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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-01-23 City Council Summary Minutes1 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS ARE BROADCAST LIVE VIA KZSU - FREQUENCY9O.1 ON FM DIAL=-= Regular Meeting January 23, 1989 Oral Communications Approval of Minutes 1. Resolution Expressing Appreciation to Jerome A. Williams Upon his Retirement Consent Calendar 2. Restatement and Amendment of Contract No. 237 with East Palo Alto Sanitary District for Water Quality Control Plant Service 3. Consultant Agreement with Golden Coast Environmental Services, Inc. for Street Tree Inventory Services 4. Contract with XtraSoft, Inc. for Electronic Cash Register System 5. appeal of Beckman Instruments from the Decision of the Director of '°y; :nfng and Community Environment far Property LOcated at 1050 Page Mill Road 6. Amendment to Lease and Covenant Not to Develop and Jordan Interim Lease Agreements with Palo Alto Unified School District PAGE 61-- 72 61-72 61-72 61-73 61-73 6i-73 61-73 61-81 61-70 1/23/89 7. San Francisco Bay Area Ridge Trail - Endorsement of Santa Clara County Inter- governmental Council Resolution of Support 8. Santa Clara County Intergovernmental Council Request for Comments on Model Toxic Gas Ordinance 9. Council Member Sutorius (and Council Member Woolley in absentia) re InterCity/ XnterGovernmantal Coordination in Santa Clara County Adjournment to a Closed Session re Employer/ Employee Relations at 9:29 p.m. Final adjournment at 10:52 p.m. 61.84 61-84 61-85 61-88 61-88 67-71 1/23/89 1 Regular Meeting January 23, 1989 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at 7:35 p.m. Mayor Klein announced that the Closed Session to discuss ( ,) Century Feder4l tv _of Palo Alto and (2) City of PalpAlto v. Ck y of East Palo Alto pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a) was held at 6:30 p.m. in the Personnel Conference Room. Mayor Klein announced the need for a Closed Session to Discuss Employer/Employee Relations Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 to be held immediately upon conclusion of the regular City Council meeting. PRESENT: Bechtel, Cobb, Klein, Fletcher, ][ivy, Renzel, Sutorius ABSENT: Patitucci, Woolley ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Ben Bailey, 171 Everet, spoke regarding Palo Alto Police Department complaints. 2. Edmund Power, 2254 Dartmouth Street, spoke regarding the Palo Altos Yacht Harbor. 3. Bunny Good, Founder, International Group Organization for the Disabled, F. O. Box 824, Menlo Park, spoke regarding CalTrain's removal of vehicles parked overnight. APPR0 A1LQZ" MOB MOTION: Council Member Sutoriue moved, seconded by Fletcher, approval of the minutes of December 19, 1988, as submitted. MOTION PASSED 7-0, Patitucci, Woolley absent. SPECK ORDERS OF TUE SAY 1. Resolution Exprsas3.ng Appreciation to Jerome A. Williams Upon His Retirement (515) (NPG) Police Chief Chris Durkin said Sgt. Jerome Williams originally joined the Palo Alto Police Department in September, 1960. Sgt. Williams made significant contributions over the past years. He would bib missed. 61-72 1/23/89 MOTION: Council Member Cobb moved, seconded by Sutorius, to adopt the resolution. RESOLUTION 0756 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO EXPRESSING APPRECIATION TO JEROME A. WILLIAMS UPON HIS RETIREMENT" MOTION PASSED 7-0, Patitucci, Woolley absent. C,OESEIE CALEWDAR MOTION: Council Member Sutorius moved, seconded by Fletcher, to approve Consent Calendar Items 2 - 4. 2. Restatement and Amendment of Contract No. 237 with East Palo Alto Sanitary District for Water Quality Control Plant Service (1121-01) (CMR:118:9) 3. Consultant Agreement with Golden Coast Environmental Services, Inc. for Street Tree Inventory Services; Staff is Authorized to Execute Amendments to the Agreement of up to $71000 (1015) (CMR:121:9) 4. Contract with XtraSoft, Inc. for Electronic Cash Register System; Change Orders not to Exceed $2,400; and $11,500 for the Purchase of Related Hardware and Software (270-01Y (CMR:116:9) MOTION PASSIM 7-0, Patitucci, Woolley absent �RT ZTS ANO CM(i SS IONS 5. Appeal of Sec an Instruments from the decision of the Director of Planning and Community Environment upholding the recommendation of the Architectural Review Hoard for Property Located at 1050 Page Mill Road/ 1117 California Avenue (300) (ClR:102:9) (Must be heard 1/23/89 to meet 31 working day requirement) Senior Assistant City Attorney Sue Case referred to a memo she sent to Council, dated January 19, 1989 (on file in the City Clerk'L: Office) . The item before the Council was a quasi-judicial hearing, and she suggested any Council Member who visited the site or independently spoke to any of the interested parties should put it on the record in order to reflect the background brought to the proceeding. Staff did not believe there were any legal issues surrounding the matter and was confident the conditions imposed were within the purview of the Architectural Review Board (ARB) ordinance. 