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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-04-13 City Council Summary MinutesCITY OF PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL FINAL MINUTES Page 1 of 16 Regular Meeting April 13, 2020 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date via a virtual teleconference at 6:07 P.M. Participating Remotely: Cormack, DuBois, Filseth, Fine, Kniss, Kou, Tanaka Absent: Action Item 1. Update and Discussion of the COVID-19 Health Emergency and the City's Response – Verbal Report, No Written Staff Report. Ed Shikada, City Manager shared a video produced by the Palo Alto Youth Council (PAYC). Ken Dueker, Director of the Office of Emergency Services reported key objectives for the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) were to maintain essential services, stay current with the public health order and emerging best practices, anticipate likely outcomes and document eligibility for Federal and State reimbursement. Steve Palmer, Vice President Van Scoyoc Associates advised that Congress had passed three major bills addressing the public health crisis. The City was possibly eligible for funding through the Coronavirus Relief Fund. Congress was debating additional funding for the Payroll Protection Program (PPP). Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi were advocating for $150 billion in funding for State and local governments. There was strong interest in an Infrastructure Bill. He was working with Congresswoman Eshoo to obtain funding for smaller communities like the City. The Mayor sent Congresswoman Eshoo a request to cosponsor a bill that would create $250 billion for State and local governments. He had been working with the National League of Cities and the Conference of Mayors to reduce the threshold for Federal funding. Niccolo De Luca, Senior Director of Northern California Townsend Public Affairs, indicated on March 16, 2020 the State Legislature passed two bills authorizing Governor Newsom to spend up to $1.1 billion in response to the pandemic and then recessed until May 4, 2020. The Governor issued more than 20 Executive Orders and was providing daily updates. Routine FINAL MINUTES Page 2 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 legislative deadlines were no longer in place. When the Legislature returned, it was going to focus on COVID-19, homelessness and wildfires. With income taxes due on July 15, 2020 a greater understanding of State revenues could occur by the end of August, 2020. He continued to advocate for funding for the City. The Governor had proposed a Sales Tax bridge loan, a California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) 90-day tax extension and a California small business loan guaranty program. Vice Mayor DuBois inquired about a Federal program for housing assistance vouchers. Mr. Palmer related that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act contained a great deal of funding for housing programs. Mr. De Luca noted discussion in State government about a pool of funds for rental assistance. An official statement had not been prepared, but memoranda seemed to indicate the Legislature was going to use an expedited process and reduce the number of bills introduced when it returned in May, 2020. One or two housing bills was able to be introduced, but they were likely be pushed to 2021. Vice Mayor DuBois hoped the schedule for the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) would be adjusted so that cities had time to provide input. Mr. De Luca advised that many timelines had been pushed back. He anticipated Budget Trailer Bills and other bills that would contain timeline extensions. Vice Mayor DuBois requested updates regarding State assistance for local businesses. Council Member Cormack inquired about actions the City could take prior to April 24, 2020 to encourage the distribution of County of Santa Clara (County) funds to local governments. Mr. Palmer recommended the City work with the County to ensure the Board of Supervisors understood the needs of the City. Council Member Cormack asked if special Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding would have the same restrictions as regular funding. Mr. Palmer reported the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was granting enormous flexibility for the use of special CDBG funding. Council Member Kou hoped State legislation would consider the various categories of homelessness so that treatment as well as housing could be FINAL MINUTES Page 3 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 provided. She inquired whether the City received greenhouse gas reduction funding from the State. Mr. De Luca did not know. Council Member Filseth asked if a timeframe for the PPP had been announced. Mr. Palmer advised that banks had initiated the program but encountered numerous problems. The Treasury Department expected the program to expend all its funds by Friday. Small businesses had not accessed the program as quickly as large businesses. Small businesses that had relationships with large banks appeared to receive loans quickly. Council Member Kniss inquired about the City's role in seeking additional funding for healthcare and homeless issues. Mr. De Luca suggested working with the City's legislative delegation to get carve-out language stating cities can receive State Homeless Funds, working with the County to address issues, or seeking a portion of the County's allocation of State Homeless Funds as a sub-grantee of the County. The COVID-19 response