Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-11-14 City Council Summary MinutesConsent Calendar CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Nogyzourgclie PALOALTO CITY COUNCIL ME ETINGS ARE BROADCAST LIVE VIA KZSU- FREQUENCY90.1 ON FM DIAL ------- Regular Meeting November 14, 1988 ITEM Oral Communications Minutes of October 17, 1988 PAGE 60-396 60-3c6 1. Presentation by Stanford University 60-396 President Donald Kennedy 2. Presentation by Frank berto, West Coast 60-402 Editor of Bicycling Magazine of the First Annual Hospitable Cycling Cities Award to the City of Palo Alto 60-402 3. Contract with Ranger Pipelines, Inc. for 60-403 Wastewater Collection System Rehabilitation 4. Resolution Authorizing Siting and Permit 60-403 Assistance Grant Application 5. Ordinance Transferring Water Quality. Control 60-403 Plant from Utilities Department to Public Works Department 6. Water Usage and Conservation Update 60-403 Adjournment to a Closed Session re Litigation at 60.404 8:55 p.m. Final adjournment at 9:50 p.m. 60-404 60-395. 11/14/08 Regular Meeting Monday, November 14, 1988 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Avenue, at 7:37 p.m. PRESENT: Bechtel (arrived at 7:40 p.m.), Cobb, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Patitucci, Renzel, Sutorius, Woolley Mayor Sutorius announced that at some point during or after the meeting there would be a Closed Session to discuss CENTURY FEDERAL v. CITY OF PALO ALTO pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9 (a) . ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Ben Bailey, 171 Everett, spore regarding complaints against the Palo Alto Police Department and the City's lack of responsiveness to his inquiries. 2. Edmund Power, 2254 Dartmouth Street, spoke regarding the Palo Alto Yacht Harbor and honesty in government. 3. Bunny Good, P.O. Box 824, Menlo Park, spoke as founder of the International Group Organization for the Disabled regarding her concerns with the parking ordinance and an Inhumanity Award No. 4 to the City of Palo Alto. MINUTES OF OCTOBER 17, 1988 MOTIOR: Council Member Levy moved, seconded by Renzel, approval of the Minutes of October 17, 1988, as submitted. M01106 PASSED 6-0-3, Fletcher, Patitucci, Woolley 'abstaining." SPECIAL ORDERS OF THG DAY 1. Presentation by Stanford University President Donald Kennedy (NPG) Mayor Sutorius welcomed the Stanford officials. He intro- duced Andy Doty, Director of Community Relations at Stanford. 60-396 6 11/14/88 Andy Doty said it was Dr. Kennedy's fourth appearance before the City Council and his seventh appearance since 1973 when the reports to the City Council began. Dr. Kennedy noted that Stanford extended a reciprocal invi- tation to Mayor Sutorius and City Manager Bill Zaner to talk to, the Stanford Board of Trustees on December 12 about the City's plans and matters of concern to both the City and the University. He referred to the matter of growth and criti- cisms of Stanford's health and safety operations. Stanford had at least three major hard -driven needs to grow. 1) It needed to renovate or replace structures that were outmoded or overcrowded over past decades. It had not received government funding for 20 years for buildings where scien- tific research was done, which was a national phenomena and did not apply only to Stanford. The result was a major deficit in capital facilities; 2) It needed to provide for the growing space requirements of modern research and educa- tion for such things as computers, books, journals, clinical facilities, diagnostic devices, new equipment, and labora- tories. The space required for a single scientific researcher in most of the major disciplines of scientific activity had more than doubled in the past dozen years; and 3) It needed to accommodate emerging fields of study such as superconductivity, artificial intelligence, exotic mater- ials, recombinant DNA, organ transplantations, photon sciences. All such fields were filled with excitement and promise, and demanded highly advanced equipment and struc- tures. Stanford needed to keep apace in those areas, remain open to the opportunities that unfolded as a result of unexpected breakthroughs, and be able to capitalize on them. He referred to the recent breakthrough of a group of Stanford researchers who developed the first promising ani- mal model for the research on the AID's virus and similar viruses that affected the immune system. Further work was required which required additional clinical space. Stanford's anticipated growth rate was projected at 1 per- cent per year, and it was an absolute requirement if it was to keep at the cutting edge of human progress and instruc- tion. Stanford looked forward to continuing working with.. the Council and other neighboring groups to find alterna- tives to minimize the impacts of its growth. Regarding the issue of campus health and safety, about a year ago, a Stanford