HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-04-27 City Council Summary Minutes Special Meeting April 27, 1998 1. Conference with Labor Negotiator .....................86-213 ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.............86-213 1. Presentation of Business Recycling Awards ............86-214 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS .......................................86-214 2. Confirmation of Appointment of Carl Yeats as Director of Administrative Services Department ...................86-215 3. Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. C5074936 between the City of Palo Alto and Arastradero Parks Apartment Corporation and Palo Alto Housing Corporation to Fund the Water System Replacement Project at the Arastradero Parks Apartments at 574 Arastradero Road .................................................86-215 4. Policy and Services Committee Recommendation re Approval of the 1998 Legislative Objectives and Adoption of the Objectives as the Basis for the City's Legislative Advocacy in 1998, Including an Objective Regarding Internet Taxation. ..86-215 5. Policy and Services Committee Recommendation re Approval of the Sale of Energy and Energy-related Services Outside the City's Existing Service Territory.....................86-215 6. Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. C6085795 between the City of Palo Alto and CH2M Hill for Rehabilitation of Incinerators at Regional Water Quality Control Plant..................86-216
7. Resolution 7756 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Declaring its Opposition to the Initiative
Measure Entitled >Government Cost Savings and Taxpayer
Protection Amendment= Amending Article VII of the California
Constitution≅ .........................................86-216
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8. Change Order to Increase Contract Authority for Existing Contract No. S8099134 between the City of Palo Alto and Empire Equipment Company for Heavy Equipment Maintenance and Repair Services..............................................86-216 9. Public Employee Performance Evaluation................86-216 10. Conference with City Attorney--Potential/Anticipated Litigation............................................86-216 11. PUBLIC HEARING: The Palo Alto City Council will consider a Tentative Map application for Los Trancos Road Subdivision (Lands of Arrillaga, AP# 182-46-010) to subdivide 151+ acres into 8-lot, single-family residential lots and one private open space/common area parcel of 81+ acres in size....86-216 12. Status Report on Space Planning Efforts to Convert Downtown Community Room to Office Space to Address Civic Center Overcrowding..........................................86-221 13. Audit of Travel Expense ...............................86-222 14. Council Comments, Questions, and Announcements........86-222 ADJOURNMENT TO CLOSED SESSION: The meeting adjourned to Closed Session at 9:53 p.m...................................86-223 FINAL ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 11:30 p.m.....86-223
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The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at 6:02 p.m. PRESENT: Eakins, Fazzino (arrived at 6:05 p.m.), Huber (arrived at 6:03 p.m.), Kniss (arrived at 6:03 p.m.), Mossar, Ojakian, Rosenbaum, Schneider (arrived at 6:40 p.m.), Wheeler ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CLOSED SESSIONS 1. Conference with Labor Negotiator Agency Negotiator: City Manager and her designees pursuant to the Merit System Rules and Regulations (Jay Rounds, Susan Ryerson, Michael Jackson, Joe Saccio, Larry Starr, Paul Thiltgen, Richard James, and Tom Habashi) Represented Employee Organization: Service Employees International Union, Local 715 Authority: Government Code section 54957.6 The City Council met in Closed Session to discuss matters involving labor negotiations as described in Agenda Item No. 1. Mayor Rosenbaum announced that no reportable action was taken on Agenda Item 1. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
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Regular Meeting April 27, 1998 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at 7:15 p.m. PRESENT: Eakins, Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, Mossar, Ojakian, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Wheeler SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY 1. Presentation of Business Recycling Awards Mayor Rosenbaum presented the Business Recycling Awards. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Mary Schaefer representing Cathie Lehrberg, Crescent Park Neighborhood Association, spoke regarding CPNA Annual Meeting.
Steve Salmon, 1147 Webster Street, spoke regarding City Manager=s Report on historic preservation ordinance. Tom Wyman, 546 Washington, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. Andrea Sutherland, 1143 Webster Street, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. Pria Graves, 2130 Yale street, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. Jack Morton, 2343 Webster Street, spoke regarding the Black and White Ball and May Fete Parade. Roger Marquek, Williams Street, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. Craig Wood, Webster Street, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. Daniel Emerson, Middlefield Road, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. Mike Forster, Stanford Avenue, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. Edmund Power, 2254 Dartmouth Street, spoke regarding oral communications (submitted correspondence). Laura Ferrell, 1020 California Avenue, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance.
