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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-08-24 City Council Summary MinutesCITY COUNCIL MINUTES PALOALTOCITYCOUNCIL MFEiiNGSARE BROADCAST LIVE VIAKZSU- FREQUENCY 901 ON FM DIAL Regular Meeting August 24, 1987 ITEM Oral Communications Approval of Minutes of July 20 and 27, 1987 PAGE 58-196 58-196 1. Presentation by Ralph White, Neighbors 58-196 Abroad re Linkoping, Sweden's 700th Birthday Consent Calendar 58-197 2, Consultant Agreement with Keller & Gannon Architects & Engineers for Retrofitting Power, Heating, and Ventilation Systems in c-' the Civic Center 3. Contract with Young Patrol Service for Security Services at the Municipal Service Center 4. Resolution 6641 Amending the Compensation Plan for Classified Personel (SEIU) Adopted by Resolution. No. 6610 as Amended by 'Resolution No. 6624 tp Add One New Classification 58-197 58-197 58-197 5. Resolution 6642 Adopting a Compensation 58-198 Plan for Fire Department Personnel and Rescinding Resolution No. 6412 Resolution 6643 Amending Section 1501 of 58-198 the Merit System Rules and Regulations Regarding the Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Palo Alto and Local 1319, International Association of , rite Fighters 58-193 8/24/07 ITEM! PAGE 6. Ordinance 3761 Amending the Budget for tie Fiscal Year 1987-88 to Provide an Addi- tional Appropriation for the Electric Incentives Program of the Electric Utility and to Provide for Receipt of Revenue from American Public Power Association 7. Ordinance 3762 Amending Section 2.08.100(A) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code with Respect to Regular, Holidays by Deleting Admission Day and Adding Martin Luther King Day 58-198 58-198 8. Ordinance 3763 emending Chapter 9.10 of 58-198 the Palo Alto s unicipal Code to Change Noise Standards for Cleaning of Public Parking Lots 9. Ordinance 3764 -r,:_ e - i ng Secti e 2.44.010 58-198 of the Falo Alto Muejeipal Code to Provide an Annual Vacation for the City Council 10. Finance and Public Works is — i ttee Recom- mendation re Council-Appoie _ =Officers' Support Staff Classification ar._ L nefits 12. Finance and Public Works Committee Recorn- mendatioh re Gas Supply Agreement and Gas Transmission Agreement 58-198 58-199 `V 13. Finance and Public Works Committee re 58.199 Thermal Insulation 13A. Finance and Public Works Committee Recom- 58-204 mendation re UndergrouidIng of Electric System 14. County of Santa Clara Referral of the 58-211 Draft Preservation 2020 Report 15. Request to Add The City of Palo Alto to 58-216 Letter in Support of Petition for Review of Long Beach Police. Officers Association v. y Cit of Lang Beach ITEM 16. Request of Mayor Woolley re Cancellation of the September 8, 1987, City Council Meeting Adjournment to Closed Session at 9:10 p.m. Final Adjournment at 9:27 p.m. PAGE 58-216 58-216 58-216 58-195 8/24/87 Regular Meeting Monday, August 24, 1987 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Avenue, at 7:3`,, p.m. PRESENT: ABSENT: Cobb, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Patitucci, Renzel., Sutorius, Woolley Bechtel Mayor Woolley announced the need for a closed session pursu- ant to Government Code Section 54956.9(b)(1) re litigation to be held after the meeting. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Alice Fischgrund, 750 Tarreya Court, referred to a recent public meeting of the Operations Committee of the County Transit to discuss proposed changes. Many people testified and the Committee postponed voting on approval_ of the staff report until. August 26, 1987, suggesting that if Palo Alto could come up with some sort of a proposal, the Committee would try and promote the bus ridership and a stay would be given for about six months. She urged support of Council Member Fletcher's actions. MINUTES OF JULY 20 AND JULY 27, 1987 MOTION: Council Member Levy moved, seconded by Woolley, approval of the Minutes of July 24 1987, as submitted. MOION PASSED unanimously, Bechtel absent. MOTION* Council Member Levy coved, wooded by Woolley, approval of the Minutes of July 27, 1917, as submitted. MOTION PASSED by a vote of 794-1, Sutorius 'abstaining," Bechtel absent. 1. PRESENTATION BY RALPH WHITE& NEIGHBORS ABROAD- RE LINKOPING, SWEDEN'S S 700th BIRTHDAY Ralph White circulated photographs taken during the. Neighbors Abroad visit to Linkoping. They received ' a warm welcome by the Linkoping Mayor followed by a press confer- ence. They visited a day nursery and a senior citizen cen- ter. A dinner hosted by the Mayor was an appropriate time to present gifts including the gift from the citizens of Palo Alto to the citizens of Linkoping of six, - 40 -inch high 58-196 8/24/87 seedlings. grown from redwood seeds carried in the Space Shuttle Challenger in the summer of 1985 with a plaque reciting the background and history of the trees. The 700th anniversary ceremonies were overseen by the King and Queen of Sweden, and the Palo Alto delegation were privileged to sit at the head table with them. The delegation was extremely warmly received, and they had an incredibly enjoy- able time in Linkoping. He believed the new Sister City relationship was off to a very strong start. They expected a small delegation from Linkoping to visit Palo Alto in March 1988 for Linkoping Day, and they planned a visit to Linkoping in June 1988 tor their -mid -summer festivities. He presented Mayor Woolley with a Linkoping flag for the City of Palo Alto which was suitable to be flown in front of City Hall during the 700th anniversary for Linkoping. CONSENT CALENDAR Vice Mayor Sutorius and Council Member Levy removed Item #11, Finance and Public Works (F&PW) Committee re Undergrounding of Electric System. MOTI£ t Council Teaser Klein moved, seconded by Cobb, approval of the Consent Calendar„ Action 2. CONSULTANT AGREEMENT WITH KEGLER & GANNON ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS TO PROVIDE ENGINEERING DESIGN SERVICES AND CONSTRUCTION PHASE COORDINATION FOR RETROFITTING POWER HEATING AND VENTILATION SYSTEMS IN THE CIVIC CENTER IN THE OF $63,500 •(CMR 416:7) (810-02-01 �.. 3. TWO-YEAR CONTRACT WITH YOUNG PATROL SERVICE FOR SECURITY S VICES AT THE MUNICIPAL SERVICE CENTER IN THE AM UNT OF 27,000 (CMR:477177) (810-03) .... 4. RESOLUTION 6641 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMEND/NG.THE COMPENSATION PLAN FOR CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL (SEIU) ADOPTED BY RESOLUTION NO. 6610 AS AMENDED BY RESOLUTION NO. 6624 TO ADD ONE NEW CLASSIFICATION.