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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-05-16 City Schools Liaison Committee Summary MinutesPage 1 of 13 Special Meeting May 16, 2019 Chairperson Kou called the meeting to order at 8:31 A.M. in the Community Meeting Room, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. Present: City of Palo Alto Representatives Alison Cormack, Council Member Lydia Kou, Council Member (Chair) Chantal Gaines, Assistant to the City Manager, Staff Liaison Palo Alto Unified School District Representatives Jennifer DiBrienza, Board President Todd Collins, Board Vice President Jim Novak, District Chief Business Officer, Staff Liaison Absent: Oral Communications Ann Lee related the Council's actions regarding a Wireless Ordinance and felt it was important for the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education (Board) to act on the issue because it directly affected students and schools. She requested the Board and Council immediately require a 1,500-foot setback from schools and provide notice of all cell phone towers under consideration near a school to the full school community. Tina Chow requested help in appealing the Cluster 2 cell tower decisions in Barron Park. One of the cell phone towers would be located in front of Barron Park Elementary School. The community had not been properly informed of the plans for cell phone towers, and this should afford a basis for reconsideration. Minutes Approval 2. Approval of April 18, 2019 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: Council Member Cormack moved, seconded by Board Member Collins to approve the minutes as presented. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to amend the April 18, 2019 Minutes on page 9, City/School Liaison Committee Special Meeting Minutes MINUTES Page 2 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 in the sentence “Mr. Shikada advised that City Staff had discussed presenting information to the Council before scheduling a Closed Session regarding housing.” Add the words “Work Force” to state “Work Force Housing.” Board Member DiBrienza requested clarification of the statement that Police Chief Jonsen was present and probably took action. Council Member Cormack advised that Chief Jonsen had attended the joint session between the City Council and the Palo Alto Youth Council. Board Member DiBrienza inquired whether anyone knew if Chief Jonsen had taken action on the issue. The idea that he had probably taken action was not useful in the minutes. Council Member Cormack clarified that the April minutes reflected her statement. Board Member DiBrienza suggested the minutes state "Police Chief Jonsen was present and heard the concern." INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to amend the April 18th minutes on Page 3, from “Police Chief Jonsen was present and probably took some action on the issue” to state, “Police Chief Jonsen was present and heard the concern.” MOTION AS AMENDED RESTATED: Council Member Cormack moved, second by Board Member Collins to: A. Amend the minutes Page 9 to state “Work Force Housing.” B. Amend the minutes Page 3 to state “Police Chief Jonsen was present and heard the concern.” MOTION PASSED: 4-0 Chair Kou announced Agenda Item Number 8 was continued. 3. Superintendent’s Comments and City Manager’s Comments. Don Austin, Superintendent, anticipated adoption of The Promise by the end of June. The next step was to focus on equity. Exciting announcements for the upcoming year would be forthcoming. Board Member Collins expressed concern that Barron Park Elementary School was not notified regarding the potential cell phone towers. If the MINUTES Page 3 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 regulations for cell phone towers were going to change in response to health and safety concerns, it would be great to figure out a way to delay the towers until the new regulations had been enacted. This proposed tower would be located 200 feet from the kindergarten wing of the school. He knew the Barron Park neighbors were generating letters to the City. Ed Shikada, City Manager, noted the topic had not been agendized, and the appropriate City Staff was not present to provide information. The topic could be agendized for a future meeting. The City Council had discussed the matter extensively. Board Member Collins requested a meeting with the City Manager or a member of his Staff who had the appropriate information to ensure the matter was addressed. With hundreds of potential cell tower applications and 17 schools in the community, presumably some of the cell towers would be near schools. The schools had not been aware of the matter and may have had concerns or considerations that would have weighed on the City's process for the applications. He wished to ensure information flowed between the City and Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD). Mr. Shikada agreed to meet with Board Member Collins and inquired whether Board Member Collins would represent the PAUSD Board of Education (Board) or himself as a parent during the meeting. The appropriate City Staff who would be present for the meeting would depend upon Board Member Collins' response. Board Member Collins asked if City Manager Shikada would treat him differently depending on whether he was present a parent or as a Board representative. Mr. Shikada indicated as an inter-agency question, he needed to ensure it was not simply a casual conversation but a conversation with both organizations appropriately represented. Board Member Collins reported he would meet with Superintendent Austin and