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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-10-18 City Schools Liaison Committee Summary Minutes Page 1 of 10 Special Meeting October 18, 2018 Chairperson Holman called the meeting to order at 8:02 A.M. in the Community Meeting Room, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. Present: City of Palo Alto Representatives Karen Holman, Council Member, Committee Chair Eric Filseth, Vice Mayor Rob de Geus, Deputy City Manager, Staff Liaison Palo Alto Unified School District Representatives Todd Collins, Board Member Ken Dauber, Board Member, Board President Jim Novak, District Chief Business Officer, Staff Liaison Absent: 1. Oral Communications None. 2. Introduction of PAUSD Superintendent With the Assistant City Manager. Board Member Dauber introduced Superintendent Don Austin, who joined the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) in June 2018. Dr. Austin had brought a focus on operations, management, and excellence. Vice Mayor Filseth introduced Ed Shikada as incoming City Manager. Mr. Shikada has been the Assistant City Manager and Director of Utilities for the prior three years. Mr. Shikada's background was in public works and traffic engineering. Don Austin, PAUSD Superintendent, advised that in his prior employment he met monthly with city managers. He was highly interested in solving issues before they became issues and looked forward to monthly meetings with the City/School Liaison Committee. City/School Liaison Committee Special Meeting DRAFT Minutes DRAFT MINUTES Page 2 of 10 City School Liaison Committee Meeting DRAFT Minutes: 10/18/2018 Ed Shikada, Assistant City Manager, would make monthly meetings with the City/School Liaison Committee a priority. He looked forward to identifying opportunities and leveraging those opportunities with PAUSD. Chair Holman appreciated PAUSD Board of Education (Board) Members advocating for a relationship and regular communications between PAUSD and the City. Minutes Approval 3. Approval of Minutes for the August 16 and September 20, 2018 City/School Liaison Committee Meetings. MOTION: Board Member Collins moved, seconded by Council Member Holman that the City School Liaison Committee approved the minutes as presented. MOTION PASSED: 4-0 4. Review Recent City Council / PAUSD Board Meetings: a. CITY Rob de Geus, Deputy City Manager, reported items before the Council over the past month had no impact on the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD). An upcoming item that might interest PAUSD was a Town Hall regarding transportation. Vice Mayor Filseth noted some interesting topics were presented to Council Committees, such as grade separation, residential development, and smart metering. The Council had an interesting meeting with the Palo Alto Youth Council (PAYC). Board Member Dauber inquired if minutes for the meeting with PAYC were available and if PAYC had a webpage. Vice Mayor Filseth advised that a transcript should be available in the next few weeks. Mr. de Geus indicated the City website contained a PAYC page. The Community Services Department supported PAYC, which was comprised of 17 public and private high school students. Vice Mayor Filseth did not recall private school students participating in PAYC in the past. DRAFT MINUTES Page 3 of 10 City School Liaison Committee Meeting DRAFT Minutes: 10/18/2018 Chair Holman noted the Council held a Study Session regarding a proposed development at the former funeral home near Addison Elementary School. The applicant proposed many uses that could impact Addison Elementary School. In the future, the City should ensure PAUSD and the Board of Education (Board) were notified of development projects near schools. Ed Shikada, Assistant City Manager, explained that the Council Study Session was a prescreening of a potential project as an application had not been filed. City Staff was unsure of changes the applicant would make to the project in response to comments from the Council and the public. City Staff would share the formal application with PAUSD and the Board once it was filed. Chair Holman felt it was striking that neighbors commented, but the Board did not. Board Member Collins agreed that the City and Board should share information that pertained to the other. Parking for school staff and students' families was a known issue at Addison Elementary School. One of the issues with the potential project was parking. Mr. Shikada agreed to talk with the Planning Director regarding a process to ensure PAUSD was informed of any significant land use proposals. Chair Holman suggested the Public Works Department should also share information about capital projects that might affect schools. Board Member Collins related that the City/School Liaison Committee (Committee) meetings could provide initial notification of