- (CMRs429:') (501/701-64) 58.197 8/24/87 5. RESOLUTION 6642 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO ADOPTING 4 COMPENSATION PLAN FOR FIRE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL AND RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. 6412" (CMR.427:7) (501/701-04) RESOLUTION 6643 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING SECTION 1501 OF THE MERIT SYSTEM RULES AND REGULATIONS REGARDING THE MEMORANDUM OF LOCAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY 1319, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS" _ (CMR:427:7) (.501/701-04) OF P ALO ALTO AND 6.. ORDINANCE 3761 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1987-88 TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL THE ELECTRIC INCENTIVES PROGRAM OF THE ELECTRIC UTILITY AND TO PROVIDE FOR RECEIPT OF AP REVENU PROP RIATION FOR E FROM AMERICAN PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION" (CMR:424:7) 1 01/701-0 7. ORDINANCE 3762 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING SECTION 2.08.100(A) OFTHE _ PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE WITH RESPECT TO REGULAR HOLI- DAYS BY DELETING ADMISSION DAY AND ADDING MARTIN LUTHER KINq DAY'S (1st Reading 8/10/87, PASSED 8-0, Sutorius absent) (701-03) 8. ORDINANCE 3763 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING CHAPTER 9.10 OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE TO CHANGE NOISE STANDARDS FOR CLEANING OF PUBLIZ PARKING LOTS" (1st Reading 8/10/8/, PASSED 5-3, Fletcher, Patitucci, Renzel "no," Sutorius absent) (701.03) 9,- ORDINANCE 3764 Entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OP PALO ALTO AMENDING SECTION 2.04.010 OF THE . PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL COD E TO PROVIDE Aid ANNUAL VACATIO FOR :THE CITY COUNCIL" (1st Reading 8/10/87, PASSED .8-0, Sutorius absent) (701-03) 10. FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE RE COUNCIL -APPOINTED AND OFFICERS SUPPORT STAFF CLASSIFICATION UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS TO THE CITY COUNCIL RECLASSIFI- CATION OF A HALF-TIME STAFF SECRETARY TO A HALF-TIME DEPUTY CITY CLERK . AND A DECR VASE IN THE CONTRACT- FOR SECRETARIAL SERVICES BY :#000 (106 BENEFITS 58-x198. 8/24/87 FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE RE GAS SUPPLY AGREE- MENT AND GAS TTRANSMISSION AGREEMENT UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS TO THE CITY COUNCIL 1) TO APPROVE THE TRANS- MISSION SERVICE AGREEMENT BETWEEN PACIFIC GAS AND AND THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AND AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT; AND APPROVE THE FORMAT OF THE NATURAL GAS PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER OR HIS DESIGNEE TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE SPECIFIC AGREEMENTS (1112) !MOTION PASSE D unanimously, Patitucci, Fletcher, and Renzel voting no on Item 8, P*titucci voting "no° on Item 5, Bechtel absent. AGENDA CHANGES, ADDITIONSL AND DELETIONS City Manager Bill Zaner said Item 11, Finance and Public Works re Undergrounding of Ele'otric System would become Item 13-A. ELECTRIC COMPANY 13. FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION THERMAL INSULATION (1410-01) RE MOTION: Council Member Klein for the Finance and Public Works Committee moved the City Council approve the staff recommendations as follows: 1) Authorization of $150,000 to inspect and correct defi- ciencies in all homes insulated with cellulose through the City's Home Weetherizatioa Program; 2) Authorize suspension of previously authorized insulation removal activities; and 3) Direct staff to return to Council with a recommendation after a. waiting period of up to nine months. F&PW Committee Chairman Klein said the motion was a modest step rather than going to the full program initially con- ceived of having the City go in and pay for the removal of all of the suspect insulation material. The F&PW Committee, along with staff, felt the step was too drastic, was not warranted at the present time, and various studies were underway which might lead them to conclude the problem was not as serious as it was first conceived to be, or that the .effects were to go away, and thus would have saved the City a considerable sum of money. Council Member Levy said accomplish some good in their best intentions, it was rather painful to try to the community and find, despite they were still liable for 58-199 8/24/87 shortcomings that really were not the City's fault but some- one else's. If they had known then what they knew now, he asked if there was anything they could have done originally whereby they could still have implemented the program and yet not have been liable. City Attorney Diane Northway would prefer her answer be the ,subject of a confidential memorandum to the Council giving legal advice. Council Member Patitucci said, he was the only person on the F&PW Committee who voted against the item. He believed they were being all too cautious in the case. His understanding was that the City authorized to be installed by private con- tractors cellulose material which met federal standards at the time of installation by people who were insured to install it, and they did it over about a ten-year period of time. Subsequently, the City found out that some of the material upon direct application of heat or flames actually ignited. As a result of the discovery that many of the dif- ferent types of cellulose used all had the problem, the City proposed to look at it to check the installations as well as to determine what it would cost to remove all the cellulose from all the authorized installation --approximately 800. Over the entire period of time there had .never been a fire identified where the cellulose had either been the cause or the additional fuel that had promoted a fire wherein they could go back and say it was a particular problem. After staff looked at the installations they said it was too expensive to .remove and there probably W3s no great danger, so instead they should spend $150,000 to go in and check the installations. Over a ten-year period, insulation in vari- ous attics and walls got disturbed by rodents, or people, or any number of things. If the City went into attics to look at the installations, theywould encounter problems caused not by the installation but by the events that had occurred since then. If they were- checking on , .and evaluating the installations, they were