Board President DiBrienza to determine the appropriate method to hold a meeting institutionally. Otherwise, he would attempt to arrange a meeting independently. Chair Kou requested additional context regarding equity. Mr. Austin clarified that the Board would review the equity section of The Promise and future work at the upcoming Board meeting. MINUTES Page 4 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 4. Review of Recent City Council and PAUSD Board Meetings a. CITY: Recent Council Agendas Recap b. PAUSD: Recent Board Agendas Recap. Council Member Cormack reported the Council had approved a program that helped install electric vehicle (EV) chargers at schools. The program was available to Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) if PAUSD was interested in installing EV chargers at schools. A portion of the City's municipal bond investment portfolio had been invested in PAUSD funds. The Council had also approved a Green Stormwater Infrastructure Plan. She hoped City Staff and PAUSD Staff were collaborating regarding the Green Stormwater Infrastructure Plan as the Plan relied on private lands such as PAUSD land. Chair Kou advised that Caltrain had presented an update to its Business Plan to the Council. The Business Plan provided three growth scenarios. The baseline scenario included ten trains per hour and approximately 161,000 riders. The moderate growth scenario projected 12 trains per hour and approximately 185,000 riders. The high growth scenario projected 16 trains per hour and ridership of 207,000. Absent grade separations, the gate down-times would be intensive under the high growth scenario. Currently, the gate down-time was about 6-17 minutes per hour with an average of 11 minutes per hour. More than 80 collisions had occurred at Caltrain grade crossings between 2009 and 2018. The Charleston Avenue crossing had one of the highest collision rates. With electrification, Caltrain could accommodate sufficient riders to remove traffic from two highway lanes under the baseline scenario, traffic from 2.5 highway lanes under the moderate growth scenario, and traffic from a maximum of 5.5 highway lanes under the high growth scenario. Board Member Collins looked forward to the highway lanes being converted to greenbelt. The PAUSD Board of Education (Board) had approved a second Magical Bridge-style playground. Currently, PAUSD was leading with two inclusive playgrounds to the City's one. Council Member Cormack related that the City expected to install a second inclusive playground at Rinconada Park. Board Member Collins stated the Board held an event to honor Walt Hays for his contributions to schools over the past 20 years. City Staff had also attended the event. The Board had concluded its negotiations with almost all of its collective bargaining units and had approved some of the agreements at its most recent meeting. The Board had moved to an MINUTES Page 5 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 interest-based bargaining format with the collective bargaining units. Both parties felt the new format was an improvement over prior practices. 5. Safe Routes to School Annual Presentation. Rosie Mesterhazy, Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Coordinator, reported the Mission of the City/Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD)/Palo Alto Council of PTAs (PTAC) partnership was to reduce risk to students en route to and from school and encourage more families to choose healthy, active, sustainable alternatives to driving solo more often. Supporting the right of all users from ages 8 to 80 to share the road safely was codified in the City's Comprehensive Plan, Sustainability Plan, and Bicycle and Transportation Plan. Ms. Mesterhazy showed a video entitled "Safe Routes: A History Lesson." Board Member DiBrienza requested the platforms on which the video was shared. Ms. Mesterhazy indicated the video was available on the City website and through the Chamber of Commerce's 125th Anniversary website. 2018/2019 SRTS activities had focused on education and youth with more than 12 new, enhanced programs and pilots. Students at Greene Middle School were completing a Walk and Roll Map to support the safe passage of students commuting to PAUSD schools. SRTS had hosted an Intergenerational Transportation Safety Tunnel Summit to create a community-led process to improve compliance with regulations. The Getting to High School Pilot Program had hosted lunchtime pop-up bike fairs to generate enthusiasm and interest for bike safety. SRTS Staff had offered more than 156 educational trainings, improved curricula and materials, and created video and online materials to address timely topics. Several youth had also developed helmet and roundabout safety resources. Another student had regularly attended Palo Alto Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee meetings. PTAC had recognized Safe Routes to School PTAC Chair Phillips for his assistance with providing a bicycle and lessons to a student. The PAUSD Family Engagement Specialists had offered to assist with future alternative transportation outreach to families in need. Two Palo Alto Police traffic officers were on duty, and in July there would be three traffic officers on duty. A temporary crossing guard had been added at one school site. The partnership had optimized on and off-campus infrastructure to support student safety. City and PAUSD Staff were engaged in the Cubberley Co-Design Process and were focusing on future student travel and safety on the Cubberley site. One challenge facing both the City and PAUSD was bus and shuttle driver recruitment