HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-06-08 City Council Summary Minutes Special Meeting June 8, 1998 1. Joint Meeting with Planning Commission................86-346 ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m............86-346 1. Appointments to Historic Resources Board..............86-347 2. Council Selection of Candidates to be Interviewed for the Mid-Peninsula Access Corporation Board of Directors.......86-349 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS .......................................86-349 APPROVAL OF MINUTES .......................................86-351 3. Emergency Management Plan - Refer to Policy and Services and Finance Committees....................................86-351 4. Appointment of Police Chief...........................86-351 5. The Finance Committee recommends to the City Council Approval
of the City Auditor=s Revised 1997-98 Audit Plan ......86-351 6. The Finance Committee recommends to the City Council Approval of an Agreement between the City of Palo Alto and the Transmission Agency of Northern California which provided for
the lay-off of up to 4 percent of the City=s share of the
Transmission Agency of Northern California=s entitlement of the California-Oregon Transmission Project............86-351 7. Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. S7095293 with Addison Olian, Inc. to Provide Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations to Utility Marketing Services and Public Relations....86-351 8. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Vulcan Construction and Maintenance, Inc. for Phase VIII Gas Main Replacement Project...............................................86-351 9. Amendment to Agreement between the City of Palo Alto and the City of Roseville to Equalize Savings Due to the Restructuring of the Calaveras Hydroelectric Project................86-352
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10. Resolution 7758 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Ordering the Summary Vacation of a Public
Utilities Easement at 590 Center Street≅ ..............86-352 11. Consultant Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Geoff Brosseau for Pollution Prevention Program for the Water Quality Control Plant.................................86-352 12. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Power Engineering Contractors for the Rehab of Sedimentation Tanks 1-4 at Water Quality Control Plant ...............................86-352 13. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Power Engineering Contractors for the Recycle Line Relocation Project at the Water Quality Control Plant...........................86-352 14. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Textiles Engineering Associates for the Rebuild of Three Belt Filter Presses at the Water Quality Control Plant............86-352 15. Agreement Between the City of Palo Alto and Maze & Associates for External Audit Services...........................86-352 16. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Cupertino Electric, Inc. For Electrical Systems Upgrade and Generator Replacement at the Regional Water Quality Control Plant...........86-352 17. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Streamline Plumbing for Phase I Sanitary Sewer Lateral Replacement Project, CIP 37775.................................................86-352 18. Special Counsel Services Agreement Between the City of Palo Alto and Ruby & Schofield for Flood Litigation........86-352 19. PUBLIC HEARING: Assessments for University Avenue and California Avenue Parking Bonds Plan G-FY 98/99.......86-352 20. PUBLIC HEARING: The Palo Alto City Council will consider the application of Ananda Church of Self Realization for Tentative Subdivision Map approval to remove seven existing lot lines and adjust one lot line to convert ten lots into three lots for the purposes of constructing additions to an existing religious facility for property located at 2137-2171 El Camino Real/456 College Avenue...............................86-354 21. February 2-3, 1998, Flood Post-Incident Critique......86-357 21A. (Old Item No. 24) Request by Council Member Fazzino and Council Member Mossar to Approve a Resolution Supporting in Concept the Creation of a Multi-Service Day Facility for the Homeless and Those at Risk of Homelessness............86-366
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22. 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 $275,000 to Create a Public Safety Building Capital Improvement Project, Number 19820.............86-366 23. Request for Council Direction Regarding Termination of the Ten-Year Lease with the Pacific Skyline Council/Boy Scouts of America, Sea Scouts for the Sea Scout Facility at the End of Embarcadero Road in the Palo Alto Baylands............86-368 25. Cancellation of June 15, 1998, Council Meeting........86-371 26. Council Comments, Questions, and Announcements........86-371 ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 11:00 p.m............86-372
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The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Conference Room at 6:10 p.m. PRESENT: Eakins, Huber, Kniss, Mossar, Ojakian, Rosenbaum, Wheeler ABSENT: Fazzino, Schneider Planning Commission PRESENT: Beecham, Bialson, Burt, Byrd, Cassel, Schink, Schmidt SPECIAL MEETINGS 1. Joint Meeting with Planning Commission A. Council-Planning Commission Relationship B. Planning Commission-City Staff Relationship C. Comprehensive Plan Implementation D. Transportation Issues E. Preliminary Project Review Process No action required. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
None. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
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Regular Meeting June 8, 1998 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at 7:20 p.m. PRESENT: Eakins, Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, Mossar, Ojakian, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Wheeler SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY 1. Appointments to Historic Resources Board Council Member Eakins said she would vote for Mildred Mario, Caroline Willis, and Ken Alsman who were suitable candidates because of their range of professional qualifications, preservation expertise and individual attributes. Council Member Kniss said she would vote for Mildred Mario because of her qualifications; for Ken Alsman because of his background in
Palo Alto=s community as well as his background as an employee in a nearby city; and Susan Haviland because she would add more diversity to the Board. Council Member Fazzino said he would support the reappointment of Mildred Mario because she was a strong historic preservation advocate and owner of a historic home; Ken Alsman because he was a former member of the HRB, a former planner, and a resident of Professorville, and mediation skills which were critically important to the process; and Susan Haviland because of her diversity of perspectives. His concern was with lack of flexibility in the historic preservation process at the staff and HRB levels. In order for the process to be successful, it was essential that staff be flexible and work with property owners. Vice Mayor Schneider said she would also vote for Mildred Mario and Ken Alsman. She would vote for Shirley Wilson for the third position because Shirley embodied everything the Council wanted in a Historic Resource Board Member: an architect, a long-term Palo Alto resident, lived in a historic house, and a former member of the Architectural Review Board. Council Member Huber said he would vote for Mildred Mario, Ken Alsman, and no third vote on the opening round. If his Council colleagues did not select a third person, he would make a motion to go back out to seek additional candidates. Council Member Mossar said he would vote for Mildred Mario and Ken Alsman. It was not clear to her that there was a third candidate who would be qualified to handle the interim ordinance.
