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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-10 Policy & Services Committee Summary MinutesPOLICY AND SERVICES COMMITTEE FINAL MINUTES Page 1 of 17 Special Meeting September 10, 2019 The Policy and Services Committee of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Community Meeting Room at 6:08 P.M. Present: Kniss (Chair), Kou, Tanaka Absent: Oral Communications Liz Gardener stated she was in support of affordable housing at the Fry’s site. She suggested that the Fry’s parking lot should be used as a safe lot, relocate the cannery structure to the Cubberley site, and then repurpose the historic structure as a community center. Agenda Items 1. Staff Recommends the Policy and Services Committee Recommend the City Council Accept the Nonprofit Service Agreements Audit. Don Rhoads, Special Advisor to the Office of the City Auditor, expressed that the audit that was being presented to the Policy and Services Committee (Committee) was part of last year’s Audit Plan. The audit started in June of 2018 and it was completed October of 2018. The objectives of the audit was to determine if the City of Palo Alto’s (City) agreements with nonprofit organizations clearly stated the outcome the City expected, if the City departments that were responsible for the nonprofit service agreement ensured that the services were being performed and any expected outcomes in the agreements were being monitored. The scope included all of the City’s agreements with nonprofit organizations that were above $10,000 which totaled 38 contracts totaling $4.1 million. Community Services Department managed 21 of the 38 contracts. Council Member Tanaka asked if random selection was used when picking nonprofits for auditing. Mr. Rhoads answered that it was not random but a judgment call. FINAL MINUTES Page 2 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Yuki Matsuura, Performance Auditor I added the organizations that were chosen were nonprofits with agreements that were over $35,000 and there was a prior direction from the Committee to focus on senior and nutrition services. Mr. Rhoads announced that Ms. Matsuura was to present the findings of the audit. Ms. Matsuura explained that there was one finding which was broken down into four areas. In the Office of Human Services, one positive finding included clearly stated expected outcomes and required services in each of their agreements. Also, they developed a reporting template so that the performance measures were reported by each agency and were clearly monitored by City Staff. In terms of Palo Alto Downtown Business and Professional Association (PADBPA), the agreement that was set in place in 2004 was unclear due to Staffing changes and the outsourcing of the collection services. Due to the changes and the declining Business Improvement District (BID) assessment revenue, there was a negative balance of $32,000 in BID Fund in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. There was an adjustment in the FY 2020 Budget to address the overstated budget for BID assessment revenues. Mr. Rhoads disclosed that Staff had been able to implement some of the audit recommendations due to there being time between the conclusion of the audit and the presentation of it to the Committee. Ms. Matsuura continued that due to Staff turnover, the annual reporting for the Transportation Management Association (TMA) had not happened in the last 2-years. Staff had since revised the agreement, they started performing the Strategic Planning Sessions, and they had presented to the City Council (Council) strengthened measures. Chair Kniss requested who was the Economic Development Manager. Ms. Matsuura stated that the Economic Development Manager position had been eliminated. Chair Kniss questioned when it was eliminated. Michelle Poché Flaherty, Deputy City Manager reported that the position was eliminated in 2016. Ms. Matsuura clarified that the Staff person left in 2016 but the position was eliminated in 2018. She continued to note that the goal for the TMA was to reduce single occupancy trips to and from downtown by 30 percent, but it FINAL MINUTES Page 3 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 was difficult to measure the progress of that goal due to the lack of data on Downtown employees. In terms of Downtown Streets Team (DST) there were multiple agreements with overlaps in scope of services that were overseen by the Office of Human Services and the Planning Department. Both departments were working together to correct the overlaps. The City was having a hard time monitoring what the organization was doing because DST had its own schedule for cleaning certain areas of the City. Staff’s recommendations included the creation of a Citywide template, renew the 2004 agreement with PADBPA, establish a procedure to clarify roles and responsibilities in terms of BID, and establish a method to monitor agreements. Council Member Kou asked how many contracts the Human Services Department monitored. Minka van der Zwaag, Human Services Manager clarified that the office monitored between 16 to 18 for the Human Services Resource Allocation Process (HSRAP) Contracts and then 3-4 other service contracts with nonprofits in the community. Council Member Kou wanted to know if the template that Staff was recommending could work as a one-size-fits-all. Molly Stump, City Attorney explained that Staff was looking at drafting two templates in order to cover all types of contracts. The templates could be adjusted on a case by case basis if it was deemed necessary. Council Member Kou inquired if the 2004 BID contract was going to be reassessed and then presented to Council. Ms. Flaherty confirmed that