had demonstrated the need to obtain funding quickly. Council Member Kniss noted the Cities Association was discussing the issue. Any help was appreciated because obtaining County funding was extremely difficult. Mr. Palmer added that Congressional Democrats were advocating for an additional $53 billion in CDBG funding, and the requirements for use of CDBG funding was flexible. Obtaining funding through the CARES Act was extremely competitive and difficult. Council Member Tanaka was pleased to learn that additional funding may be allocated to the PPP. He inquired about possible funding amounts the City was able to receive through State and Federal programs. Mr. Palmer reported Senate Republicans and President Trump were not agreeable to providing funding for State and local governments. The CDBG grants were the first funds available to smaller cities like Palo Alto. Council Member Tanaka requested a rough estimate of the amount of CDBG funding the City might receive if the additional $53 billion was appropriated. Mr. Palmer was not comfortable guessing because there was no feeling in Congress that local governments should get more funding. FINAL MINUTES Page 4 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Mr. De Luca explained that the deficit facing the State was unknown, and the State was going to have to backfill their lost revenues. The City needed to develop a clear story of why they needed funding. Mayor Fine asked how the City was able to position itself effectively for potentially upcoming things and inquired about the number of rounds of Federal funding packages that could be initiated. Mr. Palmer did not know the number of rounds of Federal funding. Congress was more interested in supporting local governments to fight the pandemic; therefore, focusing on the City's actions, costs and aid to residents in response to the pandemic was beneficial. Mr. De Luca suggested the City develop a story of their housing initiatives, explaining how they could be at risk because of the pandemic and relate the effects to the City and the region. Council Member Filseth inquired whether anyone was discussing pension liabilities. Mr. De Luca indicated he was not hearing much on the topic. Mr. Shikada reported regarding the redeployment of Staff, the realignment of workforce duties, rotation of week on/week off assignments for essential Staff, preparation for community recovery, administrative work, requirements for use of administrative leave, workforce near-term priorities, use of administrative leave and business support and assistance. On April 20, 2020 he was going to transmit the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Proposed Budget. In April and May, 2020, the Finance Committee were going to consider utility rates. In May, 2020 the Council was going to hold Budget hearings with adoption of the Budget scheduled for June 22, 2020. At the Council's direction, Staff was developing a recovery strategy and a program for small business financial support. Council Member Kniss asked about Staff's work with neighboring cities. Mr. Shikada advised that Staff was checking in with neighboring cities and working with the County regularly. Council Member Kniss related that the Mayor of a neighboring city had expressed to her a hope for collaboration among cities to obtain funding from the County. She inquired about a potential timeframe for the City Manager to present a permanent Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget. FINAL MINUTES Page 5 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Mr. Shikada stated some financial impacts would be known in June and more impacts would be learned over time. Staff was likely going to present the Council with a range of options. Council Member Tanaka inquired about a Utility Bill Relief Program for businesses. Mr. Shikada noted commercial and residential programs for deferral of utility bill payments were in place, and messaging was saturated with information by Wednesday of last week. Meghan Horrigan-Taylor, Public Information Manager reported information about both programs was posted to the City website and shared in e-blasts and social media the prior week. Council Member Tanaka asked if the programs deferred or forgave bill payment. Dean Batchelor, Utilities Director advised that the programs only deferred payment at the current time. Determinations about additional actions for customers would be made at a later time. Mr. Shikada clarified that the utilities operated as enterprises, and forgiveness of bills would result in additional costs for the other ratepayers. In recognition of the state of emergency, Staff proposed 0 percent rate increases for FY 2021, and the Utilities Advisory Commission (UAC) and Finance Committee were to review proposed rates in the next few weeks. Council Member Tanaka wanted Staff to forgive utility bills, as Mountain View had, because residents were hurting. He inquired about enforcement of the charge for paper shopping bags because customers could not utilize their reusable shopping bags due to the pandemic. Brad Eggleston, Public Works Director indicated Staff was not enforcing the charge. The purpose of the charge was to reimburse stores for the cost of paper bags. Council Member Tanaka inquired about enforcement of parking restrictions. Mr. Shikada indicated Staff was not enforcing time-limited parking, but the Police Department continued to focus on safety-related parking issues. Council Member Tanaka related that residents had informed him about the lack of response to their complaints