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FIRST ROUND OF VOTING VOTING FOR HAROLD ALSMAN: Eakins, Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, Mossar, Ojakian, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Wheeler VOTING FOR KATHLEEN COAKLEY: VOTING FOR SUSAN HAVILAND: Fazzino, Kniss, Rosenbaum VOTING FOR MILDRED MARIO: Eakins, Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, Mossar, Ojakian, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Wheeler VOTING FOR KEVIN WAGNER: VOTING FOR CAROLINE WILLIS: Eakins, Wheeler VOTING FOR SHIRLEY WILSON: Schneider City Clerk Gloria Young announced that Harold Alsman and Mildred Mario received unanimous votes and were appointed to the Historic Resources Board on the first ballot. SECOND ROUND OF VOTING VOTING FOR HAROLD ALSMAN: VOTING FOR KATHLEEN COAKLEY: VOTING FOR SUSAN HAVILAND: Fazzino, Kniss, Schneider, Rosenbaum VOTING FOR MILDRED MARIO: VOTING FOR KEVIN WAGNER: VOTING FOR CAROLINE WILLIS: Eakins, Ojakian, Mossar VOTING FOR SHIRLEY WILSON: City Clerk Gloria Young said no one had received five votes and another ballot round was in order. THIRD ROUND OF VOTING VOTING FOR HAROLD ALSMAN: VOTING FOR KATHLEEN COAKLEY: VOTING FOR SUSAN HAVILAND: Fazzino, Kniss, Mossar, Rosenbaum, Schneider
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VOTING FOR MILDRED MARIO: VOTING FOR KEVIN WAGNER: VOTING FOR CAROLINE WILLIS: Eakins, Ojakian, Wheeler VOTING FOR SHIRLEY WILSON: City Clerk Gloria Young announced that Susan Haviland received five votes and was appointed to the Historic Resources Board on the third ballot. 2. Council Selection of Candidates to be Interviewed for the Mid-Peninsula Access Corporation Board of Directors City Clerk Gloria Young announced that Anne Saldich, Christine Shambora, Howard Smith, and Jonathan Ward received four or more votes and would be interviewed on Monday, June 29, 1998. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Ann Noyes, 3146 Avalon Court, spoke regarding neighborhood character in the Midtown area. William Mahrt, 67 Peter Coutts Circle, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel. Craig Woods, 1127 Webster Street, spoke regarding the Historic Preservation Ordinance. Eleonora Shreberk, 632 Antonio Road, spoke regarding Palo Alto Gardens. Betsy Neunenheim, 636 Palo Alto Gardens, spoke regarding Palo Alto Gardens. Ann Lafargue Balin, 2385 Columbia Street, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel. Vincent G. Raney, 1300 Center Street, Belmont, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel. Marie-Christine, P. O. Box 754, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel. Anna Steymatskaya, 634 San Antonio Road, #105, spoke regarding Palo Alto Gardens Apartment. Viktor Gitis, 636 San Antonio Road, Apt. 102, spoke regarding Palo Alto Gardens. Eleanor Kraft, P. O. Box 60698, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel.
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Michael J. Mitchell, 900 Lafayette Street #301, Santa Clara, 95050, spoke regarding Melville and Cowper property. Berta Chechersky, 638 San Antonio Road, Apt. 207, spoke regarding Palo Alto Gardens. Janet Owens, 850 Webster Street, #421, spoke regarding housing. Susan Altsatt, 27801 Baker Lane, Los Altos Hills, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel. Ed Power, 2254 Dartmouth Street, spoke regarding fair play. Bonnie Jaffey, 852 Ames Avenue, spoke regarding a balanced approach to residential development. Debbie Mytels, 2824 Louis, spoke regarding neighborhood character in Midtown. Sally Probst, 735 Coastland Drive, spoke regarding support of below market rate housing. Bonnie Packer, 768 Stone, spoke regarding Palo Alto Gardens. Rakhie Palant, 632 San Antonio Road, #103, spoke regarding Palo Alto Gardens. Mary Fischer, 288 Eleanor Drive, Woodside, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel. Bernadette Delgado, 4129 El Camino Way, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel. Joy Apple, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel. Ivan Gendzel, 1019 Harker Avenue, spoke regarding Sea Scout facility. Pria Graves, Yale Street, spoke regarding electric vehicles. Otmar Ebenhoech, 586 College Avenue, spoke regarding electric vehicles and renewable energy. David Coale, 766 Josina Avenue, spoke regarding electric vehicles and renewable energy. Margaret Cooley, 830 University Avenue, spoke regarding St. Ann property. John Schaefer, 1411 College Avenue, spoke solar and electric vehicles.
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Chris Kenton, 69 Cornell Road, Menlo Park, spoke regarding St. Ann Chapel. Joseph Bjorkman, 1261 Lenina, Pacifica, spoke regarding the Sea Scout base. Peter Broadwell, 2325 Cornell Street, spoke regarding electricity/cars/solar panels. Bob Schneevels, 1093 Maddux, spoke regarding everment. Bob Moss, 4010 Orme Street, spoke regarding graffiti removal. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Council Member Wheeler moved, seconded by Eakins, to approve the Minutes of February 23, 1998, as submitted. MOTION PASSED 9-0. MOTION: Council Member Wheeler moved, seconded by Eakins, to approve the Minutes of February 24, 1998, as submitted. MOTION PASSED 9-0. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: Council Member Wheeler moved, seconded by Eakins, to approve Consent Calendar Item Nos. 3 - 18. 3. Emergency Management Plan - Refer to Policy and Services and Finance Committees 4. Appointment of Police Chief 5. The Finance Committee recommends to the City Council Approval
of the City Auditor=s Revised 1997-98 Audit Plan 6. The Finance Committee recommends to the City Council Approval of an Agreement between the City of Palo Alto and the Transmission Agency of Northern California which provided for
the lay-off of up to 4 percent of the City=s share of the
Transmission Agency of Northern California=s entitlement of the California-Oregon Transmission Project 7. Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. S7095293 with Addison Olian, Inc. to Provide Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations to Utility Marketing Services and Public Relations
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8. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Vulcan Construction and Maintenance, Inc. for Phase VIII Gas Main Replacement Project 9. Amendment to Agreement between the City of Palo Alto and the City of Roseville to Equalize Savings Due to the Restructuring of the Calaveras Hydroelectric Project
10. Resolution 7758 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Ordering the Summary Vacation of a Public
Utilities Easement at 590 Center Street≅ 11. Consultant Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Geoff Brosseau for Pollution Prevention Program for the Water Quality Control Plant 12. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Power Engineering Contractors for the Rehab of Sedimentation Tanks 1-4 at Water Quality Control Plant 13. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Power Engineering Contractors for the Recycle Line Relocation Project at the Water Quality Control Plant 14. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Textiles Engineering Associates for the Rebuild of Three Belt Filter Presses at the Water Quality Control Plant 15. Agreement Between the City of Palo Alto and Maze & Associates for External Audit Services 16. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Cupertino Electric, Inc. For Electrical Systems Upgrade and Generator Replacement at the Regional Water Quality Control Plant 17. Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Streamline Plumbing for Phase I Sanitary Sewer Lateral Replacement Project, CIP 37775 18. Special Counsel Services Agreement Between the City of Palo Alto and Ruby & Schofield for Flood Litigation MOTION PASSED 9-0. PUBLIC HEARINGS 19. PUBLIC HEARING: Assessments for University Avenue and California Avenue Parking Bonds Plan G-FY 98/99 Vice Mayor Schneider said she had a conflict of interest and would not participate in the item because of the location of business.