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Leslie Cragin, 1020 California Avenue, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. David Rubin, 1102 Emerson, spoke regarding the historic preservation ordinance. Jim Fruchterman, 1850 Middlefield Road, spoke regarding traffic/school safety. Greg Van der Veen, 2133 Yale Street, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. Lee Brokaw, 2080 Hanover, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. Ralph Crawford, College Avenue, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. K. C. Marcinik, 4046 Ben Lomond, spoke regarding historic preservation ordinance. T. J. Watt, homeless, spoke regarding her previous work with complex cases for the insurance company, techniques of investigation. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: Vice Mayor Schneider moved, seconded by Wheeler, to approve Consent Calendar Item Nos. 2-8. 2. Confirmation of Appointment of Carl Yeats as Director of Administrative Services Department 3. Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. C5074936 between the City of Palo Alto and Arastradero Parks Apartment Corporation and Palo Alto Housing Corporation to Fund the Water System Replacement Project at the Arastradero Parks Apartments at 574 Arastradero Road 4. Policy and Services Committee Recommendation re Approval of the 1998 Legislative Objectives and Adoption of the Objectives as the Basis for the City's Legislative Advocacy in 1998, Including an Objective Regarding Internet Taxation. 5. Policy and Services Committee Recommendation re Approval of the Sale of Energy and Energy-related Services Outside the City's Existing Service Territory as follows: 1. Initially, limiting sales to Palo Alto customers with facilities outside the City. Additional analysis to be completed in 1998 to examine expanding that market segment.
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2. Ensuring extraterritorial sales would not negatively impact tax-exempt bonds. 3. Ensuring that limitations of existing contracts were followed when serving load outside the City.
Resolution 7755 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Approving the Provision of Electric Utility Service to Customers Located Outside of the
Jurisdictional Boundaries of the City of Palo Alto≅ Agreement between the City of Palo Alto and Pacific Gas and Electric Company for Energy Service Provider (ESP) Service 6. Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. C6085795 between the City of Palo Alto and CH2M Hill for Rehabilitation of Incinerators at Regional Water Quality Control Plant
7. Resolution 7756 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Declaring its Opposition to the Initiative
Measure Entitled >Government Cost Savings and Taxpayer
Protection Amendment= Amending Article VII of the California
Constitution≅ 8. Change Order to Increase Contract Authority for Existing Contract No. S8099134 between the City of Palo Alto and Empire Equipment Company for Heavy Equipment Maintenance and Repair Services MOTION PASSED 9-0. CLOSED SESSION 9. Public Employee Performance Evaluation Subject: City Manager June Fleming Authority: Government Code section 54957 10. Conference with City Attorney--Potential/Anticipated Litigation Subject: Significant Exposure to Litigation on Two Matters Authority: Government Code section 54956.9(b)(1) and (b)(3)(A) UNFINISHED BUSINESS
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11. PUBLIC HEARING: The Palo Alto City Council will consider a Tentative Map application for Los Trancos Road Subdivision (Lands of Arrillaga, AP# 182-46-010) to subdivide 151+ acres into 8-lot, single-family residential lots and one private open space/common area parcel of 81+ acres in size. The application is accompanied by requests for Conditional Exceptions to permit 1) main access road grades in excess of the 15% maximum grade limitation of PAMC Section 21.20.210 and 2) a main access road width of 24 feet and right-of-way width of 42 feet, in-lieu of the required 30-foot road width and 50- foot right-of-way width, as required by PAMC Section 21.28.020. (continued from 2/9/98) Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Certifying the Adequacy of the Los Trancos Road Subdivision Final EIR and Making Findings Thereon Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act Scott MacPherson, Nichols & Berman Environmental Planning, 142 Minna Street, said the Council had requested additional photo montages of the applicant's revised application during its February 9, 1998, review of the tentative map application for the Los Trancos Road Subdivision. The document in the Council's packet entitled "Visual Comparison of Alternatives for Los Trancos Road
Subdivision Project" responded to the Council=s request. Council Member Kniss said the City Attorney had advised the Council not to have conversations with individuals regarding the Los Trancos Subdivision application; therefore, she had not returned telephone calls. She assumed all written communications had been received by all of the Council Members. Council Member Mossar asked whether the Council would discuss the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and proposal separately. Mayor Rosenbaum said two separate actions would be taken and all questions about the EIR should be held until later. Mayor Rosenbaum declared the Public Hearing re-opened to allow the public to speak to the new computer-generated information. Tony Gazzardo, Gazzardo and Associates, 836 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, representing Mr. Arrillaga, spoke regarding the computer-generated information. The plan was a cluster, and building pads had been sensitively located. Tentative map approval was being sought for 8 dwelling units on the 150 acres, with an Open Space (OS) designation. Neither architectural approval nor planting was being sought. If houses were located among the trees, trees and heritage oaks would be lost. The houses would be visible from some point, but that would not mean something was being destroyed. The value was in preservation of the majority of the land in perpetuity, that is, allowing eight dwelling units to