employee made numerous charges against the University. Stanford Research International (SRI) was employed to investigate alleged hazards and assess Stanford's organizational arrangements. The Internal Audit Office was also asked to look into allegations made by the employee. He appointed a :special advisory panel on health 60-397 11/14/88 and safety, which included persons outside the University. All reports were published and distributed to Council as part of a package. The SRI finding suggested no clear and present danger to the University or its neig.Jors; however, it recommended a number of improvements in the physical facilities on campus with respect to safety many of which were made or underway. Changes in organizational arrange- ments were recommended and some new appointees were made. A new health and safety officer was on the Provost staff, and a Director of Health and Safety reported to the Vice President for - Administration, as well as himself, and had authority to close down laboratories or buildings if existing situations represented a public hazard. He be- lieved the new organization would serve Stanford well and that their openness would demrnstrate a responsiveness to questions when raised. He was grateful for the opportunity to appear. Mayor Sutorius asked about employment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) being reduced by 312 and what was in- volved in the reduction of personnel. Dr. Kennedy said the projection at SLAC was difficult due to the fact its success depended on a new innovative ring devoted to single pulse collision. The project had fallen behind schedule and was not as person -intensive as some of the previous systems, so it was unclear at th present how it would go. Council Member Cobb asked if the government's assignment of the Super Collider contract to Texas had any impact on Stanford's energy research for the future. Dr. Kennedy said the contract assignment did not have much effect on Stanford's energy research, but he would have preferred a closer site. Council Member Cobb asked about future developments of Sand Hill Road. Dr. Kennedy said Stanford would like to develop a senior center facility on the old Children's Hospital site, and hoped to resolve the and Hill Road (Stanford West) project if there could be some agreement on the Sand Hill Road extension onto Alma. It seemed incredulous that a four -lane highway should end in a shopping center. Vice Mayor Klein asked why the Stanford West project was still on hold. 60.398 11/14/88 Dr. Kennedy said everything could not be done at once, and it was Stanford desire to ensure the site was developed in the best way possible. Council Member Patitucci asked about Stanford's approach to housing for faculty and staff. He suggested Stanford target its housingprices to faculty and staff rather than from a developer standpoint. Dr. Kennedy said Stanford did not consider land value for student housing, but faculty housing was subsidized in the form of co -investment mortgage programs or housing assis- tance programs. Financial vehicles made housing more affordable and the subsidies made housing easier to keep track of. Stanford felt the way to administer a subsidy was to put it in the form of financial assistance with financing and purchase and not to put it into devaluation of the land Council Member Patitucci asked if there were some other ways to manage such a program so that it would not create wind- falls for faculty if, in fact, there were ways to extract that land value out at time of resale. Dr. Kennedy said Stanford was always open to good ideas. He commented that many unpredictable things had occurred in /and valves. Council Member Woolley referred to a restaurant on Stanford which was closed and queried whether Stanford was beginning to plan the development of their property at El Camino and Page Mill. Dr. Kennedy was not aware of any plan regarding the prop- erty, Council Member Levy asked whether the 1 percent growth rate included all the activity on campus, such as support func- tions. Dr. Kennedy replied that the 1 percent figure merely repre- sented population growth. Due to the high cost of housing nearby, most of the staff were required to commute by car. Vendors, contractors, and other support personnel had increased in number and produced more activity on campus and in the neighborig communities. Council Member Cobb asked for observations on the economic changes that might be seen in the Industrial Park in the next few years. 