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Home My WebLink About2012-09-10 City Council Action Minutes09/10/2012 ACTION MINUTES Special Meeting September 10, 2012 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Conference Room at 5:03 P.M. Present: Burt, Espinosa, Holman, Klein, Price, Scharff, Schmid, Shepherd, Yeh Absent: CLOSED SESSION A. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS City Designated Representatives: City Manager and his designees pursuant to Merit System Rules and Regulations (James Keene, Pamela Antil, Lalo Perez, Joe Saccio, Kathryn Shen, Sandra Blanch, Marcie Scott, Darrell Murray, Val Fong) Employee Organization: Utilities Management and Professional Association of Palo Alto (UMPAPA) Authority: Government Code Section 54957.6(a) The City Council reconvened from the Closed Session at 6:20 P.M. and Mayor Yeh advised no reportable action. STUDY SESSION 1. City Council Study Session with the Parks and Recreation Commission. Get a paragraph from Greg Betts. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY 2. Proclamation and Flag Ceremony Recognizing Sister City Linkoping, Sweden Week. Mayor Yeh read the Proclamation into the record. 09/10/2012 3. Resolution 9284 entitled “Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Expressing Appreciation to Marilyn Keller Upon the Completion of Her Term as a Utilities Advisory Commissioner”. Vice Mayor Scharff read the resolution into the record. MOTION: Vice Mayor Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member Holman to adopt the resolution expressing appreciation to Marilyn Keller upon the completion of her term as a Utilities Advisory Commissioner. MOTION PASSED: 9-0 STUDY SESSION 4. Request by Jay Paul Company for Council Prescreening of Preliminary Plans for Five (5) Sites within the Boundaries of the California Avenue Concept Plan: 1) Office Development at 395 Page Mill Road; 2) Public Safety Building/Parking Structure at 3045 Park Blvd.; 3) Public Parking Structure at 250 Sherman Avenue; 4) Public Park at 350 Sherman Avenue, and 5) Multi-Family Residential Development at 450 Sherman Avenue. Curtis Williams, Planning and Community Environment Director, gave an introduction of the project. The project consists of five sites within the boundaries of the California Avenue Concept Plan: 1) Office Development at 395 Page Mill Road; 2) Public Safety Building/Parking Structure at 3045 Park Blvd.; 3) Public Parking Structure at 250 Sherman Avenue; 4) Public Park at 350 Sherman Avenue, and 5) Multi-Family Residential Development at 450 Sherman Avenue. Eight members of the public expressed their opinions about the proposal; including concerns over the loss of surface parking, additional traffic, and the lack of need for additional parkland in the Sherman Avenue area. Early in the meeting, a majority of the Council expressed concern over the Sherman Avenue portion of the project and a consensus indicated that those sites should be eliminated from present consideration, instead focusing attention on the two sites to the south of Page Mill Road: the office proposal and the potential Public Safety Building site. While Council Members generally agreed the Public Safety Building was a significant public benefit, several had some concern about the scale and massing of the proposed development and its compatibility with residential neighbors. The Council emphasized the importance of environmental review and the associated traffic and parking analysis that would be a part of this review. Given the sites’ proximity to transit, a well thought out Transportation Demand Management (TDM) 09/10/2012 program was suggested to reduce the need for additional parking. Council Members were split over the need to reduce the height of the buildings, while most expressed the need for additional setbacks from any residential uses. The Council offered other types of public benefits that the applicant may wish to include in their proposal, such as bike sharing, a pedestrian bridge across the railroad tracks to Alma, and/or full financing of the public safety building. The Council asked staff to further define the project’s conformance with the California Avenue Concept Plan, while moving the project moving forward in a timely fashion. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Council Member Shepherd moved, seconded by Council Member Schmid to approve the minutes of May 14 and 21, 2012 and June 4, 2012. MOTION PASSED: 9-0 CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: Council Member Klein moved, seconded by Council Member Shepherd to pull Agenda Item No. 10, to become Agenda Item No. 12a. MOTION: Council Member Klein moved, seconded by Council Member Price to approve Agenda Item Nos. 5-9, 11 and 12. 5. Budget Amendment Ordinance 5163 entitled “Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Fiscal Year 2013 Budget to Provide Additional Appropriations of $191,027 and Approval of a Purchase Order with RB Resources to add $191,027 for Total Amount Not to Exceed $287,524 for the Installation of Furniture and Equipment in the Development Center”. 6. Approval of Amendment Number 1 to Contract #C10131396 in the Amount of $1,299,122 with CDM Smith Inc. to Provide Additional Services Associated With the Reservoir, Pump Station, and Well at El Camino Park and Mayfield Pump Station Augmentation Project WS- 08002, for a Total Not to Exceed Amount of $5,127,802. 7. Request for Authorization to Increase the Legal Services Agreement with Moscone Emblidge Sater & Otis (formerly Otis & Iriki) by an Additional $150,000 for an Amount not to Exceed $235,000 for Legal Services Related to Public Works Construction Matters. 09/10/2012 8. Approval of Contract With Michael Gennaco and Stephen Connolly of OIR Group for up to Three Years in an Amount Not to Exceed $27,500 Per Year for Independent Police Auditor Services. 9. Approval of Amendment No. 1 to Contract with Project Sentinel for Mediation Services. 10. Approval of City Response to the Adopted Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for the 2014-2022 Cycle (continued from September 4, 2012). 11. Approval of Response to Grand Jury Report on Pension and Other Post-Employment Benefits (continued from September 4, 2012). 12. Amendment to Resolution 9285 of Intent No. 9245 of the Council of the City of Palo Alto to Set December 10, 2012 as the New Public Hearing Date for the Establishment of Underground Utility District Number 47 (Portions Of Homer, Cowper, Addison, Middlefield, Channing And Webster). MOTION PASSED for 5-9, 11 and 12: 9-0 AGENDA CHANGES, ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS 12a. Approval of City Response to the Adopted Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for the 2014-2022 Cycle (continued from September 4, 2012). MOTION: Council Member Klein moved, seconded by Vice Mayor Scharff to: 1) approve the letter to ABAG, and 2) for Staff to work with neighboring cities and state legislators to obtain allies to change the RHNA process. MOTION PASSED: 9-0 ACTION ITEMS 13. City Council Annual Priority Setting Process. MOTION: Mayor Yeh moved, seconded by Council Member Espinosa to continue this item to September 24, 2012. MOTION PASSED: 9-0 09/10/2012 14. Colleagues Memo Requesting Council Pass a Resolution of the City Council of Palo Alto in Opposition to Measure C. MOTION: Vice Mayor Scharff moved, seconded by Mayor Yeh to adopt the Resolution opposing Measure C. MOTION PASSED: 9-0 COUNCIL MEMBER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Council Member Shepherd announced that she had been elected to be the at- large representative for Santa Clara County at the League of California Cities. Council Member Schmid requested an update regarding the report from the Police Auditor. Council Member Holman requested that follow up action reports include Council Motions. Council Member Price said she attended the Santa Clara County Mental Health Board meeting. She discussed an executive order to improve mental health care for veterans and the annual suicide prevention report. Mayor Yeh discussed the Gunn High School and Palo Alto High School annual football game the upcoming weekend. He also discussed the groundbreaking event for the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 11:53 P.M.