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Mayor Rosenbaum said the purpose of the hearing was to allow the Council to hear all persons having an interest in any real property within the parking assessment districts; to hear all objections, protests or other written communications from any such interested persons; to take and receive oral and documentary evidence pertaining to matters contained in the filed report; to remedy and correct any error or informality in the report and to amend, alter, modify and correct and confirm the report and each of the assessments therein. City Clerk Gloria Young said that the City Council had received written correspondence from Odette Mock. Senior Engineer James Harrington said since the filing of the assessment role with the City Clerk in mid-May, staff received and investigated several inquiries. The only changes made to the
engineer=s role were those contained in Attachment C of the staff report (CMR:262:98). Senior Planner Brian Dolan said the letter from Odette Mock stated that her basement at 370 California Avenue was unfairly assessed as a retail space. She was unable to use it for retail. It was
assessed in Land Use Code No. 32 which was Αany use not specified.≅ It was being used for storage to a party offsite which was an unusual use. Mr. Harrington said staff felt no need to change the assessment currently contained in the records with the City Clerk. Mayor Rosenbaum declared the Public Hearing open. Receiving no requests from the public to speak, he declared the Public Hearing closed. Council Member Wheeler asked whether the assessment of the basement property as occupied reduced the assessment amount from retail. Mr. Dolan said yes. Council Member Eakins asked whether staff would convey the information to Ms. Mock. Mr. Harrington said staff would write a letter and formalize the conclusion reached by staff. MOTION: Council Member Wheeler moved, seconded by Eakins, to approve the Resolutions.
Resolution 7759 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the
City of Palo Alto Confirming Engineer=s Report and Assessment Roll, California Avenue Parking Project No. 92-13 (For Fiscal
Year 1998-1999)≅
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Resolution 7760 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the
City of Palo Alto Confirming Engineer=s Report and Assessment Roll, California Avenue Keystone Lot Parking Project No. 86-
01 (For Fiscal Year 1998-1999)≅
Resolution 7761 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the
City of Palo Alto Confirming Engineer=s Report and Assessment Roll, University Avenue Parking Projects (Lot J Refunding and 250 University Avenue Acquisition) (For Fiscal Year 1998-
1999)≅
Resolution 7762 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the
City of Palo Alto Confirming Engineer=s Report and Assessment Roll, California Avenue Off-Street Parking Project No. 71-63
(For Fiscal Year 1998-1999)≅
Resolution 7763 entitled ΑResolution of the Council of the
City of Palo Alto Confirming Engineer=s Report and Assessment Roll, University Avenue Area Off-Street Parking Project No.
75-63 (For Fiscal Year 1998-1999)≅ MOTION PASSED 8-0, Schneider "not participating." 20. PUBLIC HEARING: The Palo Alto City Council will consider the application of Ananda Church of Self Realization for Tentative Subdivision Map approval to remove seven existing lot lines and adjust one lot line to convert ten lots into three lots for the purposes of constructing additions to an existing religious facility for property located at 2137-2171 El Camino Real/456 College Avenue. Council Member Mossar said she was told there was a prior decision about the project which was not referenced in the packet. Zoning Administrator Lisa Grote said about one year prior, there was a similar proposal for the Ananda Church which involved 11 underlying lots to be combined into 4 lots. The current project was a minor modification in that it involved 10 of the 11 lots and would combine them into 3 lots. The reason for the change was that the basement had been deleted from the proposal and the 11th lot was not needed in the reconfiguration. Council Member Mossar asked whether there was a description of a project during the prior discussion. Ms. Grote said there was a description of the project, which was an Architectural Review Board (ARB) major project as well as a use permit and included additional square footage to the existing facility.
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Council Member Eakins said when she was on the Planning Commission, there was discussion about buying the small house next door. She asked whether that was part of the current project. Ms. Grote said that was part of the Architectural Review Board and use permit portion of the application. The lot line adjustment or tentative map reviewed by the Council was a condition of approval of the ARB and use permit review. The tentative map no longer included the lot with the small house, but the ARB and use permit application included the small house. The existing 11 lots that made up the entire application included the lot with the small house; the other 10 lots were built with the existing church and some accessory buildings. The Church wanted to combine the 10 lots with existing facilities and make them three lots. The small house would be removed and replaced with a new building. Mayor Rosenbaum declared the Public Hearing open. Receiving no requests from the public to speak, he declared the Public Hearing closed. MOTION: Vice Mayor Schneider moved, seconded by Kniss, to approve the staff recommendation as follows: 1. Approve the Negative Declaration (Attachment C of the Planning Commission staff report), with a finding that the project will not result in any significant environmental impacts; and 2. Approve a tentative subdivision map based on the findings included in the Planning Commission staff report (Attachment A of the Planning Commission staff report)and subject to the modified conditions (Attachment C) ATTACHMENT A DRAFT FINDINGS FOR TENTATIVE SUBDIVISION MAP Recommended Findings for Approval 1. The proposed subdivision is consistent with all applicable Comprehensive Plan policies and programs. 2. The site is physically suitable for the type of development proposed in that the proposed lot configuration accommodates remodeling and upgrade of the existing church and other site modifications which meet the Architectural Review Board Standards for Review and is a required condition of approval for Use Permit 95-UP-63 and Architectural Review Board application 97-ARB-199. The resulting improvements also fully comply with all existing zoning regulations. 3. The design of the new lot pattern and building locations will not cause any environmental impacts as the proposal
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eliminates existing lot lines under the existing structures and does not increase the intensity of use on the project site. 4. The design of the new lot pattern and the proposed improvements will not result in serious public health problems in that all necessary public services, including public utilities, are available and will be provided. 5. The design of the new lot pattern will not conflict with public easements for access through the use of the property in that all three resulting lots have access to a public street and the required cross-access easements will assure continued access to the parking lot and driveways for the life of the use. ATTACHMENT C DRAFT CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL OF SUBDIVISION GENERAL 1. All Conditions required under Conditional Use Permit 95-UP-63 and Architectural Review Board application 97-ARB-199, shall apply to this project and be incorporated as a part of this approval. 2. The developer shall repair, restore or replace, at the developers expense, any City property damaged while performing work within the City right-of-way. 3. Each parcel or place of business shall have its own
water, gas services and meters and sewer lateral connections. The existing Water, Gas and Wastewater connections may remain serving a parcel within the projection of the property lines. Private easements are required for any underground lines crossing parcel lines.