was correct. Council Member Kou wanted to know the reasons on why the BID assessment revenue had declined and what the funds that were collected were used for. Ms. Flaherty declared that the BID was used to promote and market the downtown area and support its success as a commercial district. The revenues were used for services like the summer concert series and marketing any events that took place in downtown. Council Member Kou asked Ms. Flaherty if the revenues were increasing due to the corrections. FINAL MINUTES Page 4 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Ms. Flaherty announced that the Committee responsible for spending the funds were reconvening and planned to review the agreements with PADBPA before a new agreement could be drafted. Council Member Kou wanted to know if a satisfaction survey was done with the organizations that Human Services oversaw. Ms. van der Zwaag reported that that information was usually included in the organizations semi-annual or quarterly report, but not all contracts provided client evaluations. Council Member Kou questioned why Avenidas no longer used HSRAP. Ms. van der Zwaag disclosed Avenidas asked to be removed because it was false competition. Council Member Kou asked what percentage of the funding that the City provided to Avenidas was for financial assistance for low income. Ms. van der Zwaag articulated that she did not know but could investigate and provide that information to the Committee. Chair Kniss interjected to say that Avenidas had a sliding scale for several of their services in terms of payment. Council Member Tanaka inquired if there were duplicate payments made to PADBPA. Ms. Matsuura answered no, there were no duplicate payments but Staff felt that there was a risk of that happening. Council Member Tanaka wanted to know how Staff determined what to audit. Mr. Rhoads disclosed it was input from Council Members, Committee Members, City Manager, and Audit Staff. He added that usually an Audit Plan was presented to Council by November. Council Member Tanaka asked if that was going to happen every November. Mr. Rhoads confirmed that normally that was correct, but due to the organizational assessment currently underway on the City Auditor’s Office, it might be a little bit later than November. Any Audit Plan would come to the Committee first and then to Council for approval. FINAL MINUTES Page 5 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Council Member Tanaka questioned what the top items the Auditor’s Office was looking to put into the plan. Mr. Rhoads did not know the answer to Council Member Tanaka’s question because Staff was just starting the Audit Plan process. Council Member Tanaka advised the Staff to look at Consent Calendar Items that were high contract values and to use a random generator to determine who will get audited, instead of taking suggestions. Chair Kniss disclosed that in prior years the Committee had reviewed what audits were suggested by the Auditor’s Office and approved if the audits listed should be moved forward to Council or not. Council Member Tanaka reiterated that the process of auditing a department went as followed. The audits went to the corresponding department, the department rectified the findings, and then the Auditor’s Office tracked it. Mr. Rhoads confirmed that was correct. Council Member Tanaka liked the idea of having measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in order to know what success looked like. He continued to state that having goals that were specific and measurable was critical for success. He asked why having KPIs was not recommended. Ms. Matsuura declared that the report that was presented to Council in January of 2019 from the TMA had included specific KPIs. In terms of downtown employees, that data was very hard to track. Council Member Tanaka advised that the Citywide template include tangible, measurable KPIs. Ms. Matsuura affirmed that the Human Services office had a great template that included tangible KPIs and she announced that other City Departments should follow Human Services success. MOTION: Council Member Kou moved, seconded by Council Member Tanaka to recommend the City Council accept the Nonprofit Service Agreements audit. MOTION PASSED: 3-0 2. Staff Recommends the Policy and Services Committee Recommend the City Council Accept the Auditor's Office Quarterly Report as of June 30, 2019. FINAL MINUTES Page 6 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Don Rhoads, Special Advisor to the Office of the City Auditor highlighted that during the quarter Staff had reinitiated the Nonprofits Service Agreements Audit, worked on additional analysis that was requested for the Business Registry and reinitiated work on a Contract Risk and Oversight Audit that was ongoing. Almost all the recommendation status reports had been brought up to date and Staff had started the audit on the Transfer of Developments Rights Program. Audits that had been completed and waiting for his review included Utility Customer Data and the Mobile Device and Security Audit. In terms of Sale and Use Tax, almost $1,000 had been recovered and there was dialog about transferring the Sales and Use Tax program over to the Administrative Services Department. Chair Kniss noted that there were many audits that were due. Mr. Rhoads articulated that two of the overdue audits were done and needed his review and two were currently being worked on for a total of four outstanding audits. Chair Kniss stated that a lot had been done to catch audit work up and that progress was being made. Council Member Tanaka wanted to see the original target dates and updated current target dates for the when departments expected to complete each audit