resources due to potential resident
requests for enforcement, complaints and inquiries. The City has no budgeted
resources to perform outreach, education or to respond to complaints and
inquiries.
Environmental Review
Provisions of this ordinance do not constitute a project under the Environmental
Quality Act because it can be seen with certainty that no significant negative
environmental impact will occur as a result of the amended ordinance.
Attachments:
A: Agreement for Palo Alto Tobacco Retail Permit Program (PDF)
B: Permits For Retailers Of Tobacco Products (PDF)
C: Ordinance re: Smoking Restrictions for Multi-Family Housing (PDF)
AGREEMENT BETWEEN
THE COUNTY OF SANT A CLARA
AND CITY OF PALO ALTO FOR
A TOBACCO RETAIL PERMIT PROGRAM
This Agreement is entered into by and between the County of Santa Clara ("County") and City
of Palo Alto ("City") relating to administration and enforcement of a tobacco retail permit
program in the City of Palo Alto. County and City may be referred to in this Agreement
individually as a "Party" and collectively as "Parties."
Background I Purpose
In 201 O. the County added Chapter XXIII to Division A 18 of its Ordinance Code, thereby
establishing a permit requirement for retailers of tobacco products in the unincorporated areas of
the County of Santa Clara. The County has since expanded the scope of Chapter XXIII and
modified provisions therein. The City now wishes to adopt one or more ordinance(s) to mirror
the provisions of Chapter XXIII in their entirety. The City and County intend for the County to
administer and enforce the City's tobacco retail permit program within the City, except as
otherwise provided in this Agreement. The County intends to cite violators of the City's
Ordinance Code pursuant to this Agreement.
Agreement
The Parties agree as follows:
1. Scope of Work
Each Party shall perform the work as described in Exhibit A, attached hereto and
incorporated herein by this reference; provided, however, that the County shall have no
responsibility for administering or enforcing any provisions of the City's tobacco retailer
permit ordinance that are in addition to or otherwise different from the County's
provisions.
2. Relationship of Parties I Independent Contractors
Each Party shall perform all work described herein as an independent contractor and not
as an officer, agent, servant or employee of the other Party. None of the provisions of
this Agreement are intended to create, nor shall be deemed or construed to create, any
relationship between the Parties other than that of independent parties contracting with
each other for purpose of effecting the provisions of this Agreement. The Parties are not,
and will not be construed to be in a relationship of joint venture, partnership or employer-
employee. Neither Party has the authority to make any statements, representations or
commitments of any kind on behalf of the other Party, or to use the name of the other
Party in any publications or advertisements, except with the written consent of the other
Party or as is explicitly provided herein. Each Party will be solely responsible for the
acts and omissions of its officers, agents, employees, contractors, and subcontractors, if
any.
3. Term of Agreement
This Agreement is effective from the date that this Agreement is executed, until
terminated in accordance with this Agreement.
4. Payment
The City shall adopt, by reference, the County's fee schedule for annual tobacco retail
permits and tobacco retail permit applications. All annual permit fees and application
fees for the tobacco retail permit program shall be collected and retained by the County.
The County shall advise City of the initial permit fee and application fee necessary to
cover County's anticipated costs under this Agreement. Thereafter, the County shall
provide notice to the City and tobacco retail permit holders in the City of any increases or
decreases in the cost of the County's work under this Agreement and any need to revise
permit fees and/or application fees accordingly.
5. Termination
Either Party may terminate this Agreement for any reason upon ninety (90) days' written
notice. Upon service of a termination notice, the Parties shall use their best efforts to
develop a mutually-agreeable plan for transition of the County's responsibilities to the
City. Upon termination of this Agreement, the City will be responsible for replacing the
County-issued permits.
6. Indemnification and Insurance
City shall indemnify and hold harmless County, its officers, agents and employees for 50
percent of the amount of any claim, liability, loss, injury or damage arising out of, or in
connection with, performance of this Agreement by County and/or its agents, employees
or subcontractors, excepting only loss, injury or damage caused by the negligence or
willful misconduct of personnel employed by County. County shall defend the City, its
officers, agents and employees against any claim, liability, loss, injury or damage arising
out of, or in connection with, performance of this Agreement by County and/or its agents,
employees or subcontractors.
City shall immediately notify County upon learning of any potential or asserted claim,
liability, loss, injury or damage for which the City may be obligated to indemnify or hold
the County harmless pursuant to any provision of this Agreement. County shall
immediately notify City upon learning of any potential or asserted claim, liability, loss,
injury or damage for which the City may be obligated to indemnify or hold the County
harmless pursuant to any provision of this Agreement.
Page 2 of7
Agreement for Palo Alto Tobacco Retail Pcnnit Program
Without limiting the indemnification, City shall maintain or cause to be maintained the
following insurance coverage: (I) a policy of commercial general liability with limits of
liability not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence and two million
dollars ($2,000,000) annual aggregate; (ii) a policy of workers' compensation providing
statutory coverage; (iii) a policy of professional errors and omissions liability with limits
of liability not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence/aggregate; and
(iv) such other insurance or self-insurance as shall be necessary to insure it against any
claim or claims for damages arising under the Agreement. Insurance afforded by the
commercial general liability policy shall be endorsed to provide coverage to the County
as an additional insured. A Certificate of Insurance certifying that coverage as required
herein has been obtained shall be provided to the County. The requirements of this
section may be satisfied by the provision of similar coverage through a self-insurance
program.
7. Compliance with All Laws, Rules, Regulations, Policies and Procedures
The Parties shall comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules,
regulations, policies and procedures.
8. Monitoring I Records
8.1 Monitoring
Each Party shall pennit the other Party to monitor its perfonnance of this
Agreement. To the extent pennitted by law, such monitoring may include, but not
be limited to, audits and review of records related to this Agreement. Upon
request, a Party shall provide the other Party with access to facilities, financial and
employee records that are related to the purpose of the Agreement, except where
prohibited by federal, state or local laws, regulations or rules. Monitoring shall be
permitted at any time during nonnal business hours upon no less than 10 business
days advance notice and may occur up to one year following termination of the
Agreement.
Each Party shall designate a project director/coordinator responsible for
overseeing that Party's perfonnance of this Agreement. Each Party shall notify
the other Party in writing of the designation of the project director/coordinator and
of any change thereto.
8.2 California Public Records Act
The Parties are public agencies subject to the disclosure requirements of the
California Public Records Act ("CPRA"). In the event of a CPRA request for
infonnation related to this Agreement, each Party will use its best efforts to notify
the other Party before such disclosure.
Page 3 of7
Agreement for Palo Alto Tobacco Retail Pennit Program
9. Representations and Warranties
II
II
9.1 Conflict oflnterest
Each Party shall comply, and require its subcontractors to comply, with all
applicable (i) requirements governing avoidance of impermissible client conflicts;
and (ii) federal, state and local conflict of interest laws and regulations including,
without limitation, California Government Code section 1090 et. seq., the
California Political Reform Act (California Government Code section 87100 et.
seq.) and the regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission concerning
disclosure and disqualification (2 California Code of Regulations section 18700 et.
seq.). Failure to do so constitutes a material breach of this Agreement and is
grounds for immediate termination of this Agreement by either Party.
9.2 Authority
Each individual executing this Agreement on behalf of a Party represents that he
or she is duly authorized to execute and deliver this Agreement on that Party's
behalf.
10. Assignment, Delegation, Subcontracting
Neither Party may assign any of its rights, delegate any of its duties or subcontract any
portion of its work or business under this Agreement without the prior written consent of
the other Party, which such other Party may withhold in its sole and absolute discretion.
No assignment, delegation or subcontracting will release a Party from any of its
obligations or alter any of its obligations to be performed under the Agreement.
11. Governing Law, Jurisdiction and Venue
This Agreement shall be construed and its performance enforced under California law. In
the event that suit shall be brought by either Party to this Agreement, the Parties agree
that venue shall be exclusively vested in the state courts of the County of Santa Clara or,
if federal jurisdiction is appropriate, exclusively in the United States District Court for the
Northern District of California, in San Jose, California.
12. Waiver
No delay or failure to require performance of any provision of this Agreement shall
constitute a waiver of that provision as to that or any other instance. Any waiver granted
by a Party must be in writing, and shall apply to the specific instance expressly stated.
13. Notice
Any notice required to be given by either Party, or which either Party may wish to give,
shall be in writing and served either by personal delivery or sent by certified or registered
Page 4 of7
Agreement for Palo Alto Tobacco Retail J>ennit Program
mail, postage prepaid, addressed as follows:
Ifto COUNTY:
County of Santa Clara
Public Health Department
Sara H. Cody, MD
Health Officer and Public Health Director
976 Lenzen A venue
San Jose, CA 95126
Ifto CITY:
City of Palo Alto
Mike Sartor
Director of Public Work
250 Hamilton Ave., 6th Fl.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Notice shall be deemed effective on the date personally delivered or, if mailed, three (3)
days after deposit in the mail. Either Party may designate a different person and/or
address for the receipt of notices by sending written notice to the other Party.
14. Third Party Beneficiaries
This Agreement does not and is not intended to confer any rights or remedies upon any
person or entity other than the Parties.
15. Entire Agreement
This document represents the entire Agreement between the Parties with respect to the
subject matter hereof. All prior negotiations and written and/or oral Agreements between
the Parties with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement are merged into this
Agreement.
16. Amendments
This Agreement may only be amended by a written instrument signed by the Parties.
17. Survival
The rights and duties under the following provisions shall survive the termination or
expiration of this Agreement: Section 6 -Indemnification and Insurance; Section 8 -
Monitoring/ Records; Section 9 -Representation and Warranties; and Section lH-7-
Goveming LawN enue, and in any instrument, certificate, exhibit, or other writing
attached hereto and incorporated herein.
18. Severability
If any term, covenant, condition or provision of this Agreement, or the application thereof
to any person or circumstance, shall to any extent be held by a court of competent
jurisdiction to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the remainder of the terms, covenants,
conditions and provisions of this Agreement, or the application thereof to any person or
Page S of7
Agreement for Palo Alto Tobacco Retail Permit Program
circumstance, shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected,
impaired or invalidated thereby.
19. Contract Execution
Unless otherwise prohibited by law or County policy, the Parties agree that an electronic
copy of a signed contract, or an electronically signed contract, has the same force and
legal effect as a contract executed with an original ink signature. The tenn "electronic
copy of a signed contract" refers to a transmission by facsimile, electronic mail, or other
electronic means of a copy of an original signed contract in a portable document fonnat.
The tenn ''electronically signed contract" means a contract that is executed by applying
an electronic signature using technology approved by the County.
20. Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall be
deemed to be an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same
instrument.
II
II
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the dates written
below.
Signed:
County of Santa Clara:
Dave Cortese, President
Board of Supervisors
Attest:
Date
Megan Doyle Date
Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
Approved:
Sara H. Cody, MD Date
Health Officer and Public Health
Director
Agreement for Palo Alto Tobacco Retail Pennit Program
City of Palo Alto
Date
Page 6of7
Approved as to Form and Legality:
Jenny S. Lam Date
Deputy County Counsel
Approved:
John Cookinhaµi Date
SCVHHS Chief Financial Officer
Exhibits to this Agreement:
Exhibit A: Scope of Work
Page7 of7
Agreement for Palo Alto Tobacco Retail Permit Program
Exhibit A
County-City of Palo Alto Tobacco Retail Permit Partnership
Description of Roles by Agency
County of Santa Clara
Department of Environmental Health
1. Send out permit applications to all existing retailers selling tobacco products and/or electronic
smoking devices in the City of Palo Alto and issue permits as necessary
2. Maintain database tracking system for all permitted tobacco retailers
3. Provide list of permitted tobacco retailers to Public Health Department and City of Palo Alto on
an annual basis or more frequently as requested
4. Collect required permit fees
5. Conduct at least one annual inspection of tobacco retailers to ensure compliance with local,
state, and federal laws (except sales to minors)
6. Conduct follow up inspections if necessary
7. Keep records of inspection outcomes for each tobacco retailer and provide annual inspection
report summaries to a single point of contact at the Public Health Department and the City of
Palo Alto
8. Take appropriate enforcement action if a violation is not corrected
9. Coordinate with City of Palo Alto Police Department when violations of sales to minors occur in
order to take the appropriate enforcement action (may include fines and suspension of permit)
10. Conduct administrative hearings if retailer appeals violation; Director of Environmental Health
or his/her designee serves as the Administrative Hearing Officer
Public Health Department
1. Provide initial list of tobacco retail facilities to DEH
2. Obtain monthly list from Board of Equalization to establish current list of tobacco retailers and
map for any new retailers
3. Map any new retailers to ensure meet requirements related to distance from schools, distance
from existing tobacco retailers -provide timely comments to City of Palo Alto Planning
Department for new tobacco retailers whose plans have been routed.
4. Proactively engage the business community so that they are aware of the TRL ordinance (e.g.,
effective date, requirements, fines/penalties)
5. Respond to requests for information from Palo Alto tobacco retailers and the public regarding
requirements under the Tobacco Retail Permit ordinance
6. Meet with all related personnel to: (1) coordinate enforcement strategy; and (2) develop/
maintain policy and procedure for enforcement
7. Meet with all related personnel as necessary to: (1) coordinate post-compliance check strategy;
and (2) next steps for violators
8. Conduct outreach to impacted Palo Alto stakeholders (retailers, the public) if the County
proposes any amendments to their current ordinance and engage with Palo Alto Public Works
staff prior to outreach to notify them of any proposed changes;
City of Palo Alto
Police Department
1. Conduct undercover decoy operations with tobacco retailers once a year
2. Issue citations for violations of PC 308(a)
3. Immediately notify the County (Department of Environmental Health and Public Health) on
outcomes of enforcement operations, particularly when violations of PC 308(a) occur
4. Provide any requested documentation or evidence as part of the Administrative Hearing should
a retailer appeal a violation
Public Works Department
1. Provide annual enforcement report summaries to a single point of contact at the Public Health
Department and Department of Environmental Health
2. Act as a resource to other cities that may be interested in a similar partnership with the County
3. Update ordinance as needed in collaboration with Attorneys office
Planning Department
1. Route plans for any new tobacco ore-cigarette retailers to a designated contact at the County
Public Health Department to obtain input.
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 1of13
CHAPTER XXlll. -PERMITS FOR RETAILERS OF TOBACCO PRODUcrsc221
Footnotes:
--(22)···
Editor's note-Ord. No. NS-300.903, adopted Oct. 78, 2016, amended Ch. XX/II in its entirety to read as herein set out. Former Ch.
XX/II, pertained to permits for retailers of tobacco products and electronic smoking devices, and derived from Ord. No. NS-300.873,
adopted June 24, 2014; and Ord. No. NS-300.883, adopted June 23, 2015.
Sec. A 18-367. -Intent.
This chapter is adopted to:
(1) Ensure compliance with the business standards and practices of the County;
(2) Encourage responsible retailing of tobacco products;
(3) Discourage violations of laws related to tobacco products, especially those that prohibit
or discourage the sale or distribution of tobacco products to persons under 21: and
(4) Protect the public health and welfare.
This chapter does not expand or reduce the degree to which the acts regulated by federal or
state law are criminally proscribed or alter the penalties provided by such laws.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-368. -Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) Arm's length transaction means a sale in good faith and for valuable consideration that
reflects the fair market value in the open market between two or more informed and
willing parties, neither of which is under any compulsion to participate in the transaction.
A sale between relatives, related companies or partners, or a sale for which a significant
purpose is avoiding the effect of the violations of this chapter is not an arm's length
transaction.