and retention. The Charleston/Arastradero Bike Corridor was under construction and would MINUTES Page 6 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 provide wider sidewalks, extended bike lanes, and protected bike lanes. The City had installed a flashing pedestrian beacon at the Palo Alto High School driveway, added wide sidewalks to Louis and Amarillo adjacent to Ohlone Elementary School, installed a new crossing at Colorado/Sandra, and addressed safety issues at the Stanford/Bowdoin intersection. The City would engage with PAUSD regarding the Churchill/El Camino Real Project. The City had received a grant of approximately $1 million to improve bikeways along Fabian, East Meadow, and the Waverley Path. PAUSD was exploring lighting improvements on the lower Bol Park Path to Gunn High school, providing skateboard tower parking at the secondary schools, adding surveillance cameras at bike parking areas at secondary schools, and restriping the Fletcher Middle School driveway. Classroom tally data and bike count data had suggested a three percent increase in alternative transportation mode share over the previous year. Tally data had been gathered by PAUSD teachers through a show of student hands and substantiated by bike counts. Ms. Mesterhazy hoped to develop a methodology that enabled Staff to overlay transportation numbers with injury reporting data. The City would like to enhance its collision data analysis functions for all ages across all modes. SRTS Staff hoped to develop school report cards for travel modes, to develop a parent survey, to conduct more educational trainings for principals, to schedule a full SRTS presentation for the PAUSD Board of Education (Board), to consider cost- sharing for crossing guards, to increase collaboration with Family Engagement Specialists, and to develop a PAUSD policy recognizing SRTS offerings. Peter Phillips appreciated all the support for the SRTS Program. Council Member Cormack was excited to see the increase in alternative transportation mode share at the high schools. She inquired whether there was a focus on carpool programs for Ohlone, Hoover, and Escondido Elementary Schools. Ms. Mesterhazy related that efforts in prior years had focused on car-pooling and developing carpool programs was especially challenging because volunteers needed to be present at the schools every day to work on carpool programs. A carpool program would require another PTA volunteer. Council Member Cormack felt the variety of technology could support carpool programs. She was interested in the South Palo Alto bikeways. The Council had received an email from a Gunn High School teacher about the Charleston/Arastradero project. If protected bikeways were not a part of the project, the City/School Liaison Committee needed to know why. Some of MINUTES Page 7 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 her neighbors continued to be concerned regarding the Ross Road roundabout. Board Member DiBrienza was surprised to learn that more than 50 percent of elementary parents drive alone and inquired whether that statistic could be improved. Ms. Mesterhazy did not believe the percentage had reached a plateau. The growth rate at elementary schools was approximately 1 percent per year. City and PAUSD Staff and school websites encouraged families to choose alternative transportation whenever possible. Board Member DiBrienza asked if changes had been made to the Ross Road project based on community concerns. Sylvia Star-Lack, Transportation Planning Manager, advised that City Staff would provide a follow-up report to the City Council in August. The conversation would focus on data collected over the past year and the community engagement process. Staff wanted to learn from the Ross Road project before proceeding with projects related to the bike boulevard or other bicycle improvements. Board Member DiBrienza asked if SRTS Staff continued to work with students around bike helmets and whether the data for wearing bike helmets was positive. Ms. Mesterhazy reported a recent count at the California Avenue tunnel found 93 percent of students wearing helmets. Staff continued to emphasize helmet safety. Board Member DiBrienza indicated she would contact the Board's Policy Review Committee regarding the SRTS policy. Board Member Collins requested a copy of Ms. Mesterhazy's remarks in order to share them with his colleagues. Chantal. Gaines, Assistant to the City Manager, disclosed that the remarks would be available in a Staff Report for the June 3 Council meeting. Board Member Collins did not believe the 93 percent of students wearing helmets would hold for high schools. An issue in his neighborhood was large groups of students disregarding basic road safety and traffic laws. He inquired whether SRTS Staff had explored that. MINUTES Page 8 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 Ms. Star-Lack related that SRTS Staff had spoken with Police Lieutenant Con Maloney about the issue. Board Member Collins had spoken with Lieutenant Maloney as well. Ms. Star-Lack disclosed Lieutenant Maloney's comments that enforcing such behavior was tricky. SRTS Staff was attempting to move more resources into high school education, but it would take time to develop the curriculum and the right method to connect with teenagers. Staff investigated potential infrastructure that made travel safe for large groups of bicyclists and allowed motorists to travel the streets. Traffic engineers may not plan for the large numbers of student bicyclists. Board Member DiBrienza left the meeting at 9:35 a.m. Ms. Mesterhazy advised that behavior change occurred