issues of concern. Don Austin, PAUSD Superintendent, believed the venue for City and PAUSD Staff to discuss topics of mutual concern would be outside Committee meetings. Chair Holman felt PAUSD representatives should attend Council meetings to voice concerns and comments. Board Member Collins had noticed City Staff did not attend Board meetings, and PAUSD Staff did not attend Council meetings. Both should be more assertive in attending and participating in meetings. DRAFT MINUTES Page 4 of 10 City School Liaison Committee Meeting DRAFT Minutes: 10/18/2018 b. PAUSD–Examples Including but not Limited to: Addison Parking, Railroad Crossing at Churchill Avenue and Stanford General Use Permit (GUP) Board Member Dauber noted parking at Addison Elementary School was a significant issue. School staff was having difficulty obtaining a sufficient number of parking permits. The Stanford University General Use Permit (GUP) was a major concern for the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education (Board). The Board had actively objected to the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) and requested inclusion in Development Agreement negotiations. The Board's ad hoc subcommittee was consulting with the PAUSD Superintendent on communications with Stanford University. Board Member Collins indicated the Board had not discussed the crossing at Churchill Avenue, but it's priority was second only to the Stanford University GUP. Board Member Dauber understood one concern was the Palo Alto High School fields; however, the option that would have significantly impacted the fields was removed from consideration. The Board needed to understand the potential impacts of closing the Churchill crossing Board Member Collins reported thousands of students crossed the railroad tracks daily on foot and bike. The students' needs should be consciously considered. Board Member Dauber had heard concerns about students crossing Alma and requested City Staff comment on any City action. Mr. de Geus advised that the City was planning improvements for the bikeway and pedestrian crossing, and plans included a request for an easement from PAUSD. At Dr. Austin's invitation, he had met with the principal of Addison Elementary School regarding parking and the Residential Preferential Parking Permit (RPP) program. Under the RPP program, the City issued 37 permits for Addison Elementary School staff. At the current time, Addison Elementary School had no parking because of a construction project at the campus. City Staff was considering whether to allow more permits for teaching staff at Addison Elementary School. Mr. Austin appreciated the proposed solution for parking at Addison Elementary School and believed it could be viable. Mr. de Geus related that 1,000 permits were available in the Downtown RPP district, and typically each employer was allowed to purchase ten permits. DRAFT MINUTES Page 5 of 10 City School Liaison Committee Meeting DRAFT Minutes: 10/18/2018 The City Manager was holding in reserve 200 permits that could be released for special circumstances and needs. The situation at Addison Elementary School could be considered special circumstances. Board Member Collins appreciated the attention to detail in developing a solution. Vice Mayor Filseth remarked that parking would be an issue for the City for many years into the future because parking was a scarce resource. To manage parking, the Council would have to make policy decisions regarding the allocation of parking. Chair Holman presumed once construction at Addison Elementary School was complete, the number of parking permits would be adjusted. Mr. de Geus advised that City Staff had discussed with PAUSD Staff the need for a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program. Even after construction, Addison Elementary School would not have sufficient onsite parking. Board Member Collins remarked that any responsible employer in Palo Alto would need to consider a TDM program. Chair Holman suggested the Board agendize an item regarding a TDM program with support from City Staff. Mr. Shikada noted the City shared many of the same parking dilemmas as PAUSD. Perhaps the City and Board could collaborate to generate economies of scale. Chair Holman requested an update regarding City and PAUSD collaboration for review and awareness of projects that affect parkland. Board Member Collins reported the Board seemed to concur with appointing a Board or PAUSD liaison to the Parks and Recreation Commission. The liaison should be named at the beginning of 2019. Kristen O’Kane, Community Services Assistant Director, related that a process for coordinating notification of projects had yet to be determined. Chair Holman recommended the process include a public discussion. Mr. de Geus noted the City/School Traffic Safety Committee was scheduled to meet later