recommendation. Mr. Rhodes responded that was a good idea and he would update the report with those dates. Council Member Tanaka inquired how the quality of the report was assessed. Mr. Rhoads explained the definition that Palo Alto (City) used for performance audit was a performance audit that followed the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). By using GAGAS, Staff was able to conduct a professional, quality audit. Council Member Tanaka questioned how useful using the GAGAS was. Mr. Rhoads declared it had value if the City wanted to make sure that all the audits were as unbiased as possible. Council Member Tanaka noticed that there were no open complaints, but it was stated that there was one complaint. Mr. Rhoads predicted that the complaint was resolved within the same quarter it was received. If the complaint had not been closed then it would have been listed in the light gray column of the chart. FINAL MINUTES Page 7 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Council Member Tanaka was leery of the complaint chart and if it was done correctly. Mr. Rhoads responded that he could double-check the chart for accuracy. Molly Stump, City Attorney declared she was not aware of any open complaints but would review the chart with the Auditor’s Office for accuracy. Council Member Tanaka recommended seeing what the categories the complaints fell under, to see the open complaints, and to publicize the chart showing the complaints and how they were resolved. MOTION: Council Member Tanaka moved, seconded by Council Member XX to recommend to the City Council to continue this item to a date uncertain. MOTION WITHDRAWN BY MAKER Council Member Tanaka stated he would not accept the Motion because he believed Staff could do better. MOTION: Chair Kniss moved, seconded by Council Member Kou to recommend the City Council accept the Auditor’s Office Quarterly Report as of June 30, 2019. MOTION PASSED: 2-1 Tanaka no 3. Discuss and Provide Direction to Staff Regarding Program Details for a Potential Safe Parking Program. Chair Kniss articulated that the last time the item was discussed was in 2013, Palo Alto (City) had made a decision, but the decision was overturned by the Ninth Circuit. Molly Stump, City Attorney clarified that based on the Ninth Circuit decision, the Ninth Circuit decided to withdraw the decision and so the City withdrew. Chair Kniss explained that the City had not examined the problem of people parking in one spot for a long time in roughly 6 years. Jonathan Lait, Director of Planning and Development Services introduced Rachael Tanner who was to present Staff’s work and approach regarding City Council’s (Council) direction. Rachael Tanner, Assistant Director of Planning & Development Services affirmed that safe parking referred to parking lots that had programs that were associated with those parking lots to allow people who were staying in FINAL MINUTES Page 8 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 their vehicles overnight somewhere safe to park. Staff was seeking feedback and direction from the Committee in terms of Staff’s proposed parking program. Council had passed a Motion on June 10, 2019 to craft program details to bring back to Council which included, determining if there was interest from the non-profits who provided safe parking services, identify parking lots where safe parking could take place, understand the options when it came to public land and City-owned land to operate safe parking, and then explore funding options. She announced that even with a successful Safe Parking Program in place, the program did not alleviate homelessness and vehicle dwelling. Common elements that were found among other City’s Safe Parking Programs included amenities, who the program served, allowing the sites to serve RVs as well as passenger vehicles, providing overnight staffing, and several others. One route the City could go when establishing a parking program was to use private parking lots and several private property owners had approached the City expressing that they would like to participate in a Safe Parking Program. Several components to think about in terms of private property was to have a sunset for the program, such as 12 months, in order to assess if the program was being successful as well as define conditions of operations and amend the Temporary Use Permit to extended pass the 45 day threshold. One benefit of using private land was that most parking lots were not utilized at night but a risk was that surrounding neighbors may feel the use was not compatible with their neighborhood. The benefit to using City- owned land was the City had more influence over the program, but a risk was that there was an opportunity lost and/or cost. Two lots that Council and Staff had identified where a Safe Parking Program could be implemented was 1237 San Antonio Road which had 1-acre available and 2000 Geng Road which had .9-acre available. Next steps included getting opinions from interested providers on how they believed the program should be designed, Staff then would return to the Committee with the refined program, and then the program would be moved onto Council. Staff would work in parallel to establish a pilot program for private lands which could then be implemented more quickly than a program for City-owned land. Dave Arnone, a Board Member with Move Mountain View, explained that the Lots of Love Safe Parking Program was implemented in two church parking lots in Mountain View with one private lot that was to be opening in the coming month. He expressed that Move Mountain View worked throughout Santa Clara County, the program had been operating for a year, in 2018 the group served 22 individuals and 9 of those 22 had moved