about a recreational vehicles (RV) parked in Greenmeadow. FINAL MINUTES Page 6 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Robert Jonsen, Police Chief indicated he was familiar with the complaints, and Staff had responded. A count of RVs over the weekend found about half of the RVs on El Camino were gone. Council Member Cormack inquired regarding the role of childcare in preparation for recovery, especially regarding summer camps. Kristen O’Kane, Director of Community Services reported she and Ms. van der Zwaag were meeting regularly with nonprofit childcare providers, trying to coordinate services. Staff was exploring three scenarios for summer camps: starting summer camps prior to June; starting summer camps in June; and offering more camps with fewer participants in each camp. Council Member Cormack expressed concern about vehicles speeding on City streets. Mr. Jonsen advised that enforcement had increased over the weekend and resulted in a couple of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrests. Council Member Cormack requested comment regarding requests to close streets to vehicles. Philip Kamhi, Chief Transportation Official reported Staff was reviewing opportunities to close some streets to local traffic, which could increase safety. Council Member Cormack noted gardening continued to be an issue and asked if Emergency Services Volunteers (ESV) could handle the issue. Mr. Dueker understood neighborhoods had been sharing gardening tools and indicated ESVs could foster more sharing. Vice Mayor DuBois inquired about City Staff utilizing the Care.com service. Mr. Shikada explained that the City was partnering with Care.com to provide childcare for essential workers. As an employer, the City needed to be flexible in accommodating Staff's ability to work and care for school-age children. It was possible that the partnership could alleviate Staff's need to use Administrative Leave. Vice Mayor DuBois suggested Staff consider a rent moratorium or reduction for Cubberley tenants and a future discussion related to social distancing practices and additional services for the Palo Alto Shuttle. Mr. Kamhi related that the Shuttle was operating on its regular schedule with 20-30 passengers per day. While usage was not high, passengers FINAL MINUTES Page 7 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 appeared to be taking the Shuttle for essential trips or to reach essential work. The contractor was sanitizing buses daily and encouraging social distancing on buses. Vice Mayor DuBois stated there could be more cost-effective ways to provide transportation because of low ridership. Mr. Kamhi reported Staff had considered Uber vouchers or on-demand service but believed both would cause more demand and increase costs. If service was reduced or stopped, Staff had concerns about returning service. Vice Mayor DuBois expressed interest in learning about ideas for closing streets. Mr. Kamhi explained Oakland's program for closing streets and designating bikeways. Vice Mayor DuBois suggested the current time could be an opportunity to contact homeless people and better understand their needs. Mayor Fine noted Oakland was using citizen volunteers to enforce street closures. Education before enforcement with respect to the prohibition against gardening was appropriate. The County released information indicating 60 or 61 Palo Alto residents were infected with coronavirus, and he was attempting to obtain more information. NO ACTION TAKEN Study Session 1. Annual Earth Day Report Study Session. Christine Luong, Sustainability Manager recalled the City's goal of an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. AECOM was going to assist Staff with completing the 2019 GHG inventory, and the results would be included in the 2020 Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) Study Session tentatively planned for the fall. For the second consecutive year, the City had achieved the Carbon Disclosure Project's (CDP) “A list” for implementing a Climate Action Plan and progressing toward achieving climate goals. Progress in 2019 included all-electric building requirements, the Multifamily Building Gas Furnace Retrofit Pilot Program, an induction cooktop loaner program, elimination of gas incineration of sewage sludge, establishment of the Office of Transportation, participation in and advocacy for regional transit programs, increased active transportation mode share for school commutes, a Housing Workplan Implementation Ordinance, FINAL MINUTES Page 8 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 an electric vehicle (EV) workplan, a $1 million CALeVIP grant, the addition of EVs to the City fleet, use of a full-sized, all-electric waste collection truck, a customer survey on EV adoption barriers, co-sponsorship of workshops and ride-and-drive events, a partnership with Valley Water, a Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Plan, identification of water reuse alternatives, a Sea Level Rise Adaptation Policy, preliminary design of a Horizontal Levee Pilot Project, a Regional Water Quality Control Plant Primary Outfall Project, flood basin tide gate repairs, a Tree Line USA award, an Urban Forest Plan second edition, an initiative to plant trees in South Palo Alto, a Disposable Foodware Ordinance, transition to reusable foodware, a Deconstruction and Construction Materials Management Ordinance and expansion of the Household Hazardous Waste Reuse Zone. David Page encouraged the Council to do more sooner and had submitted written suggestions that could