61-73 1/23/89 1 1 1 e City Planner Jim Gilliland said the proposal to install a security fence around the perimeter of the site at 105') Page Mill Road included within the fence four automated gates, one at each of the existing entry points and a small guard house near California Avenue. Several neighborhood residents were concerned about added noise and traffic which might be created by the gates. The parking lot entrance on California Avenue had minimal use at night and the ARB believed a reasonable condition for approval was to restrict access during the nighttime hours to help mitigate the additional noise, traffic and pollution. Restrictions were not placed on the California Avenue entrance to the loading dock area since no alternate means was available for ingress and egress. The ARB believed Beckman should begin to study the possibility oZ accessing the loading dock from Page Mill Road since relocating the entrance to the loading dock area would further reduce the nonresidential traffic on California. The suggestion was that the results of such a study could return with the required Waster Landscape Plan. The project received final ARB approval on December 1, 1988. Council Member Sutorius asked the record to reflect that over the years as a member of the ARB, Planning Commission and City Council. he had occasion to be on the site specifically. Previous site specific matters were related to the Page Mill Road frontage and landscape applications associated with the main headquarters buildings. Council Member Pletcher went by the site but spoke to no one about the issue. Council Member Cobb drove around and through the site area and had previous occasions to visit the site in his civic involvement. He spoke to no one with respect to the issue. Council Member Renee' did visit the site. Council Member Levy visited the site and met with Roberto Piccioni, the Regulatory Compliance Inspector at Beckman who escorted him around the site. Council Member Levy asked for clarification regarding Condition 6. Mr. Gilliland said the ARB was intentionally loose on the require- ment. The ARB wanted Beckman to look into the possibility of providing access to the loading dock from Page Mill Road if it returned at some point with a more mare j or project. The request also arose as part of the residents' concerns in terms of night deliveries and chemical storage. Ms did not believe there was any intention that Beckman had to prepare a set of drawings which showed how such access could be built. The idea was to get Beckman on record that if major changes occurred in the loading dock area 61-74 1/23/89 or to put another building up, Beckman would put in the new access. With respect to the condition as imposed, he suggested Beckman had probably already complied with it. Council Welber Levy referenced condition 3 and queried whether the restriction meant soae vehicles would be allowed between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or no vehicles. Mr. Gilliland said no vehicles would be allowed from California Avenue to the parking lot between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. ARB Chairman Robert Evans said the staff report (CMR:102:9) accurately reflected the matter. Roberto Piccione, Project Manager,. Beckman Instruments, 1050 Page Mill Road, said Beckman was a life Science company, an organization dedicated to manufacturing the highest quality electronic analyti- cal and diagnostic instruments to support medical research. Its main product line in Palo Alto was centrifuges, and the plant was oriented towards engineering, administeation, and final assembly of instruments. The organization was not chemically intense and did not handle large amounts of cheeicals. The proposed project was necessary due to experience with vandalism and robberies of cars parked in their lots and within their facilities. The Beckman parking lot was used as a thoroughfare between Page Mill Road and California Avenue by the public. In April, 1987, Bee man devised a security plan in an attempt to resolve some of its problems. The installation costs were estimated to be about $434000. In May, 1987, the ARS continued the matter and noted several deficiencies. During the continued period, the installation costs rose to about $53,000. In Bepteaber, 1987, the ARS approved the revised plans with seven conditions. In order to respond to the seven condi- tions, landscape plans were developed and the fencing and guardhouse plans were refined to include the comments imposed by the ARB. Based on the discussions at the September, 1987, ARB sooting, the estimated project costs rose to about $120,000. Beckman accepted all seven conditions except the traffic restric- tions. Upon further research and evaluation of the restriction, Beckman was advised by its attorney there were no legal grounds for the condition. Discussions ensued with the Palo Alto City Attorney in an attempt to resolve the matter. The project was resubmitted to the ARB in December, 1988, and requested a re --evaluation of the appropriateness of the traffic condition. At the December, 1988, ARB meeting, approval was received with eight conditions: to remove barbed wire from existing fences; to provide a Master Landscape Plan within six months; to restrict vehicular access from California Avenue from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a._. ; to install along C el i forniaa Avenue fences with a maximum five-foot height 'bait; the guardhouse color to catch the existing bus stop; and to provide a feasibility study to provide loading dock access from Page Mill 61-75 1/23/89 1 Road. There were also concerns about irrigation around the oak tress and maintenance of some ivy. The ARB suggested "knox boxes" at all of its gates. Five of the conditions were new or significantly modified and two created a difficult