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remain in the Arrillaga family, dedication of open space, and, if necessary, adjustments at the time of submittal could be made. The 15 units allowable under the zoning could have been presented, but the applicant had voluntarily submitted an application for only 8 home sites for the entire property. A model of the property under question was presented. City Attorney Ariel Calonne agreed a presentation of the model to the Council was appropriate as long as members of the public were also allowed to view the model and make comments. However, staff had not been able to verify that the model before the Council was accurate and depicted the property in question, which severely limited its evidentiary value. Mr. Gazzardo said the model was exactly a one-third dimension of the plans previously submitted. A member of the public asked whether the letters submitted to the Council would be considered, since the public had been directed not to communicate with the Council. Mr. Calonne said the Council had not taken any action to foreclose the public from writing comments. Under current environmental law, the Council could not refuse to react to written comments. The rules stated that after the close of the public hearing, the public could not make ex parte contacts with the Council. Given the fact the hearing had been re-noticed, the rule no longer applied. If any of the letters contained evidence upon which the Council wanted to rely, he would indicate whether or not it was a problem. RECESS: 8:30 P.M. - 8:35 P.M. Diana Fischer, 10 Valley Oak, Portola Valley, spoke regarding building responsibly and enforcing rules the City already had in place. Open Space lands required clustering, which had not been proposed by the applicant. The Council was urged to protect the land and enforce the rules. Linda Millard, 5 Fremontia Street, Portola Valley, spoke regarding the visible location of the buildings proposed by the applicant and encouraged Council to approve the eight-lot clustering alternative as being the least intrusive. Staff's conditions of approval were commended, but the Council was urged to include conditions for paint, reflection, etc., all of which should require Architectural Review Board (ARB) approval. The Council was urged to follow the recommendation of the Planning Commission, denying the application as well as the proposed revisions from staff, and approving the eight-lot cluster of the Planning Commission. Linda Elkind, 14 Hawk View, Portola Valley, spoke in favor of the eight-lot cluster. The photo montages clarified the visual impacts on the open spaces. The Council was urged to deny the applicant's proposal, support the intent of the Planning Commission by
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indicating preference for the eight-lot cluster variation as being the most consistent with Palo Alto's Open Space policies, adopt all conditions staff had prepared and proposed as implementations of the mitigations listed in the EIR, and require ARB approval for all individual homes. Jon Silver, 355 Portola Road, Portola Valley, spoke regarding Palo Alto's City Council's reputation for sensitivity to the concerns of its neighbors and for proper regional planning. The Council was strongly urged to approve the eight-lot clustered variation as better carrying out the goals of the Palo Alto's subdivision and clustering ordinances without seriously impinging on private property rights. The Council was urged to learn from Portola Valley's mistake with Portola Valley Ranch and not repeat them. Robert Zimmerman, 265 Old Spanish Trail, Portola Valley, spoke regarding the failure of the EIR to address the potential affect of Los Trancos Road as the sole access road as a result of the destruction of Alpine Road due to flooding and the resultant liability issues Palo Alto would face. The Council was urged to take a more comprehensive, quantitative look at the impact of all of the developments in the western hills. Leslie Fiering, 55 El Rey Road, Portola Valley, spoke as a member of the Committee to Save Alpine Road in light of the fact Los Trancos Road was the only escape route in the event of a fire in the hills. The Federal Highway Works Administration had agreed to fund a significant percentage of the rebuilding of Alpine Road but would not improve or maintain the road. The Council was urged to make responsible decisions regarding access to the road, sight-lines, and better maintenance to avoid liability in the future. Terilynn Langsev-Burt, 1 Winter Creek, Portola Valley, spoke regarding the high visibility of the homes in both staff and the applicant's proposals. Although in agreement with staff's extensive list of conditions, following through over an extended period of time became very difficult. The Council was urged to implement the strict policies with regard to impervious surfaces. Palo Alto had a reputation throughout the State for its quality planning. The Council was urged to approve the eight-lot cluster variation, maintaining the high standards for which Palo Alto was known. Julie Koestner, 14 Franciscan Ridge, Portola Valley, urged the Council not to approve the application, but to vote in favor of the environment by approving a park on the Arrillaga property. Marilyn Walter, 20 Coyote Hill, Portola Valley, cautioned the Council about using non-native plants on the Arrillaga property and encouraging the use of native, harmonious grasslands and trees.