(b) Department means the County's Department of Environmental Health and any agency or
person designated by the director of the Department of Environmental Health to enforce
or administer the provisions of this chapter.
(c) Ownership means possession of a ten-percent or greater interest in the stock, assets, or
income of a business, other than a security interest for the repayment of debt.
(d) School means a public or private elementary, middle, junior high or high school.
about: blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 2of13
(e) Tobacco product means (unless specifically noted elsewhere):
(1) Any product subject to Subchapter IX (21 U.S.C. § 387 et seq. ("Subchapter IX")) of the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. (See.11 U.S.C. § 387a(b) (products subject to
Subchapter IX); 21 C.F.R. §§ 1100.1-1100.3 (tobacco products subject to Subchapter
IX).) Products subject to Subchapter IX include, but are not limited to, cigarettes,
cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, smokeless tobacco, cigars, pipe tobacco,
waterpipe tobacco, and electronic nicotine delivery systems (such as, but not limited
to, electronic cigarettes, electronic cigars, electronic hookahs, vape pens, personal
vaporizers, and electronic pipes). Products subject to Subchapter IX also include
components or parts of tobacco products, such as, but not limited to, liquids that are
for use in an electronic nicotine delivery system and that contain tobacco or nicotine
or are derived from tobacco or nicotine ("e-liquids"), vials that contain e-liquids, and
atomizers. Products that are not subject to Subchapter IX include accessories of
tobacco products, such as, but not limited to, ashtrays, spittoons, and conventional
matches and lighters that solely provide an external heat source to initiate but not
maintain combustion of a tobacco product.
(2) Any product for use in an electronic nicotine delivery system, whether or not it
contains tobacco or nicotine or is derived from tobacco or nicotine.
(f) Retailer means any person who sells, exchanges, or offers to sell or exchange tobacco
products for any form of consideration. "Retailing" shall mean the doing of any of these
things. This definition is without regard to the quantity of tobacco products sold,
exchanged, or offered for sale or exchange.
(NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A18-369. -Requirements and prohibitions.
(a) Permit required. It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a retailer of tobacco products in
an unincorporated area of the County without first obtaining and maintaining a valid retailer
permit pursuant to this chapter for each location at which that activity is to occur.
(b) Lawful business operation. It shall be a violation of this chapter for any retailer to violate any
local, state, or federal law applicable to tobacco products or the retailing of such products.
(c) Display of permit. Each retailer permit shall be prominently displayed in a publicly visible
place at the permitted location.
(d)
about: blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 3of13
Notice of minimum age for purchase of tobacco products. Retailers shall post conspicuously,
at each point of purchase, a notice stating that selling tobacco products to anyone under 21
years of age is illegal and subject to penalties. Such notice shall be subject to the approval of
the Public Health Department.
(e) Positive identification required. No retailer shall sell or transfer a tobacco product to another
person who appears to be under 30 years of age without first examining the customer's
identification to confirm that the customer is at least the minimum age required under state
law to purchase and possess the tobacco product.
(f) Minimum age for persons selling tobacco products. No person who is younger than the
minimum age established by state law for the purchase or possession of tobacco products
shall engage in retailing.
(g) False and misleading advertising prohibited. A retailer either without a valid retailer permit or
with a suspended retailer permit:
(1) Shall keep all tobacco products out of public view.
(2) Shall not display any advertisement relating to tobacco products that promotes the sale
or distribution of such products from the retailer's location or that could lead a
reasonable consumer to believe that tobacco products can be obtained at that location.
(h) Limitation on storefront advertising. No more than 15 percent of the square footage of the
windows and clear doors of an establishment used for retailing shall bear advertising or
signs of any sort, and all advertising and signage shall be placed and maintained in a manner
that ensures that law enforcement personnel have a clear and unobstructed view of the
interior of the premises, including the area in which the cash registers are maintained, from
the exterior public sidewalk or entrance to the premises. However, this latter requirement
shall not apply to an establishment where there are no windows, or where existing windows
are located at a height that precludes a view of the interior of the premises by a person
standing outside the premises.
(i) Flavored tobacco products.
(1) Except as permitted in paragraph (3) of this subsection (i), no retailer shall sell a tobacco
product containing, as a constituent or additive, an artificial or natural flavor or aroma
(other than tobacco) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove,
cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is
a characterizing flavor or aroma of the tobacco product, smoke or vapor produced by the
tobacco product.
(2) A tobacco product shall be subject to a rebuttable presumption that the product is
about: blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 4of13
prohibited by paragraph (1) of this subsection if:
(i) The product's manufacturer or any other person associated with the manufacture or
sale of tobacco products makes or disseminates public statements or claims to the
effect that the product has or produces a characterizing flavor or aroma, other than
tobacco; or
(ii) The product's label, labeling, or packaging includes a statement or claim-including
any text and/or images used to communicate information-that the product has or
produces a characterizing flavor or aroma, other than tobacco.
(3) Paragraph (1) of this subsection (i) shall not apply to any retailer that meets all of the
following criteria:
(i) Primarily sells tobacco products;
(ii) Generates more than 60 percent of its gross revenues annually from the sale of
tobacco products;
(iii) Does not permit any person under 21 years of age to be present or enter the
premises at any time, unless accompanied by the person's parent or legal guardian,
as defined in Section 6903 of the Family Code;
(iv) Does not sell alcoholic beverages or food for consumption on the premises; and
(v) Posts a sign outside the retail location that clearly, sufficiently, and conspicuously
informs the public that persons under 21 years of age are prohibited from entering
the premises.
ij) Vending machines prohibited. No tobacco product shall be sold, offered for sale, or
distributed to the public from a vending machine or appliance, or any other coin or token
operated mechanical device designed or used for vending purposes, including, but not
limited to, machines or devices that use remote control locking mechanisms.
(k) Prohibition on sale or distribution of tobacco products to individuals under 21. No retailer
shall sell, offer for sale, or distribute any tobacco product to any individual who is under 21
years of age.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-370. -Eligibility requirements for a permit.
(a) No retailer permit may be issued to authorize retailing at other than a fixed location. For
example, retailing by persons on foot or from vehicles is prohibited.
(b) No retailer permit may be issued to authorize retailing at a temporary or recurring
about: blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 5of13
temporary event. For example, retailing at flea markets and farmers' markets is prohibited.
(c) No retailer permit may be issued to authorize retailing at any location where the profession
of pharmacy is practiced by a pharmacist licensed by the State of California in accordance
with the Business and Professions Code and where prescription drugs are offered for sale.
(d) No retailer permit may be issued to authorize retailing at any location within 1,000 feet of a
school, as measured by a straight line between any point along the property line of any
parcel on which a school is located and any point along the perimeter of the applicant's
proposed business location; provided, however, that the prohibition contained in this
subsection (d) shall not apply to the following:
(1} Any retailer of tobacco products (as such term was defined in this chapter of the
Ordinance Code on January 22, 2011} operating lawfully on January 21, 2011;
(2) Any retailer of electronic smoking devices (as such term was defined in this chapter of
the Ordinance Code on August 23, 2014) operating lawfully on August 22, 2014; and
(3) Any lawfully operating retailer of tobacco products that would otherwise become
ineligible to receive or renew a retailer permit due to the creation or relocation of a
school.
(e} No retailer permit may be issued to authorize retailing at a location which is within 500 feet
of a location occupied by another retailer, as measured by a straight line between any point
along the perimeter of an existing retailer's business location and any point along the
perimeter of the applicant's proposed business location; provided, however, that the
prohibition contained in this subsection (e} shall not apply to:
(1} Any retailer of tobacco products (as such term was defined in this chapter of the
Ordinance Code on January 22, 2011} operating lawfully on January 21, 2011; and
(2) Any retailer of electronic smoking devices (as such term was defined in this chapter of
the Ordinance Code on August 23, 2014) operating lawfully on August 22, 2014.
(f) Any exemption granted to a retailer pursuant to this section shall cease to apply upon the
earlier of the following to occur:
(1} The retailer fails to timely renew the retailer permit pursuant to Section A 18-373(b) of
this chapter.
(2) A new person obtains ownership in the business.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-371. -Application procedure.
about: blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 6of13
(a} It is the responsibility of each retailer to be informed of all laws applicable to retailing,
including those laws affecting the issuance of a retailer permit. No retailer may rely on the
issuance of a retailer permit as a determination by the County that the retailer has complied
with all laws applicable to retailing. A retailer permit issued contrary to this chapter, contrary
to any other law, or on the basis of false or misleading information supplied by a retailer shall
be revoked pursuant to Section A 18-372 of this chapter.
(b) All retailer permit applications shall be submitted on a form supplied by the Department.
(c} A permitted retailer shall inform the Department in writing of any change in the information
submitted on an application for a retailer permit within 14 calendar days of a change.
(d} All information specified in an application pursuant to this section shall be subject to
disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250 et seq.) or
any other applicable law, subject to the laws' exemptions.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-372. -Issuance of permit.
(a) Upon the receipt of a complete application for a retailer permit, the application fee, and the
annual permit fee, the department shall issue a retailer permit unless substantial evidence
demonstrates that one or more of the following bases for denial exists:
(1) The information presented in the application is inaccurate or false.
(2) The application seeks authorization for retailing at a location for which this chapter
prohibits issuance of a retailer permit.
(3) The application seeks authorization for retailing by a person to whom this chapter
prohibits issuance of a retailer permit.
(4) The application seeks authorization for retailing that is prohibited pursuant to this
chapter (e.g., mobile vending) or that is unlawful pursuant to any other law.
(b) A retailer permit shall be revoked if the Department finds. that one or more of the bases for
denial of a retailer permit under this section existed at the time application was made or at
any time before the retailer permit issued. Such a revocation shall be without prejudice to the
filing of a new permit application.
(c) A decision to deny issuance of a retailer permit or to revoke a retailer permit that has been
wrongly issued may be appealed pursuant to Section A18-381 of this chapter.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
about:blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County t CA Code of Ordinances Page 7of13
Sec. A18-373. -Permit term, renewal, and expiration.
(a) Term of permit. The term of a retailer permit is one year. A retailer permit is invalid upon
expiration.
(b) Renewal of permit. The Department shall renew a valid retailer permit upon timely payment
of the annual permit fee. The Department may, in its discretion, agree to renew any expired
retailer permit within the three-month period following expiration if the retailer pays the
annual permit fee and applicable late charges. For every calendar month, or fraction thereof,
that a retailer fails to renew an expired retailer permit, a late charge equal to 20 percent of
the annual permit fee shall be assessed. A retailer permit renewed within three calendar
months of expiration shall be treated as if timely renewed.
(c) Issuance of permit after revocation or expiration of permit. To apply for a new retailer permit
more than three calendar months after expiration of a retailer permit or following revocation
of a retailer permit that was wrongly issued, a retailer must submit a complete application for
a retailer permit, along with the application fee and annual permit fee. The Department shall
issue a retailer permit pursuant to the requirements of Section A 18-372 of this chapter.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A18-374. -Permits nontransferable.
(a) A retailer permit may not be transferred from one person to another or from one location to
another. Whenever a new person obtains ownership in a business for which a retailer permit
has been issued, a new retailer permit shall be required, but any exemption granted pursuant
to Section A 18-370 of this chapter shall cease to apply.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, prior violations of this chapter at a
location shall continue to be counted against a location and permit ineligibility and
suspension periods shall continue to apply to a location unless:
(1) One hundred percent of the interest in the stock, assets, or income of the business,
other than a security interest for the repayment of debt, has been transferred to one or
more new owners; and
(2) The County is provided with clear and convincing evidence, including an affidavit, that
the business has been acquired in an arm's length transaction.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-375. -Permit conveys a limited, conditional privilege.
about: blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 8of13
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to grant any person obtaining and maintaining a
retailer permit any status or right other than the limited, conditional privilege to act as a retailer
at the location in the County identified on the face of the permit.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-376. -Fees.
The Department shall not issue or renew a retailer permit prior to full payment of any
applicable fees. The Board of Supervisors shall, from time to time, establish by resolution the fees
to issue or to renew a retailer permit. The fees shall be calculated so as to recover the cost of
administration and enforcement of this chapter, including, for example, issuing a permit,
administering the permit program, retailer education, retailer inspection and compliance checks,
documentation of violations, and prosecution of violators, but shall not exceed the cost of the
regulatory program authorized by this chapter. All fees and interest earned from such fees shall
be used exclusively to fund administration and enforcement of this chapter.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A18-377. -Compliance monitoring.
(a) Compliance with this chapter shall be monitored by the Department. In addition, any peace
officer may enforce the penal provisions of this chapter. The County Executive may designate
any number of additional persons to monitor and facilitate compliance with this chapter.
(b) The Department or other person designated to enforce the provisions of this chapter shall
check each retailer at least once per 12-month period to determine if the retailer is
complying with all laws applicable to retailing, other than those laws regulating underage
access to tobacco products. Nothing in this paragraph shall create a right of action in any
retailer or other person against the County or its agents.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-378. -Prevention of underage sales.
(a)
about:blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 9of13
The Public Health Department or other persons designated to enforce the provisions of this
chapter shall, in conjunction with the Sheriff's Office, check each retailer at least twice per 12-
month period to determine whether the retailer is conducting business in a manner that
complies with laws regulating youth access to tobacco products. Nothing in this paragraph
shall create a right of action in any retailer or other person against the County or its agents.
(b) The County shall not enforce any law establishing a minimum age for tobacco product
purchases against a person who otherwise might be in violation of such law because of the
person's age ("Youth Decoy") if the potential violation occurs when:
(1) The Youth Decoy is participating in a compliance check supervised by a peace officer or a
code enforcement official of the County;
(2) The Youth Decoy is acting as an agent of a person designated by the County to monitor
compliance with this chapter; or
(3) The Youth Decoy is participating in a compliance check funded in part, either directly or
indirectly through subcontracting, by the County or the California Department of Public
Health.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-379. -Penalties for a violation by a retailer with a permit.
(a) Administrative fine. In addition to any other penalty authorized by law, an administrative fine
shall be imposed and a retailer permit shall be suspended if any court of competent
jurisdiction determines, or the Department finds based on a preponderance of the evidence,
after the retailer is afforded notice and an opportunity to be heard, that the retailer, or any of
the retailer's agents or employees, has violated any of the requirements, conditions, or
prohibitions of this chapter, has pied guilty, "no contest" or its equivalent to such a violation,
or has admitted to a such a violation.
(b) Amount of fine. Each such violation shall be subject to an administrative fine as follows:
(1) A fine not to exceed $100.00 for a first violation within a 12-month period;
(2) A fine not to exceed $200.00 for a second violation within a 12-month period; and
(3) A fine not to exceed $500.00 for each additional violation within a 12-month period.
(c) Time period for permit suspension.
(1) For a first violation of this chapter at a location within any 24-month period, the retailer
permit shall be suspended for up to 30 calendar days.
(2) For a second violation of this chapter at a location within any 24-month period, the
about: blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 10of13
retailer permit shall be suspended for up to 90 calendar days.
(3) For each additional violation of this chapter at a location within any 24-month period, the
retailer permit shall be suspended for up to one year.
(d) Waiver of penalties for first violation. The Department may waive any penalties for a retailer's
first violation of any requirement, condition or prohibition of this chapter, other than a
violation of a law regulating youth access to tobacco products, if the retailer admits the
violation in writing and agrees to forego a hearing on the allegations. Regardless of the
Department's waiver of penalties for a first violation, the violation will be considered in
determining the penalties for any future violation.