onto more stable housing. He explained that he had heard that four Palo Alto churches were interested in participating in the program. Move Mountain View had the funding to run those four lots, Move Mountain View carried liability insurance that would cover the churches, and they had funding for case management FINAL MINUTES Page 9 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 but there was no provider located within the City. He recommended that the City give the ok for the church lots to have Safe Parking Programs and to provide a gateway, such as an Incidental Use Permit, to expedite the process so the churches could start immediately. Don McDougall announced that he was the Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission but was speaking on behalf of himself, not the Commission. He requested that the Committee include the Parks and Recreation Commission in the discussion of the two City-owned lots that Council and Staff had identified. Herb Borock stated that the proposal sounded like the vehicles would be in the parking lots at night and he wanted to know what would happen to those vehicles during the day. He expressed that there should be strict controls for the program. He advised the Committee to rethink the direction Council had made of including higher-income persons. Neal Aronson reported he was speaking on behalf of the Palo Alto Soccer Club Field User Group. He claimed that 2000 Geng Road was a once in a lifetime opportunity to build new fields in the City and that there was dialog already happening that discussed using that site for sports fields. Winter Dellenbach voiced that Mountain View’s pilot program cost roughly $150,000 a year. She was disappointed there was no more information on private sites but she was happy to hear that churches were interested in the program. She concluded that the City-owned sites could house 25 percent of the estimated 126 current RV dwellers in the City which she was very excited about. Rob Schulze announced that his church was currently hosting Hotel de ZinK and hosted Heart and Home for 45-days during the winter. His church was interested in participating in the program. Chair Kniss emphasized that 6-years ago the City had talked to 60 different churches in the City, one church decided to try a parking program, and it was not successful. She advised the Committee and Staff to review Santa Barbara’s program. Council Member Kou asked Mr. Arnone how the City could help with a case manager. Mr. Arnone clarified that the City needed to give the ok for the churches to start a Safe Parking Program first. Everything was waiting on a green light from the City before next steps could take place. FINAL MINUTES Page 10 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Council Member Kou inquired if he envisioned the demographics being split up or housed together. Mr. Arnone declared the Churches would decide the demographics they were comfortable with, which types of vehicles they would allow, and hours of operations. Council Member Kou asked how his program addressed dwellers that had children. Mr. Arnone stated kids normally did afterschool programs or hung out at the park. He announced that Move Mountain View planned to run an after-school tutoring program to serve some of the kids in Mountain View. Council Member Kou questioned if there were control measures such as a current driver’s license and up to date registration. Mr. Arnone explained that the dwellers were required to have a working vehicle that was registered, a current driver’s license, and the vehicle had to be insured. He added that because the program received County funding, the program was not allowed to screen for sexual predators or do criminal background checks. Council Member Kou inquired if a person involved with the program was required to receive retraining and find employment. Mr. Arnone reported that in Move Mountain View’s program, a person would receive a 1-month parking permit and that parking permit was renewable monthly at a case management appointment. Chair Kniss wanted to know if there was a termination date in which someone would have to leave the program after a period. Mr. Arnone specified that a person could not age out of Move Mountain View’s or Santa Barbara’s program. Chair Kniss announced that there should be a set time period for termination so that more people could benefit from the program. Council Member Kou requested how many vehicles the four churches in Palo Alto could hold. Mr. Arnone answered four vehicles each and that it would only be a pilot program. FINAL MINUTES Page 11 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Council Member Kou pressed if Move Mountain View’s program had reached out to other organizations to host a Safe Parking Program. Mr. Arnone voiced that Move Mountain View’s focus was just churches. Council Member Kou asked Ms. Tanner how the City planned to do outreach to organizations. Ms. Tanner expressed that Staff could have a dialog with Stanford to see if they would be interested in doing a Safe Parking Program at the Research Park. She noted that churches were a great place to start. She briefly explained Mountain View’s Incidental Use Permit to the Committee. Council Member Kou directed the question to Director Lait in terms of how to do outreach to churches. Mr. Lait explained one option if Staff received the direction from Council, was to amend the Zoning Code. Chair Kniss advised that Staff review the Municipal Code and consider if the Municipal Code needed to be amended. Mr. Lait suggested that Staff could explore a tiered permit system. Council Member Kou added that the process needed to be urgent so that the four interested churches could get started right away. She