through all six Es and through repetition. She anticipated youth would be added to the three-way partnership in the next few years. Board Member Collins stated the group misbehavior was likely safer for the kids, but it violated traffic laws and confused motorists. Changing the rules to accommodate the behavior was a clever way to think about it. Ms. Star-Lack noted there were many ways to achieve safety. Staff taught students to make eye contact with motorists. Board Member Collins agreed that eye contact allowed the bicyclist and motorist to anticipate the other's behavior. He inquired whether there was training about phone use while biking. Ms. Mesterhazy indicated it was the first tip on the high school top ten. Staff reported that tip was also contained in the fifth and sixth grade curriculum and shared at assemblies. Ms. Mesterhazy added that phone use was one of the newer safety messages included in curricula. Board Member Collins suggested adults needed the message as well as kids. PAUSD was open to discussions of co-funding the SRTS program, and Stanford University should be included in the funding discussions as well. Chair Kou requested SRTS Staff include messages about bicycle lights and riding with one's hands on the handlebars. Board Member Collins recalled the City had given away bike lights for adults. MINUTES Page 9 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 Ms. Mesterhazy indicated Family Engagement Specialists had given away about 200 lights to low-income families. The curriculum contained winter safety tips, which included lights. Chair Kou inquired about a light on the back of a bicycle. Ms. Mesterhazy advised that a red reflector was required on the back of a bike. Board Member Collins felt adult bikers considered the rear light the more important light. Ms. Mesterhazy related that police officers had bike lights in their cars to give bicyclists who had been stopped for failure to have bike lights. This was another method to encourage compliance. Chair Kou inquired whether the lights given to students automatically turned on. Ms. Mesterhazy replied no. The lights were rechargeable. Board Member Cormack expressed pleasure with the focus on equity. Chair Kou inquired whether the light giveaway had been extended to East Palo Alto students who attended PAUSD schools. Ms. Mesterhazy answered yes. Chair Kou requested Staff show the roundabout video during the June 3 Council meeting. 6. Cubberley Master Plan Next Steps. Robert Golton, Bond Program Manager, reported the fourth Co-Design meeting was held the prior week. During the meeting, participants had viewed boards about the process, site organization, site circulation, look and feel, phasing, sustainability, and four housing options and offered comments and questions. One hundred seventy-nine people had attended the meeting and expressed interest in housing. Participants had received comments cards that asked for their preferences regarding the housing options. Nineteen percent of respondents wanted no housing, 34 percent wanted Option 1 housing, 21 percent wanted Option 2, 10 percent wanted Option 3, and 16 percent wanted Option 4. Concordia was interested in obtaining the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education's (Board) and Council's preferences for housing. MINUTES Page 10 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 Council Member Cormack explained that she had discussed housing at Cubberley during the 2018 campaign and during the Council's Study Session. Meeting 1 attendees also had requested housing at Cubberley. The Board and Council should provide Concordia and Staff with direction to proceed with one of the options. Board Member Collins added that the Board had requested housing options as well. The Board wanted to develop a strategy for staff housing, but it needed information. Three-quarters of the respondents wanted housing on the site as part of the project, and slightly less than half of respondents wanted more housing than proposed for 525 San Antonio. The format of a joint meeting between the Board and the Council should yield direction for Concordia and Staff so that they could proceed with the project. Perhaps the City/School Liaison Committee (Committee) should take responsibility for drafting a meeting format. Chair Kou questioned whether the Committee could provide direction to Staff or only make recommendations to the Council and Board. Board Member Collins suggested City and Board Staff ultimately had the responsibility for structuring the joint meeting. He assumed Staff would want input from their respective bodies. Chair Kou noted the Council/Board joint session was scheduled for June 3 and requested the City Manager provide some direction. Board Member Collins inquired about the joint session. Ed Shikada, City Manager, indicated that the joint session had been continued from an earlier time. The Council would discuss Cubberley on June 10. A Committee discussion of the format for the larger two-body meeting would be possible. Chair Kou remarked that a format for the Cubberley joint discussion could be applied to joint discussions of other topics. Council Member Cormack suggested a working group would be appropriate because of the complexity of the project. Mr. Shikada clarified that the Council would discuss Cubberley on June 3. The joint session between the Council and Board was tentatively scheduled for August. Presumably the joint session would include ratification of a plan to proceed. At which point, a working group could be formed to work out the details for topics such as phasing, financing, and operation of the