4. The relocation of service, meters, hydrants, or other facilities shall be performed at the cost of the person requesting the relocation.
5. The applicant shall maintain one electrical service per parcel or place of business. PRIOR TO SUBMITTAL OF FINAL MAP 6. The Applicant shall arrange a meeting to discuss the improvement plans necessary for the project with Public Works Engineering, Planning, Fire and Transportation Departments. These improvement plans must be completed and approved by the City prior to submittal of a final map.
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7. All construction within the City right-of-way, easements
or other property under the City=s jurisdiction shall conform to standard specifications of the Public Works and Utility Departments. 8. The applicant shall submit a current Preliminary Title Report and Grant Deed for the subject properties. PRIOR TO RECORDATION OF FINAL MAP 9. The applicant shall set monuments at all corners of the three resulting lots (1,2 and 3). 10. The final map submitted shall show all the widths of streets in the vicinity as well as all easements affecting the property. 11. Prior to application for a final map, the subdivider shall submit a declaration of easement, or other documentation acceptable to the City Attorney, which provides for mutual pedestrian and vehicular access to all parking facilities and driveways on the resulting lots used by the religious facility. This document shall be recorded with the final map. This condition shall satisfy condition 5 of Conditional Use Permit (95-UP-63). The required easement shall be shown on the face of the recorded final map. 12. The subdivider shall post a bond prior to the recording of the final parcel map to guarantee completion of the items approved under improvement plan. The amount of the bond shall be determined by the Planning Division and Public Works Department. MOTION PASSED 9-0. 21. February 2-3, 1998, Flood Post-Incident Critique Council Member Fazzino asked about the decision to move in the direction of telephones as opposed to sirens. Ms. Fleming said consideration was given to the sirens prior to recommending them to the Council, but staff came to a unanimous decision that the sirens had several drawbacks. Fire Chief Ruben Grijalva said staff looked at a variety of alerting systems and had a demonstration of four separate systems. There was no question that the siren system was the most controversial of all the alerting systems. People either loved it and wanted it or hated it. There was a great amount of misunderstanding that surrounded a siren system because people compared it to the existing air raid siren system that was located
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only at City fire stations and City facilities. The current technology had advanced significantly. The problems associated with siren systems had increased in terms of construction. New homes and remodeled homes had dual-paned glass, and the siren systems currently in place were ineffective. The current systems were engineered siren systems which required 30 to 40 sirens located throughout the City as opposed to at each fire station. The siren systems included large gray speaker boxes the size of a car, elevated on a pole. Those systems would take significant time to install. The estimated cost ranged from $500,000 to $1,000,000. The City of Milpitas chose to install a siren system. For an area of 8 to 10 square miles, 30 units were necessary, at a cost of $800,000. The siren system did not address alerting for the hearing-impaired. It was not a unique system in terms of identifying specific information. The two recommended systems would allow the City to notify the community specifically about the nature of the emergency. An all-risk type system was considered which addressed different situations. In the event of a hazardous materials event, it might be necessary to direct people in different directions. People might need to be sheltered in one place or guided somewhere else due to wind direction. A siren going off gave no information of that type of nature. The phone and pager systems allowed specific information to be delivered to areas of the community. The recommended systems allowed the City to focus and define the area where the system was installed. A siren system would not do that because it was broader based. Each system required public education, community education, and knowledge of how the system worked. Even with the most education, activation of a siren system would inundate the 911 system with people asking why the siren was going off. Council Member Fazzino asked about the possibility of augmenting the phone system by using police and fire sirens. The report mentioned the benefits as well as the downside associated with the systems. He asked whether the Fire Department would approach the next crisis differently with respect to the use of police and fire systems rather than what was used during the February storm. Mr. Grijalva said the use would be based on the nature of the event. The Fire Department had more current information than it had during the February storm. His concern was with notification to residents in a case such as the Oakland Hills fire. That type of situation would require mass evacuation and large notification. The problem with using police sirens and air horns was that the noise was nonspecific and did not indicate the need for evacuation or notification. Council Member Fazzino referred to page 13 of the staff report (CMR:232:09), under Public Education, and said that Mr. Grijalva
had indicated that the City=s disaster public education program was eliminated in 1988. He was under the impression that the City had an earthquake preparedness system in place.