(e) Corrections period. The Department shall have discretion to allow a retailer a period oftime
to correct any violation of any requirement, condition or prohibition of this chapter, other
than a violation of a law regulating youth access to tobacco products. If a retailer's violatio.n is
corrected within the time allowed for correction, no penalty shall be imposed under this
section.
(f) Appeals. Any penalties imposed under this section may be appealed pursuant to Section A 18-
381 of this chapter.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-380. -Penalties for retailing without a permit.
(a) Administrative fine. In addition to any other penalty authorized by law, an administrative fine
and an ineligibility period for application or issuance of a retailer permit shall be imposed if a
court of competent jurisdiction determines, or the Department finds based on a
preponderance of evidence, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, that any person has
engaged in retailing at a location without a valid retailer permit, either directly or through the
person's agents or employees, has pied guilty, "no contest" or its equivalent to such a
violation, or has admitted to such a violation.
(b) Amount of fine. Each such violation shall be subject to an administrative fine as follows:
(1) A fine not to exceed $100.00 for a first violation within a 12-month period;
(2) A fine not to exceed $200.00 for a second violation within a 12-month period; and
(3) A fine not to exceed $500.00 for each additional violation within a 12-month period.
(c) Time period for permit ineligibility.
(1)
about:blank 11/30/2016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 11of13
For a first violation of this section at a location within any 24-month period, no new
retailer permit may be issued for the person or the location (unless ownership of the
business at the location has been transferred in an arm's length transaction) until 30
calendar days have passed from the date of the violation.
(2) For a second violation of this section at a location within any 24-month period, no new
retailer permit may be issued for the person or the location (unless ownership of the
business at the location has been transferred in an arm's length transaction) until 90
calendar days have passed from the date of the violation.
(3) For each additional violation of this section at a location within any 24-month period, no
new retailer permit may be issued for the person or the location (unless ownership of
the business at the location has been transferred in an arm's length transaction) until
one year has passed from the date of the violation.
(d) Waiver of penalties for first violation. The Department may waive any penalties for a retailer's
first violation of this section, unless the violation also involves a violation of a law regulating
youth access to tobacco products, if the retailer admits the violation in writing and agrees to
forego a hearing on the allegations. Regardless of the Department's waiver of penalties for a
first violation, the violation will be considered in determining the penalties for any future
violation.
(e) Appeals. Any penalties imposed under this section may be appealed pursuant to Section A 18-
381 of this chapter.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-381. -Appeals.
(a) A decision to deny issuance of a retailer permit, to revoke a retailer permit that has been
wrongly issued, or to impose penalties for a violation of this chapter can be appealed to a
hearing officer, subject to the following requirements and procedures. The hearing officer
shall be the director of the Department, his or her designee, or another individual selected by
the County.
(b) All appeals must be in writing, state the grounds asserted for relief and the relief sought, and
be filed with the director of the Department or his or her designee within ten calendar days
of receipt of notice of the appealed action. If such an appeal is made, it shall stay
enforcement of the appealed action.
(C)
about: blank 11/30/2016
Santa CJara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 12of13
No later than 15 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, the hearing officer shall set an
appeal hearing at the earliest practicable time and shall give notice of the hearing to the
parties at least ten calendar days before the date of the hearing.
(d) Neither the provisions of the Administration Procedure Act (Government Code Section 11500
et seq.) nor the formal rules of evidence in civil or criminal judicial proceedings shall apply to
such hearing. At the hearing, the hearing officer may admit any evidence, including witnesses,
relevant to the determination of the matter, except as otherwise provided in Section A 18-382
(c) of this chapter. A record of the hearing shall be made by any means, including electronic
recording, so long as a reasonably accurate and complete written transcription of the
proceedings can be made.
(e) The hearing officer may continue the hearing from time to time, in his or her sole discretion,
to allow for orderly completion of the hearing.
(f) After the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a written decision, which
shall be supported by substantial evidence. Notice of the written decision, including findings
of facts, conclusions of law, and notification of the time period in which judicial review may be
sought pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6, shall be served upon all parties no
later than 20 calendar days following the date on which the hearing closed. Any decision
rendered by the hearing officer shall be a final administrative decision.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
Sec. A 18-382. -Enforcement.
(a) Any violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
(b) Causing, permitting, aiding, abetting, or concealing a violation of any provision of this chapter
shall also constitute a violation of this chapter.
(c) Whenever evidence of a violation of this chapter is obtained in any part through the
participation of a person under the age of 21 years old, such a person shall not be required
over his or her objection to appear or give testimony in any civil or administrative process
brought to enforce this chapter and the alleged violation shall be adjudicated based upon the
sufficiency and persuasiveness of the evidence presented.
(d) Violations of this chapter may be remedied by a civil action brought by the County, including,
but not limited to, administrative or judicial nuisance abatement proceedings, civil code
enforcement proceedings, and suits for injunctive relief. For the purposes of the civil
remedies provided in this chapter, each day on which a tobacco product is offered for sale in
about:bJank 1113012016
Santa Clara County, CA Code of Ordinances Page 13of13
violation of this chapter, and each individual retail tobacco product that is distributed, sold, or
offered for sale in violation of this chapter, shall constitute a separate violation of this
chapter.
(e) Any person found guilty of violating any provision of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of an
infraction, punishable as provided by California Government Code§ 25132.
(f) The remedies provided by this chapter are cumulative and in addition to any other remedies
available at law or in equity.
(Ord. No. NS-300.903, § 1, 10-18-16)
about:blank 11/30/2016
*NOT YET APPROVED*
1
150310 sh 0170010
Ordinance No. ______
Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending
Chapter 9.14 (Smoking and Tobacco Regulations) of the Palo Alto
Municipal Code to Establish New Smoking Restrictions for Multi-
Family Housing
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION 1. Findings and Declarations. The City Council finds and declares as follows:
(a) That the adoption of this Ordinance is necessary to protect the public health,
safety and welfare for the reasons set forth in section 9.14.005. The purposes of this Ordinance
are to ban smoking in multi-unit housing in order to reduce the risks of second hand smoke and
vapor, reduce litter, and enhance enjoyment of these areas.
SECTION 2. Chapter 9.14 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as
follows:
Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter 9.14: Smoking and Tobacco Regulations
9.14.005 Purpose.
The purpose of this Chapter is to:
(a) Protect the public health, safety and general welfare by prohibiting smoking and
use of electronic smoking devices in multi-unit housing, public parks, public places, service
locations, city pool cars, child day care facilities, and unenclosed eating establishments.
(b) Ensure a cleaner and more hygienic environment within the city, reduce litter,
and protect the City's natural resources, including creeks and streams.
(c) Enhance the welfare of residents, workers, and visitors by reducing exposure to
second hand smoke, which studies confirm can cause negative health effects in non-smokers.
(d) Balance the needs of persons who smoke with the needs of nonsmokers,
including children and youth, to be free from the discomforts and health threats created by
exposure to second-hand smoke and vapor.
9.14.010 Definitions.
The following words and phrases, whenever used in this chapter shall be construed as defined
in this section:
(a) “Adjacent Unenclosed Property” means any Unenclosed Area of property, publicly or
privately owned, that abuts a Multi-Unit Residence
(ab) "Bar" means an area which is devoted to serving alcoholic beverages and in
which serving food is only incidental to the consumption of such beverages. "Bar" shall include
*NOT YET APPROVED*
2
150310 sh 0170010
bar areas within eating establishments which are devoted to serving alcoholic beverages and in
which serving food is only incidental to the consumption of such beverages.
(bc) ”City car" means any truck, van or automobile owned by the city and operated
by a city employee.
(d)(c) “Commercial Area” means an area, including all publicly owned sidewalks, alleys,
parking areas, public places, outdoor dining areas, service areas, etc. within areas zoned
in the City’s Comprehensive Plan as regional/community commercial (including
Downtown, California Avenue Business District, Town and Country, and Stanford
Shopping Center) and Neighborhood Commercial.
(e) “Common Area” means every Enclosed Area and every Unenclosed Area of a Multi-
Unit Residence that residents of more than one Unit are entitled to enter or use,
including, without limitation, halls, pathways, lobbies, courtyards, elevators, stairs,
community rooms, playgrounds, gym facilities, swimming pools, parking garages,
parking lots, grassy or landscaped areas, restrooms, laundry rooms, cooking areas,
and eating areas.
(df) "Eating establishment" means a coffee shop, cafeteria, short-order café,
luncheonette, sandwich shop, soda fountain, restaurant, or other establishment serving food to
members of the public.
(eg) “Electronic smoking device” means an electronic and/or battery-operated device
that can deliver an inhalable dose of nicotine to the user. “Electronic smoking device” includes
any product meeting this definition, regardless of whether it is manufactured, distributed,
marketed or sold as an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe,
electronic hookah, electronic vape, vaporizer or any other product name or descriptor.
(fh) "Employee" means any person who is employed by any employer in
consideration for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit.
(gi) "Employee eating place" means any place serving as an employee cafeteria,
lunchrooms, lounge, or like place.
(hj) "Employer" means any person who employs the services of an individual person
or persons.
(ik) "Enclosed" means either closed in by a roof and four walls with appropriate
openings for ingress and egress or not open to the sky due to a cover or shelter consisting of a
tarpaulin, tent structure or other impermeable or semi-permeable materials or fabric.
(l) “Enclosed Area” means an area in which outside air cannot circulate freely to all parts
of the area, and includes an area that has:
*NOT YET APPROVED*
3
150310 sh 0170010
(1) any type of overhead cover, whether or not that cover includes vents or other
openings and at least three (3) walls or other physical boundaries of any height, whether or not
those boundaries include vents or other openings; or
(2) four (4) walls or other vertical boundaries that exceed six (6) feet in height, whether
or not those boundaries include vents or other openings.
(m) “Landlord” means any Person or agent of a Person who owns, manages, or is
otherwise legally responsible for a Unit in a Multi-Unit Residence that is leased to a residential
tenant, except that “Landlord” does not include a tenant who sublets a Unit (e.g., a sublessor).
(jn) "Motion picture theater" means any theater engaged in the business of
exhibiting motion pictures.
(o) “Multi-Unit Residence” means property containing two (2) or more Units, including,
but not limited to, apartment buildings, condominium complexes, senior and assisted living
facilities, and long-term health care facilities. Multi-Unit Residences do not include the
following:
(1) a hotel or motel that meets the requirements of California Civil Code section
1940, subdivision (b)(2);
(2) a mobile home park;
(3) a single-family home; and
(4) a single-family home with a detached or attached in-law or second unit
(p) “Nonsmoking Area” means any Enclosed Area or Unenclosed Area in which Smoking is
prohibited by (1) this chapter or other law; (2) binding agreement relating to the ownership,
occupancy, or use of real property; or (3) designation of a Person with legal control over the
area.
(kq) “Public Event” means events open to the general public, including but not
limited to a farmers’ market, parade, craft fair, festival, or any other such event.
(lr) "Public places" means enclosed areas within publicly and privately owned
buildings, structures, facilities, or complexes that are open to, used by, or accessible to the
general public. Public places include, but are not limited to, stores, banks, eating
establishments, bars, hotels, motels, depots and transit terminals, theaters and auditoriums,
enclosed sports arenas, convention centers, museums, galleries, polling places, hospitals and
other health care facilities of any kind (including clinics, dental, chiropractic, or physical therapy
facilities), automotive service centers, general business offices, nonprofit entity offices and
libraries. Public places further include, but are not limited to, hallways, restrooms, stairways,
escalators, elevators, lobbies, reception areas, waiting rooms, indoor service lines, checkout
stations, counters and other pay stations, classrooms, meeting or conference rooms, lecture
rooms, buses, or other enclosed places that are open to, used by, or accessible to the general
public.
*NOT YET APPROVED*
4
150310 sh 0170010
(ms) "Service locations" means those enclosed or unenclosed areas open to, used by,
or accessible to the general public that are listed below:
(1) Bus, train and taxi shelters;
(2) Service waiting areas including, but not limited to, ticket or service lines, public
transportation waiting areas, and public telephones;
(3) Areas within twenty-five feet of the entrance or exit to an enclosed public place,
where smoking is prohibited;
(4) Areas in dedicated parks or other publicly accessible areas that are within
twenty-five feet of bleachers, backstops, or play structures.
(nt) "Smoking" means the combustion of any cigar, cigarette, tobacco or any similar
article inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted, heated, or ignited cigar, cigarette,
cigarillo, pipe, hookah, Eelectronic Ssmoking Ddevice, or any plant product intended for human
inhalation.
(ou) "Tobacco product" means any substance containing tobacco leaf, including but
not limited to cigarettes, cigars, smoking tobacco, and smokeless tobacco.
(pv) "Tobacco store" means a retail store utilized primarily for the sale of tobacco
products and accessories and in which the sale of other products is incidental.
(qw) "Tobacco vending machine" means any electronic or mechanical device or
appliance the operation of which-depends upon the insertion of money, whether coin or paper
bill, or other thing representative of value, which dispenses or releases a tobacco product
and/or tobacco accessories.
(x) “Unenclosed Area” means any area that is not an Enclosed Area.
(y) “Unit” means a personal dwelling space, even where lacking cooking facilities or
private plumbing facilities, and includes any associated exclusive-use Enclosed Area or
Unenclosed Area, such as, for example, a private balcony, porch, deck, or patio. “Unit” includes,
without limitation, an apartment; a condominium; a townhouse; a room in a senior facility; a
room in a long-term health care facility, assisted living facility, or hospital; a room in a hotel or
motel; a dormitory room; a room in a single room occupancy facility; a room in a homeless
shelter; a mobile home; a camper vehicle or tent; a single-family home; and an in-law or second
unit.
(rz) “Vapor” means aerosol produced from use of an electronic smoking device.
(saa) "Workplace" means any enclosed area of a structure or portion thereof used as a
place of employment as well as unenclosed workplaces, such as outdoor construction sites.
9.14.020 Smoking prohibited - Enclosed Places.
*NOT YET APPROVED*
5
150310 sh 0170010
Smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices is prohibited in the Enclosed Areas of the
following places within the City of Palo Alto, except in places subject to prohibition on smoking
contained in Labor Code section 6404.5, in which case that law applies
(1) Workplaces;
(2) Public places;
(3) Units within Multi-Unit residences; and
(4) Common Areas of Multi-Unit residences.
The effective date of the smoking prohibition provided in subdivisions (3) and (4) of this Section
is January 1, 2018.
Any places exempted by the California smoke free workplace law (Labor Code Section
6404.5(d)) are not exempt under this chapter. Smoking is prohibited by this chapter in all places
exempted by that State law, except as provided in 9.14.070.
9.14.025 Smoking prohibited - Unenclosed Areas.
(a) Smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices in all unenclosed areas
defined as Service Locations shall be prohibited, including a buffer zone within 25 feet from any
doorway, window, opening, crack, or vent into an Enclosed Area in which Smoking is
prohibited, except while the Person Smoking is actively passing on the way to another
destination and provided Smoke does not enter any Enclosed Area in which Smoking is
prohibited.
(b) Smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices is prohibited in unenclosed
eating establishments and bars.
9.14.030 Smoking prohibited - City cars.
Smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices is prohibited in all city cars.
9.14.035 Smoking Prohibited - Public Parks and Public Events.
Smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices is prohibited in all parks, including at public
events.
9.14.040 Smoking prohibited - Child day care facilities.
Smoking is prohibited in a private residence which is licensed as a child day care facility within
the meaning of Health and Safety Code Section 1596.750 and Section 1596.795 and
amendments.