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Pierre Fischer, 10 Valley Oak Street, Portola Valley, responded to Mr. Arrillaga's letter about the visibility of the Portola Valley Ranch homes and encouraged the eight-lot cluster variation as shielding the houses. In response to the comment about the proposal of 8 rather than 15 homes, Mr. Arrillaga's representative had stated earlier that 15 homes would devaluate the property. Emily Renzel, 1056 Forest Avenue, spoke about the City's original Foothills Environmental and Design study which had been lauded as an outstanding example of planning for foothill development and had incorporated real planning considerations such as minimizing road surfacing. Not planning carefully in such areas could be very costly, aside from the visual considerations. The Council was urged to adopt the Planning Commission's eight-lot cluster variation. Herb Borock, P. O. Box 632, said the Council had been given insufficient information by which to make a decision about the project such as views from public open spaces pursuant to the Open Space Guidelines. The EIR should be revised and recirculated. ARB review should be required on singly developed lots which were subject to site and design review, particularly developments in OS zones. Gael Erickson, 905 South Springer, Los Altos, spoke regarding Palo Alto's foresight and leadership in maintaining "green" areas. The Council was urged to support the clustering of homes on the Arrillaga property. Virginia Bacon, 205 Golden Oak Drive, Portola Valley, spoke regarding the impact of El Nino on the EIR. The Council was urged to approve the eight-lot cluster alternative. Craig Bacon, 1077 Portola Road, Portola Valley, spoke regarding the increased visual impact of items not included in the model such as pools, tennis courts, and non-native landscaping. Trees should not be saved if open grasslands were threatened and tentacles of the development reached into the grasslands. Inadequate examination of the visual and other impacts associated with road stabilization over time, primarily on the emergency access road, was a CEQA flaw, which required a description of an entire project including mitigation measures for dealing with road stabilization, etc., at least with rough calculations. Palo Alto's decision to maintain open spaces through a minimum of 85 percent permanent open space would encourage surrounding communities to do the same. Camas Hubenthal, representing the Committee for Green Foothills, 1228 Byron Street, (submitted correspondence) spoke in opposition to the application as being in violation of Palo Alto's Open Space guidelines and policies created to protect the integrity of the foothills. The Council was urged to protect the foothills by denying any tentative subdivision map which failed to conform with
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the Comprehensive Plan and support the eight-lot cluster plan submitted by the Planning Commission. Ellen Christensen, 4217 Los Palos Avenue, expressed concern about the emergency access road to the site, the potential liability to the City for maintaining access to the site, and the visual acceptability of the access road. The EIR insufficiently explored alternatives to the current alignment of the emergency access road for the Council to approve the subdivision. John Baca, 4171 Verdosa, presented photographs of the areas surrounding the Arrillaga property. Large buildings on the Los Trancos subdivision were undesirable, particularly in light of the amount of development already in the area. Mr. Gazzardo disagreed with many of the public comments. The desire was to build 8 homes on 151 acres in a sensitive way. He had worked for Mr. Arrillaga on many other projects, all of which had been very sensitively handled. The application represented a cluster. A septic field would destroy more trees in the area. Many of the issues investigated by the professionals had not been addressed. Native materials would naturally be used. No matter where houses were placed, they would be seen from the trails. Locating the homes in conformity with Palo Alto's ordinance had been a painful process, but had been accomplished 100 percent. Mayor Rosenbaum declared the Public Hearing closed. MOTION TO CONTINUE: Council Member Wheeler moved, seconded by Schneider, to continue the item to the Monday, May 18, 1998, City Council Meeting. MOTION TO CONTINUE PASSED 7-2, Kniss, Huber Αno.≅ 12. Status Report on Space Planning Efforts to Convert Downtown Community Room to Office Space to Address Civic Center Overcrowding Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending the Budget for the Fiscal Year 1997-98 to Provide an Additional Appropriation of $138,050 to Create Capital Improvement Project, Number 19819, Planning Office Space Council Member Fazzino supported the Budget Amendment Ordinance but would be concerned if a number of piece-meal approaches were taken to identify additional space rather than having the City Manager and staff engaged in a broader review of City space needs. City Manager June Fleming said staff would hold discussions about the broader space needs for City employees.