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Mr. Grijalva said the Fire Department utilized 20 percent of one
staff person=s time for disaster preparedness. The Fire Department
put together a revised document entitled, ΑLiving With Our Faults≅ which was distributed to every home in Palo Alto and was available on the Internet. It was a passive education system. The Fire Department was not actively meeting with neighborhoods and doing disaster preparedness. The Fire Department tried to accommodate meeting with neighborhoods who requested information on disaster preparedness. Ms. Fleming said the public education program as previously funded by the Council was not currently in place. Council Member Fazzino said one of the issues that emerged following the aftermath of the flood was the messages that people received from the Communications Department. Some people felt they did not receive enough information and others felt there was not an indication from Communications that the City was in the middle of an emergency. He asked whether the performance of the Communications staff evaluated to make sure there was a consistent message being communicated to the public during a crisis. Police Chief Chris Durkin said during their critique, they learned that the communication between the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the Dispatch Center was not as good as it should be, and the volume of calls that came in overwhelmed the dispatchers. The ability to create another bank of phones had been put in place. Council Member Fazzino asked what would happen in the event of another emergency to get a unilateral message to the Communications Department with respect to what needed to be communicated. Mr. Durkin said the message could be accomplished through the computer system. The message would be created and given to each dispatcher. Mr. Grijalva said staff met following the February storm and predrafted statements which could be used in the event the fire or police personnel had to go into neighborhoods with vehicles and public announcement (PA) systems. Council Member Fazzino said one issue that was consistently brought up during the public hearings was that the Police and Fire Department were quiet when they got into neighborhoods. The feeling was that police and fire personnel crept through neighborhoods. The message from the community was that they wanted as much noise as possible to alert them to the situation. Mr. Grijalva said the issue was discussed during the critique. In some neighborhoods, the police and fire personnel did not make enough noise for a variety of reasons. In some cases, they went
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door-to-door and were overwhelmed by the magnitude of what they had to deal with and, in some cases, they did not know what to do in terms of waking everyone up. The decision was made in the earlier hours of the evening to attempt to evacuate where necessary. In some cases individual judgements made by field units and, in other cases, units were sent into neighborhoods with sirens, air horns and bull horns. Part of the problem dealt with not knowing where or when a creek would overflow. As indicated by the report, there were two emergencies: the earlier emergency was dealing with the pooling and ponding in basements and backup of stormdrains. Police and fire units were sent into the neighborhood immediately around the San Francisquito Creek to evacuate the neighborhoods, not knowing that the water was going to sheet past the area of Seneca Street and University Avenue and head toward the St. Francis and DeSoto neighborhoods. That information was not available at the time, but it would be handled differently in the future. Ms. Fleming said she heard from the neighborhood associations that there should be no concern about the noise. People would rather be warned early, and people in unimpacted areas wanted to be notified in order to provide assistance if needed. Council Member Fazzino asked about the area of communications and how the City Manager planned to address the broader issue of communications/leadership and the need for communications to be a factor in the plan as emergency response and other components of the plan. Ms. Fleming said there were several levels of communications that needed to be addressed. There was a need to communicate after the warning with various groups. Every device such as cable, radios, TV stations, and press releases needed to be used to communicate to the general public. Declaring an emergency was an official act that needed to be taken in order to be eligible for reimbursement. Council Member Fazzino said the act of going to neighborhoods and placing door hangars informing people what they could do to recover from the flood, as well as making sure a community meeting took place within several days time, should be considered. Ms. Fleming said what the City did in terms of communicating with the public about recovery went well for having no experience. The door hangars and plastic bags distributed needed to be routine. The City did it because the community demanded that type of information and it would become an integral piece of the plan. Council Member Wheeler said the staff report (CMR:232:98) focused on the incidents the community suffered in February. The community was prone to other types of disasters. She asked Mr. Grijalva if the reliability of each type of system in various disasters were assessed. She asked whether the telephone-based alerting system was as reliable as the siren-based system.
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Mr. Grijalva said the issue of reliability was considered. A subcommittee looked at the technology and incident of use. Redundancy was another issue of concern, and which was why there was a recommendation for two different systems. The phone system being looked at had a link for messages to come from a mutual aid area. Two locations were being looked at: one in Northern California and one in Southern California. Those were looked at in terms of redundancy and reliability. Council Member Wheeler asked about the telephone notification system and referred to page 12 of the staff report (CMR:232:98) where Mr. Grijalva mentioned something about the applicability of the system and its usefulness to people who had unlisted phone numbers. Authority needed to be obtained to access the unlisted numbers through the 911 system. She asked who had the authority to permit the system to notify the unlisted numbers. Mr. Grijalva said in a discussion he had with Coordinator of Communications Operations John Bush indicated there was existing legislation that required the phone company to provide unlisted phone numbers to a municipality for community alerting. He was confident the information would be made available to the City. Ms. Fleming said people chose to have unlisted numbers for privacy reasons. There were risks with that, and the City would do all it could to make sure those unlisted people would be contacted. Staff thought if there was a disaster, neighbors around the unlisted people would create so much activity that everyone would become aware of what was going on. Staff would make every effort to obtain the unlisted numbers. Mr. Grijalva said community education/public education would be discussed as part of the Emergency Plan, which would include training people in neighborhoods to be prepared for the first 72 hours following a disaster and setting up communication networks. Council Member Wheeler said Mr. Grijalva mentioned that staff had better topographical information related to the San Francisquito Creek. There were three other major creeks in the community. The City was fortunate that none of those creeks breeched during the February storm, although a couple came close. She asked whether the City had an equal amount of topographical information about the way those creeks would behave. Mr. Grijalva said preliminary work surrounding Matadero Creek was done during the event. There were dollars budgeted to enhance the GIS system to develop more detailed maps for all threats. Council Member Huber clarified the system was as big as a car. Mr. Grijalva said each siren was about the size of a car. The siren was a large gray speaker that would be elevated.
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Council Member Huber said some people did not answer the phone at
three o=clock in the morning or pay attention to pagers. They would not know what was happening until their feet got wet. Mr. Grijalva said he did not have a solution that would reach 100 percent of the people. Redundancies would be built into the system through emergency notification and neighborhood training. Facing an identical event of February 2-3, all resources were responding to other emergency calls as well as going into neighborhoods. With the proposed systems, some of the resources doing creek monitoring would be freed up. There would still be a high demand for calls during an emergency. The system, in addition to making phone calls, would print out a report as to who answered, where there was no answer, and where an answering machine answered. With the current plan, if the creek level reached 80 percent, the Fire Department would be in the neighborhood with red lights, sirens, and air horns. If the flooding occurred prior to the system being in place, there would be a number of false alarms. As indicated by the City Manager, the community was willing to put up with those false alarms at the present time. In the future, with the community alerting system, earlier warning would be provided which would let the residents know the (EOC) had been activated. Council Member Huber asked at what level of flood stage the new system would be triggered. Mr. Grijalva said one recommendation of the Emergency Plan was that the City Manager would appoint a Blue Ribbon Task force to take specific planning issues to community groups and discuss the appropriate level of making recommendations. With the alerting systems, 80 percent was reasonable. Council Member Ojakian said many people talked about warning systems. People wanted to be warned early in order to save some of their possessions. Some people would leave their homes during the warning systems. It was one thing to have a warning system, but another as to how it was used to ensure people got to safe areas. Mr. Grijalva said there would be an action point at which the Fire Department would recommend evacuation. At some point, evacuation centers would need to be set up for people who needed to leave their homes. During the February storm, a bus system using the Palo Alto School District (PAUSD) buses transported people to the evacuation centers. In the future, people would be notified early enough that they could take their personal vehicles to evacuation centers. A concern during the February storm was whether it was a greater risk to put all the people on the roadway or have them remain in their homes. Council Member Ojakian said that was also a concern of his.