9.14.045 Smoking prohibited – Commercial Areas and Public Events.
*NOT YET APPROVED*
6
150310 sh 0170010
Smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices is prohibited in commercial areas, except
places where smoking is already prohibited by state or federal law, in which case those laws
apply. This prohibition includes public events held on public streets. A shopping center or
commercial areas may establish a designated smoking area that is at least 25 feet away from
any openings and includes receptacles to control litter.
9.14.050 Smoking Prohibited - Outdoor Common Areas of all Multi Unit Residences.
Smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices is prohibited in Outdoor Common Areas of
all Multi-Unit Residences, provided, however, that a Person with legal control over a Common
Area may designate a portion of the Unenclosed Area of the Common Area as a designated
Ssmoking area if the area meets the following criteria:
(1) Must be an Unenclosed Area;
(2) Must be at least twenty-five (25) feet from Unenclosed Areas primarily used by children
and Unenclosed Areas with improvements that facilitate physical activity including, for
example, playgrounds, tennis courts, swimming pools, and school campuses;
(3) Must be at least twenty-five (25) feet in any direction from any operable doorway,
window, opening or other vent into an Enclosed Area that is located at the Multi-Unit
Residence and is a Nonsmoking area;
(4) Shall have a clearly marked perimeter;
(5) Shall have a receptacle for cigarette butts that is emptied and maintained, and
(6) Shall be identified by conspicuous signs.
9.14.055 Smoking Prohibited - Nonsmoking Buffer Zones.
Smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices is prohibited in Adjacent Unenclosed
Property within twenty-five (25) feet in any direction of any doorway, window, opening, or
other vent into an Enclosed Area of a Multi-Unit Residence.
9.14. 060 Required and Implied Lease Terms for all New and Existing Units in Multi-Unit
Residences.
(a) Every lease or other rental agreement for the occupancy of a Unit in a Multi-Unit
Residence, entered into, renewed, or continued month-to-month, effective January
1, 2018 shall include the following:
(1) A clause stating that Smoking is prohibited in the Unit, including exclusive-use areas
such as balconies, porches, or patios.
(2) A clause providing that it is a material breach of the lease or agreement for the
tenant, or any other Person subject to the control of the tenant or present by
invitation or permission of the tenant, to (i) Smoke in any Common Area of the
property other than a designated Smoking area; (ii) Smoke in the Unit, or (iii) violate
any law regulating Smoking anywhere on the property.
*NOT YET APPROVED*
7
150310 sh 0170010
(3) A clause providing that it is a material breach of the agreement for tenant or any
other Person subject to the control of the tenant to violate any law regulating
Smoking while anywhere on the property. Such a clause might state, “It is a material
breach of this agreement for tenant or any other person subject to the control of the
tenant or present by invitation or permission of the tenant to violate any law
regulating smoking while anywhere on the property.”
(4) A clear description of all areas on the property and in the buffer zone where
Smoking is allowed or prohibited.
(5) A clause expressly conveying third-party beneficiary status to all occupants of the
Multi-Unit Residence as to the Smoking provisions of the lease or other rental
agreement. Such a clause shall provide that any tenant of the Multi-Unit Residence
may sue another tenant/owner to enforce the Smoking provisions of the agreement
but that no tenant shall have the right to evict another tenant for a breach of the
Smoking provisions of the agreement.
(b) Whether or not a Landlord complies with subsections (a) above, the clauses required
by those subsections shall be implied and incorporated by law into every agreement
to which subsection (a) applies and shall become effective as of the earliest possible
date on which the Landlord could have made the insertions pursuant to subsections
(a).
(c) This chapter shall not create additional liability for a Landlord to any Person for a
tenant’s breach of any Smoking provision in a lease or other rental agreement for
the occupancy of a Unit in a Multi-Unit Residence if the Landlord has fully complied
with this Section.
(d) Failure to enforce any Smoking provision required by this chapter shall not affect the
right to enforce such provision in the future, nor shall a waiver of any breach
constitute a waiver of any subsequent breach or a waiver of the provision itself.
9.14.065 Other Requirements And Prohibitions.
(a) Every Landlord shall deliver the following, on or before July 1, 2017, to each Unit of a Multi-
Unit Residence:
(1) a written notice of the new requirements prohibiting smoking in units and common areas as
stated in 9.14. 020
(b) As of July 1, 2017, every seller of a Unit in a Multi-Unit Residence shall provide prospective
buyers with written notice clearly stating that:
(i) Smoking is prohibited in Units, including any associated exclusive-use Enclosed Area or
Unenclosed Area, such as, for example, a private balcony, porch, deck, or patio, as of January 1,
2018; and
*NOT YET APPROVED*
8
150310 sh 0170010
(ii) Smoking is prohibited in all Common Areas, except for specifically designated Smoking
areas, as of January 1, 2018.
(d) Clear and unambiguous “No Smoking” signs shall be posted in sufficient numbers and
locations in Common Areas where Smoking is prohibited by this chapter or other law. Such
signs shall be maintained by the Person or Persons with legal control over the Common Areas.
The absence of signs shall not be a defense to a violation of any provision of this chapter.
9.14.060 Reserved.*
* Editor's Note: Former Section 9.14.060, Regulation of Smoking in the Workplace, previously
codified herein and containing portions of Ordinance Nos. 4056 and 4164 was repealed in its
entirety by Ordinance No. 4294.
9.14.070 Exemptions.
The following places and workplaces are exempt from Section 9.14.020:
(a) Smoking at theatrical production sites is not prohibited by this subsection if the
theater general manager certifies that smoking is an essential part of the story and the use of a
fake, prop, or special effect cannot reasonably convey the idea of smoking in an effective way
to a reasonable member of the anticipated audience. This exception will not apply if minors are
performers within the production.
(b) Bingo games, consistent with prohibition on smoking contained in Labor Code
section 6404.5 and licensed pursuant to the Palo Alto Municipal Code, which do not permit
access by minors under eighteen years of age
(c)(b) A fully enclosed room in a hotel, motel, other transient lodging establishment
similar to a hotel, motel, or public convention center which is being used entirely for a private
function and which is not open to the general public, except while food or beverage functions
are taking place, including setup, service, and cleanup activities, or when the room is being
used for exhibit purposes, sixty-five percent of the guest rooms in a hotel, motel, or similar
transient lodging establishment;
(d)(c) Tobacco stores with private smokers' lounges meeting the requirements of the
applicable portions of subdivision (d)(4) of Labor Code Section 6404.5.
9.14.80 Location of tobacco vending machines.
(a) No person shall locate, install, keep or maintain a tobacco vending machine
except in a place which under state law is not lawfully accessible to minors.
(b) This section shall become effective ninety days after its enactment. Any tobacco
vending machine not in conformance with this section upon its effective date shall be removed.
9.14.090 Display of tobacco products for sale.
*NOT YET APPROVED*
9
150310 sh 0170010
No person shall display or offer tobacco products for sale except in an area, or from within an
enclosure, which physically precludes the removal of the tobacco products without the
assistance of the person authorizing such display or offer, or an employee of such person.
(Ord. 4056 § 4 (part), 1991)
9.14.100 Posting of signs required.
With the exception of service locations, wherever this ordinance prohibits smoking and the use
of electronic smoking devices, conspicuous signs shall be posted. Signs of similar size containing
the international "no smoking" symbol consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning
cigarette and electronic smoking device enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it may be
used in addition to or in lieu of any signs required hereunder. Such signs shall be placed by the
owner, operator, manager, or other persons having control of such room, building, or other
place where smoking and the use of electronic smoking devices is prohibited. Signs placed at
each entrance of buildings in which smoking is totally prohibited shall be sufficient. The
absence of signs shall not be a defense to a violation of any provision of this chapter.
9.14.110 Enforcement.
Pursuant to Section 6 of Article IV of the Palo Alto City Charter, the city manager is hereby
granted authority to enforce the provisions of this chapter and Labor Code Section 6404.5.
9.14.120 Public nuisance.
Any violation of this chapter is a public nuisance and may be abated in accordance with Chapter
9.56 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code and/or Code of Civil Procedure Section 731.
9.14.130 Violations.
Violation of any provision of this chapter shall be punishable as provided in this code. Violations
shall be punishable by the following:
(1) An administrative citation and a fine not exceeding $250 for the first violation;
(2) An infraction and a fine not exceeding $300 for the second violation
(3) An infraction or a misdemeanor and a fine not exceeding $500 for each
additional violation within one year
SECTION 3. Severability. If any provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this
ordinance, or the application to any person or circumstances, shall be held invalid, such
invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this Ordinance which can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions of this Ordinance
are hereby declared to be severable.
SECTION 4. The Council finds that this project is exempt from the provisions of the
California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), pursuant to Section 15061 of the CEQA
Guidelines, because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the ordinance
will have a significant effect on the environment.
*NOT YET APPROVED*
10
150310 sh 0170010
INTRODUCED:
PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
____________________________ ____________________________
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
____________________________ ____________________________
Principal City Attorney City Manager
____________________________
Director of Public Works
City of Palo Alto
COLLEAGUES MEMO
December 05, 2016 Page 1 of 3
(ID # 7545)
DATE: December 5, 2016
TO: City Council Members
FROM: Council Member Filseth, Council Member Holman, Council Member
Burt, Council Member DuBois
SUBJECT: Colleagues Memo Regarding East Palo Alto Water Shortage
As has been reported recently in the news, our neighboring city of East Palo Alto is
facing an impending water shortage. East Palo Alto currently uses its entire water
supply allocation from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), and
in June its City Council was forced to impose a moratorium on new development,
putting on hold affordable housing projects and commercial development. East Palo
Alto is currently pursuing new groundwater pumping initiatives to address its need,
a proposition that would impact the aquifer that it shares with Palo Alto.
Given that East Palo Alto has the lowest residential per capita water use in the
region, the current situation is inadequate to meet its needs. In addition, the
economic wellbeing of East Palo Alto is important to Palo Alto, and its ability to
provide affordable and obtainable housing helps support its surrounding
communities.
Officials of East Palo Alto have expressed a strong interest in exploring with Palo
Alto and Mountain View whether some fraction of our cities’ water allocations, or
Individual Supply Guarantees, could be permanently transferred to East Palo Alto.
We would look to East Palo Alto to collaborate with its neighboring cities to manage
any impacts from future development made possible by a transfer.
Recommendation
We request that the Council either direct staff to schedule a Council study session on this
topic, or refer it to the Policy and Services Committee, to discuss how the City of Palo Alto
may help support East Palo Alto through a transfer or sale of a small portion of our
Individual Supply Guarantee.
December 05, 2016 Page 2 of 3
(ID # 7545)
Background
The SFPUC supplies water to San Francisco and 26 wholesale customers in San Mateo,
Santa Clara and Alameda Counties (Palo Alto and East Palo Alto are two of those
customers). 2.6 million people and thousands of businesses depend on the Hetch Hetchy
Regional Water System to deliver water to the Bay Area from the Tuolumne River in
Yosemite National Park. Since 2003, the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency
(BAWSCA) has represented the wholesale customers in negotiations with the SFPUC.
Roughly one-third of the water distributed by the SFPUC is used in San Francisco, and the
remaining two-thirds by BAWSCA member agencies.
History of Individual Supply Guarantees (ISGs)
Individual Supply Guarantees (permanent water supply allocations) for the wholesale
customers were first established in 1984. The SFPUC allocated a perpetual supply
assurance of 184 million gallons of water per day (mgd) to its wholesale customers, and in
1994 the wholesale customers together formally determined how the water would be
allocated among them. In 1984, East Palo Alto had just been incorporated, and large
projects such as University Circle, IKEA, Gateway 101 and other development were not yet
planned. Today, East Palo Alto’s ISG is 1.96 mgd, far lower than its needs and historic
usage.
Current Status of ISGs
In 2008, the SFPUC approved its Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) to upgrade
the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System to be able to withstand a major earthquake. The
WSIP capped water sales at 265 mgd: 81 mgd for San Francisco and 184 mgd for the
BAWSCA member agencies until at least 2018. The SFPUC’s 2015 Urban Water
Management Plan operated under the assumption that the 265 mgd sales cap would likely
remain in place after 2018.
Last year BAWSCA member agencies purchased about 126 mgd from the SFPUC, well
below the 184 cap. SFPUC projects that East Palo Alto will need about 3.5 mgd by 2040.
Palo Alto is projected to use 11.9 mgd in 2020, with use slightly decreasing thereafter as
water conservation programs continue. (See attached graph from the SFPUC.) These
programs have proven significant, as over the past 20 years Palo Alto has reduced its usage
by 40%, to approximately 10 mgd, through water efficiency programs, conservation and
reductions in our manufacturing sector. These reductions occurred concurrently with
increases in the City’s population and employment over that same period.
Page 3 of 3 December 05, 2016 (ID # 7545)
ISG transfers are permitted under the 2009 Water Supply Agreement (WSA) between the
SFPUC and its wholesale customers, but must be permanent, at least 100,000 gallons per
day, and approved by the SFPUC.1
Drought Allocations
In the case of water shortages, the SFPUC can reduce water sales to both San Francisco and
the wholesale customers under the Tier I Water Shortage Allocation Plan, distributing
water based on the level of shortage. The Tier II Drought Implementation Plan, adopted by
the wholesale customers in 2010, allocates the collective wholesale customer share among
each of the 26 wholesale customers, based on a combination of ISGs and seasonal water
use, with an adjustment for East Palo Alto to ensure it can meet its basic health and safety
needs during a drought. The Tier II Plan will expire in 2018 unless extended by the
wholesale customers.
Under the Tier II Plan, a transfer of .5 mgd to East Palo Alto could require Palo Alto to
reduce its water use by an additional 1% in times of drought, and a 1 mgd transfer could
require an additional 2% reduction in water use. These conservation levels assume that
the Tier II Plan would remain intact after 2018, the likelihood of which is not yet known.
However, State water conservation mandates are independent of both the SFPUC’s Tier I
Water Shortage Implementation Plan and the wholesale customers’ Tier II Drought
Allocation Plan. The 2015/16 State mandate required communities statewide to reduce
their water use by 8% - 36%, depending largely on total per capita use. Because of its very
low per capita use, East Palo Alto’s reduction mandate was 8% while Palo Alto’s was 24%.
Palo Alto was able to well exceed its mandated reduction.
It is possible that State water conservation mandates will continue to be the primary
drought reduction driver, rather than implementation of the SFPUC and wholesale
customer’s Plans, given that the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System includes significant
storage in proportion to its annual needs. Even after five years of drought and one normal
water year, the SFPUC’s reservoirs are currently at close to 80% of capacity, among the
highest in the state.
1 Transfers are described in Section 3.04 of the WSA, available at
http://www.sfwater.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=8632
City of Palo Alto (ID # 7453)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Informational Report Meeting Date: 12/5/2016
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: 2016 Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Flood
Preparedness Public Information Program
Title: Annual Report to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the
2016 Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information
on Flood Preparedness/Awareness
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Public Works
Recommendation
This is an informational report and no Council action is required.
Background
The Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary program under the Federal
Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP) that allows communities to earn flood insurance premium discounts for
their residents and businesses. Communities earn CRS credit points for activities
that promote good flood risk reduction practices and encourage the purchase of
flood insurance. CRS Class Ratings are assigned at 500-point increments, and each
improvement in Class Rating nets an additional 5% flood insurance premium
discount. The CRS Class Ratings range from 1 to 10, with 1 being the highest rating
and 10 the lowest. The City of Palo Alto has participated in the CRS program since
1990 and is currently rated as a Class 7 community, which means residents and
businesses get a 15% discount on their flood insurance premiums. Neighboring
cities have earned similar CRS ratings (Mountain View – 8; East Palo Alto - 8; Los
Altos – 8; Sunnyvale - 7). It would be challenging for the City to earn additional
CRS credits without undertaking significant new efforts requiring additional
funding or major floodplain management policy changes.