wanted to know what the process would be after the Committee’s meeting. Mr. Lait articulated that he wanted to work with the City’s Attorney’s Office to see what options there were and then return to either the Committee or Council, which ever was the appropriate protocol. Any amendments of the Municipal Code would require approval from the Planning Commission, but he was confident that he could come up with some options that could be put in place rather quickly. Chair Kniss noted that four vehicles were the expressed maximum that could be held at the churches. Mr. Schulze encouraged the four-vehicle maximum and only overnight parking, not parking for 24-hours. Also, he suggested the City provide adequate outreach to neighboring properties in order to maintain positive relationships. Council Member Kou predicted that if there were strict parameters around the program that would help neighbors feel comfortable with having a Safe FINAL MINUTES Page 12 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Parking Program near them. She wanted to know where the call would go if there was a disturbance. Mr. Schulze answered the Palo Alto Police Department. Council Member Kou advised engaging the police department as well. Ms. Tanner confirmed that the Police Department had been involved already. Council Member Kou questioned if alcohol and drugs would be permitted. Mr. Schulze explained that there would be no vehicle searches but case management would help mitigate that type of problem. Ms. Dellenbach cautioned that not everyone in their vehicles had no job, did drugs or alcohol or were seeking to stay in that type of lifestyle. Chair Kniss wanted to know if the Committee had discussed everything that Staff was seeking input on. Ms. Tanner added if the Committee could comment on the tiered permitting system and if Staff should pursue the City-owned land lots or if they should have Staff focus on the churches first. Chair Kniss suggested seeking support from the churches first and then investigating public and private lands. Mr. Arnone plugged that a small group of folks were looking to start a task force. The task force would go out into communities and find organizations who would be interested in participating in a Safe Parking Program. He was hoping to receive participation from the City in that effort. Mr. Lait summarized that in terms of the tier system, there was a priority to focus on an Incidental Permit for churches followed by a more expanded program that would involve a Temporary Use Permit (TUP). Also, explore additional private lots and owners of large parking lots. In parallel Staff would explore the City-owned lots but that would entail a longer process. Council Member Kou advised removing the Los Altos Water Treatment Plant, 1237 San Antonio, from the potential locations. Mr. Lait wanted the Committee and Council to have more dialog about the City-owned sites. Chair Kniss suggested pursuing the County with some urgency. FINAL MINUTES Page 13 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Ms. Tanner emphasized that the County would want to know specific details and the program did not have a framework yet that would articulate those types of details. Council Member Kou commented that she wished to see a study done that would articulate which people using the programs needed the services and which people were content living in their vehicle. Ms. Tanner claimed that people who used the programs typically were people seeking those types of services. Mr. Arnone added that it was seldom to find people in the program who preferred to live in their car. MOTION: Chair Kniss moved, seconded by Council Member Kou to recommend to the City Council to direct Staff to: 1. Move forward with a tiered permit system; 2. Explore a possible Municipal Code amendment; 3. Explore support from the churches first; and 4. Continue conversations with private and public landowners. Council Member Tanaka asked Council Member Kou what problem she and Council Member DuBois were trying to solve in terms of their Colleague’s Memo. Council Member Kou explained they wanted to address the issue of people who live in their vehicle and the goal was to move them toward stable housing. Council Member Tanaka wanted to know why there was a strong emphasis on enforcement in the Colleague’s Memo. Council Member Kou responded that the City would still be enforcing the 72- hour law. Council Member Tanaka pressed if the City’s program had an enforcement aspect to it. Ms. Tanner affirmed that the City did not have a current program existing. She disclosed that it was important to understand what enforcement meant in terms of a Safe Parking Program. FINAL MINUTES Page 14 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Ed Shikada, City Manager added current parking enforcement was on a resource available basis so it was not a strict enforcement program. Council Member Tanaka restated and asked what other Cities were doing in terms of enforcement. Ms. Stump reported that Staff could do a survey of what the various parking regulations where within the cities that had Safe Parking Programs. Council Member Tanaka asked Council Member Kou what she thought about investigating what other Cities did in terms of enforcement. Council Member Kou thought that was wise to do. Mr. Lait questioned what enforcement meant in terms of a Safe Parking Program and what information Council Member Tanaka was seeking from Staff. Council Member Tanaka articulated that Staff should review Mountain View’s enforcement component of their Safe Parking Program. Ms. Stump interjected that Mountain View had not adopted an Ordinance for safe parking but an Ordinance was coming forward to them soon. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to research enforcement mechanisms from other Safe Parking Programs. Council Member Tanaka wanted to know what the Committee Members thought about getting other City Commissions and Committees involved. Council Member Kou stated that other Commissions and Committees should be involved with the development of the long-term program but not so much the short-term which involved the churches. Mr. Lait suggested that Staff bring forward more information with respect to the City-owned lots to the Committee before other Commissions and Committees were involved. Council Member Tanaka advised that extensive outreach needed to happen to the neighbors before a program could start at a church and to do the City’s standard distance radius for outreach. Mr. Lait restated that the tiered approach included; Tier One which was a quick fix four vehicles or less, Tier Two was an expanded program to include five to ten vehicles, and then Tier Three was investigating City-owned lots. FINAL MINUTES Page 15 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 He requested more clarification on what the Committee was looking for in terms of notification to surrounding neighbors. Mr. Schulze suggested having an informal Town Hall meeting at one of the churches and invite surrounding neighbors to attend. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to consider the possibility of using City-owned lots by engaging appropriate City Boards and Commissions in the discussions. Mr. Lait asked Council Member Tanaka if he was comfortable with a more informal notification process for Incidental Permits. That would include people who would be most directly impacted. Council Member Tanaka did not want to see the program fail because people were not noticed about it beforehand. Ms. Tanner summarized that Staff could bring forward to the Committee some parameters that would be included for an Incidental Permit that would articulate how noticing would work. Mr. Shikada added that the current Motion would go to Council for further discussion and the Council would have the opportunity to weigh in on what the parameters would be for an Incidental Permit. Mr. Lait reiterated that more dialog needed to happen among Staff and then that dialog would craft the process in which Staff would either come back to the Committee or go straight to Council. Mr. Shikada interjected that it was the Committee’s choice if the topic came back to the Committee for more vetting or go straight to Council. Chair Kniss felt strongly that it should come back to the Committee before going to Council. Council Member Tanaka agreed with Chair Kniss. He wanted to see how Staff felt about doing a survey of the community in order to understand how the community felt about the problem of vehicle dwellers. Mr. Shikada disclosed that it was too early in the process to have that type of survey but it could happen further along down the road. Council Member Tanaka agreed that Staff should bring back a list of questions that they thought should be asked to the community in a survey. FINAL MINUTES Page 16 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 Council Member Kou agreed that all components of the Motion should come back to the Committee except Tier One that dealt with the interested churches. She wished to see Tier One go straight to Council. Chair Kniss wanted to find out first if a max of four vehicles was the right amount. Council Member Kou argued that it was already stated that the churches in question were only willing to go up to four vehicles. Mr. Lait clarified that four was suggested because that number was thought to cause fewer disruptions to the neighbors. He articulated that one option to expedite the process could be to have a Director’s interpretation of the Municipal Code where the Director could make a decision that this type of incidental activity was permissible under the definition of a church which would not require a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) amendment. That determination would be subject to an appeal or call up to the City Council on the Consent Calendar. Alternatively, the Municipal Code would need to be amended at some point. Ms. Stump noted that the idea Mr. Lait suggested needed more vetting among Staff to see if it was a viable approach under local law. Ms. Tanner suggested that the Motion say congregation instead of churches. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to use the word “congregation” instead of “church.” Ms. Tanner announced that Staff could come back in October with the information that the Committee had requested. Council Member Tanaka questioned when other City Commissions and Committees would be involved. Mr. Lait answered they would not be involved for Tier One but for the other Tiers, the Committees and Commissions would be invited to get involved. MOTION AS AMENDED RESTATED: Chair Kniss moved, seconded by Council Member Kou to direct Staff to return to the Policy and Services Committee to: 1. Move forward with a tiered overnight Safe Parking Program; 2. Investigate the possibility of a Code Amendment; FINAL MINUTES Page 17 of 17 Sp. Policy & Services Committee Meeting Final Minutes: 09/10/19 3. Work with the local congregations regarding the use of their parking lots for the Safe Parking Program; 4. Consider discussions with private and public landowners regarding the use of their facilities; 5. Research enforcement mechanisms used by other Safe Parking Programs; and 6. Consider the possibility of using City owned lots by engaging appropriate City Boards and Commissions in the discussions. MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 3-0 Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 P.M.