going much too far in their deter- mination and admission of some sort of responsibility for the quality of the`' installations, even six, eight, or ten years after they were installed. If they had such a pro- gram, he felt they should focus on the most recent installa- tions which most likely would not have been disturbed. He believed in that way they could cover the question of the quality of installation. They were not going to do anything with the material except push it around. If the inspectors found a ten-year old installation which was in a dangerous condition, sitting next to ,a potential • source. of heat, and they moved it around and put a sign saying they inspected it, told people to be aware of the fact it might be inflam- mable, . and then'_ there was, a fire, it seemed - to him they were 58-200 8/24/87 not protecting themselves in any way. In fact, they might be creating another liability by having acknowledged the fact and inspecting the installation. He believed they should count on the fact the City had authorized and insured installers, material that was approved by the federal government at the time of installation, and that they should watch the situation very closely, notify the public they could request inspections which the City would do for them, but they should not take the initiative and go door-to- door. £MEDMMMT: Council Member Patitucci moved, seconded by Levy, to substitute for recommendation 1) that staff notify my mail homeowners who had insviat'on installed and make it known that they could ask for an iEapection if they wished, and that Council would appropriate $5O per inspection for those who requested one. Program Coordinator Debra Katz referenced the decision pro- cess in terms of the City did not discover how expensive the removal would be and try to come up with other plans. The significance of the expense of the removal option was that as staff started to get information that removal might not be either necessary or the best, staff believed it was important to feel more sure that was the smart thing to do. Before staff could make a reasonable assessment, one of the things they were waiting to find out was whether there were some questions about the standard itself that had to be straightened out because they had what might initially seem to be slightly contradictory fact: The appearance that the insulation did not meet a standard and yet the absence of the fire incidence. She believed the number of requests would be very high and anticipated that at least two-thirds of the 800 installations would request inspections. Ms. Morthway said in terms of inspections, and only inspec- tion, the government code currently provided for immunity for inspection activities. Only the act of inspection itself did not create any additional liability for the. City. Anything the City did of an °affirmative nature which was done in a negligent manner could be the source of liability for the City. Council Member Klein understood and respected Council Member Patitucci's concerns but, after a good deal thought con- cluded on two grounds that the ,Council should go forward with the staff proposal. The first was a moral and ethical concern that the City initiated the program and really had a responsibility to its citizens to ensure it worked. The 'second was the legal exposure issue. The Council received all kinds of advice that they should take the recommended 58-201 8/24/87 action to minimize their risk. If it prevented one fire their expenditure was truly one that would bring them out ahead economically, to say nothing of how it would leave them feeling with regard to their moral position. He recog- nized they could not protect their citizens from every possible risk, but where the City took the lead and urged its citizens to do the program, sponsored it and, in effect, endorsed the contractors and the material, they should move forward with the inspection program as recommended. Council Member Patitucci understood if they inspected, the City did not have any increased exposure. The problem was, if the City initiated the inspection and found a problem,- was the City going to make the changes and then have increased liability. It did not make sense for the City to be initiating total overall inspections. His question was after the City initiated the inspections, were they actually going to initiate the repairs or just tell people there were problems and let them make the repairs themselves-. Ms. Katz clarified the work question was whether staff was intending to actually make the corrections after the inspec- tion. The proposal before Council did include making corrections' within the specific scope of making sure the cellulose was not touching heat sources and adding appropri- ate barriers if they had not been put there. Vice Mayor Sutorius appreciated the questions raised by Council Member Patitucci and would love to save potentially up to $100,000 on the process. However, as Council -Member Klein had put much more politely than a number of citizens who contacted him on the subject, the City- aevised and pro- moted the program and the citizens took advantage of it. Now they .had a problem identified which they had been dis- cussing for months creating additional confusion and additional concern. They should get moving, and. he sup- ported the recommendation of staff and the F&PW Committee. Council Member Levy was thinking of the exposure which would exist for the City if, for example, a fire took. place in a home that the City offered to inspect but the 'home owner refused the inspection. He asked the extent -of the City liability in that situation versus if they inspected all homes on a mandatory basis and then there. was .a fire- in one Of them. GIs. Northway said the City's exposure in the first hypo- thetical would be less because the City did less. If the City made an offer to inspect and the offer was declined, then the person declining would have to, bear some of the legal responsibility for any subsequent actions that occurred to the property. In the second case, obviously the City would have undertaken more activity and, therefore, their liability exposure would be greater. Council Member Levy was sympathetic with Council Member Patitucci's proposal. He believed the home owner bore a significant amount of responsibility because the home owner requested the work be done. The City offered the help because they felt it waa in the public interest. He dici not believe it was significantly