situation. The condition requiring a study of loading dock access from Page Mill Road was not related to the security project and was inappropriate to be addressed. The truck traffic loads did not warrant the need for an additional entrance. The feasibility study could cost several thousand dollars to complete and the construction costs would also be high. The condition to provide a Master Landscape Plan within six months seemed inappropriate until an acceptable approval for the security project was attained. Beckman was willing to accept the conditions regarding the height limitation over the fencing and gates, materials to be used, the removal of barbed wire from the fences, significant California Avenue landscape plan, the provision of the Master Landscape Plan for the entire 17 -acre site, the color standards, and the provision of the emergency "knox boxes." The project tripled in cost to approximately $120,000. Beckman only objected to the traffic restriction and the loading dock feasibility study. The security project would not increase California Avenue traffic. No new access points were being added, and the design included measures to ensure norms► . traffic from Pact.. Mile. Road would not be diverted to California Avenue. Beckman operated on three shifts, and the number of employees working the night shifts were about 30 on swing and 12 on graveyard. Only eight of the nighttime employees approached the plant from California Avenue. The problem created by public use of the parking lot as a thoroughfare created more traffic than the Beckman operation. Without the traffic restriction, the project would work to reduce the load on California Avenue. The ARB suggested traffic constraint would affect two normal traffic patterns. The swing shift employees took a lunch break at 8:00 p.m., and some of the employees used California Avenue. At midnight there was a shift change, and the traffic along California Avenue was minimal. Beckman believed the issue could be resolved in a auch simpler manner than by imposing a, traffic restriction. Beckman wanted to work with the City to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution rather than in a legal setting. Beckman proposed to encourage its employees to use Page Mill Road during nighttime working hours. Gates along California Avenue would be open for 30 minutes during shift changes so that idling the cars for gate openings' would not occur. That would reduce noise from repeated gate openings, idling cars, and anticipated pollution increases. In return, the City would agree not to impose a traffic restriction and Beckman would work to voluntarily reduce the California Avenue usage. By stopping public use of the site, there was a net benefit to the City and the community by proceeding with the project without the traffic restriction. He urged consideration. 61-76 1/23/69 Council Member Cobb queried whether the project would be dropped if the unacceptable conditions were imposed. Mr. Piccione said it was being considered. Council Member Cobb was unclear about the strong opposition to the traffic restriction. Kr. Piccione said there were no present plans for expansion, but Beckman was concerned that by accepting the restriction, it could limit its options. Most of the night operations were centered in the Building 2 complex, which was closer to California Avenue, and approaching from Page Mill Road, it might not be the mostacces- sible route. Council Member Renzel asked whether a full swing shift was contempl ated . Mr. Piccione said no. Council Member Renzel also did not understand the problem with the traffic restriction. Mr. Piccione said Beckman proposed to work to encourage its employees to use Page Mill Road during swing and graveyard shifts, and believed . it could accomplish the same objectives without imposing the traffic restriction. MOTION: Council Member Levy moved, seconded by Bechtel, to approve staff recommendation that the City Council uphold the recommenda- tion of the Architectural Review Board and the decision of the Director of Planning and Community Environment, with the exception that Recommendation No. 6 be deleted, and approve the construction of the fence, landscaping, and guardhouse, as conditioned, based on the following findings: 1. The design of the project, as conditioned, is consistent and compatible with objectives of the City's Comprehensive Plan Housing and Transportation Elements and is compatible with the immediate environment of the site, in that: a. the project promotes visual aesthetics through increased landscaping; and b. the project enhances the desirability of the living conditions of the adjacent residential area and promotes orderly, harmonious and desirable development and use of the site and improvements in consideration of the adjacent ra; idantial and commercial properties and uses, through the restriction on produears of vehicular noise, 61-77 1/23/89 1 pollutants and accidents to the Page Mill Road entrance during the evening hours. 2. The fence design and landscaping promotes a harmonious transition in scale and character between the adjacent residential and commercial properties, in that the height of the fence has been limited to five feet and the landscaping has been designed to promote visual character and scale, compatible with the existing buildings and residences. 