60-399 11/14/88 As Corrected 12/12/88 Dr. Kennedy said zoning changes, costs of housing, and dif- ficulty of getting facilities approved would make the Park less attractive for a place for facilities that did active experimental scientific research and more attractive for office building functions. The concern for Stanford was *heir program objective was to attract research -oriented companies as tenants because of their collaborative program relationships with the Stanford faculty. Council Member Bechtel inquired about the future plans for Stanford which provided a number of buildings for research and offices, and a relatively small percentage for housing. She asked if some future plans were being made to accommo- date the housing needs of faculty and staff. Dr. Kennedy was trying to expedite the Stanford West proj- ect. Some very nice faculty housing was being developed on the Ryan Lab site; they recently made a big move to meet the single -graduate student housing needs through construction of the Rains complex; and their plan to house the under- graduate students would require about 400 new units, the goal being to house all undergraduate students for all four years. Council Member` Bechtel was concerned about the possibility of Stanford faculty leaving the area because they could not afford to continue to live here, and how Stanford would continue to attract end keep good people. Dr. Kennedy monitored that serious situation and took an active part in helping the faculty obtain housing in this area. The current situation was not as good as it was two years ago, but he felt they could adjust to it. Council Member Renzel inquired about use permits for part time employees, and the impact of a one percent per annum growth of parttime employees requiring use permits. Dr. Kennedy believed they may reach a point in growth where even one percent was not possible and at that time some changes might be necessary, although he felt a moderate amount of growth was necessary to maintain the vitality of the institution and the quality of its research. Council Member Renzel asked if any thought had been given to the allocation of •wish list' type future jobs requiring use permits. 60-400 11/14/88 Dr. Kennedy assured Council those jobs were not allocated from a "wish list,' but rather from a belt -tightening plan as they used in making up their annual budget so that expenditures did not exceed the resources available. Before the cutback of government funds in the early 1980's, it was possible to grow at a more rapid rate of approximately 3 to 4 percent pes year, but now it was necessary to radically slash proposed departmental budgets in order to present the board with a balanced budget. Council Member Renzel asked what the constraining process would be if there were no financial limitations. Dr. Kennedy said it would hard to grow much faster and even if their funds were dou. ied, it would he implausible to imagine because their endowment income, which supported the operating budget, would be too small to fund significant growth since it accounted for only 17 percent of its oper- ating budget. Mayor Sutorius observed although there were those who made major philanthropic contributions, there were others like Mr. Kanter whose kind of philanthropy provided open space and marvelous art and sculptor available to tha entire com- munity. He also asked about Stanford's ability to attract the high caliber of prafessional personnel through the Stanford Center for Organizational Research and whether our public arena would also be susceptible to the exercises of the Center, thereby profiting Palo Alto in its existence and continuing to foster the symbiotic relationship of our com- munities. Dr. Kennedy said the Center was part of a pattern devised for trying to take academic account of new areas that arose across the disciplines and allowed people with common interests to gather. The public management program in the Graduate School of Business was one of the host institutions for the Center and they hoped to develop more interest in local government through internships and other means. Mayor Sutorius asked about Michael Boskin becoming the suc- cessor to Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, .and what our economic policies would be if Professor Boskin was successful in the appointment. Dr. Kennedy said Michael Boskin was an outstanding econessist and a member of the Department of Economics at Stanford, as well as Director of the Center for Economic Policy Research. It was uniform speculation that Professor Boskin would b+ offered the post, and Stanford would do everything possible to facilitate that move if he wished to go ► since he was a deeply respected colleague and Stanford believed in facil- itating public service. 60-401 11/14/88 Mayor Sutorius thanked Dr. Kennedy for his charm and content of his comments. He looked forward to joining him and the trustees in December. 