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MOTION: Council Member Fazzino moved, seconded by Schneider, to approve the staff recommendation to approve a Budget Amendment Ordinance in the amount of $138,050 and establish Capital
Improvement Program Project #19819, ΑPlanning Office Space.≅
Ordinance 4497 entitled ΑOrdinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending the Budget for the Fiscal Year 1997-98 to Provide an Additional Appropriation of $138,050 to Create Capital
Improvement Project, Number 19819, Planning Office Space≅ MOTION PASSED 9-0. REPORTS OF OFFICIALS 13. Audit of Travel Expense City Auditor William Vinson presented the results of the audit of travel expenses. The City's policy was to pay employees for actual, necessary travel expenses while conducting City business. The audit had been conducted to ensure internal controls were established to meet the objective. The City spent between $600,000 to $800,000 per year on travel and training. Absent the existence of good internal controls and compliance with the controls, travel dollars were at risk. A significant lack of compliance to policies and procedures had been found. Of particular concern was the level or degree of non-compliance. Specifically, 90 percent of the sample had compliance issues and, in many cases, multiple compliance issues existed with each transaction reviewed. Three major internal controls existed for travel: 1) approvals; 2) documentation; and 3) accounting review. Weaknesses existed in all three. Three major checkpoints ensured compliance: 1) employees; 2) department heads; and 3) accounts payables. Clearly the checkpoints were not working. The City Auditor's Office had attempted to identify the business reasons: 1) lack of training; 2) lack of oversight; and 3) lack of accountability. Department heads should hold travelers accountable for unclear or incomplete travel requests and travel expense reports. Accounts Payable should also hold travelers accountable for compliance. Expense reports not properly approved or unreceipted should be returned to the traveler until compliance was established. Fifteen recommendations had been made to help improve overall compliance. General agreement existed with the City Manager regarding the recommendations which included conducting departmental training sessions, developing a list of authorized and non-authorized expenditures, and revision of the City's procedures to ensure they were more user-friendly. While a common threat of non-compliance was seen in the report, compliance would improve with the proper attention. No action required. COUNCIL MATTERS
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14. Council Comments, Questions, and Announcements Council Member Fazzino noted the importance of addressing flood control issues related to the San Francisquito Creek. On April 29, 1998, a meeting of the Santa Clara County Northwest Flood Zone Advisory Committee (County Flood Committee) would be held concerning the relative priorities of various creek flood control issues. A strong message should be relayed to the County Flood Committee and the community that the City considered San Francisquito Creek an important issue. City Manager June Fleming reported on her meeting with the Duveneck Neighborhood Association and said a letter would be hand-delivered to the County Flood Committee, Mr. Zlotnick, and Mr. Fisher to address the issues raised by Council Member Fazzino. Council Member Wheeler noted the additional work necessary on the Matadero Creek and stressed that the work was a City priority as well. ADJOURNMENT TO CLOSED SESSION: The meeting adjourned to Closed Session at 9:53 p.m. The City Council met in Closed Session to discuss matters involving potential litigation as described in Agenda Item No. 10. Mayor Rosenbaum announced that no reportable action was taken on Agenda Item No. 10. FINAL ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 11:30 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED:
City Clerk Mayor NOTE: Sense minutes (synopsis) are prepared in accordance with Palo Alto Municipal Code Sections 2.04.180(a) and (b). The City Council and Standing Committee meeting tapes are made solely for the purpose of facilitating the preparation of the minutes of the meetings. City Council and Standing Committee meeting tapes are recycled 90 days from the date of the meeting. The tapes are available for members of the public to listen to during regular office hours.
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