3. The guardhouse and fencesare appropriate for the function of the site, in that the project design provides for security of the site and allows for visual control of the adjacent area. The impacts of the installation of the automated security gates and guardhouse, and the resulting impeding of traffic from California Avenue are mitigated by the restriction on evening hour access to the automobile parking lot from the California Avenue entrance in that the restriction on access will reduce pollution, noise and traffic accidents that would result from the project if no restriction were imposed. 4. The planning and location of the site improvements create an internal sense of order and provide a desirable environment for occupants, visitors, and the general community, since landscaping, vehicular access and bicycle access as condi- tioned, h►ve been designed to create a safe and convenient environment for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles. The following conditions shall apply to this project: 1. Barbed wire shall be removed from any existing fences not being replaced. 2. The ARB strongly encourages Beckman to provide a complete Master landscape Plan for the entire property within six months from the date of ARB approval of the project. 3. Vehicular access shall be restricted from the California Avenue entrance to the automobile parking lot between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Access to the automobile parking lot shall be 1iffiited exclusively to the Page Mill Road entrance during the above nighttime hours. 4. The California Avenue fence shall be limited to five feet in height. 5. The guardhouse shall be one color only, a dark anodized color similar to the Santa Clara County bus shelter color, or color may be modified subject to staff approval. 61-78 1/23/89 6. Beckman shall further study the feasibil'cy of providing loading dock access from Page Mill Road instead of California Avenue. This may be included with the Master Landscape Plan. 7. Irrigation around the oak trees shall be provided and the ivy shall be pulled away. 8. A "Knox box" shall be provided if the guardhouse is not manned on a 24 -hour basis, or other suitable provisions shall be made to provide keys and emergency access for both the Fire and Police Departments. Council Member Levy said Beckman appeared to have studied the feasibility of providing loading dock access from Page Mill Road and fulfilled the condition reasonably well. With that in mind and since it was a point of contention, he believed it was a minor clement. He had no problem acceding to Beckman's desire that it not be a condition of approval. Regarding restricted vehicular access from California Avenue, it was a thorny transitional area between a residential and a commercial use. Historically, Beckman grew from California Avenue towards Page Mill Road so its natural exits and ingresses were from California Avenue. He believed it was almost a vestige that California Avenue be a primary access area. It was wine from a layout of the City to discourage traffic,. on California Avenue since it was a residential area. Page Mill' Road was a natural street from which to enter the facility and during the hours 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. it had little traffic, and he did not believe people would be inconvenienced to any great degree. Mile it might be a minor inconvenience to the person in the car, it was a major source of concern for the residents. He was concerned the opposition from Beckman related to a point of principle`, they were not opposing the conditicn eeo much for now but rather the fact that the entrances might not be available in the future. In the future, Beckman might have more people using the site and entrances. At that time, the :threshold of traffic might rise to a point where it became a serious concern to the adjacent residents. Council Member Fletcher agreed with Council Member Levy concerning prohibiting nighttime access to the California Avenue entrance and exit. However, she applied the same rationale to condition 6 regarding the loading docks. Trucks were ruch sore of a nuisance to the neighborhood across the street than automobiles. Condition 6 did not require, under any circuestances, they loading docks to be built from Page Mill Road, it was only to se* whether it was feasible to do so.. She saw nothing which indicated the City would require it to be built if it was not feasible. She believed it was a reasonable condition. 61-79 1/23/89 AMENDMENT: Council Member Fletcher moved to amend the motion to restore condition 6 with regard to a feasibility study of providing loading dock access from Page Mill Road. AMENDICENT DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND Council Member Renzel concurred with the comments with respect to condition 3. Condition 6 was a Somewhat vague requirement to put Beckman on notice that loading dock access from Page Mill Road was a concern of the City and residents and should a major application be received, it would undoubtedly become an issue. Because Beckman was on notice, it was unnecessary to include the condition. She agreed the concern was serious for the neighborhood and she expected it would be of increased concern over time. She did not want the deletion of the condition to suggest it would not be an issue in some future major application. Council Member Cobb concurred with Council Member Levy. The only employees who would be affected by not having California Avenue access would be