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Mr. Grijalva said that was a concern during any evacuation. Part of the Emergency and Comprehensive Plans was the identification of primary evacuation routes. Some people might decide to move their vehicles and possessions and try to stay with their homes to protect whatever they could. Council Member Ojakian asked how that would be sustained. Mr. Grijalva said he could not guarantee all neighborhoods wanting to continue to be involved. There were at least 15 neighborhoods interested in being involved and whose needs the City had not been able to meet for the past several years but anxious to work in the area of disaster preparedness. One program being looked at as part of the Emergency Plan was the Palo Alto Neighborhood Disaster Activities Program (PANDA) which would be involved in training people in disaster preparedness and training of trainers. Council Member Ojakian said it might be good to identify medical personnel in neighborhoods. Emergency planning was focused in on, but what was done after the fact needed more focus. He asked whether that was being looked at in more detail, including such things as when service was shut off or provided free to people and helping people through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or other process. Ms. Fleming said the Dimensions Unlimited Program which had not been used in the past provided a favorable response. There were ways to have contracts ready to go when emergencies occurred. Under the emergency authority, a manager could initiate the contracts. Council Member Ojakian clarified there would be something similar to a formal recovery program. Ms. Fleming said yes. Council Member Eakins was impressed by the potential for the phone alert system. During the 1989 earthquake, phone service was interrupted in different parts of the City. She asked whether there was a redundancies in mind for that type of condition. Mr. Grijalva said when looking at all risk disasters, community alerting was intended to alert people of a coming disaster such as flood or wildland fire. There was no community alerting system designed to warn of an earthquake. The type of information that would come out post-earthquake would be informational in nature. Following an earthquake, people were likely to tune in to news media for information. Mary Carey Schaefer, 742 DeSoto Drive, said the staff talked about public education. There had been no flooding in Palo Alto for about 40 years. She spoke twice to the Council in previous years about the potential of future flooding. Her house had not been
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flooded before, but she became aware that she was in the flood district and ended up with 14 inches of water. Public education with a 40 year gap was not going to work. Any alarm system had to
be part of the utility system, an innate part of the City=s working function. Redundancy was also necessary. There was a problem with people who did not have on-line or cable. A 3:30 a.m. event required a system that would wake people up. She preferred the old World War II alarms. There was no warning with a flood unless someone had an empty pool where the water came over the edge of a pool. When her house had one inch of water, she wanted to get out because she thought she would be electrocuted. That was something she had not heard discussed with the emergency. She did not know how the City would communicate that to new people who had not lived through such a situation. Her husband gave her boots in order to walk out of DeSoto Drive at 3:30 a.m. She found out that the City knew the creek had breeched at 1:30 a.m. and said no one was on her street immediately and there were no alarms. She did not know why the residents were not warned. The system was in effect, but the information did not get to the Fire Department. Bob Moss, 4010 Orme Street, said page 16 of the staff report (CMR:232:98) referenced additional money spent for gauges in Adobe, San Francisquito, and Matadero Creeks. There was also reference to possibly spending additional money. He suggested the City consider additional gauges, specifically in Barron Creek. Barron Park Association talked to the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) and the City in 1985 about putting in gauges and alarms in the various creeks, and they chose not to do it at the time. Since then the Water District recognized the error of their ways and put a few gauges in. More information and data was needed. Page 15 referenced training and a single point of contact, and there was reference to having a Director of Emergency Services. It would be useful to have an individual who held that position during normal times, who could do things such as outreach and education for the community, and act as a point of contact both during emergencies and after emergencies. That person would also coordinate with emergency services, City Manager, and Police and Fire Departments. In the list of alerting mechanism, there were illusions made during the discussion to use cable television, using a scroll on a screen, but not everyone subscribed to cable. Another mechanism was the Internet. Information would be available on computers and could be posted to everyone who had an e-mail address. The problem with the generic alarm system was that people were not given real information. Coordination with the neighborhoods was necessary. MOTION: Council Member Kniss moved, seconded by Huber, to approve the staff recommendation that the Council approve the Budget Amendment Ordinance in the amount of $172,000 to create a new Capitol Improvement Program (CIP) project for an Emergency Notification System and direct staff to include $228,000 in the 1998-99 budget to upgrade the Emergency Operation Center (EOC). Staff further recommends that Council direct staff to come back to
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Council with an addendum to the proposed Emergency Management Plan that addresses the areas for improvement identified in the report: information systems; public education; internal training, equipment/supplies; information and referral; and volunteer coordination.
Ordinance 4505 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 in the Amount of $172,000 to Create a New Capital Improvement Project, Number 19821, Emergency
Notification System≅ Council Member Kniss said the comments made were excellent. There was not going to be a perfect system which was troubling to everyone. Something that occurred in the dead of the night would not have the same type of response as something that occurred during the day. She recalled that during the earthquake, phones did not work. It was frightening to be completely out of phone contact for a long period of time. There probably was no system that would give people a total sense of a complete way to notify the citizens. People remained frustrated. The flood was a silent and almost mysterious calamity to and left anyone who was affected feeling the effects. Council Member Fazzino said he was happy to support the proposal for the phone warning system and pleased to see the staff propose that the system be supplemented by a neighborhood based system. It was the best alternative. People had to take care of themselves and each other in order to make the system a success. Following the February storm, the staff did as good a job as possible in terms of emergency response given the resources available. His
criticism at the time of the City=s response was in the area of communications. The City did a poor job communicating with the public about the issue. It was essential that communications be a component of the Emergency Management Plan. The City Manager and City Clerk worked closely during the prior months to make sure the public communications function was merged into a single function, and that person would report to the person who had ultimate responsibility for managing the organization. Communications would not be successful in any situation, whether crisis or noncrisis, unless communications was viewed as a top priority by the individual in charge of the organization. He was upset that he, as a Council Member, did not find out what went on for twelve hours. He was answering questions from members of the public overnight and had no idea what to tell them. Public Officials had a right to know what was happening in order to effectively communicate with the community. It was inappropriate to wait a couple weeks to have a meeting with the public regarding what had happened. Those issues needed to be addressed as part of the Emergency Management Plan. Communications was just as important as any other element in the Plan. The staff was thanked for an excellent report. MOTION PASSED 9-0.