The 2013 CRS Guidance Manual introduced the concept of a regional Program for
City of Palo Alto Page 2
Public Information (PPI), which provided new credits for communities that adopt
and implement a PPI beginning in 2015. Under the PPI process, a local agency or
group of agencies, work together to decide what flood risk reduction messages
are most appropriate for their local audience and design a coordinated program
to deliver those messages. It is estimated the PPI adopted by Santa Clara County
communities will earn from 80 to 200 CRS credit points for each participating local
agency. The number of CRS credit points earned as a result of adopting an
approved PPI will vary depending on how extensive a program is implemented
within each community’s boundaries. The City has been an active participant in
the development and implementation of the Santa Clara County Multi-
Jurisdictional PPI.
The total dollar savings for Santa Clara County residents from CRS flood insurance
premium discounts is approximately $2.5 million annually. City of Palo Alto
residents and businesses pay $4.5 million (per FEMA data as of January 31, 2015)
for flood insurance premiums per year. The total savings from the 15% insurance
discount achieved by the City on behalf of its residents due to its CRS participation
is approximately $670,000 per year (per FEMA data as of January 31, 2015). The
objectives of the City’s participation in the Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional
PPI are to enhance the effectiveness of the flood risk messages to residents,
reduce flood risks, and maintain or improve the City’s CRS rating of 7.
As required by the terms of the PPI, the regional PPI committee must convene
annually to evaluate whether the flood risk reduction messages are still
appropriate and adjust the PPI as needed. A report to FEMA must be submitted
annually describing the PPI implementation. The annual report needs to be
transmitted to the city council of each participating agency as information
updating the councils on the various flood preparedness and awareness outreach
programs that the Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional PPI has undertaken for
the past year.
Discussion
The annual report for 2016 Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional PPI is attached
as information for Council (Attachment A). The annual report highlights the
elements of the flood safety outreach programs implemented by the ten Santa
Clara County communities (Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Milpitas, Morgan Hill,
Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale) that participate
City of Palo Alto Page 3
in CRS, along with the County of Santa Clara and the Santa Clara Valley Water
District.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District acted as the lead agency in developing the
PPI and preparing the annual report. The District hosted the PPI development
process starting in November 2013, and staff and stakeholders from each of the
communities participated in the drafting of the plan. Based on the lessons learned
from the 2015 PPI outreach projects, the PPI committee made modifications to
the outreach projects for the 2016 PPI. The attached worksheet lists the outreach
projects, implementing agencies, and messages associated with each of these
projects (Attachment B).
A second worksheet lists the outreach projects and associated messages
implemented by the District on behalf of all the communities in Santa Clara
County (Attachment C). The worksheet also lists the CRS credit points allocated
for each of the messages included in the projects.
It is advantageous to include as many potential projects as possible in the annual
PPI update, because a project is only eligible for the PPI multiplier used to
calculate CRS credit points if it is on the list. Credit points are earned based on
which projects are implemented in any given year. There is no penalty for
projects that are not implemented, so it is helpful to include a substantial list even
if completing them all seems unlikely.
Every five years, the legislative bodies of all participating communities must re-
approve the PPI plan to continue receiving CRS credit. Staff will continue to
provide information to Council on the Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional PPI
as needed to achieve the maximum number of CRS credit points and associated
flood insurance premium discounts for the community.
Attachments:
Attachment A: Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional 2016 PPI Annual Report (PDF)
Attachment B: Individual Agency Flood Outreach Projects Worksheet (PDF)
Attachment C: Santa Clara Valley Water District Flood Outreach Projects Worksheet
(PDF)
Annual Report for FY16
(July 2015 to June 2016)
September 12, 2016
2 of 8
Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information Annual Report for FY16 (July 2015 to June 2016)
I. Introduction
Ten cities, the un-incorporated County and Santa Clara Valley District (District) have been active participants in the Community Rating System (CRS) for almost 20 years. CRS is a voluntary program of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that allows
participating communities to earn flood insurance premium discounts for their residents and businesses by agreeing to adopt and enforce an ordinance that meets or exceeds FEMA’s requirement to reduce the risk of flooding. As the flood risk reduction agency for Santa
Clara County, the District performs many outreach and maintenance activities that earn CRS points for the County’s CRS participating communities. The total savings for Santa Clara
County residents from CRS discounts is approximately $2.5 million per year.
Changes in the 2013 CRS Users Manual included the option to undertake a Program for
Public Information (PPI) which is a method to customize your flood risk reduction outreach
messages and increase CRS points. The District hosted the development of a Multi-Jurisdictional PPI so that all Santa Clara County’s CRS participating communities
could work together and benefit from this effort. This report is the initial Annual Report to FEMA to document our PPI activities. As the first
year, much of our work has focused on getting the initial approval of elected bodies that is required for each of the communities to qualify for the CRS points earned through the PPI; on setting up a shared accounting system to keep track of PPI activities and; on the
extensive outreach program the District sponsors has continued. The number of CRS points that will be earned by our efforts will be determined by the
Insurance Services Office (ISO/ CRS Specialists) examiners. We estimate that we will earn between 280 and 340 points per agency for our Multi-Jurisdictional efforts. This estimate is
based on filling in our 330 Outreach Projects Worksheet which is Attachment 1. Only the
projects needed to earn the maximum amount of CRS points are listed, even though many more are carried out. The entire list of outreach projects can be supplied if it is needed.
Another important benefit is the close collaboration between city staffs throughout the County who work on flood protection to strengthen CRS programs and learn from one
another about shared flood protection and land use issues. For the Santa Clara County CRS Users Group, the PPI is our most important project. In addition to the PPI, the CRS Users Group also learned about new FEMA maps that are being updated to reflect coastal
flooding. A sub-group of Shoreline communities worked on the appeal process. In other words, the CRS Users Group and the PPI effort provide a forum for professional development for the staff that works on CRS throughout the County.
The drought that has plagued California in the last 4 years has meant that people are not nearly as focused on flood protection issues as they are normally. This made finding
stakeholders more challenging than it probably would have been. With persistence, we have recruited a thoughtful group of stakeholders and we thank them for their service. The
drought also made citizens question the value of government spending taxpayer dollars on
flood prevention messages when the need for water conservation was so crucial. On the other hand, there has been an increase in interest in climate change and sea level rise over
the last few years. Climate Change related sea level rise and the associated increase in
3 of 8
flooding pose a significant issue here in a county that borders San Francisco Bay. This serves to increase participation by the local governments who see protecting their
communities from expected climate change impacts such as increased flooding as crucial.
Twelve agencies participated in this Multi-Jurisdictional PPI initially and 10 are continuing.
II. PPI Development Process The District convened a meeting of the CRS coordinators in November 2013 to explain the
PPI process and gauge interest for developing a Multi-Jurisdictional PPI for Santa Clara County. Although the District offered to host the process and provided staffing, it was understood that each participating community would be required to (1) conduct the CRS
Self-Assessment, (2) recruit a non-governmental stakeholder, (3) participate in the PPI Committee meetings, and (4) bring the PPI to their elected body for approval. With the
enthusiastic support of the CRS coordinators, the PPI process was started.
A number of meetings were held in 2014 to develop the PPI. Many of the meetings included
staff and stakeholders from all of the participating communities where we discussed the PPI
process, messages, the existing program and finally reviewed drafts of the PPI. A committee worked between the meetings to draft the PPI report and compose the long list of
possible projects (Appendix A). Each community prepared report pages on their own flood risks based on the results of the CRS Self-Assessment. Finally the draft was submitted to FEMA for review before submitting to our elected officials for review. We found that review
very helpful, as it allowed us to understand the requirements much better. Based on the review, the PPI was updated. That brings us to April 2015 when District Board of Directors approved the PPI. Table 1 shows dates of approval; eight have approved; 2 have the
approval scheduled and Cupertino and the County of Santa Clara have decided to sit out for the year.
Table 1. Dates of PPI Approval
Agency Date of Approval Yes Scheduled But Not
Approved
Not
Scheduled
Santa Clara Valley
District 4/14/15 X
Cupertino Sitting out of the
PPI for a year X
Gilroy Scheduled for Fall 2016 X
Los Altos 6/23/15 X
Milpitas 1/19/16 X
Morgan Hill 8/24/16 X
Mountain View 10/27/15 X
Palo Alto 6/8/15 X
San Jose Scheduled for Fall 2016 X
Santa Clara, City 7/14/15 X
Santa Clara,
Unincorporated County Not scheduled X
Sunnyvale 6/23/15 X
Total Approved 8
Approval Scheduled 2
Total Sitting Out 2
4 of 8
III. PPI Accomplishments for 2016
The PPI accomplishments for FY16 fall into 3 categories. The first requirement is getting the PPI approved by the elected bodies of the 12 participating cities, county and District. The
second was implementing an accounting system to keep track of all of the PPI projects. The third was carrying out an extensive outreach program for flood risk reduction.
Elected Body Approval: Eight of the 12 participating agencies were able to get the PPI approved by their elected body. The dates are shown by City/agency in Table 1. Two more cities have the approval scheduled for before their annual recertification. Two
agencies, the City of Cupertino and the County of Santa Clara do not have staff resources for this effort at the moment.
Implementation: Because this Multi-Jurisdictional PPI includes up to 12 agencies, setting up the reporting for implementation is much more cumbersome than it would be for a single
agency. The District hosted the record-keeping to ensure consistency throughout the
County. A file sharing system was set up on a file-sharing service with folders for each of the agencies to file documents related to each of the 83 potential outreach projects. It also
includes a spreadsheet for each of the agencies which they will submit with their annual
recertification. This took more work than expected, because the first files-share system we tried did not have adequate capacity and another system had to be found. The District’s
spreadsheet is attached to this report. PPI related projects carried out by the District almost always apply to the entire county. Cities carried out projects in addition and they are shown on the composite spreadsheet which has a section for each city.
Outreach Program: Following a year of subdued flood safety messages due to the historic drought, the El Niño phenomenon during the winter of 2015-2016 provided an optimal
opportunity to remind Santa Clara County residents of the threat of flooding even in severe dry conditions. The Santa Clara Valley District ramped up participation in community events and carried out a full-scale paid advertising campaign in mixed media outlets to convey the
risk of flooding to residents of Santa Clara County.
Community Events
District communications staff actively participated in emergency preparedness fairs and
community events during October through February. During that time staff attended nine
community events to distribute flood safety information.
During October through March, the District gave 11 speaker’s bureau presentations with an emphasis on flood protection and flood safety to organizations and agencies that requested presentations.
For the first time since the last El Niño event, the District hosted three free, hands-on sandbag demonstration workshops across the county to teach residents the proper
placement of sandbags for optimum protection. The workshops also included a tutorial on filling your own sandbags.
In addition to these active community efforts, the District submits guest columns on behalf of board members to be placed in local newspapers. The District submitted three
5 of 8
winter-related columns that contained flood safety messages as well as PPI messages (in September, October, and December).
Advertising Campaign
The flood awareness campaign ran over a four-month period, from November 2015 through March 2016. With a budget of $290,000, the total cost of the paid advertisement campaign was $278,708.43. Through media buy negotiations, additional ads worth
$124,481.33 were provided at no extra cost for a campaign worth $403,189.76. A key strategy of the paid campaign was to incorporate key PPI messages in our ads as much as possible. These messages were derived from the District’s annual Flood Plain Mailer,
a publication distributed to residents in FEMA designated floodplains. The annual Flood Plain Mailer is designed with key flood-safety messages crafted to obtain the maximum
number of CRS points. The flood awareness campaign included:
1) Customer Target: The campaign was targeted to residents and commuters within
Santa Clara County. We also targeted publications in areas with historical flooding
events, such as the Milpitas Post, Berryessa Sun, Morgan Hill Life and Palo Alto Weekly.
2) Media: The media breakdown was as follows:
a) Radio – 43 percent b) Online – 21 percent c) Print – 21 percent
d) Ethnic – 15 percent Radio: Scripts for radio were drafted to include key PPI messages such as making
an emergency plan and preparing for flooding by purchasing flood insurance. These messages ran for a total of nine weeks on the following mainstream English radio stations: KBAY, MIX 106.5, KRTY AND KLIV. The radio ads were translated in
Spanish (KBRG - six weeks) and Chinese (KSQQ - eight weeks). In addition, the ads were also played on the music-streaming service Pandora, for a total of eight weeks.
Online: The campaign included online banner ads and for the first time, sponsored content. Banner ads came in a variety of sizes and were displayed on
MercuryNews.com, NBCBayArea.com, SFGate.com and BayAreaParent.com (for
one month during Phase I). Banner ads included brief messages to convey the possibility of flooding during a drought. As part of a media buy package, email blasts
were distributed among email subscribers of Mercury News, NBC Bay Area and SF Gate. The email blasts included a brief flood safety message featuring Charles Chicken Little and linked to the District flood protection resources page.
For the first time, the flood awareness campaign included advertisements in the form of sponsored content. This consisted of crafting an approximately 500-600 word
article to be displayed on the media outlet’s website listed as an article, with the disclaimer that it was sponsored by the District. This was an excellent opportunity to present the safety messages on the flood plain mailer and distribute PPI messages
as well. Sponsored content was included in the Mercury News, NBC Bay Area and SF Gate websites. In addition, the sponsored content ads allowed for social media
sharing on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
6 of 8
Print: The flood awareness campaign had a total of four versions of print ads that ran
in a variety of print publications such as the Mercury News and its affiliate local
community newspapers, as well as other neighborhood based publications, such as the Almaden and Evergreen Times.
The first phase of the campaign included flood-safety tips from Charles Chicken Little and also alluded to past damage in our county as a result of El Niño-driven storms.
The second phase of the campaign included more images of past El Niño-induced flood damage, and an emphasis on being prepared with flood insurance, a key PPI/CRS -points earning message.
Print advertisements ran in the Mercury News (broad Bay Area audience) for eight
weeks. In smaller community and neighborhood publications, the ads ran for an
average of 6 weeks throughout both phases of the campaign.
Ethnic Media: Campaign advertisements were translated in Spanish, Chinese and
Vietnamese and ran in the corresponding language publications: El Observador, Thang Mo, Vietnam Daily and World Journal. El Observador, a
Spanish publication, also posted a small banner on its website as part of a media
buy package. Over a fifth of the budget was allocated to ethnic media, which made up 15 percent of the overall media buy.
Social Media: The District also utilized its Twitter and Facebook profiles to disseminate information on being prepared for an emergency as well as being flood-
safe. During the length of the campaign and leading up to anticipated storm events,
the District posted flash flood warnings, and shared posts with key messages about flood safety. During the months of September through March, we featured 11
Facebook and 15 Twitter posts with flood safety messages. A text messaging system was also used to distribute safety tips during or before
anticipated storms. Four messages were distributed during the months of January and March, two months with strong storms. Over 900 residents received these text
alerts advising residents to avoid driving through flood waters, to purchase flood
insurance, and to clean gutters and drain channels to prevent local flooding.