in the morning. City Staff was working with the Rail Committee, the community advisory committee, and the technical advisory committee to develop a preferred solution for grade separation of Caltrain DRAFT MINUTES Page 6 of 10 City School Liaison Committee Meeting DRAFT Minutes: 10/18/2018 crossings. Several parents were members of the community advisory committee and focused on PAUSD needs. A PAUSD representative was a member of the technical advisory committee. A traffic circulation study was underway to determine the impacts of closing the Churchill crossing. City Staff hoped to have a preferred solution by February so that it could be presented to the Council. Board Member Collins had not been aware of PAUSD having a representative to the technical advisory committee. People had commented to him that PAUSD was not involved in the grade separation discussions. He was uncomfortable with the lack of involvement by the Board or PAUSD Staff. Mr. Shikada would arrange a meeting with the Superintendent and appropriate PAUSD Staff to provide current information and to schedule periodic reviews so that issues were known. Bob Golton, Bond Program Manager, indicated Ron Ellis was PAUSD's representative to the technical advisory committee. Mr. de Geus reiterated that several members of the community advisory committee were senior volunteers with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and provided the committee with a school perspective. Board Member Collins stated the Board or PAUSD should have a seat at the table. Mr. Austin supported holding collaborative meetings and preferred to discuss issues that impacted either PAUSD or the City. 5. City and District Staff Comments and Announcements. Rob de Geus, Deputy City Manager, noted the Town Hall on October 22 regarding traffic. Ed Shikada, Assistant City Manager, added that the Town Hall would include a report on the Charleston-Arastradero project. 6. Cubberley Master Plan Update. Kirsten O’Kane, Community Services Assistant Director, reported the first community meeting was held September 27 at Cubberley Community Center with almost 250 attendees. Attendees participated in activities concerning future programming, building height and mass, and green space. Caveats were the site must be able to accommodate a future school and the vision of a multicultural, visual and performing arts, and wellness space. Attendees DRAFT MINUTES Page 7 of 10 City School Liaison Committee Meeting DRAFT Minutes: 10/18/2018 proposed almost 600 ideas, 219 of which were unique. Common ideas were community gardens, a pool, a café or food facility, a wellness center, mental health services, teen or multigenerational spaces, large flexible spaces, and gathering spaces. Attendees either strongly supported or strongly opposed housing at the site. The majority of attendees supported underground parking. Generally, attendees supported buildings of 2.5 stories with taller buildings located in the center of the site. The next meeting was scheduled for November 1 when scenarios based on input from the first meeting would be presented. Board Member Collins requested the rationale of the attendees who strongly opposed housing for the site. Ms. O’Kane advised that she heard concerns about traffic that would result from housing. Many attendees did not feel Cubberley was an appropriate location for housing. Board Member Collins inquired about incorporating the Greendell School campus and the 525 San Antonio site into the planning process. Bob Golton, Bond Program Manager, indicated the scope of the contract for the Cubberley Master Plan did not include the two sites, but the scope of work could be expanded to include the two sites if the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education (Board) and the City concurred. Board Member Collins noted the Greendell campus was contiguous to Cubberley Community Center, and 525 San Antonio was contiguous to Greendell. Chair Holman related that the Greenmeadow neighborhood and Charleston Center were included in the plan to allow and enhance connectivity. Stacey Ashland requested Greendell be incorporated into the planning effort. A third high school would be needed because student safety decreased as traffic increased. Board Member Dauber inquired about guidelines for possible shared use of facilities at Cubberley. Mr. Golton noted the activity around building design did not include use or programming of buildings. The conversation around programming had not occurred. Board Member Dauber expressed interest in identifying guidelines for the joint use of facilities so that the community held realistic expectations. DRAFT MINUTES Page 8 of 10 City School Liaison Committee Meeting DRAFT Minutes: 10/18/2018 Mr. Golton reiterated that a discussion of use of facilities would be held at a later stage in the planning process. Ms. O’Kane