HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-10-13 City Council Action MinutesCITY OF PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL
ACTION MINUTES
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Special Meeting
October 13, 2015
The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council
Chambers at 6:05 P.M.
Present: Berman, Burt arrived at 6:20 P.M., DuBois, Filseth, Holman,
Scharff, Schmid, Wolbach arrived at 6:11 P.M.
Absent: Kniss
Action Items
1. Discussion and Direction to Staff on: 1) The California High Speed Rail
Authority's Plans to Proceed With Environmental Clearance for Their
San Francisco to San Jose Segment; 2) Next Steps Regarding Rail
Grade Separations in Palo Alto and Authorization for Staff to Pursue
Outside Funding for Both Grade Separations and At-Grade Crossing
Improvements; and 3) The City’s Interests and Strategies Regarding
the Proposed Santa Clara County Transportation Sales Tax Measure,
Including a Potential City of Palo Alto Transportation Funding Measure or Other Funding Strategy.
Council Member Filseth advised that he will be recusing himself relating to
Sections 1 and 2 of this Agenda Item because he lives within 500 feet of a
grade crossing.
Council Member Filseth left the meeting at 6:13 P.M.
MOTION: Council Member Burt moved, seconded by Council Member
Scharff to:
A. Have the Mayor reappoint the City Council Rail Committee; and
ACTION MINUTES
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City Council Meeting
Action Minutes: 10/13/15
B. Direct Staff to return in the near future with a preliminary plan for a
Context Sensitive Solution (CSS) approach to address rail impacts and
the future of rail in Palo Alto; and
C. Direct Staff to return with a first phase Circulation Study; and
D. Direct Staff and the Mayor representing the Council to convey, clearly
to both the California High Speed Rail Authority and Caltrain:
i. The full Context Sensitive Solutions approach should be retained
for the process of High Speed Rail along the Peninsula; and
ii. The timeline for the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) along the Peninsula should be adjusted to include adequate timing for
the EIR and adjusted for time needed to fully integrate CSS in
the process.
INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE
MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion at the end of Part B, “and
the Mid-Peninsula.”
INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, “direct Staff to pursue
interim grade crossing safety measures through U.S. Code Title 23, Section
130 (Railway-Highways Crossing Program) funding and through other
means.”
MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 7-0 Kniss absent, Filseth not participating
Council took a break from 8:24 P.M. to 8:33 P.M.
Council Member Filseth returned to the meeting at 8:33 P.M.
MOTION: Council Member Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member
DuBois to:
A. Direct Staff to advocate for and support putting in the Countywide
funding measure, funding for countywide Caltrain grade separation in
the order of $750 million; and
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Action Minutes: 10/13/15
B. To check in with Council when the Measure starts to take shape.
INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE
MAKER AND SECONDER to replace in Motion Part A, “$750 million” with
“15 percent.”
INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE
MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the end of Motion Part A, “separate from
other Caltrain enhancements.”
INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE
MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, “that the criteria for allocating funds to specific grade separations be driven by need factors.”
INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to replace in the Motion Part A, “separate from
other Caltrain enhancements” with “of funds raised by the ballot measure
separate from and in addition to the funding already requested by Caltrain
for other Caltrain improvements.”
AMENDMENT: Council Member Wolbach moved, seconded by Council
Member XX to add to the Motion at the end of Part B, “primarily traffic and
safety concerns; cities have until the end of 2018 to submit applications.”
AMENDMENT FAILED DUE TO THE LACK OF A SECOND
INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE
MAKER AND SECONDER to replace in the Motion Part A, “separate from and in addition to the funding already requested by Caltrain for other Caltrain
improvements” with “and engage with Caltrain to determine what specific needs
they have for the prospective County tax measure and return to Council with
this information to make further determination of this tax measure.”
INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE
MAKER AND SECONDER to remove from the Motion Part A, “to make
further determination of this tax measure.”
MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 8-0 Kniss absent
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 10:03 P.M. in memory of
Former Mayor Richard Rosenbaum who passed away on October 11, 2015