Results: Total campaign impressions were calculated at over 24 million; with a cost
of $11.32 per thousand impressions. Based on a thorough report from the media buyer (see table 1 below), the email blasts and sponsored content yielded a strong
click through rate of at least .32 percent (sponsored content), and as high as 9
percent click through rate (email). The average industry click rate for any kind of online ad format and placement is about 17 percent. Click through rates improved
during the second phase of the campaign, after early March storms took place, with
sponsored content earning a 1.01 percent click through rate and email blasts garnering up to 11.25 percent. Overall, the click through rate improved for all online
ad placements during the second phase of the campaign with more than half of ad placements performing above the average rate.
7 of 8
IV. Stakeholder Meetings for 2016
Two PPI stakeholder meetings were planned so that the first could be used to gather
people’s input on how the PPI had worked over the last year and the second could be used to receive comments and approve the PPI Annual Report.
The first PPI Stakeholder Meeting was held on April 20, 2016. The purpose of the first meeting was to provide input for the Annual Report. This included reviewing the progress to
date; a demonstration of the file-sharing system as well as a presentation on the extensive outreach program that the District carried out during the 2015-16 flood season. We discussed lessons learned from our first year and what was important to continue and
strengthen. Attendance was excellent; staff from 10 agencies attended and stakeholders from 9 agencies.
The general consensus is that our PPI implementation is off to a good start. Getting 12 elected bodies to approve anything is a huge task. Cities who had gotten the PPI approved
by their elected officials reported receiving strong support. For cities that had not gotten the
PPI approved yet, the major problem was workload. The Public Works Departments in our area have a great deal of work to do now because of the high development level that is
going along with the Silicon Valley’s current economic boom. Three of the remaining cities have the PPI approval scheduled before their yearly verification and one city has decided that it makes better sense for them to sit out of the PPI process this year due to workload.
The messages that we chose originally are still relevant to Santa Clara County. In particular, we hope to increase our efforts to get people to prepare their personal emergency
plans. An effort will be incorporated in the flood readiness outreach that is done every fall. Another recommendation of the PPI Committee is to increase the use of social media for
messaging. People are using their phones more and more to get information, so the more we can use banner ads, sponsored articles, etc, the better. The PPI Committee was
pleased to see all the outreach in different media that the District had done the year before.
The meeting attendees shared that they had seen various messages throughout the season on different media.
During the July 20, 2016 PPI Stakeholders Meeting, most of our time was spent going over the “Project Accomplishment” column of Appendix A (See Attachment 2) line-by-line and
discussing things we would like to include in the coming year. Appendix A was The Multi-
Jurisdictional PPI Worksheet for Santa Clara County. FEMA advised us to include any projects in our PPI Worksheet that we might work on, not just the ones we expected to work
on because only listed projects are eligible for the PPI multiplier. By adding another column for what actually got accomplished, Attachment 2 becomes the detailed version of our PPI Annual Report. Of the 83 projects listed originally in our PPI, we made progress on 74 of
them. In addition to the work accomplished last year through the District’s extensive outreach
campaign and numerous newsletters by the Cities, there are three categories we plan to improve this coming year; promoting emergency plans, communicating with Realtors, and
having a more active speaker’s bureau.
To promote Family Emergency Plans, a mini-starter kit of emergency supplies has been
developed as a give away at emergency preparedness fairs or events. In order to qualify for
8 of 8
the mini-kit, each person will have to demonstrate they’ve started their personal Family Emergency Plan. We also plan to have a photo contest related to family emergency plans,
including emergency kits.
These activities go back to the PPI Committee’s original message that people need to be
encouraged to prepare for emergencies before an event occurs. Cities and the District often speak at local clubs like Rotary or Neighborhood Associations.
We want to encourage including the messages of the PPI in these presentations. The District will develop presentation materials that everyone in the PPI program can use.
Realtors are an important audience for flood insurance messages, because they provide information to people in the process of buying a house. Plan to work with the local Realtors
Association to make a presentation at their meeting and encourage them to distribute
information on flood insurance.
The PPI Annual Report needs to be shared with each participation community’s elected
body. Table 2 is a chart of how each expects to communicate the report.
Table 2. How PPI Annual Report will be shared with Elected Officials
Community Method for Sharing
1 Santa Clara Valley District Non Agenda Memo
2 Gilroy Consent Calendar
3 Los Altos Council Weekly Update
4 Milpitas Monthly Report to Council
5 Mountain View Council Weekly Update
6 Morgan Hill City Manager’s Weekly Update
7 Palo Alto Informational Staff Report
8 San Jose City Manager’s Weekly Report
9 Santa Clara, City Friday Update to Council
10 Sunnyvale City Manager’s Bi-Weekly Report
___________________________________________
Attachments for submission to City Councils and District Board:
1. Activity 330 Outreach Projects Worksheet 2. Appendix A from PPI with accomplishments column added
Attachments for submission to FEMA as part of 2016 Recertification Package:
1. Activity 330 Outreach Project Worksheet 2. Appendix A from PPI with accomplishments column added
3. Agenda for April 20, 2016 Stakeholder Meeting 4. Sign-in Sheet for April 20, 2016 Stakeholder Meeting 5. Agenda for July 20, 2016 Stakeholder Meeting
6. Sign-in Sheet for July 20, 2016 Stakeholder Meeting
1 of 7
Appendix A. The Multi-Jurisdictional PPI Worksheet for Santa Clara County - 2016 Annual Report Version
Target
Audience
1 Message Outcome Project(s) Proposed to
Support the Messages
Assignment 2 Proposed
Schedule
3 Stakeholder CRS
Community
Project
Accomplishments
Community At
Large (CAL)
The PPI Committee
recognized that the
entire community that
lives and/or works in
Santa Clara County is
subject to impacts due
to flooding. The CRS
typically focuses on
residential flooding,
but here, flooding of
businesses and roads is
also very important.
Topics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9
Message: Know your flood risk and be
prepared; buy flood insurance
Educate our community on flood
protection and preparedness
measures
CAL OP #1. Flood messages inserted in and/or printed on Utility Bills. City Public Works
Depts. (PWD)
City CRS Coordinators
District
Communications (for
South County
Unincorporated areas)
October –
March
Utility companies (water,
electric, waste)
All
MV, PA, SC, Gilroy, MH included flood messages in
their Utility bills. CAL OP #2. Post Utility Bill messages on websites (Element 352 WEB1)
CAL OP#3. Winter Preparedness Briefing District Field
Operations
October NOAA, Cities Emergency
Managers & Public Works
Directors, Santa Clara County
OES, Cal Fire, CCC, DWR
Removed from list because all
the people involved are staff
from numerous agencies.
This wasn’t outreach to the
public.
All Not Applicable
CAL OP #4. Post “Winter Preparedness Briefing” notice and materials
on website (Element 352 WEB1)
October -
November
CAL OP#5. “Emergency Preparedness Workshop” District Emergency
Services
November
CAL OP #6. Post “Emergency Preparedness Workshop” notice and
materials on website (Element 352 WEB1)
November -
December
Topics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9
Message: Know your flood risk and be
prepared; buy flood insurance.
Flood Insurance will cover damage from
flooding that most homeowner’s policies
don’t cover
Educate our community on flood
protection and preparedness
measures
CAL OP #7. Develop newsletters with articles on flood protection and
preparedness measures that urge residents and businesses to
purchase flood insurance. These would include paper and electronic
versions. These will be more extensive than messages included in
utility bills. District‘s annual county-wide mailer (CWM) will include
language on flood protection and preparedness measures. City of
Sunnyvale will distribute yearly newsletter article called “Know how to
be Flood Safe in Sunnyvale” (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
City CRS Coordinators
or Communications
staff
District
Communications
Gilroy Chamber of
Commerce
October –
March
Insurance agencies
Gilroy Chamber of Commerce
District Grantee Organizations
City of Morgan Hill
Cupertino
Sunnyvale
Gilroy Chamber of Commerce
Starting in September, the water district began
including flood safety information and encouraging
residents to consider flood insurance in its monthly
newsletter through March. The newsletter reaches
over 21,000 residents county-wide and is shared on
the web and district’s social media sites monthly.
MV, PA, SC, MH, Gilroy Chamber of Commerce all
included articles on flood safety in their community
newsletters.
CAL OP #8. Post newsletters/articles/District’s CWM on websites
(Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
All were posted on City or District Websites.
Topics 4 & 6
Message: Keep debris and trash out of
our streams. It’s illegal to dump into
streams
Cleaner streams and fewer dumping
violations
Fewer debris blockages during high-
flow events
CAL OP #9. “Do Not Dump” message is sent each year to all Santa
Clara County residents in the District’s CWM
District
Communications
City of Sunnyvale
June/July 2015
(CWM)
Adopt-A-Creek Organizations
District Grantee Organizations
All Countywide Mailer (CWM) sent to all County parcels
with “Do Not Dump” message. Water district has an
extensive stewardship program. “Do not Dump”
message posted on construction signs throughout
the county.
CAL OP #10. Post “Do Not Dump” messages on website (Element 352
WEB1)
Construction signs are posted on the District’s
website. CWM posted.
CAL OP #11. “Illegal Dumping” - District Community Project Review
Unit (CPRU) Water Resource Protection Ordinance No. 08-1
amending Ordinance No. 83-2
District CPRU
Santa Clara Valley
Urban Runoff Pollution
Prevention Program
Year-Round Adopt-A-Creek Organizations
District Grantee Organizations
All Ordinance in force
CAL OP #12. Post Water Resource Protection Ordinance on website (Element 352 WEB1)
Ordinance posted on website.
CAL OP #13. “No Dumping” signage on District project sites District Watersheds
Operations & Maint.
Santa Clara Valley
Urban Runoff Pollution
Prevention Program
Year-Round Santa Clara Valley Urban
Runoff Pollution Prevention
Program (all communities
that drain to San Francisco
Bay)
All
District Construction sign include message of “no
dumping”.
CAL OP #14. “Pollution Hotline 1-888-510-5151” to report all illegal
dumping messages are included in Neighborhood Work Notices
(target outreach – 6 points per topic)
District
Communications
Santa Clara Valley
Urban Runoff Pollution
Prevention Program
Year-Round Santa Clara Valley Urban
Runoff Pollution Prevention
Program
Watershed Watch
Organization
San Francisco Estuarine
All Hotline receives messages 24/7- 365 days per year.
Respond to message within 20 minutes and on-site
within an hour if needed. Last year 117 incidents
were reported on this system.
CAL OP #15. Post Project notices with “Pollution Hotline” on website (Element 352 WEB1) N/A project Notices did not include the Hotline
number this year.
1 Message Topics: Outreach Projects (OP): Topic 1 – Know your flood hazard; Topic 2 – Insure your property for your flood hazard; Topic 3 – Protect people from the flood hazard; Topic 4 – Protect your property from the hazard; Topic 5 – Build responsibly; Topic 6 – Protect natural floodplain functions
Flood Response Preparations (FRP): Topic 7 – Develop a Family Emergency Plan; Topic 8 – Download disaster electronic Apps; Topic 9 – Understand shallow flooding risks – “Don’t drive through standing water.” 2 Each September, all deliverables need to be reported to District for tracking purposes. 3 A stakeholder can be any agency, organization, or person (other than the community itself) that supports the message. Stakeholders can be: an insurance company that publishes a brochures on flood insurance, even if it is set out at City Hall; a local newspaper that publishes a flood or hurricane season supplement each year; FEMA, if, for
example, a FEMA brochure is used as an informational material; schools that implement outreach activities; a local newspaper; a neighborhood or civic association that sponsors and hosts a presentation by a community employee; a utility company that includes pertinent articles in its monthly bills; or presentations made by state or FEMA staff at a
Risk Map meeting.
Appendix A. The Multi-Jurisdictional PPI Worksheet for Santa Clara County - 2016 Annual Report Version
1 Message Topics: Outreach Projects (OP): Topic 1 – Know your flood hazard; Topic 2 – Insure your property for your flood hazard; Topic 3 – Protect people from the flood hazard; Topic 4 – Protect your property from the hazard; Topic 5 – Build responsibly; Topic 6 – Protect natural floodplain functions
Flood Response Preparations (FRP): Topic 7 – Develop a Family Emergency Plan; Topic 8 – Download disaster electronic Apps; Topic 9 – Understand shallow flooding risks – “Don’t drive through standing water.” 2 Each September, all deliverables need to be reported to District for tracking purposes. 3 A stakeholder can be any agency, organization, or person (other than the community itself) that supports the message. Stakeholders can be: an insurance company that publishes a brochures on flood insurance, even if it is set out at City Hall; a local newspaper that publishes a flood or hurricane season supplement each year; FEMA, if, for
example, a FEMA brochure is used as an informational material; schools that implement outreach activities; a local newspaper; a neighborhood or civic association that sponsors and hosts a presentation by a community employee; a utility company that includes pertinent articles in its monthly bills; or presentations made by state or FEMA staff at a
Risk Map meeting.
2 of 7
Target
Audience
1 Message Outcome Project(s) Proposed to
Support the Messages
Assignment 2 Proposed
Schedule
3 Stakeholder CRS
Community
Project
Accomplishments
Institute
Oakland Museum
CAL OP #16. Creek side Property Program – Creek Wise
brochure handed out at community fairs (target outreach – 6 points
per topic)
District
Communications
Year-Round Fair Sponsors
Attendees of community
events who visit information
booths
SCVURPPP
All POSSIBLE FOCUS FOR COMING YEAR.
CAL OP #17. Post Project Creek side Mailer on website (Element 352
WEB1)
N/A
CAL OP#18. Organize volunteers for creek clean-ups through District’s
Adopt-A-Creek Program or organized city clean-ups, such as City of
Santa Clara’s, Adopt-A-Spot Program
District
Communications
City of Santa Clara CRS
Coordinator
Year-Round Community Organizations
Residents
Schools
Businesses
Creek Connections Action
Group (CCAG)
All
City of Santa Clara
Year round, 125 adopted sites which is increase of 12
sites over last year. Each org. does at least 2 clean
ups per years.
Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and
Milpitas all advertise the clean-ups.
CAL OP #19. Post District’s Adopt a Creek Program and cities clean-up
programs on website (Element 352 WEB1)
Invites and results posted on the web.
CAL OP#20. Organize volunteers for National River Cleanup Day and
California Coastal Cleanup Day
District
Communications
City of San Jose
May 16, 2015
and September
2015
All On National River CleanUp Day In Spring we had 48
clean-up sites across the county. 1,124 volunteers
cleaned 61.25 miles of creeks and removed approx.
30,627 lbs of trash and over 3,000 lbs of recyclables
On Coastal Cleanup Day in the fall: 1,829 volunteers
cleaned 73.7 miles of 50,000 pounds of trash and
2,868 pounds of recyclables.
CAL OP #21. Post volunteer information and results on website (Element 352 WEB1)
Invites and results posted on the web.
CAL OP # 22. Installation of trash booms All as required by SF
Regional Board Multi-
Jurisdictional Permit
All There are 4 trash booms throughout the County that
the District maintains. Palo Alto installed 2 of them.
CAL OP #23. Stenciling storm drains “Do Not Dump - Flows Into Bay” City of San Jose CRS
Coordinator
All Programs to stencil storm drains throughout the
County. San Jose alone has over 10,000 storm drains.
CAL OP #24. Inserts into inlets All N/A
CAL OP #25. Hot Spot Assessment and Clean-ups All Approximately 60 hotspots of trash cleaned out. At
10% of trash was inventoried to understand
composition.
CAL OP #26. Send out yearly newsletter article discussing efforts to
ready the storm drainage system for fall rains – cleaning out storm
drains, and discusses “No Dumping” that reaches all households in
the City or County
City of Sunnyvale CRS
Coordinator
Cities CRS Coordinators
Late Summer/
Fall
Sunnyvale
All
Messages on storm drainage system included in two
monthly water district newsletters. Also included in
CWM.