in the City's self-interest. To some degree it was opposite to the City's short-term self-interest because the result was lower sales of gas and electricity. The home owners made the affirmative decision on their own that they would be better off with that kind of insulation and installation, and he believed consonant with that Council Member Patitucci's proposal was a proper one where the City would go to the home owner, tell them the. situation, offer to inspect, and leave it up to them to take the initiative 'to do so. Mayor Woolley agreed with Council Members Patitucci and Levy. S.he would not in any way want the City to be shirking their moral or ethical responsibility to the people who took advantage of an offer which the City made. Therefore, she certainly believed the City should go ahead with an inspec- tion program but it would be reducing the City's liability if they let the inspection program be voluntary. If it would make the City's position any more solid, the City should ensure the notification of the availability of the inspection program was by registered mail. What the home owner did at that point was up to the individual home owner. In fact, she could see the City inspector providing home owners with the information necessaryto correct the prob- lem, which most home owners should be •capable of doing, and leaving it to them. Her own experience, part of their attic was floored and part was not, and the insulation was exposed in the area were it was not floored. Sometimes, things stored in the attic spilled over into the areas where the insulation was, and she could see if that was the case in very many homes, it was easy for a home owner to reposition the materials installed. Council needed to allow for that in the way they handled the matter. Council Member Renzel agreed with Council Member Klein and Vice Mayor Sutorius more on the moral side, that someone's house burning down was not a pleasant prospect. She would feel really uncomfortable not taking every precaution pos- sible in a fairly thorough way to ensure they did not *do any tests" for the insulation industry with some of their Palo Alto homes. It was very important they not leave the possibility there that someone's home sight burn down as a 58-203 8/24/87 result of that kind of insulation. Council should go for -- ward with the inspection system and not leave it to chance that a home owner would throw away the mail notification. AMENDMENT paILED by a vote of 4-4, Levy, Woolley, Fletcher, Patitucci voting "aye," Bechtel absent. MOTION PASSED by a vote of 7-1, Patitucci voting "nose Bechtel absent. 13-A (OLD ITEM 11) FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE .RECOMMENDATION RE UNDERGROUNDING OF ELECTRIC SYSTEM (1140) $PTIOM: Council Member Klein for the Finance and Public Works Committee moved that the City Council continuo with the present program and at the present pace of under - grounding the City's utilities. Vice Mayor Sutorius agreed with the F&PW Committee comments about the thoroughness of the previous staff reports and analyses made on the subject and the very hard choices that had to be made on priorities. However, he believed the action proposed should be delayed for the following reasons; The thorough staff report and resulting program the Council would commit to by the recommendation before the Council was dated work. The staff reports were prepared and signed out as of October and December, 1984. By that fact, there was the potential that staff analyses and Council consideration did not currently assess some important developments which included their Street Tree Management Plan which was in its farwative stages in 1984; Cable TV installation which was still being deliberated and was certainly nowhere near the physical implementation presently in progress; the acceler- ated residential infill and the remodeling of single-family residences and their enlargements had not blossomed as it had subsequently with some of the consequential effects with respect to landscaping and tree cover; and the major water main and sewer maintenance programs now planned and in pro- gress which were not full CIP commitments in 1984. The utility -users tax proposal and the infrastructure support prospects had not even emerged at the time the issue was earlier under consideration in regard to the progress of undergrOunding. Therefore, there were at leash five factors to weigh in an updated evaluation of Whether the City .'s undergrounding program in its 1984 version properly reflected priorities, aesthetics, schedules, and -an inte- grated planning and construction activity involving both Public Works and Utilities. 58-204 8/24/87 SUBSTITUTE MOTION; Vice Mayor Suforius moved, seconded by Patitecci, to rerefer the item to the Finance and Public Works Committee for its revie during the first quarter of the ].8$ calendar year with the direction that the staff evaluate mad report for that review on a 1) Bow the undergrounding, street tree management plan, cable TV and other infrastructure programs were inte- grated and/or affected by one another; and 2) Any other staff analyses of issues and impacts that affect undergrounding policy determinations. Council Member Cobb believed one of the things that drove the. decision of the F&PW Committee was the absence of any great public pressure to escalate the undergrounding process which would change- it from a 100 -year program to .a 50 -year program. That and the fact there were so many pressures on their resources that they should be turning their attention to other things prompted his own conclusion, all in the con- text. it would be nice to have the undergrounding done sooner rather than later. During the recent 2001 meeting, the com- ment was made that given the City's good deal on the util- ities would obviously change, they should take advantage of the low rates while they had them to escalate the under - grounding. He asked how staff reacted to that argument. Assistant Director of Utilities .Ken DeDario said all the estimates staff made of projections of their wholesale power costs in the future tended -to have those costs becomecloser to a. market rate. He was not sure there would be a signifi- ccant difference, only in the early years. �. Mr. Zaner said it was true that as the rates rose -closer to the market, people would be more aware of the fact they were paying a larger.fee for electric services and would perhaps be somewhat less anxioue. to participate in an undergrounding district which would, in effect, . add_- to their rage as they would . see it. At the same tiaa, .Tate and assessment dis- tricts were separate, and staff knew from experience that other jurisdictions under PG&E service did undergrounding districts from timeto time. He suspected there would be initial reluctance or shock as rates rose- -and if the Council put assessmentdistricts on top they would rise even core --but they Would be in no worse condition end, he hoped with the City's good negotiating skills, in a better posi- tion than PG&E cities_, and he world expect undergrounding to proceed certainly not slower than the PG&E cities. 