those arriving from the north or wanting to go north. The difference was only a few minutes in time and it only affected a fraction of the employees. He did not see a problem. He encouraged City staff to communicate with Beckman because it was a worthy project and he hoped it would be pursued. Mayor Klein believed the compromise proposed by Beckman was reasonable. AMEN iT: Mayor Klein moved, seconded by Cobb, to amend condition 3 to provide that the hours of the California Avenue entrance would be restricted 8:30 p.m to 6:00 a.m. with the exception that such gates be opened from 12:00 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Access to the parking lot shall otherwise be limited exclusively to the Page Mill Road entrance during the above nighttime hours, and Beckman shall encourage its employees to use the Page Mill Road entrance. Vice Mayor Bechtel opposed the amendment. As she understood it, the residents were concerned about traffic on California Avenue. The main traffic on California Avenue was during the shift times between 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p_r. and 12:00 a.m. end 12:30 a.m. At all other times, there was hardly any traffic on California Avenue. Employees preferred California Avenue to avoid a few U-turns on Page Kill Road, but as pointed out, it was not difficult to drive an additional block or two. She agreed with Council Member Levy that Council should do what it could to try and protect the residents. Council Member Fletcher agreed with Vice Mayor Bechtel. 61-80 1/23/89 Council Member Renzel said the City had no control over how many shifts companies had, and it was conceivable there could be a full shift on swing or in the middle of the night. She preferred to not open that can of worms and also put staff in the position of trying to enforce violations after hours. Mayor Klein said they were presently only talking about eight cars. The entrance had existed for a long time and there had never been any complaints from the neighbors. He believed it was a relatively minor point. The applicant was a good corporate citizen and in good faith proposed a reasonable compromise. It would not cause any ham' whatsoever to the neighborhood for Council to accept it. Council Member Sutorius opposed the amendment. The burden of the future should be on the applicant, not on the residents and the City of Palo Alto. If the future produced situations, changes in technology, product line, operations, some kind of modification of the shift structure, or physical changes, the burden should be on the applicant. He was uncomfortable about the amount of time the applicant, staff and ARB spent going back to May of 1987. He was satisfied with the deletion of condition. 6 although he understood the point was if the Master Landscape was to be evaluated, why not contemplate whether a Page Mill Road entrance would be feasible. He was not comfortable removing condition 3. ANEN T FAILED 2-5; Cobb, Klein voting "aye," Patitucci, Woolley, absent. MOTION PASSED 7-0, Patitucci, Woolley absent. moRTSr F CIALS 6. Amendment to Lease and Covenant Not to Develop and Jordan Interim Lease Agreements with Palo Alto Unified School District (300) (cMR:124:9) Manager, Real Property Bill Fellxan, corrected page 2, under the heading "Sublease Extension of Termination Date," the second sentence, to read "September 30, 1989" rather than "1988." Council Member Renzel referred to page 2 of the staff report (CHR:124:9), "Amendment 42 to the Lease and Covenant Not to Develop," and said there were a couple of projects, e.g., back flow preventsrs and refurbishing the playing fields for which in the previous amendment $262,806 was allocated. There was no explana- tion about whether those projects were expanded, and she queried what the City was receiving for the additional $67,864. Mr. Fsilman said the project was expanded by the four -month extension. In that regard, the $67,864 was added to the amount of E1-81 1/23/89 the previous amendment. The work was not done but rather studied and it was referred to the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) to complete. It was made more specific and included the back flow preventer, which was not spelled out in the previous agreement. It was the City's intention to include the back flow preventers, and now in the second amendment it was spelled out and the PAUSD would do the work. Council Member Renzel clarified the back flow preventers were not a part of the original $262,000. Mr. Fellman said under the original amendment, the wording was to refurbish the playing fields and the water systems. The City always intended to install the back flow preventers because they were a code requirement. The PAUSD was aware of the code require- ment and agreed to it. Council Member Renzel understood the PAUSD was doing the work and the City was paying them for it. Mr. Fellmtan said that was correct. Under the second amendment, the installation of the back flow preventers and the refurbishing of the playing fields was now PAUSD's responsibility, and the City would reimburse them. In the original amendment, the City was to install and do the refurbishing of the playing fields. Council Member Renzel queried whether the amounts of money included engineer's estimates. She was concerned the City was not padding dollars it was sending over to the PAUSD without really receiving quid pro quo for the City. Mr. Fellean said under the