Morgan Hill sent out one page flier to all residents.
CAL OP # 27. Post newsletter article on efforts to ready storm
drainage system for fall rains – cleaning out storm drains, and “No
City Sunnyvale CRS
Coordinator
Late Summer/
Fall
Sunnyvale
All
Newsletters and flier posted on the web
Appendix A. The Multi-Jurisdictional PPI Worksheet for Santa Clara County - 2016 Annual Report Version
1 Message Topics: Outreach Projects (OP): Topic 1 – Know your flood hazard; Topic 2 – Insure your property for your flood hazard; Topic 3 – Protect people from the flood hazard; Topic 4 – Protect your property from the hazard; Topic 5 – Build responsibly; Topic 6 – Protect natural floodplain functions
Flood Response Preparations (FRP): Topic 7 – Develop a Family Emergency Plan; Topic 8 – Download disaster electronic Apps; Topic 9 – Understand shallow flooding risks – “Don’t drive through standing water.” 2 Each September, all deliverables need to be reported to District for tracking purposes. 3 A stakeholder can be any agency, organization, or person (other than the community itself) that supports the message. Stakeholders can be: an insurance company that publishes a brochures on flood insurance, even if it is set out at City Hall; a local newspaper that publishes a flood or hurricane season supplement each year; FEMA, if, for
example, a FEMA brochure is used as an informational material; schools that implement outreach activities; a local newspaper; a neighborhood or civic association that sponsors and hosts a presentation by a community employee; a utility company that includes pertinent articles in its monthly bills; or presentations made by state or FEMA staff at a
Risk Map meeting.
3 of 7
Target
Audience
1 Message Outcome Project(s) Proposed to
Support the Messages
Assignment 2 Proposed
Schedule
3 Stakeholder CRS
Community
Project
Accomplishments
Dumping” on website (Element 352 WEB1) Cities CRS Coordinators
Topics 1,2,3,4,7, 8 & 9 : Download
disaster electronic Apps
Messages: Be prepared for flood and
other disasters; Know how to access
needed information quickly during an
emergency
Increase in ‘hits’ on Apps and less
stress during emergencies
CAL OP #28. Advertise District, County Public Health Department and
American Red Cross electronic Apps
City representatives,
District
Communications
County Public Health
Dept.
Gilroy Chamber of
Commerce, and
American Red Cross
Year-Round
Community Organizations,
including American Red Cross
and
Gilroy Chamber of Commerce
Residents who download the
apps.
Attendees of community
events who visit information
booths
Teachers /students visited by
District’s School Outreach
Program
All Apps posted on water district website and included
in FPM and the CWM. Also advertised on Facebook,
and Twitter by District, Palo Alto and Mountain View.
CAL OP #29. Post disaster apps information on website (Element 352
WEB1 and 2)
CAL OP #30. Instruct people to download apps at personal
preparedness trainings
App Posted on District Website
Palo Alto also posted on Facebook and Twitter.
CAL OP #31. Post instruction on how to download apps. on websites
and electronic newsletters (Element 352 WEB1)
District
Communications
City representatives
Instructions on website at
http://www.valleywater.org/Services/SMSalert.aspx
CAL OP #32. Promote ALERT SCC - Santa Clara County Emergency Alert
System
Cities CRS Coordinators
District
Communications
Santa Clara County All Promoted in the FPM & CWM. AlertSCC is an app for
anyone who lives or works in Santa Clara County to
get emergency warnings sent directly to their
electronic devices. AlertSCC provides information in
emergency situations like:
• Flooding, wildfires and subsequent
evacuations
• Public safety incidents, including crimes,
that immediately affect your
neighborhood
• Post-disaster information about shelters,
transportation, or supplies
CAL OP #33. Post ALERT SCC - Santa Clara County Emergency Alert
System on District and cities websites
http://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc/Pages/home.aspx
(Element 352 WEB1 and WEB2)
Sign Up info posted on District website at:
http://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc/Pages/home.as
px
Topic 7 : Develop a Family Emergency
Plan
Messages: Be prepared for flood and
other disasters
Increase in Family Emergency Plan
and less stress during emergencies
More people know what to do in an
emergency
CAL OP#34. Workshop/contest to promote developing family
Emergency Plans; Reaching out to a celebrity to carry our message
District
Communications and
City representatives
with assistance from
Stakeholders
Year-Round
Schools
American Red Cross
Celebrity, TBD
FEMA
California Volunteers.org
All Family Emergency Plan information included in CWM
and FPM.
THIS ACTIVITY WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED AGAIN NEXT
YEAR.
CAL OP #35. Post Family Emergency Plan template form on website
http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m12
140360_ARC_Family_Disaster_Plan_Template_r083012.pdf?campme
dium=internal_link_download&campname=family_disaster_plan_english or
http://www.californiavolunteers.org/familyplan/pdf/family_plan.pdf
(Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
Templates for Family Emergency Plan included
posted on the District website numerous places
including in the FPM and CWM.
CAL OP#36. Include message “What to Do….Before – Prepare a Family
Emergency Plan….” in District’s CWM
District
Communications
City representatives
October –
March
All Messages were included in the CWM and the FPM.
CAL OP #37. Post message “What to Do….Before – Prepare a Family
Emergency Plan….” on website (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
District
Communications
City representatives
All FPM and CWM were posted on the District website.
CAL OP#38. Promote the official site of the NFIP Floodsmart.gov for
flood preparation and recovery messages
District
Communications
City CRS Coordinator
and Communications
staff
All Linked on district’s flood protection website as well
as included in FPM and CWM.
Appendix A. The Multi-Jurisdictional PPI Worksheet for Santa Clara County - 2016 Annual Report Version
1 Message Topics: Outreach Projects (OP): Topic 1 – Know your flood hazard; Topic 2 – Insure your property for your flood hazard; Topic 3 – Protect people from the flood hazard; Topic 4 – Protect your property from the hazard; Topic 5 – Build responsibly; Topic 6 – Protect natural floodplain functions
Flood Response Preparations (FRP): Topic 7 – Develop a Family Emergency Plan; Topic 8 – Download disaster electronic Apps; Topic 9 – Understand shallow flooding risks – “Don’t drive through standing water.” 2 Each September, all deliverables need to be reported to District for tracking purposes. 3 A stakeholder can be any agency, organization, or person (other than the community itself) that supports the message. Stakeholders can be: an insurance company that publishes a brochures on flood insurance, even if it is set out at City Hall; a local newspaper that publishes a flood or hurricane season supplement each year; FEMA, if, for
example, a FEMA brochure is used as an informational material; schools that implement outreach activities; a local newspaper; a neighborhood or civic association that sponsors and hosts a presentation by a community employee; a utility company that includes pertinent articles in its monthly bills; or presentations made by state or FEMA staff at a
Risk Map meeting.
4 of 7
Target
Audience
1 Message Outcome Project(s) Proposed to
Support the Messages
Assignment 2 Proposed
Schedule
3 Stakeholder CRS
Community
Project
Accomplishments
CAL OP #39. Post message “NFIP Floodsmart.gov Flood Preparation
and Recovery….” on website
https://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/preparation_recovery
/before_a_flood.jsp (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
District
Communications
City CRS Coordinator
and Communications
staff
All Posted on District website.
Topics 1, 3, & 4
Messages: Protect people and property
from flood hazards
Less damage due to the floods;
improve sandbag distribution
CAL OP #40. Sandbags available at various site throughout county District Vegetation Unit
City of Palo Alto Public
Works
November
through April
All County residents
Community organizations (SF
Creek JPA, Boys Scouts, etc.)
All Published county map of sandbag locations in Winter
Prep flier and posted on website.
CAL OP #41. Post sandbag information on website, including How to
Use Sandbags, sandbag webcams to view availability, etc. (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
District
Communications
Year-Round
Revamped Sandbag guide for correct positioning and
tips. Posted on website.
Topics 1 & 9: Know your flood hazard;
Understand shallow flooding risks
Messages: Drive slowly; Avoid shallow
moving water; 2 ft. water moves vehicles;
FEMA’s message: “Turn Around Don't
Drown®.”
Fewer accidents and rescues
CAL OP #42. Permanent street signage (2 signs/City/year); each City
will determine best location for signage and will install them. “Subject
to Flooding” (Cities to coordinate common standard message design)
Cities PWD
County Planning
Gilroy Chamber of
Commerce
Year-Round FEMA
Caltrans
Gilroy Chamber of Commerce
American Red Cross
Residents and people who
work in county
All Palo Alto and Santa Clara put up two signs
CAL OP#43. Include message “What to Do….After – Turn Around Don’t
Drown®….” in District’s CWM
District
Communications
City representatives
All Included Message on CWM and FPM
CAL OP #44. Post message “What to Do….After – Turn Around Don’t
Drown®….” on website (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
District
Communications
City representatives
Messages posted on website
CAL OP #45. Post shallow flooding risks information on websites
(Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
District
Communications
Cities Communications
All Risk of Driving through standing water is included in
FPM which is posted on District website
CAL OP #46. Promote City’s online “Flood Zone Lookup” tool on
Website (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
City of Palo Alto Public
Works
City of Palo Alto Palo Alto promoted their “Flood Zone Lookup Tool”.
Topics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9
Message: Know your flood risk and be
prepared; buy flood insurance
Educate our community on flood
protection and preparedness
measures
Increase in ‘hits’ on District and cities
Flood Protection Resources pages and
improve District’s Flood Campaign
results
CAL OP #47. Flood Awareness Campaign, including radio and bus ads.
For this year, we are preparing to have radio ads ready to place, but
we’ll only place them if/when there are major storm systems in the
forecast
District
Communications
Cities Communications
October-April FEMA
Radio Stations
Valley Transportation
Authority
American Red Cross
All Radio spots ran in four mainstream English stations
targeting and a Spanish and Chinese language
stations. Over the course of 4 months 2,595 spots
ran. From the months of Sept. through March, the
water district featured 11 Facebook and 15 Twitter
posts with the flood safety message “Know your
flood risk; buy flood insurance.” These posts included
links to the Flood Awareness campaign elements on
our district website.
Mountain View declared Red Cross Month in March.
CAL OP #48. Post Flood Awareness Campaign elements on District
website (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
District
Communications
Cities Communications
Year-Round Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.
All Staff also gave 11 speaker’s bureau presentations
with an emphasis on flood protection and flood
safety to organizations and agencies that requested
presentations during these months.
CAL OP #49. Post Flood Awareness Campaign information on
websites (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
District
Communications
Cities Communications
Year-Round These posts included links to the Flood Awareness
campaign elements on our district website.
CAL OP 50. Distribute flood prevention materials at fairs
Fair Sponsors During the months of October through March, staff
attended nine community events to distribute flood
safety information and flood prevention materials.
CAL OP #51. Social Media Messaging (such as Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
Fair Sponsors
Residents who share posts
Facebook, Twitter, Google,
LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.
From the months of Sept. through March, the water
district featured 11 Facebook and 15 Twitter posts
with the flood safety message “Know your flood risk;
buy flood insurance.” These posts included links to
the Flood Awareness campaign elements on our
district website.
Appendix A. The Multi-Jurisdictional PPI Worksheet for Santa Clara County - 2016 Annual Report Version
1 Message Topics: Outreach Projects (OP): Topic 1 – Know your flood hazard; Topic 2 – Insure your property for your flood hazard; Topic 3 – Protect people from the flood hazard; Topic 4 – Protect your property from the hazard; Topic 5 – Build responsibly; Topic 6 – Protect natural floodplain functions
Flood Response Preparations (FRP): Topic 7 – Develop a Family Emergency Plan; Topic 8 – Download disaster electronic Apps; Topic 9 – Understand shallow flooding risks – “Don’t drive through standing water.” 2 Each September, all deliverables need to be reported to District for tracking purposes. 3 A stakeholder can be any agency, organization, or person (other than the community itself) that supports the message. Stakeholders can be: an insurance company that publishes a brochures on flood insurance, even if it is set out at City Hall; a local newspaper that publishes a flood or hurricane season supplement each year; FEMA, if, for
example, a FEMA brochure is used as an informational material; schools that implement outreach activities; a local newspaper; a neighborhood or civic association that sponsors and hosts a presentation by a community employee; a utility company that includes pertinent articles in its monthly bills; or presentations made by state or FEMA staff at a
Risk Map meeting.
5 of 7
Target
Audience
1 Message Outcome Project(s) Proposed to
Support the Messages
Assignment 2 Proposed
Schedule
3 Stakeholder CRS
Community
Project
Accomplishments
CAL OP #52. Post social media messages on websites (Element 352
WEB1 and 2)
Social media posts included links to the Flood
Awareness campaign elements on our district
website.
CAL OP #53. Staffing booths at fairs District
Communications
Cities Communications
Year-Round Fair Sponsor
Residents who attend booths
All During the months of October through March, staff
attended nine community events to distribute flood
safety information and flood prevention materials.
Special Flood
Hazard Area
(SFHA)
Communities
The PPI Committee
identified several
geographic areas that
are particularly prone
to flooding.
Topics 4 & 6
Message: Keep debris and trash out of
our streams. It’s illegal to dump into
streams
Cleaner streams and fewer dumping
violations
SFHA OP #1. “Do Not Dump” message is sent each year to all SFHA
residents county-wide in the District’s annual Floodplain Mailer (FPM)
(2014 FPM reached 71,000 residents & businesses) (target outreach –
6 points per topic)
District
Communications
October/
November
2015
FEMA
SCVURPPP
All District’s annual flood plain mailer sent to over
48,000 homes in the county in November. An
electronic version was posted on the district’s flood
protection resources website. Includes “Do Not
Dump” Message and how to protect your family.
Less flooding damage due to debris
build-up
SFHA OP #2. Post Floodplain Mailer on website (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
District
Communications
Year-Round All FPM posted on website
Topics 3 & 5
Message: Protect your family and
property from flooding
Educate our community on flood
protection and preparedness
measures
SFHA OP #3. “What to Do – Protect Your Family and Property from
Flooding” message is sent each year to all SFHA residents in the
District’s annual FPM
October -
November
All District’s annual flood plain mailer sent to over
48,000 homes in the county in November. An
electronic version was posted on the district’s flood
protection resources website. Includes message of
protecting your family against floods.
Reduce number of claims SFHA OP #4. Post Floodplain Mailer on website (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
Year-Round
SFHA OP #5. Maintain the ALERT System District
Communications
City of Palo Alto CRS
Coordinator
Cities CRS Coordinators
Year-Round
peaks time
October - April
County of Santa Clara All ALERT System was maintained and expanded to
include an app.
Keep families safe
SFHA OP #6. ALERT System – Post real-time gauge information on
website so users can see current water levels, and where available,
flood height predictions (Element 352 WEB3)
All Alert information is available on the District’s
website.
SFHA OP #7. Post cards sent to floodplain residents; this is in addition
to the District’s Annual FPM. City of Sunnyvale sends out postcards
annually that includes a link to flood insurance agent referrals.
City of San José
City of Sunnyvale CRS
Coordinator
City of Gilroy
County of Santa Clara
Need dates
from
communities
FEMA
Lenders
Real Estate Brokers
Silicon Valley Realtors
Association
City of San José
City o f Sunnyvale
City of Gilroy
County of Santa Clara
Cities of Sunnyvale and Gilroy send postcards to
residents to floodplain residents.
SFHA OP #8. Post postcards on website (Element 352 WEB1 and 2) City of Sunnyvale CRS
Coordinator
Sunnyvale Sunnyvale and Gilroy posted on their websites.