2. Presentation by Frank Berto, West Coast Editor of Bicycling Magazine, of the First Annual Hospitable Cycling Cities Award to the City of Palo Alto (NPG). Mayor Sutorius introduced Frank Berto and thanked him for recognizing Palo Alto and bicycling. Mr. Berto sail Bicycling Magazine polled its 300,000 readers and asked them to nominate the ten best cities for cycling in North America, Palo Alto being chosen as one of the ten. Palo Alto was commended for a recently passed ordinance which required developers to include bicycle parking space in plans for each new apartment unit and required showers for cyclists and joggers in new office buildings. He added that Palo Alto had been friendly to cycling and cycling had been friendly to Palo Alto, and cited Western Wheelers (a large national bike club), The Palo Alto Bike Shop (large mail order and retail operation) , Avocet (major supplier of bicycle seats and tires), and Wheelsmith (a unique bike shop and maker of custom bicycle wheels) as contributing to bicycling in Palo Alt'.. He commended the bicycling acti- vists in the city and said they were unparalleled anywhere in the United Steals. He gave credit to Council Member Ellen Fletcher, who actively represented cyclists or the City Council, as well as serving as District Chairman to the League of American Wheelsaen. He offered a plaque to the City Council. Mayor Sutorius requested Council Member Fletcher accept the award on behalf of the City Council. Council Member Fletcher thanked Mr. Berto and Mayor Sutorius and added that bicycling had always been supported by the citizens of Palo Alto and they deserved the credit for the award. Council Member Levy also expressed appreciation to Frank Berto's magazine and strongly seconded his words of commen- dation to Ellen Fletcher, who was an outstanding in!luence to the betterment of bicycling in the community, He added that Palo Alto had a Bicycle Advisory Commission that met often and whose influence was very strong. He also praised Diane Lewiston, who worked with the City Police Department and students toimprove bicycle safety. CONSENT CALENDAR NQTIO1I Council Member Cobb molted, seconded by Klein, approval of Consent Calendar Item 3. 60-402 � i +i 4, Poi% 3. Contract with Ranger Pipelines, Inc. for Wastewater Collection System Rehabilitation (1122) (CMR:521:8) 'OTION PASSED 9-0. RESOLUTIONS 4. RESOLUTION 6745 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AUTHORIZING SITING AND PERMIT ASSISTANCE GRANT APPLICATION" (412) (CMR:520:8} NOTION: Council Member Patitucci moved, seconded by Klein, approval of the staff recommendation to adopt the resolution. Council Member Renzel questioned whether we were still dis- cussing sites which were located in industrial areas. Director of Utilities Richard Young responded the sites in the industrial areas were the only ones with any potential. MOTION PASSED 9-0. ORDINANCES 5. Ordinance 1st reading - ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING CHAPTER 2.08 OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE TO TRANSFER THE WATER QUALITY CONTROL PLANT FROM UTILITIES DEPARTMENT TO PUBLIC WORKS DEPART- MENT (101) (CMR:527:8) MOTION: Council Member Bechtel moved, seconded by Cobb, approval of the Ordinance 1st Reading as recommended by City Manager William Zaner. MOTION PASSED 9-0. REPORTS OF OFFICIALS 6. Water Usage and Conservation Update (MPG) Mr. faner reported that the City's consumption of water was still slightly over our allocation (less than one percent) . The wells provided about 18 , percent of the water in tha com- munity and the total consumption was slightly below the allocation of. the San Francisco Water District. Mayor Sutorius commented that although we welcomed the recent rains, we were still far behind where we were a year ago, so the conservation efforts were still very important. 60-403 11/14/88 Council Member Levy asked if the rationing system took into account the lower water usage at this time of year. Mr. Zaner maid the rationing system was based on a formula based on the water used the previous year, so the allocation would not shift because it rained. ADJOURNMENT Council adjourned to a Closed Session regarding litigation at 8:58 p.m. FINAL ADJOURNMENT Mayor Sutorius adjourned with a moment of silence in memory of the 50th Anniversary of Kristalinacht (Broken Glass Holocaust) , which occurred November 9, 1938. He said that was the forward to the Holocaust which should never be repeated if each individual would act with the self respect that comes from a respect for others regardless of race, religion, sex or condition. He said he thought it was impc.rtant that each human being dedicated him or herself `o a personal conduct that would never permit, at any le7el, a revisit of that tragic chapter in our human history. Final adjournment at 9:50 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: NOTE: Sense minutes (synopsis) are prepared in accordance with Palo Alto Municipal Code Section 2.04.200(b). The City Council meeting tapes are retained in the City Clerk's Office for two years from the date of the meting, and the Finance and Public Works Committee and Policy and Procedures Committee meetings tapes are retained for six months. Members of the public may listen to the tapes during regular office hours. 60-404 11/14/88