original represented the amount of money needed bid an actual engineer estimate the deducted from the original, amendment. Co. cil Member snzel queried whether the amount of money was exactly what the PAUSD would have received had there been a long- term lease at Jordan. amendment, the estimates to do the vox*. The City costs/ which amount was Mr. Follman said yes. Mayor Miein said the money referred to was the so-called "gap" money. "Gap" represented the gap between what the City was paying under the interim lease for a portion of Jordan and what it would have paid if it paid for the entire Jordan. The projects in question far exceeded the amounts listed. There was not enough money to de every school so it was not a question of the projects fitting the "gip" money., but rather the "gap" money would beused to cover only so much of the projects that were possible with the 61-82 1/23/89 available money. The expectation was to be able to do one-third to one-half of the school fields. Precisely how much was done would not be known until the actual bids were in for the project, but it by no means would cover the entire project for the school fields. Council Member Renzel asked what would happen if the "gap" money only covered one playing field, and the PAUSD decided to maintain all of its high schools and junior high schools, including Jordan. She queried whether the City would end up using its Utility Users Tax to fund additional playing field renovations until they ran out of playing fields or would the City look for an actual property to lease and not use stop gap measures. Mayor Klein referred to the provisions of the "Sublease Extension of Termination Date " and said when the PAUSD finally made its configuration decision, it would return to the Council with what it wanted to do, and Council would need to respond. When the PAUSD returned to the City, it would need to include an appropriate site for the City to lease. Whether it was Jordan, Jane Lathrop School, or Cubberley would depend on what the parties wanted at the time. The City would not continue with the stop gap measure. Council Member Renzel was glad to hear that. The Utility Users Tax was not passed by an overwhelming mandate, and a Cann amendment would be necessary in the future. The voters would need to be persuaded they were getting something and the City was not just handing the money over to the PAUSD without any strings attached. It was important to ensure there was something to show the voters Council Member Cobb recently spoke to the committee who was advising the PAUSD on the closure issue. He related to the committee that the lease was a stop gap situation; that there were dates built in which must be honored; and before the Utility Users Tax could be implemented in anything like the measure originally anticipated by the vote, decisions would have to made on what he termed a "value -for -value" basis, e.g., that the City receive something in return for the moneys transferred to the PAUSD. Many questions were asked about what 25 Churchill eight be worth, how might Cubberley work in the equation; and whether they could piecemeal on different sides. He tried to reflect the fact there was a range of viewpoints on the Council in terms of how the matter should be handled which was part of the reason the City tried to take a structured view again using the value -for -value concept. He did reflect the issue had to return to the voters in two years and whatever was done had to be done with that thought in mind; otherwise,: the voters were likely not to accept it the sane way they did two years ago. Me believed all the concerns were addressed. 61-83 1/23/89 NOTION:. Council Member Cobb moved, seconded by Levy, to approve staff recommendation No. 2 to the tease and Covenant Not to Develop; and. 2) Amendment No. 1 to the Jordan Interim Lease agreement. Amendment No. 2 to the Lease and Covenant Not to Develop No. L-210 Amendment No. 1 to the Jordan Interim Lease Agreement No. L-216 MOTION PASSED 7-0, Patitucci, Woolley absent. 7. San Francisco Bay Area Ridge Trail - Endorsement of Santa Clara County Intergovernmental Council Resolution of Support (1315) (C t:1.25:9) POTION: Council Member Fletcher moved, seconded by Renzel, to approve staff recommendation to endorse the Intergovernmental Council Resolution of Support for the Ridge Trail. MOTION PASSED 7-0, Patitucci, Woolley absent. 8. Santa Clara County Intergovernmental Council Request for Comments on Model Toxic Gas Ordinance (1440-01--01) (CM:126:9) Bob Moss, 4010 Orme, referred to the secondary containment in Class I of piping. Not all Class I materials were used in tanks or pipes. He did not believe limiting secondary containment to piping would necessarily cover all possible ci:'cuastances. He also referred to the top of page 6 of the "Material Hazard Indexing and Additional Requirements for Facilities with Regulated Gases" attached to the staff report (CMP:126:9), and the exception that "material which is incompatible with ferrous piping may be installed in approved non-metallic piping with approved connections." The ordinance should not only refer to non-metallic piping but appropriate non-ferrous or non-metallic. City Manager Bill Zaner said Council was requested to approve in concept the draft ordinance. The technical material was prepared by a team of very qualified people, including Fire Chief Wall. NOTION: Council Member Bechtel moved, seconded by Fletcher, to approve the staff recommendation that the draft Model Toxic Gas Ordinance (NTGO) with no modifications suggested be reviewed by Council and returned to the Intsrgcvernaental Council (IGC) for framing in legal terms, and that it will return to Council for consideration and adoption. 