SFHA OP# 9. City of Sunnyvale sends out postcards annually that
offers flood protection assistance site visits.
Sunnyvale CRS
Coordinator
Sunnyvale City of Sunnyvale sends out a postcard that offers
flood protection assistance site visits.
SFHA OP #10. Post postcards that offers flood protection assistance
site visits on website (Element 352 WEB1 and 2)
Message was posted on the Sunnyvale website.
SHA OP #11. Inserts into District’s School Outreach Program material District
Communications
Year-Round Schools
Students/Parents
All THIS IS A FOCUS FOR NEXT YEAR.
SFHA OP #12. Post School Outreach Program materials on website
(Element 352 WEB1)
District
Communications
Year-Round All All of our outreach materials are posted on our
website at
http://www.valleywater.org/Programs/TeachersStud
ents.aspx
Topics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9
Message: Know your flood risk and be
prepared; buy flood insurance
Increase in the number of inquiries
for purchasing flood insurance
SFHA OP #13. “Do You Need Flood Insurance” message is sent each
year to all SFHA residents in the District’s annual FPM
District
Communications
October/
November
2015
Lenders
Real Estate Brokers
Flood insurance customers
All District’s annual flood plain mailer sent to over
48,000 homes in the county in November.
PLAN TO INCREASE OUTREACH TO REAL ESTATE AND
FLOOD INSURANCE BROKERS NEXT YEAR.
Topics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7
Message: Flood Insurance will cover
damage from flooding that most
homeowner’s policies don’t’ covers.
Increase in number of flood insurance
policies in the SFHAs and in the
county in general
SFHA OP #14. Post Floodplain Mailer on website (Element 352 WEB1)
Year-Round
. An electronic version was posted on the district’s
flood protection resources website.
Appendix A. The Multi-Jurisdictional PPI Worksheet for Santa Clara County - 2016 Annual Report Version
1 Message Topics: Outreach Projects (OP): Topic 1 – Know your flood hazard; Topic 2 – Insure your property for your flood hazard; Topic 3 – Protect people from the flood hazard; Topic 4 – Protect your property from the hazard; Topic 5 – Build responsibly; Topic 6 – Protect natural floodplain functions
Flood Response Preparations (FRP): Topic 7 – Develop a Family Emergency Plan; Topic 8 – Download disaster electronic Apps; Topic 9 – Understand shallow flooding risks – “Don’t drive through standing water.” 2 Each September, all deliverables need to be reported to District for tracking purposes. 3 A stakeholder can be any agency, organization, or person (other than the community itself) that supports the message. Stakeholders can be: an insurance company that publishes a brochures on flood insurance, even if it is set out at City Hall; a local newspaper that publishes a flood or hurricane season supplement each year; FEMA, if, for
example, a FEMA brochure is used as an informational material; schools that implement outreach activities; a local newspaper; a neighborhood or civic association that sponsors and hosts a presentation by a community employee; a utility company that includes pertinent articles in its monthly bills; or presentations made by state or FEMA staff at a
Risk Map meeting.
6 of 7
Target
Audience
1 Message Outcome Project(s) Proposed to
Support the Messages
Assignment 2 Proposed
Schedule
3 Stakeholder CRS
Community
Project
Accomplishments
Standard homeowner or commercial
policies will not cover damage to
structures or contents caused by natural
flooding. Flood insurance is the only sure
way to be reimbursed for some of your
flood loses
Prospective buyers understand flood
risks
SFHA OP #15. Mail out mailer(s) regarding flood insurance and
elevation certificates
City of Milpitas CRS
Coordinator
City of Los Altos CRS
Coordinator
Cities CRS Coordinators
Fall
Realtors
Prospective Residents in flood
plains
City of Milpitas
City of Los Altos
Milpitas and Los Altos sent mailer regarding flood
insurance and elevation certificates.
SFHA OP #16. Post mailers on website (Element 352 WEB1)
City of Milpitas Fall
City of Milpitas
Messages were posted on City websites
SHA OP #13. Mailer (brochure published by insurance company) sent
to all real estate agents and lenders (can be set out at City Hall) –
requirement to purchase flood insurance and discount.
City of Sunnyvale
City of San Jose
City of Palo Alto
Need dates
from
communities
Lenders, real estate agents or
boards,
developers/contractors and
appraisers ; organizations or
agencies that serve
communities at risk for
flooding include PG&E,
American Red Cross,
Community Emergency
Response Teams (CERT),
neighborhood associations,
schools, churches, hospitals
and museums.
City of Sunnyvale
City o f San Jose
City of Palo Alto
Sunnyvale and Palo Alto have one-page newsletter
which is sent to all real estate agents and set out for
pick-up at City Hall.
Milpitas purchases brochures from FEMA.
Topic 1: Know your flood hazard
Message: A FIRMette is a full-scale
section of a FEMA Flood Insurance Rate
Map (FIRM) that you create online. A
FIRM indicates if property is in a Special
Hazard Flood Area
Increase in the number of inquiries
from prospective buyers asking about
the flood designation of property
SFHA OP #17. Presentation and training to realtors at Realtor’s
Association Meetings and/or write-up in realty association
newsletters
District
Communications City
representatives
Alain Pinel Realtors
October - April Insurance companies
Lenders
Brokers
Alain Pinel Realtors and other
realty companies
Residents who access FEMA
Map Service Center
Silicon Valley Realtors
Association
All Plan to work on next year
N/A this year
SFHA OP #18. Post training presentation on website (Element 352
WEB1)
District
Communications City
representatives
Year-Round N/A this year
SFHA OP #19. Publicize FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center website
District
Communications
City representatives
Year-Round FEMA
Realtors
Lenders
Brokers
Residents who access FEMA
Map Service Center
All Through the FPM sent to all parcels in the floodplain.
SFHA OP #20. Post link to FEMAs Flood Map Service Center on
website (https://msc.fema.gov/portal) (Element 352 WEB1)
Posted on the District website.
Topics 3, 4, & 5
Message: Retrofit or elevate your
home/building to reduce future flood
damage. Contact your local planning
department to determine what steps
should be taken to protect your property.
Contact Public Works CRS Coordinator to
find out if grant assistance is available
Increase in inquires on retrofitting
measures. Decrease the number of
repairs and elevations without
permits. Increase number of repairs
with permits
SFHA OP #21. Annual letters mailed to repetitive loss properties and
real estate agencies
San Jose
Palo Alto
Sunnyvale
Morgan Hill
Real Estate Agencies San Jose
Palo Alto
Sunnyvale
Morgan Hill
Each City sent out letters to repetitive loss parcels as
required by FEMA.
Increase number of elevation
certificates on file, and structures
repaired with permits; decrease the
number of repetitive loss increase
homes
Not Appropriate to post due to privacy concerns.
Messengers to
Other Target
Audiences (TA)
Topics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9
Message: Know your flood risk and be
prepared; buy flood insurance
Educate our community on flood
protection and preparedness
measures
TA OP #1. Have American Red Cross include the topic of flood
protection in their presentations. Have engineers accompany
American Red Cross to community meetings (2/city/year)
American Red Cross
Year-Round
American Red Cross
Neighborhood Associations
Service Clubs (e.g. Notary,
Kiwanas, etc.)
All
N/A this year.
Possible focus for coming year.
Appendix A. The Multi-Jurisdictional PPI Worksheet for Santa Clara County - 2016 Annual Report Version
1 Message Topics: Outreach Projects (OP): Topic 1 – Know your flood hazard; Topic 2 – Insure your property for your flood hazard; Topic 3 – Protect people from the flood hazard; Topic 4 – Protect your property from the hazard; Topic 5 – Build responsibly; Topic 6 – Protect natural floodplain functions
Flood Response Preparations (FRP): Topic 7 – Develop a Family Emergency Plan; Topic 8 – Download disaster electronic Apps; Topic 9 – Understand shallow flooding risks – “Don’t drive through standing water.” 2 Each September, all deliverables need to be reported to District for tracking purposes. 3 A stakeholder can be any agency, organization, or person (other than the community itself) that supports the message. Stakeholders can be: an insurance company that publishes a brochures on flood insurance, even if it is set out at City Hall; a local newspaper that publishes a flood or hurricane season supplement each year; FEMA, if, for
example, a FEMA brochure is used as an informational material; schools that implement outreach activities; a local newspaper; a neighborhood or civic association that sponsors and hosts a presentation by a community employee; a utility company that includes pertinent articles in its monthly bills; or presentations made by state or FEMA staff at a
Risk Map meeting.
7 of 7
Target
Audience
1 Message Outcome Project(s) Proposed to
Support the Messages
Assignment 2 Proposed
Schedule
3 Stakeholder CRS
Community
Project
Accomplishments
Lenders, real estate
agencies or boards,
developers/contractors
and appraisers all serve
as a messenger to
people who are at risk
of flooding as they
provide their
respective business
service. In addition,
organizations or
agencies that serve
communities at risk for
flooding include PG&E,
the American Red
Cross, and Community
Emergency Response
Teams (CERT),
neighborhood
associations, schools,
churches, hospitals and
museums.
Topic 2: Insure your property for your
flood hazard
Message: Standard homeowner or
commercial policies will not cover
damage to structures or contents caused
by natural flooding. Flood insurance is
the only sure way to be reimbursed for
some of your flood loses. A discount on
your flood insurance premium is
available. Flood insurance is also
available for renters and commercial
properties. There is a mandatory 30-day
waiting period for flood insurance to
become effective.
Increase the number of real estate
agents who will advise their clients
that they are interested in a home
that’s in a floodplain area
TA OP #2. Post presentations on website (Element 352 WEB1)
All
Sunnyvale
Jose
Palo Alto
Chamber of Commerce
Silicon Valley Realtors
Association
American Red Cross
Neighborhood Associations
Service Clubs (e.g. Notary,
Kiwanas, etc.)
Chamber of Commerce
Silicon Valley Realtors
Association
All
Sunnyvale
San Jose
Palo Alto
N/A this year.
Possible focus for coming year.
District has template available for any City to use.
Message: A discount is available. Flood
insurance is also available for renters and
commercial properties. There is a
mandatory 30-day waiting period for
flood insurance to become effective
TA OP #3. Annual mailer targeted towards real estate agents and
lenders with this message
City of Sunnyvale CRS
Coordinator
City of San Jose CRS
Coordinators
Cities CRS Coordinators
Late Summer/
Fall
City of Sunnyvale
City of San Jose
All
Sunnyvale and Palo Alto have one-page newsletter
which is sent to all real estate agents and set out for
pick-up at City Hall.
Milpitas purchases brochures from FEMA.
TA OP #4. Post annual mailer targeted towards real estate agents and
lenders on website (Element 352 WEB1)
Posted on City websites.
Topics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9
Message: Know your flood risk and be
prepared; buy flood insurance
Improve SFHA disclosure during real
estate process
TA OP #5. Include flood protection and preparedness messages in
newsletters of organizations or agencies that serve communities at
risk for flooding; District and City staff would draft messages for
insertion into newsletters.
All
City of Sunnyvale
City of San Jose
City of Palo Alto
All
Starting in September, the water district began
including flood safety information in its monthly
newsletter through March. The newsletter reaches
over 21,000 residents county-wide and is shared on
the web and district’s social media sites monthly.
Utility bill inserts. See CAL OP #1 and #2.
Increase in number of policies in the
SFHAs and in the county in general
TA OP #6. Post newsletters on websites (Element 352 WEB1)
All monthly newsletters posted on District website.
TA OP#7 Floodplain mailer sent to all parcels in the county in the
floodplain.
District
Communications
All Floodplain Mailer sent to 71,000 addresses.
Educate our community on flood
protection and preparedness
measures
TA OP# 8. Speaker’s Bureau of staff from CRS Communities to talk at
events organized by various community groups. The goal is for each
CRS Community to speak at a minimum of 2 events per year or more.
City representatives
Community
Organizations
October-April All N/A for this year.
Possible focus for coming year. District will prepare
template presentation that all cities can use.
TA OP#9. Post Speaker’s Bureau presentation on website and/or share
on social media.
References
1. Washington Multi-Jurisdictional PPI
2. Snohomish County, City of Monroe, City of Sultan Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information 2013
3. Flood Futures Report
Community:
330 OUTREACH PROJECTS WORKSHEET
For the Annual Report for 2016 Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information 2015
1. Know
Your
Flood
Hazard
2. Insure
your
property
3. Protect
People
4. Protect
your
Property
5. Build
Responsibly
6. Protect
Natural
Floodplain
functions
7. Develop
Family
Emergency
Plan
8. Download
Apps
9.
Understand
shallow
flooding risks
Count PPI?PPI (OP)STK?STK (OP)OP + PPI
+ STK
CAL OP#7 Valley Water News 2015
Countywide Mailer 6 y y y y y y y y y 1 9 54 y 21.6 0.0 75.6
CAL OP#7 Floodplain Mailer
2015-2016 6 y y y y y y y y y 1 9 54 y 21.6 0.0 75.6
CAL OP#7
October 15, 2015 SJMN Article,
"Wet Winter across California is
likely."2 y 1 1 2 y 0.8 y 0.6 3.4
CAL OP #7
11/15 SJMN Article - Officials
urge Californians to buy flood
insurance
2 y y y y y 1 5 10 y 4.0 y 3.0 17.0
CAL OP #7
February 4, 2016 SJMN Article,
"Water District Offers Safety Tips
In Face of Possible Flooding." 2 y y y y y y y 1 7 14 y 5.6 y 4.2 23.8
CAL OP#7
December 21, 2015 Sponsored
Ad, NBC Bay Area, "Winter Flood
Protection 101"2 y y y y y y 1 7 14 y 5.6 y 4.2 23.8
CAL OP #8
Valley Water News 2015
Countywide Mailer (on website)1 y y y y y y y y y 1 9 9 y 3.6 0.0 12.6
CAL OP #8 Floodplain Mailer
2015-2016 (on website)1 y y y y y y y y y 1 9 9 y 3.6 0.0 12.6
CAL OP #8
February 4, 2016 SJMN Article,
"Water District Offers Safety Tips
In Face of Possible Flooding."
(on website)
1 y y y y y y y 1 7 7 y 2.8 y 2.1 11.9
CAL OP #8
October 15, 2015 SJMN Article,
"Wet Winter across California is
likely."
(on website)
1 y 1 1 1 y 0.4 y 0.3 1.7
CAL OP #8
11/15 SJMN Article - Officials
urge Californians to buy flood
insurance (on website)
1 y y y y y 1 5 5 y 2.0 y 1.5 8.5
CAL OP #8
December 21, 2015 Sponsored
Ad, NBC Bay Area, "Winter Flood
Protection 101"
(on website)
1 y y y y y y 1 7 7 y 2.8 y 2.1 11.9
TA OP #7 Speakers Bureau Presentation
(see attached list) 2 y y y 25 3 150 y 60.0 y 45.0 255.0
c330 = cOP:340.0 + cFRP:0.0 = 0 ∑OP: 200 ∑PPI: 80 ∑STK: 60 340.0
Number of OP projects:13 Notes:c330 ≤ 350 ∑OP ≤ 200 ∑PPI ≤ 80 ∑STK ≤ 60
NOTE: The above is a sub-set of all the outreach projects carried out in FY16 (June 2015 - July 2016). Included are projects needed to reach the maximum points allowed for Activity 330. A complete list of projects is available upon request.
Multipliers
SCVWD
330 Outreach Project (OP) Worksheet
Outreach Projects Points per
Topic
Topics Covered
Times per
Year*OP