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MOTION: Council Member Kniss moved, seconded by Schneider, to move Item No. 24 to become Item No. 21A for the purposes of continuance. MOTION PASSED 9-0. 21A. (Old Item No. 24) Request by Council Member Fazzino and Council Member Mossar to Approve a Resolution Supporting in Concept the Creation of a Multi-Service Day Facility for the Homeless and Those at Risk of Homelessness Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Declaring Its Support in Concept for the Creation of a Multi-Service Day Facility for the Homeless and Those at Risk of Homelessness MOTION TO CONTINUE: Council Member Kniss moved, seconded by Schneider, to continue Item No. 21A (Old Item No. 24) to the Monday, June 29, 1998, City Council Meeting. MOTION TO CONTINUE PASSED: 9-0.
RECESS: 9:50 P.M. - 10:05 P.M. 22. 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 $275,000 to Create a Public Safety Building Capital Improvement Project, Number 19820
Council Member Mossar asked whether the advisory committee=s role was complete or would it continue through the process of work. Assistant Police Chief Lynne Johnson said the work of the advisory committee had just begun. It was anticipated that the committee would be active throughout the process, to include the site evaluation and public outreach. Mayor Rosenbaum asked about the $51,000 budgeted for public outreach and meetings. Acting Assistant Director of Public Works John Carlson said staff felt it was important to establish a strong basis of support from the community at the beginning of the project. Community-wide workshops would be held to receive input, and that information would be given to the consultant in order to formulate the scope and definition of the project. Ms. Fleming said staff heard that the community wanted to hear things before they were in concrete. That was seen in a number of projects which staff was involved in. There was an open issue about where to put the facility and what type of facility. That was outreach the City needed to do. Staff needed the option to provide facilitation if necessary. The recent experiences with the
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public told staff that it was essential to talk a lot, often, and early which was what staff was trying to do. Mayor Rosenbaum said he recognized the City Council suggested a number of different potential sites; however, he thought when the initial investigations were done, they might include that there was no practical, feasible site at some of the locations. He asked whether the City would hold public hearings in that area. Ms. Fleming said her concern was that staff could not come to a conclusion until talking to the public. Some sites might be eliminated for practical reasons. People needed to understand the project in order to have enough support in the public for it. Council Member Ojakian asked about the cost involved in the new facility, both for the renovated facility and for the option that dealt with construction of a new building. Mr. Carlson said he referred only to the construction cost. MOTION: Council Member Kniss moved, seconded by Mossar, to approve the revised staff recommendation as follows: 1. Approve a Budget Amendment Ordinance (BAO) in the amount of $275,000 to fund the project development, Phase 1, for the Public Safety Building Capital Improvement Program (CIP), Project 19820. 2. Approve and authorize the Mayor to execute the contract with Ross/Drulis Architects and Planners in the amount of $240,700 for consultant services for the project development, Phase 1, of the Public Safety Building CIP Project 19820. 3. Authorize the City Manager or her designed to negotiate and execute one or more change orders to the contract with Ross/Drulis Architects and Planners for related additional but unforeseen work that may develop during the project, the total value of which shall not exceed $24,000. Further, that Section 5.1.1 of the contract be revised to remove the word "hourly."
Ordinance 4506 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 $275,000 to Create a Public Safety Building Capital Improvement Project, Number 19820"
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Contract Between the City of Palo Alto and Ross/Drulis Architects and Planners for Phase I, Project Development for the Public Safety Building, CIP 19820 MOTION PASSED 8-0, Schneider absent. REPORTS OF OFFICIALS 23. Request for Council Direction Regarding Termination of the Ten-Year Lease with the Pacific Skyline Council/Boy Scouts of America, Sea Scouts for the Sea Scout Facility at the End of Embarcadero Road in the Palo Alto Baylands Manager, Real Property Bill Fellman said the request was for Council direction and staff recommendation that the lease for the Sea Scouts building in the Baylands be extended for one year to give the Sea Scouts additional time to move to another facility. The ten-year lease for the Scout facility ended on June 30, 1998, and there was no provision to extend the lease beyond that date. The Sea Scouts were not prepared to relocate. The Scouts also requested extending the lease for two additional years. Ivan Gendzel, 1019 Harker Avenue, said the Palo Alto Sea Scouts began in 1928 and had been in continuous operation since that time. Lucie Stern donated $13,000 for the construction of the Palo Alto Sea Scout base and construction commenced in November 1940 with Birge and David Clark as the architects. The base provided one of the most comprehensive Sea Scout meeting facilities in the nation, and the building was officially opened on April 16, 1941, by a large contingency of Sea Scouts who gathered to honor Ms. Stern. A public event was held on the weekend of May 30, 1994, when Stanford President Ray Lyman Wilbur, a member of the executive board of the National Boy Scout Council, addressed the meeting. The Sea Scout base had served generations of Sea Scouts and their volunteer leaders. Currently, the base housed 6 ships serving approximately 150 members. There were 4 other ships based in Mountain View and Redwood City. The base was used for meetings, storage of materials, and a practice grounds for various outdoor activities, including hosting an annual Sea Scout rendezvous during which hundreds of Scouts participated. The Harbor had been closed since 1986, and the base continued serve. Recent repairs had helped restore the function of the building to some of its prior level, and the repaired sea wall would prevent future flooding barring any 100-year floods. The Pacific Skyline Council demonstrated a lack of institutional memory, assuming that the Sea Scout base was tied to the lease of the Lucie Stern Community Center. No proper preparations were made for the termination of the base lease on June 30, 1998. The possibilities of relocating the historic and valuable building were looked at. An opinion was given by an architect that the relocation might be feasible; therefore, the
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request was for an additional two years to study the matter and then act on the recommendations of the study. The intent was to be out of the building at the present site by the end of the two-year period. Trish Siddens, 804 Tallsman Drive, asked for support for the Explorer Scouting program, whose home base was in Palo Alto. The Explorer programs were open to both young men and women. Her sons were in the program and it was a very positive influence on them. The boys were taught hands on lessons in seamanship, cooperation, responsibility, and courage. They were expected to work hard which prepared them to be better moral and ethical individuals as well as able seaman. They learned to strive for excellence in themselves and to achieve goals in excellence and cooperation with others. Several years prior, her son was asked to be skipper of the ship, Intrepid. It was noteworthy that the particular program lured back a huge percentage of the young men who came back as officers and leaders. Men and women of success in their chosen professions chose to return to their ship of youth to be part of bringing up another group of responsible young men and women. The former Explorers who returned as officers did so at no small sacrifice to themselves. The commitment of time was enormous. The ship, Intrepid, did the same thing. The Palo Alto ship, Intrepid, answered a need in so many adolescents and older teens. It was a place of care, hands on hard work, learning, and fun in an atmosphere of wise guidance and high, moral and ethical standards. William Rosenberg, 820 Bruce Drive, said his two sons were members of the Intrepid, and he was proud to be the father of two Sea Scouts. He urged the Council to extend the current lease of the Sea Scout base to the Scouts for a period which was realistic with respect to the task of determining a viable long-term home for the Scout units. The staff report (CMR:249:98) suggested that the previous ten-year period was for that objective, but the record was not clear on that point in that there had been several failures of communication. Some failures had been internal within the Scouting organization and others were from the City to make its objectives and expectations clear. It was that failure to communicate which created the urgency with the lease expiring at the end of the month. Staff recommended extension of the lease for one year with quarterly reports concerning progress towards a long-term plan. He suggested, having seen the timescale on which things happened in Palo Alto, that a more realistic time period would be two years with semi-annual reporting. A campaign to raise funds for a replacement base nearer where the ships were based in Redwood City would be realistic. His older son, who was attending school at Cal Poly, was strongly in favor of keeping the base in Palo Alto. Either way, it was unrealistic to expect a conclusion within a year. Two years might also be too short to reach a complete conclusion, but it would be possible to have a workable plan in progress at that time.