58-205 8/24/87 Council Member Cobb asked for staff's reaction to Vice Mayor Sutorius' suggestion that new events such as cable,• infill, etc., changed the complexion of the equation as against the 1984 staff reports. Assistant Director of Utilities, Engineering, Edward Mrizek, replied that staff still believed the City should not accelerate the program at the time. They previously indicated to the Council that they had other higher priority work. They had major undertakings, were adding to their substation, and had many other projects going on. Regarding some of Vice Mayor Sutorius' comments, they were working with the cable TV people --the Pacific Bell people were installing the substructures for them on all future under- ground programs --they had taken into account the water main placement programs, and there were new processes where they would be putting linings in the water and sewer lines rather than digging up a lot of the streets. They tried to take advantage of joint construction. They were in the process of completing an underground district on Arastradero Road where they went jointly with the gas utility in putting in gas mains. Mr. Zaner believed the initial staff recommendation not to .ccelerate the program was still a valid one; however, as Mr. Mrizek pointed out, staff had taken a number of steps in conjunction with undergrounding with other projects that might bear upon the undergrounding picture in the long run. Given the fact the motion before the Council did not push staff into any accelerated schedule and gave time until the first quarter of the calendar year, he saw no problem in putting together a brief report to list out those factors and give some tho'ight to any others that might be affecting undergrounding. Council Member Cobb sensed from staff's comments there might. be opportunities to escalate a little: faster than the 100 - year program but not as forwally as 'the 50 -year program, just because of things like the examples given. He assumed staff's report would address those kinds of opportunities. Mr. Zaner believed so. He did not want to mislead the Council into thinking staff would return with a report that would say they could speed things up. He did not believe it would raka that much difference, but staff had done some things to escalate the process whichmight have affects here and there, and it would be worthwhileto pass that informa- tion on to the Council. 58-206 8/24/87 Mary Carlstead, 147 Walter Hays Drive, said home owners were bracing themselves to receive a letter with all the antici- pation of getting something ftom the IRS or the Selective Service Bureau. It ruined her weekend to receive a letter from the City of Palo Alto saying how lucky they were to have been chosen for underground utilities. Their section on Walter Hays Drive was completed about 1951 and was not one of the older sections of the City. The letter said nice things about the poles coming down, the trees going up, and about the City putting in the underground utilities in front and bearing the cost. Then it said the typical conversion costs for the home owner was $1,100-$5,500. She saw senior citizens crying that day. They had a lot of senior citizens who were either about to ratire or already were retired. She was confused because she remembered the letter which came out in the '70s about the 100 -year project when they were told the top cost would be $400 per home owner. If she remembered correctly, there was a big pool of money that was going to be used and then the money in the kitty for the underground utilities was used to pay off the legal fees for the Arastra land deal according to the Palo Alto Times Tribune. She called an electrician and said she had a 55 -- foot by 105 -foot lot with boxes in the back where the poles were and asked what he thought it would cost her. He believed she was in the $5,100 bracket, and she wondered about pecaple with bigger lots. She= -would either have to rip up the porch or beautiful aggregate patio. She was worried about the senior citizens affording the $5,000 tab, and now they were being asked to vote on a utility tax to support the school district, which would go over very poorly. She asked how the figure got to $5,000 from $400 in less than ten years. Wednesday night a hearing of the: Erstwild Conversion Project No. 31 would be well attended_ by some very angry home owners. Council, Member: Patitucci seconded the substitute motion because he .bel ieved there were some different events occur- ring. He had noticed the increased density of the cabling in -the areas that still had overhead_ wires as a. result of the cable for the TV. Given the City had an election coming up and a number of Council Members were running, it would be a good time to assess the public .opinion on whether they wanted to accelerate the program. He felt the response from staff and the Utilities Department e was the _standard response, and in their view the project was probably not as high priority as other things they Wo3ld prefer to do for the electrical system. However, it was not staff's choic*i but was- a question about values and what _they wanted in the community. If; they would rather have things look better and pay for -it, they should. stepup and do -it, and he believed postponing the issue and :: 'eexaming it once More certainly would not hurt. He supported the substitute motion. 