site after construction. MINUTES Page 11 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 Council Member Cormack asked if the working group would be formed after the joint session. Mr. Shikada believed the Council and Board should determine the scope of the working group's activities before the working group was formed. Board Member Collins suggested an ad hoc group not subject to the Brown Act could develop a structure and maybe straw man proposals for the joint meeting for the bodies to consider. The Board was extremely busy during August and September with the opening of the school year. Chair Kou believed the Committee could have a more robust discussion than an ad hoc group. Mr. Shikada felt two different things were being discussed, planning for the joint meeting and for the site. Board Member Collins proposed the ad hoc group plan for the joint meeting. Council Member Cormack asked if the joint meeting would be held in the Fall. Chair Kou responded yes. Council Member Cormack thought an ad hoc group could be deferred. She volunteered to assist Staff as needed as she had attended the four Cubberley Co-Design meetings. Board Member Collins also volunteered his assistance. Mr. Golton believed the meeting should be well planned and have objectives. Without the two, a joint meeting would not resolve anything. 7. Updates on Ongoing Matters a. Grade Separation Update b. Stanford University General Use Permit (GUP) Update. Council Member Cormack reported the Council had expanded the Community Advisory Panel. The final number of members and the timeframe had not been determined. The Community Advisory Panel had the ability to propose options other than the original 34 options. The Council had removed the partial Citywide tunnel from the list of options for further study and added an option other than closure for Churchill. Ed Shikada, City Manager, advised that the Mayor had sent a letter to the County of Santa Clara (County) Planning Commission Chair imploring the MINUTES Page 12 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 Planning Commission to proceed with the release of conditions of approval for the Stanford University General Use Permit (GUP) and the May 30 hearing. Board Member Collins asked if the May 30 hearing had been announced to the public. Council Member Cormack replied yes. Mr. Shikada indicated he had not seen a notice in print. Council Member Cormack disclosed that the date would be listed in Supervisor Simitian's news blast. Council Member DuBois and she had published an op-ed article in the Mercury News regarding the GUP. The article highlighted the City's support of the Palo Alto Unified School District's (PAUSD) needs. Council Member Cormack asked if Stanford University had withdrawn the proposal. Board Member Collins reported Stanford University had asked the Board to suspend discussions. Don Austin, Superintendent, revealed that Stanford University had made a verbal request, and he had requested Stanford University put the request in writing. Stanford University's letter requested a pause from the Board's end, but the Board acted to end discussions. In an article published a few days prior to the meeting, Stanford University indicated it planned to fully commit to the terms previously negotiated. Board Member Collins clarified that the Board and Stanford University had never reached an agreement. The negotiating teams had agreed to propose a certain thing to the final authorities. Currently, negotiations had been paused. Council Member Cormack inquired whether Board Member Collins could participate in the matter. Board Member Collins answered yes. He was permitted to discuss advising the County on its approval of the GUP but not participate in any discussion of a specific contract with Stanford University. Chair Kou noted the public was learning its information through the media. Board Member Collins commented that news outlets had corrected stories to reflect Board Members' feedback. MINUTES Page 13 of 13 City School Liaison Committee Meeting Special Meeting: 05/16/2019 8. Committee Format Discussion (Continued From February 21, 2019 Meeting). This item was continued. 9. Future Meetings and Agendas. Council Member Cormack advised that she would not be present for the June meeting. Board Member Collins suggested rescheduling the June meeting. Council Member Cormack did not believe that was necessary. Board Member Collins wanted all members to be present for a discussion of a format for the joint meeting. Council Member Cormack proposed the City Clerk contact members to determine an alternate date in June. Don Austin, Superintendent, reported the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education (Board) would be on recess during July. Chair Kou added that the Council would also be on recess in July. Council Member Cormack felt a June meeting would be particularly important if there was no meeting in July. Chantal Gaines, Assistant to the City Manager, understood the agenda for June would be Cubberley and the committee meeting format. Chair Kou indicated she could meet in July. Board Member Collins concurred. Chair Kou requested the City Clerk also poll for a July meeting date. Board Member Collins commented that the City/School Liaison Committee (Committee) was trying to help the City and Board work effectively in order to accomplish tasks for their joint constituents. Chair Kou remarked that former Council Member Holman began the evolution of the Committee. Council Member Cormack appreciated City and PAUSD leadership being present for meetings. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 10:23 A.M.