reduce pollution and save money. Susan Chamberlain, 350 Silicon Valley/Palo Alto City Team remarked that the current S/CAP was not going to achieve the 80 percent reduction goal by 2030 and needed to be more aggressive. Arthur Keller commented that Staff undercut the all-electric mandate with a pre-application process. Constructing housing near transit would not reduce car trips. The Council needed to reconvene the EV Task Force. Conduit for EV charging stations needed to be included in the construction of parking garages. He suggested the City should partner with agencies to conduct a study of sea level rise adaptation. Council Member Filseth inquired about a quantitative analysis of each program that would lead to achieving the City's goals. Brad Eggleston, Public Works Director explained that development of the S/CAP had included assumptions about the accomplishments of programs, but year-by-year goals were not prepared. AECOM was going to analyze existing programs and new concepts in their update of the S/CAP. Council Member Filseth appreciated a year-by-year analysis but felt a quantitative analysis was more useful. Council Member Cormack questioned whether the City was on track to meet their goals. Setting goals for AECOM was important. Hopefully, Staff was able to present a range of scenarios that would help the Council assess potential changes. FINAL MINUTES Page 9 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Vice Mayor DuBois commented on the growth of renewable energy and asked about the method used to forecast the production and cost of energy for the next ten years. Christine Tam, Senior Resource Planner advised that forecasts for costs were based on the City's long-term contracts for renewable energy. Vice Mayor DuBois hoped the City was doing enough to protect and extend the tree canopy. He inquired about the source of data for mobility and wondered if progress could be tracked better. Mr. Eggleston explained that emission reductions based on EV adoption had been included in inventories. Sylvia Star-Lack, Transportation Manager added that Staff obtained data from the Downtown Commute Survey and hoped to improve data collection for mobility. Vice Mayor DuBois asked if EV ownership data was taken from the survey. Ms. Star-Lack clarified that EV ownership data was obtained from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Vice Mayor DuBois inquired about the availability of more recent data. Mr. Eggleston indicated EV penetration data was compiled for 2019. Council Member Kniss asked if anyone had noticed the sky was a different color due to the reduction in air pollution. Mr. Eggleston replied yes. Council Member Kniss remarked that air quality over the past few months had been some of the best ever. She asked if the number of EVs in Palo Alto could be attributed to the nearby location of the Tesla manufacturing plant. Ms. Loung answered yes, 62 percent of new EV sales in 2017 were Tesla’s. Council Member Kniss inquired about the number of trees to be planted in South Palo Alto. Mr. Eggleston advised that the goal was 10,000 trees. Council Member Kniss asked about the number that had been planted. Mr. Eggleston explained that a couple hundred trees were planted annually. FINAL MINUTES Page 10 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Mayor Fine remarked that the City would not reach their climate goals if they did not reach their housing goals. NO ACTION TAKEN Agenda Changes, Additions and Deletions None. Oral Communications Dan Gordon remarked that he was leaving the restaurant business after 32 years in Palo Alto. Business had been declining over the past eight years and he was not going to recover from the health emergency. The Council was able to help Palo Alto's restaurants recover by reducing the minimum wage to State levels. Mayor Fine thanked Mr. Gordon for serving Palo Alto for many years. David Page noted Palo Alto had not made any progress in terms of the amount of pollution discharged into the air. He thought the City should not take credit for the community's decisions. The City was able to create less pollution and save money by attending virtual meetings. Anthony requested additional information concerning Mayor Fine's comment about the City reaching housing and climate goals. Consent Calendar Ed Shikada, City Manager reported the Staff recommendation for Agenda Item Number 3A should apply to all Council Appointed Officers. Council Member Tanaka registered a no vote on Agenda Item Number 3A. MOTION: Mayor Fine moved, seconded by Council Member Cormack to approve Agenda Item Numbers 3 and 3A. 3. PUBLIC HEARING: Approval of a Finding That the Public Safety Building Project (CIP PE-15001) is "Substantially Complex" Under Public Contract Code Section 7201 and Direction to Increase the Retention Schedule from Five Percent to Ten Percent. 