58--207 8/24/87 Council Member Klein asked for staff's response to the ques- tions raised by Ms. Carlstaad. Mr. Mrizek said the City sent an introductory letter to the property owners in the particular area which was designated as the underground district for the next budget year. The letter told property owners the City intended to create an underground district in that area, and those costs provided in the letter for the service conversions were the actual costs of previous underground projects. It was true when the City began undergrounding in the 1950s and early 1960s the service conversions were around $400,- but not today. The utility provided all the substructure, and all the dis- tribution costs of putting in the underground district -- everything off the property owner's property --but the service on the person's property was their responsibility. That had always been the case. Council Member Klein recalled the money with regard to Arastra did not come from the Utilities Department budget. Mr. Mrizek said not to his knowledge. Mr. Zaner said that was his understar ;ii,y. Council Member Klein clarified that was one thing that was not affected by the resolution of that case back in the 1970s. Mayor Woolley believed at the meeting mentioned by Ms. Carlstead the City would be proposing to help senior citi- zens and other people who would find it difficult to finance the project. Mr. Mrizek said the City did have a loan program. Mayor Woolley liked Council Member Patitucci's idea that, because they were coming into an election, the issue might be something about which they could really hear from citi- zens. Sh.e heard from citizens who:: would like to see the City get rid of the unsightly poles, and obviously there were people who would like to put off the expenditure the home owner had to put out for the' connection as long as possible. She preferred to defer until . January or - February and, in thilemeantime, the Council might get a better idea of how most of the citizens of Palo Alto felt about the issue. Council Member Cobb was prepared to let the item return to F&P1'1 Committee with whatever information could be brought up He . noted the issue of cost and the issue of ,whether the project was done- in 100 years or 50 years were separate 58-208 8/24/87 issues. The cost was the cost. Ms. Carlstead's house was apparently on the 100 -year program but came up now. Council Mcmber Levy was also disposed to favor the substi- tute motion. He believed it would be appropriate to consider the matter in time to evaluate it in relation to next year's capital projects' budget. Some of the . questions he would like to see answered were: If the average life of the utility poles was 30 years, and their policy was to underground whenever an area's poles needed replacement, they should be totally undergrounded in 30 years. Instead they were taking 90 years, which cycle should call for two cr three replacements of poles before the last ones were undergrounded. He would be interested in the payback period of undergrounding to the Utility Department. The Utility Department would have much lower expenses for maintenance if the -City was undergrounded so there had to be some kind of payback period. Another question related to the loss of power from power outages which were more severe for above- ground utilities than underground ones. The report gave the cost of revenue lost, which -seemed a small amount, but it seemed a larger amount was the cost of person powercon- fleeted with going out and repairing those outages -and getting the power back. The outages inevitably happened at the wrong time and seemed very costly to correct, and also were certainly a tremendous problem tor the citizen who lost power. Finally. there was some question about rates which was unclear, particularly given the fact that on a longer term basis, if they took the preseuL cost it appeared if they accelerated the program it would be a lower present value. While that might mean higher costs in the near future, it might still in the longer run ‘be worth it. One other aspect was presumably there were projects waiting to be undergrounded which would result in significant savings to the community and removal of poles that were signifi- cantly unsightly and costly. It nliyht be worthwhile, without talking about a 100 -year program, to consider accel- erating the next 10 or 15 years, focus on these projects, and see what the savings would be to the City.- There were sufficient reasons why it was worthwhile to bring the issue back to Council early next year. Mr. Zaner said the report back and study were now becoming much larger, and the Council was now giving staff a substan- tial assignment. If the motion was successful and the item was referred, he suggested the Council let staff return to the F&PW Committee very briefly after the election when the Council had a chance to get the put.►e of the community, and to get some direction as to how big the study was to be. Mayor Woolley said that sounded reasonable. 58-209 8/24/87 Council Member Fletcher mentioned the issue of aesthetics was not quite as black and white as it used to be because now those who had undergrounding had to put up with the pedestals. There were so many advantages to undergrounding, but there was that one negative. Council - Member Renzel would support the substitute motion for purposes of ensuring the Council had explored all the possibilities for making a determination to stay with their status quo on the schedule. The boxes which came with the undergrounding of cable were certainly raising a question about the aesthetics. Council Member Klein would vote "no" on the substitute motion, reluctantly in some ways because he liked. to honor requests from Council Members when .they asked for more information, but he believed the issue had been studied to death, The questions raised that evening were either within their knowledge or had been answered in the staff reports of October and December cla, 1984. The issue had been dis- cussed at a number of Council meetings and it was .time they made a decision. He believed the idea was mistaken that the project was going to be an issue in the campaign and they would get a lot of input from the public. He failed to detect from the people he contacted any strong opinions one way or the other such that one could return to the Council in January and feel there was a different sense of the com- munity. The comments made by Council Members Fletcher and Renzel that the aesthetics had changes were correct, and he also noted staff had previously advised the Council that the neighborhoods that were most blighted by overhead lines had been undergrounded. They were moving now to neighborhood- where the feeling for_ undergrounding was not as strong. He believed they would hear more and more from people such as Ks. Carlstead--and he was very sympathetic to her remarks --- that the cost was not worth it, because the