added that joint-use facilities in other cities could guide a future conversation. Chair Holman indicated some of the categories in the chart appeared to be duplicative or appeared to overlap. While community youth had indicated a desire for a bowling alley, the chart did not contain a bowling alley. She questioned whether youth voices were being heard. Ms. O’Kane remarked that the vision for Cubberley included flexible spaces, and a bowling alley was not a flexible space. Some spaces would be single- use, but most would be flexible. Chair Holman encouraged the application of creative thinking for the use of spaces. Board Member Collins concurred with including youth in the process. Perhaps a separate meeting could be oriented to youth participation. Mr. Golton explained that the Fellows were tasked with facilitating meeting participation and reaching out to the community, and six of the Fellows were young people. He would request a strengthening of the outreach to youth and would discuss the possibility of a meeting solely for youth with Concordia. The community could attend one, some, or all of the meetings. Rob de Geus, Deputy City Manager, added that the Palo Alto Youth Council could support youth involvement. One of the best planning meetings for the Mitchell Park Community Center was dedicated to youth. Chair Holman noted community teens wanted a place to hang out. Board Member Collins inquired about a joint meeting between the Board and the City. Ms. O’Kane recalled that a joint meeting would be held once feedback had been refined, but it could be held at any time. Board Member Collins wished to ensure that a meeting was scheduled at some point. Mr. Golton added that a joint meeting would be scheduled in 2019. Vice Mayor Filseth questioned whether the participants were an accurate representation of the community as a whole. DRAFT MINUTES Page 9 of 10 City School Liaison Committee Meeting DRAFT Minutes: 10/18/2018 Ms. O’Kane felt the attendees were a mix of neighbors, Cubberley tenants, and special interests; however, few youth were present. Mr. Golton reported that demographic information for participants was not collected during the meeting. Residents who did not utilize Cubberley or who lived far from Cubberley likely would not attend meetings. Chair Holman requested the status of the community needs survey. Ms. O’Kane advised that City Staff was reviewing a draft needs survey. Meeting summaries and data collected during meetings were available at pausd.org/business-services/cubberley-co-design. Chair Holman requested the timeframe for the acceptance of input. Ms. O’Kane asked if Chair Holman meant input for the questions asked at the first meeting. Chair Holman responded yes or input for other uses at Cubberley. Ms. O’Kane indicated feedback would be ongoing. Residents who chose not to participate in meetings could contribute through the website. Based on the number of ideas suggested at the first meeting, it would be difficult to identify a missing idea. At some point, input would cease. Chair Holman remarked that the schedule was extremely aggressive, and the process had to be right. She inquired whether City Staff would compare existing programs and results of the needs assessment with community input. She asked if it would be advantageous to survey the ages and interests of those attending the second meeting. Ms. O’Kane would explore the idea of collecting demographic data. Alison Cormack commented that attendees were mostly Greenmeadow neighbors and Cubberley tenants and users. She suggested more than one joint meeting of the City and Board. The City and Board were responsible for telling the public whether or not housing should be considered and the type of housing. She understood the City could utilize the space until and unless a school was built on the site. She supported adding the Greendell campus and the 525 San Antonio site to the planning process. 7. Future Meetings and Agendas. Rob de Geus, Deputy City Manager, reported standing agenda items were Cubberley Community Center, updates from Council and Board of Education (Board) meetings, and Staff comments. Items for the November meeting DRAFT MINUTES Page 10 of 10 City School Liaison Committee Meeting DRAFT Minutes: 10/18/2018 could be an update regarding the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan and grade separation. Chair Holman requested agenda items regarding the May Fete Parade, State mandates that impact the City and Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD), and collaboration regarding cost of services. She requested City Staff reschedule the December 21 meeting. Events celebrating the 100th anniversary of Palo Alto High School had been wonderful and well-attended. Board Member Collins advised that volunteers led the efforts. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:06 A.M.