3A. Council Delegation of its Authority to the Council Appointed Officers to Authorize Emergency Leave of Absence With Pay to Address the Workforce Needs to Respond to COVID-19, for a Period Not to Extend FINAL MINUTES Page 11 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Beyond the Pay Period Including June 30,2020, Per the City Merit System Rules and Regulations, Section 808. MOTION PASSED FOR AGENDA ITEM NUMBER 3: 7-0 MOTION PASSED FOR AGENDA ITEM NUMBER 3A: 6-1 Tanaka no Council Member Tanaka shared a comparison of idle employees for Palo Alto, Millbrae, Daly, Cupertino, and San Mateo. The Council had a responsibility to understand the cost of the item, but Staff had not supplied that information. City Manager Comments None. Council took a break at 8:40 P.M. and returned at 8:50 P.M. Action Items 4. Review the 2020 Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) Update Process and Accept the 2020-2021 Sustainability Work Plan (Continued from March 23, 2020). Brad Eggleston, Director of Public Works advised that ideas from public comments submitted over the past week would be included in the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) Update. Christine Luong, Sustainability Manager reported the 2020 S/CAP Update process and the 2020-2021 Sustainability Work Plan were drafted prior to the pandemic. Some of the tools and strategies used to confront the pandemic could be used to address climate change impacts. By the end of 2018, Palo Alto reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an estimated 36 percent from the 1990 baseline. As a bridging strategy, carbon offsets were being purchased in an amount equal to the GHG emissions caused by natural gas used in the City. If natural gas offsets were included, GHG emissions had decreased about 56.5 percent, but natural gas use had not really changed in the past few years. To achieve the 80 percent reduction goal by 2030, Palo Alto needed to reduce GHG emissions by 300,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from the current emission levels. For continued progress towards goals and targets, the City needed to update its S/CAP to study the highest impact actions. Potential goals and key actions were intended to be a starting point for discussion. Each S/CAP area was to include goals and key actions. The scheduled community meeting was restructured as an eight-part prerecorded, on-demand webinar. The FINAL MINUTES Page 12 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 webinar launched March 31, 2020 and would close the following day. The community was able to provide comments through the webinar. To date, 147 people had participated in the webinar. Feedback from the webinar and written comments would be posted on the website by April 21, 2020. Staff was going to hold area-specific public meetings prior to a summit in the fall, 2020. Once goals and key actions were refined, AECOM would perform an impact analysis, which would detail costs and expected GHG emission reductions and sustainability benefits. AECOM was also going to conduct a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review. Hopefully, an updated S/CAP was going to be ready for Council review in a year. AECOM's tasks included Citywide GHG emissions inventories for 2019, 2020, 2021; calculation of transportation-related emissions; a business as usual forecast; a GHG emissions reductions and sustainability benefits impact analysis; community engagement; and preparation of environmental documents. The 2020 priority projects included a Utilities Electrification Work Plan, a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Ordinance, Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, a Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Plan, a Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan, a potential local Carbon Storage Program and policies, and enforcement of the Disposable Foodware Ordinance and Deconstruction Ordinance. Arthur Keller believed the City needed to adopt a solar investment access ordinance, review the amount of reduction in GHG, to inventory and enforce existing TDM Programs, explore scenarios for Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and promote integrated pest management and composting. David Page remarked that the S/CAP Update was an embarrassment and suggested the City utilize the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) carbon footprint calculator. David Coale indicated Staff should provide the reductions needed each year to reach an 80 percent reduction by 2030. Shannon McEntee suggested the City require or incentivize the addition of EV charging stations to older multifamily buildings. Council Member Kniss advised that the pandemic could dramatically change the community. She agreed with the need to install EV charging stations in multifamily buildings. CARB had set a goal to be diesel free by 2073. Reducing natural gas usage by half was going to be a challenge. MOTION: Council Member Kniss moved, seconded by Council Member Tanaka to accept the 2020-2021 Sustainability Work Plan. FINAL MINUTES Page 13 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Council Member Tanaka concurred with Council Member Kniss' comments. Progress toward goals was needed, but there were constraints. Council Member Cormack asked who would choose the goals and actions and when. Ms. Luong explained that AECOM would prepare the impact analysis, the Council would provide direction for reaching goals and the community would provide input at the summit. Council Member Cormack asked if the current meeting was the Council's only opportunity to provide direction on goals and actions prior to AECOM beginning the impact analysis. Mr. Eggleston answered yes, but the Council could direct Staff to return at a future date. Council Member Cormack requested Staff investigate on-bill financing, work- from-home days, and increasing EV penetration. She wanted Staff to look at the destination and work backwards. She inquired about a timeframe for Council review of a Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan. Mr. Eggleston indicated the original plan was to present a Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan by the end of the calendar year. Council Member Cormack felt the City was making appropriate movements for environmental sustainability and Zero Waste. She inquired about lessons learned from the webinar. Ms. Luong indicated an on-demand webinar was better. Future webinars were to be the recorded version with a link to provide feedback. Public feedback concerned length of webinars, inclusion of presentation slides, and more opportunities for feedback. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to direct Staff to return with an interim report before summer break and before AECOM does an impact analysis of goals and key actions. Vice Mayor DuBois asked if AECOM's analysis would result in metrics. Mr. Eggleston clarified that AECOM would prepare a 2019 inventory, and the Council would review key actions and new programs that could accomplish the 80 by '30 goal. Vice Mayor DuBois asked if AECOM would focus on solely VMT. FINAL MINUTES Page 14 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Sylvia Star-Lack, Transportation Manager reported State law required a VMT analysis, but the Comprehensive Plan required an LOS analysis. Both analyses would be performed. Vice Mayor DuBois noted the renewable energy landscape had changed greatly over the past ten years and could have an impact on the next ten years. The focus needed to be increasing the EV adoption rate, and he suggested all replacement cars Citywide should be electric. Council Member Tanaka inquired about potential incentives for continued telecommuting after the shelter-in-place order was lifted. Mr. Eggleston commented that telecommuting would likely continue as workers had learned to telecommute or increased the efficiency of telecommuting. Council Member Tanaka inquired about integrating GHG emissions reductions from transportation with increasing the mode share for bicycling. Ms. Star-Lack explained that existing key actions concerned reducing single- occupancy vehicle (SOV) commuting and VMT. The safer biking was, the more likely people would bike. A TDM Ordinance was able to address incentives for telecommuting. Staff was exploring micro mobility options. Council Member Tanaka suggested Staff look into the Stanford University or Stanford Research Park program which paid employees to bike to work. Council Member Kou asked if GHG emissions were tracked during the pandemic. Mr. Eggleston responded no. The City fleet's usage of fuel had decreased 30 percent during the pandemic. Council Member Kou suggested a baseline of GHG emissions from commuters into Palo Alto was useful. Mr. Eggleston advised that a model of VMT into and out of Palo Alto was part of AECOM's analysis. Mr. Shikada reported Staff could check with regional agencies to learn about their data collection. Council Member Kou asked if emissions at Palo Alto Airport would be measured. FINAL MINUTES Page 15 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Ms. Luong clarified that airport emissions were not included in past inventories, but would be in future inventories. Mayor Fine inquired about programs for on-bill financing. Christine Tam, Senior Resource Planner, explained that the Utilities billing system did not support on-bill financing. An upgrade to the billing system was going to be complete in two to three years, at which time on-bill financing was possible. Mayor Fine wanted to accelerate the ability to offer on-bill financing. Ms. Tam indicated Staff could explore financing options. Mayor Fine believed some mobility accomplishments had been significant and inquired about the use of negative reinforcement such as paid parking and congestion pricing to discourage SOV trips. Ms. Star-Lack related that Staff's work plan included paid parking Downtown, and Staff was able to explore congestion pricing. The City had the most leverage with parking. Mr. Shikada added that the S/CAP Update could advance programs or experiments with incentives. Mayor Fine inquired regarding the progress and future of GHG emissions reductions if carbon offsets were not counted and whether the Council was able to direct Staff to explore that. Mr. Eggleston noted the Staff Report and presentation provided information about reductions and the use of offsets. Mr. Shikada suggested the price of natural gas could be an effective lever for advancing S/CAP goals. MOTION AS AMENDED RESTATED: Council Member Kniss moved, seconded by Council Member Tanaka to accept the 2020-2021 Sustainability Work Plan, and direct Staff to return with an interim report before summer break and before AECOM does an impact analysis of goals and key actions. MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 7-0 Council Member Questions, Comments and Announcements Vice Mayor DuBois announced he became a Block Preparedness Coordinator. FINAL MINUTES Page 16 of 16 City Council Meeting Final Minutes: 04/13/2020 Council Member Kniss noted the number of airplanes had decreased significantly during the pandemic. Motorists were speeding, and dogs were everywhere. Council Member Kou added that few planes were in the air, but they were flying lower. Council Member Tanaka advised that many people had expressed interest in the roundtable, urged Staff to move quickly, and requested COVID-19 updates include information about ways to donate. Mayor Fine reminded the public to comment on California High Speed Rail (HSR) Environmental Impact Reports (EIR) for upcoming segments. Complaints about noncompliance with City or County of Santa Clara (County) rules should be made to the Police Department's non-emergency number. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 10:05 P.M.