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Ed Power, 2254 Dartmouth Street, said each of the Council Members were elected to represent the people of Palo Alto. He asked who the Council represented and said it was possibly the people who supported their election. The Council was responsible for what went on. Each Council Member should have his own individual reasons and be able to defend them for the actions the Council took. In 1980, the City of Palo Alto requested a permit from a Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) to have what was then a viable harbor dredged. Into the application for permit, the City wrote in an application to destroy the Sea Scout base, a viable launching ramp, and the Palo Alto Yacht Club. Those things had nothing to do with the dredging permit. Time went by and the newspapers said the BCDC demanded the harbor be closed which was a lie. The most outrageous thing was in 1988 when the Scouts were threatened despite the fact that the City said they would tear down the building unless the Scouts released title of the property to the City. Scouts, like others in Palo Alto were afraid of the Council because the sole power in the City rested in the hands of the Council. He asked what the reason was for terminating the lease and what was the reason for seizing the property in the first place. The Council did not seek to justify its stand defending the acquisition of the property be extortion from Sea Scouts in 1988. He recommended the Council cease action to throw the Scouts out. Eve Agiewich, 3427 Janice Way, underscored an issued raised in a letter she understood had been distributed to the Council from the Human Relations Commission (HRC). The letter included an explanation about some recent Supreme Court rulings concerning the Boy Scouts of America in which the Supreme Court confirmed that the Boy Scouts was a private organization and therefore could continue its policies of excluding youths who professed to be homosexuals or who disavowed belief in God. The HRC questioned certain preferential contractual arrangements between the Boy Scouts and the City of Palo Alto. The HRC was originally advised that the City provided free meeting and activity space to the Boy Scouts at Lucie Stern as well as at the Yacht Harbor, which was pursuant to the last will and testament of Lucie Stern. They were then told that Lucie Stern had requested in a letter that the Boy Scouts be given space. The concern was whether the Boy Scouts were able to practice a national policy of discrimination, which the Supreme Court said they could, then it might be inappropriate for the City to provide them with preferential treatment in leasing space for
free. The City Attorney=s Office suggested to her that the Council could refer the matter back for investigation, which was what she was asking. The Human Relations Commission (HRC) recognized that scouting provided wonderful and valuable experiences for millions of children. MOTION: Council Member Fazzino moved, seconded by Kniss, to approve the staff recommendation that the Council authorize the City Manager to extend the lease for two years, and that Sea Scouts be advised to find a new location, given the damaged condition of the
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Sea Scout facility floor and foundation, and the infeasibility of repair. To assure that Sea Scouts will follow through, the extension would require that Sea Scouts make quarterly reports to the City Manager on its progress in finding a new location. Council Member Fazzino said the extension was a reasonable transition which gave the Scouts enough time to find a permanent home. The idea offered by the Scouts to provide the Council with semi-annual reports with respect to their search for a permanent home was a good suggestion. Council Member Wheeler supported the motion but favored retaining the more frequent reporting system. There was a lot of work to be done in the two-year time frame. She and Council Member Kniss took a very extensive field trip to the building on day and met with Mr. Gorman and other Scouting officials. It was a special building which would be delightful if the building could be preserved, protected, and reused. She recognized that it would take time and effort to determine whether that could be done. The two-year time period was reasonable. It was also reasonable for the Council to expect frequent reporting back. The quarterly reporting would give the Council a better understanding of how quickly the Scouts were moving ahead with their plans to refurbish, relocate, fund raise, and do what they needed to do to preserve the building. MOTION PASSED 6-0, Eakins, Mossar abstaining, Schneider absent. MOTION: Council Member Eakins moved, seconded by Mossar, that the City Council direct the City Attorney to report back on the implications of preferential treatment of private organizations which practice discrimination. Council Member Fazzino said the issue of preferential treatment came up while he was Mayor, and it was determined that the local Scouting Council did not practice discrimination, there were no claims of discrimination, and therefore it was a non-issue. More inquiry was necessary before making a decision. It made sense for the HRC to work with the Council in a more deliberative way, address the issue more broadly, and bring it before the Council as a separate agenda item. MOTION TO TABLE: Council Member Fazzino moved, seconded by Huber, to table the issue. MOTION TO TABLE PASSED 5-3, Eakins, Mossar, Rosenbaum "no," Schneider absent. COUNCIL MATTERS 25. Cancellation of June 15, 1998, Council Meeting
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MOTION: Council Member Mossar moved, seconded by Wheeler, to cancel the June 15, 1998, Council Meeting. MOTION PASSED 8-0, Schneider absent. 26. Council Comments, Questions, and Announcements ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 11:00 p.m. in memory of Kathy Morse who passed away on May 29, 1998, and had been very active in the PTA and school issues and Olga Stapleton, a long-time resident
and owner of Stapleton=s Florists. 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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