people in those neighborhoods did not believe they had a problem. Unfortun- ately, inflation in the electrical business had far exceeded the normal cost of inflation. For ali those reasons, he did not believe there was a compelling reason for the Council to study the matter furthers. They should grapple with the: issue and make a decision now. Vice Mayor Sutorius was sorry the subject had -expanded so far. He added there were some aspects in regard to.aesthet- les that required examination both as,. to the scheduling and sequencing of —areas and the integration with the tree management plan. Council should consider situations where --not as a fault of the undergrounding process per se but as a consequence --if street.. tree planning decisions and implerdentations were .placing deciduous -trees in areas where 58-210 8/24/87 As co i,61 they nad heavily constructed line facilities further impacted by overhead cable TV and as a result they were emphasizing the appearances of the pole line construction for a long period of time. That was why he asked the subject be looked at from the standpoint of integration. There might be recommendations that could encompass some of the suggestions regarding acceleration possibilities, and there were also some resequencing situations that might be examined, or there might be elements of Public Works programs including street tree management that needed to be evaluated. They would'best approach it as an integrated effort and not just assigning to the electtie utility and then f :n ni't the City had other problems that could be married and become solutions. Mayor Woolley clarified that Cna!nr' 1 M�►_mhc�r Levv's questions were not part of the substitute motion, and the Council would leave it LID to. the City Manager as to how that should be handled. St TITUTE NOTION PASSED by a vote of 7-1, Klein voting °ne ' Bechtel absent, 14 . COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA REF',EaRAL OF THE DRAFT PRESERVA- TION 2020 REPORT (CMR s 4 26 : ) (1510) Mayor Woolley introduced and welcomed Planner Carolyn Hamilton. Debbie Mytels, 2824 Louis Road, recently became involved in environmental issues and learned about the work of the Preservation 2020 Task Force, and was pleased the County of Santa Clara was making the major effort at looking at pre- serving the open space land values in the County. As a board member, she read a statement of the opinion of the Committee for Green Foothills' on the subject, which con- firmed the staff recommendation; for City Council action on the report. .They.. agreed that the Preservation 2020 report should more clearly state the importance of preserving the open space character of the Stanford foothills, and the City should be included in formulating policy for establishing setback areas along the creeks of the Stanford University lands. Beyond that, however, she asked the Council to include some additional comments in its response to the County Task Force because they believed Palo Alto citizens would be affected by the proposed Hillside Cluster Program, the new Open Space District that would be created, and the etreamside protection setbacks, even though they were net necessarily within their immediate areas. The Hillside Cluster Program would permit contiguous properties to 58-211 8/24/87 collectively combine their allowable development potential. and to cluster development in one.place. The undeveloped remainder of the properties would be permanently preserved as open space. They requested the Palo Alto City Council to specifically affirm the Task Force recommendation criteria on page 111-18. Of particular importance was the recommendation to continue the County's current plan of clustering so that. only 10 percent of the land in a cluster be developed and 90 percent of the land be preserved perma- nently as open space. Secondly, the final Task Force report should recommend the County adopt stricter Hillside develop- ment standards and regulations before adopting the Hillside Cluster Program. To protect the. Hillsides from environ- mental damage, changes should be made that would require design review, new standards for driveway length and slope, protection of • the view from inappropriate construction, and stricter enforcement of existing standards. Thirdly, adop- tion of the ordinances and implementation of the Cluster Program should be delayed until the new Open Space District's Board of Directors established their own set of priorities for acquisition of property rights in order to minimize potential conflicts between new zoning techniques and the acquisition program. In addition to suggesting changes in the Task Force, they asked Council to also affirm some of the points in the recommendation particularly wihh regard to the riparian corridor protection and protecting stream water quality. It was important that interim mandatory setbacks be adopted immediately to protect the natural resource before the County studied and finally decided upon the final c'eekside setbacks required. The suggested language was similar to that which she understood council Member Renzel prepared, and they concurred with her prepared remarks. The Committee for Green Foothills hoped the Council would consider. the recommendations seriously. Betsy Shotwell, 3325 St. Michael Drive, was a member of the 2020 Task Force, as were many residents of Palo Alto. They were still meeting and would be returning in September, taking back comments, questions, and concerns- they were hearing throughout the course of the summer. Council Member Fletcher asked whether a moratorium was pres- ently in place on the incorporated. Hillside areas for development. Ms. Shotwell said not thit she was aware of. Council Member Fletcher asked about present policies on the Hillside development. Ms. Shotwell deferred to Mary Kate Francie for response. Mary Kate Francie, from Supervisor Dianne KcKenna's office, said there was no moratorium on building within the County, but if there was any development near to a city, 1-Ne development had to take place within the city, and the land would have to be annexed first. Generally, the only development currently going on in the County was single -site home sites. She was not aware of any major subdivisions. Council Member Fletcher asked if the procedure would still hold under the adopted plan. Ms. Francie said yes, there would be no change. All the recommendations coming through the Preservation 2020 report were within the context of the present General