61-84 1/23/89 Council Member Bechtel said the issue was first before the IGC in 1982, and she was please to see the draft ordinance. MOTION PASSED 7-0, PLtitucci, Woolley absent. COMILBATTEEI 9. Council Member Sutorius (and Council Member Woolley in absentia) re InterCity/InterGovernmental Coordination in Santa Clara County (1520) Council Member Sutorius said an ad hoc group of elected and appointed officials had been discussing the efficiency and effectiveness of intercity/intergovernmental coordination in Santa Clara County. Discussions focused on the effectiveness of elected officials and Council -appointed officials, whether the purposes for which various organizations were set up continued to be met, or whether the consensus was fragmentation throughout the County. He believed the review was worthwhile and might lead to some improve - men::. in terms of consolidation or merger possibilities among the various organizations. If the local governments within Santa Clara County wished to improve the advocacy and representation for and of local govera ent, there needed to be commitments on behalf of the cities, and there needed to be some kind of sustained structure to the organization. His cueetions to the Council were whether it believe coordination among the cities in the County could be better organized and managed; whether cities should work toward consolidating various intercity cooperation efforts into a singi.e organization; and whether it was willing to fund a modest support structure for such an organization. Vice Mayor Bechtel asked why the Intergovernmental Council (IGC) was not included in the attachments to his memorandum (on file in the City Clerk's Office) . Council Member Sutorius said the attachments were summaries of information contained on blackboards and easels prepared by the City of Las Altos City Manager who coordinated the effort, The IGC was not being ignrsd in its existence but rather the city representatives felt the crux of the matter was local city coordination and cooperation. The IGC was a charter body comprised of representatives from the County as well as other organizations nizations such as the Water District and School District, and the funding came via the County. Therefore, many of the activities were a County *agenda," and the support and priority had strong County flavor. While the activities of the IGC were important, it did not most the purposes local cities could accomplish. Currently, the InterCity Council (ICC) , the Mayors' Conference, Peninsula Division of the League of Cities were all trying to: do something but . nothing was getting dons. 61-85 1/23/89 S 1 Vice Mayor Bechtel was the Chairperson of the IGC. She did not completely agree the IGC was a County body because it was made up of 15 city council members and only two County Supervisors, which rarely attended. She agreed there were too many committees. When the IGC was formed by charter amendment, it was envisioned that the ICC would disband but it did not happen. The value of the Peninsula Division of the Lague of California Cities was its being a "training ground" for those who wished to move up in the hierarchy in the League of California Cities. She believed the Mayors' Conference was superfluous. Council should consolidate where possible. Mayor Klein just concluded a terra as President of the ICC. He agreed it was a social group and its elimination would not hurt nor help anything. The ICC did not pretend to be a coordinating body for local government. The Peninsula Division of the League of California Cities also did not pretend to be a coordinating body for city policies in Santa Clara County. He also did not participate in the Council of Mayors and believed it was an unfortunate creation and totally superfluous. The issue was whether there needed to be increased intercity cooperation in the County, and the answer was yes. Whether it could be accomplished by one organization he did not know. He could see a variety of organizations which might be useful, e.g., the Golden Triangle Task Force. If an organization was i !tended to supersede the Golden Triangle, it would be a mistake because the County was large and there were sub -regional interests which needed to be expressed. He could envision an; South Bay cities organization comprised of Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Jose; and a [bast Valley organization of Saratoga, Los Gatos, San Uosa and Campbell. He did not want to do anything to preclude such sub --regional cooperation. He expressed concern that San Jose was as big as the rest of the cities combired. There could be an organization comprised of all the cities in the County sinus San Jose. With San Joss, there was the question of how the voting should occur, etc. Totally ignoring the County would also be a mistake. He saw the County as a necessary pare •er in working out regional problems. He was in favor of tryin+j to work something out; he had no problem' with a modest support structure; 'art he did not believe they were going down the right street. Council Member Cobb believed the League of California Cities seemed to function most