Plan. As far as the clustering question, clustering was now allowed within the General Plan. The Preservation 2020 group developed a set of criteria that would strengthen it consid- erably. Page 111-18 listed a whole set of criteria, the final one being that no more than 10 percent of ,the - land would be developed, and the criteria would then become part of the zoning ordinance if clustering was to take effect. Clustering would not happen on its own. People could not just decide to have a cluster. There would be a land trust formed and all applications for any type of clustering would go through the land trust. There were real safeguards set into place, and the committee was willing to listen to any further ones the Council might add. The issue was •not con- sidered lightly but was hammered out very carefully so there would not be a situation that development would take place in any way more than at present. If every lot in the Hillsides could be developed, they would have a lot of sprawl.- Clustering would work in certain areas of the Hillside; it was not eligible for all areas, and the report specified where it would be used. If development was clus- tered in one small portion of lots, there would be much greater amounts of open space than if each individual land owner was allowed to develop on his one parcel. NOTION: Council Member 'ouzel moved. seconded by Fletcher, to adopt staff recommendation to take the following action: 1. Endorse the recommendations of the Preservation 2020 Task -Force with the following additions: Add language to the report that clearly stages the importance-: of preserving the open apace charay4keklof the Stanford foothills and that oollineig# MOTION CONTINUED policies and processes established in the County General Plan for regulating future academicuses; and b. Add language that includes the City of Palo Alto in the policy formulation process for establishing setback areas along the creeks on Stanford University lands; and 2.. Request that Santa Clara County refer future studies and proposals relating to implementation of the program to the City for further review. Further, add the following recommendations from The Coaaittes for .Green Foothills to the staff recommendations: lc. Endorse the recommendations of the Preservation 2020 Task Force with the following additions: l) that the County adopt interio mandatory setback to protect riparian corridors and creek water quality; 2) that the County adopt.. the Task Force recommended additional Hillside development standards and regulations prior to the implementation of the Hillside Cluster Program; and 3) that final adoption of the ordinances and. implementation of the Cluster Program should be delayed until a .new Open Space District's Board of Directors has set its own priorities for acquisition of property rights; 1d. Endorse specific recommendations of the Preservation 2!k20 Task Force as follows: 1) that the criteria which would apply to the Hillside Cluster Program continues the Couaty:'s policy that in hillside clusters .90,. percent. of the land remains in permanent open space; 2) that the remaining riparian corridors and stream quality be protected; and 3) support the Wetland protection policies, Council Member Fletcher said when she read the analysis by the Santa Clara County Greenbelt Coalition and there -were fears that adoption of the plan as proposed would intensify sprawl and. put more demands on sewer lines and roads, it occurred .to her that it would be easier to evaluate that if they had an environmental analysis done in conjunction with the plan. An environmental document spelling out the effects of implementation of the plan seemed to be missing from the process. AMENDMENT: Council Member Fletcher* moved that the City request aa environmental analysis be done before adoption of tike . plan. MOTION DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND Council Member Renzel clarified there would have to be environmental _ assessments on each of the implementation portions. Ms. Hamilton said that was correct; she understood the County intended to. dothat. Council Member Renzel said there would be environmental assessments of the specific proposals as they were brought forward. The analysis might not be as comprehensive as one of the whole plan would be, but it would be covered which was why she did not second the amendment. She believed the conceptual framework of the Task Force study was very good. The concern was . that during the interim period and in the timing of the various activities proposed, they not lose ground or somehow create an economic situation which increased speculation had, caused problems for the ultimate purpose of the Task Force, which was . to encourage sensible land use planning. Council Member Fletcher realized that individual projects would need environmental analysis, but theplan was compar- able in her mind to a General Plan. Once a General Plan was adopted and implemented, the pattern was set and one had to conform to it. For that reason she believed it was impor- tant now to get an analysis of the effects of the plan. Vice Mayor Sutoriussaid they recently witnessed the Windy Hill celebration in Portola Valley, and it .was because there were agencies and plans available, and a willingness on the part of propertyowners to participate in important things for the entire Peninsula area that made it possible, He believed the proposed plan was sound and in that direction on behalf of Santa Clara County. 58--215 8/24/87 As corrected 9/21/87 MOTION PASSIM unanimously, Bechtel absent. 15. REQUEST TO ADD THE CITY OF PALO ALTO TO LETTER IN SUPPORT OF PETITION FOR RiVfEW 1N LONG EB ALH POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION V. CITY OF LONG BEACH (710/107) MOTION: Council Member Levy moved, seconded by Sutorius, to. adopt. City Attorney's recommendation to authorise . her to contact the League of California Citios to add Pale Alto's Rome to a letter is support of the City of Long Beach's Petition . for ncvioe by the Supreme Court. . NOTION PASS# D unanimously, Bechtel absent. 16. REQUEST OF MAYOR_ WOOLLEY RE CANCELATION OF THE SEPTEMBER 8 1987 CITY COUNT' MEETING (701) NOTION: Mayor Woolley act- ld, seconded by AA.ie r Ow September 1, 1917 City Council Meeting. MOTION PASSIM unanimously, Bechtel absent. ADJOURNMENT Council adjourned to a Closed Session at 9:10 p.n. FINAL ADJOURNMENT Final adjournment at 9:27 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: to cancel