importantly to communicate on state issues. The IGC seemed to focus on County issues. He did participate in the Mayors g Conference but did not find it to be enlightening. He agreed the City Selection Committee was unnecessary, but the Golden Triangle was an important regional body which dealt with a particular set of issues in a particular area. A little conolida- tion to the degree it would be helpful to get focused on some 61-8f 1/23/89 issues and create some real cooperation was a good idea. He also referred to the common problems of the mid -peninsula, e.g., Menlo Park, Palo Alto and East Palo Alto. Council, Member Fletcher believed some evaluation of all the bodies was justified. She referred to the Peninsula League of California Cities, and said the League structure was such that every sub- region had a division. In order to just eliminate a sub -region or change its structure would require a vote of the membership of the League, and it would leave a gap in representation from the area. Each division had appointments to all of the policy committees. which ware eery involved in all phases of legislation. A bonus of the Peninsula Division of the League was the communication. with Council Members across the County line, and the ability to ascertain the concerns of San Francisco to San Jose and beyond. The Peninsula Division of the League of California Cities should not be consolidated. Council Member Levy expressed concern that organizations such as the ad hoc committee being proposed took on their own life particularly if they had their rwn paid staff. Council needed to be careful before putting such an organization together. Attach- ment C listed the desired functions, and his concern was the careful definition of "need" before moving ahead. He did not believe the listed needs were of overwhelming importance which called for n permanent organization. He associated with the comments of other Council Members that if there was a specific need, it was better to Lout together those communities specifically involved, figure out the appropriate organization and staffing to fulfill the functions. Clearly there were needs to be.addreaaed, He saw Palo Alto being affected by a Dumbarton Bridge corridor which would run from Mountain View to Redwood City. Palo Alto needed to be careful about getting locked into County thinking to ensure focus on the appropriate organization which was usually smaller than the County and not strictly bounded by County lines. He asked whether any other County had a model organization for that which was contemplated. Council Member Sutoriui said there were organizations in Orange County which operated at the Loewe of California Cities Division and did its total job in that organizational hierarchy, but was organized as a stand-alone cities organization representing all of the intercity activities in Orange County. Orange County was a successful organization in achieving its ob j ectives . The League of California Cities concept was;_ feasible because the Peninsula Division could have a chapter. ft could still allow for the interbounty processes and rely on the Lague hierarchy in terms of some of the staff activity but the city activity could be handled as the cities wir`led to see it within the County. 61-87 1/23/89 Council Member Levy did not believe new ground should be broken, but rather some other successful model should be found to pattern after. He was reluctant to approve a paid staff at least at the beginning because once that was done, a bureaucracy, per se, was created. Initially, an organization should work on a cooperative basis using the•staff.of the individual cities until the need for a staff became absolutely clear. Council Member Ranzel served on the Association of Say Area Governments (ABAG) Planning Committee which also attempted to deal with regional planning issues-. ABAG had a lot of data available about the problems in the area as well as specific city data, and would need to be plugged into the equation in terms of whether a redundant function was being created. Having served on a couple of joint powers agreement bodies, groups such as the Golden Triangle and various other groups, having specific mandates enabled the cities to work together effectively b's.ause the focus was fairly narrow. The general concept of overall regional problems had questions related to what extent one member of a particular Council could represent its Council's position adequately for purposes of any kind of final effective decision. Likewise, there were difficulties citywide where there were larger cities like San Jose calling the shots. She supported trying to streamline the several groups with fairly narrow focuses into a group to encompass all of tbnsa and perhaps broaden out on a fairly specific basis as needed. No A.:t i on Taken ADJQVRIAMENT: Adjourned to a Closed Session to Discuss Employee/ Employer Relation at 9:29 p.m. I :.A , : Adjourned at 10:52 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: NOTE: Sense minutes (synopsis) are prepared in accordance with Palo Alto flunicipal Coda Section 2.04.200(b). The City Council meeting tepees are retained in the City Clerk's Office for two years from the date of the meeting, and the Finance and Public Works Committee and Policy and Procedures Committee meeting tapes are retained for six months. Members of the public may listen to the tapes during regular office hours. 61-88 1/23/89