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Home My WebLink About1986-03-03 City Council Summary Minutesa 1 QTV couriai MINUTEs ITEM Regular Meeting March''3, 1986 CITY OF Mt O ALTO PAGE Oral Communications 6 9 3 1 Approval of Minutes January 27, 1986 January 20, 1986 and 6 9 3 3 Item #1, Presentation by Edie Dorosin - Santa Clara 6 9 3 4 Comity Manufacturing Group - Golden Triangle Task Force Consent Calendar 6 9 3 6 Referral 6 9 3 6 Action 6 9 3 6 Item #2, Agreement between CalTrans and tt%o City of 6 9 3 6 Palo Alto for Installation of a Traffic Signal at El Cam -no Meal and Cambridge Avenue Item 43, Request of Councilmember Fletcher re Child Care (Continued from 2/24/86) Item 44, Public Hearing: California Avenue Parking Assessment District 86-1 (Continued from 2/24/86) Item 45, Moratorium on the I :seance of Building Permits for Hoarding Houses in the R-1 Zone Item 46, Jordan/Garland School Site - Open Space Lease Negotiations with Palo Alto Unified School District 6 9 3 7 6 9 4 3 6 9 4 4 6 9 4 6 Item 47, Request of Mayor Cobb re Cancel l a i.i on of 6 9 E. 5 the March 10, 1986 City Council Meeting Adjournment 10:55 p.m. 6 9 5 5 Regular Meeting March 3; 1986 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Avenue, at 7:35 p.m. PRESENT: Bechtel, Cobb, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Patituccf, Sutorius, Woclley ABSENT: Renzel ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Naphtali Knox, 1025 Forest Avenue, said during the two months Forest Avenue was closed between the Police Station and the Library, it was a pleasure to drive home. He lived and worked on Forest and noticed a diminution of traffic on Forest. He recommended Council consider keeping Forest Avenue closed and constru.ting a plaza between the Police building and the Library, which was the City's intent about 20 years ago. The ends of the streets which dead-ended on' the plaza would have about four parking spaces. If the idea had any merit, he sug- gested during the last few days Forest Avenue remained closed, that Council ask the traffic engineers to take traffic counts in order to determine what might occur if Council decided to close Forest permanently. Checks should be done in the next several days and again in four or five months after the street was reopened to give some basis for a decision. 2. Hilary Preston, 1534 Madrona, believed Boronda Lake at Foothills Park should be refilled for fishing, boating, bird watching, and duck feeding. People liked to relax in the shade by the lake. The lake was a part of the tradition of Foothills Park. 3. Brigid Oentoni, 2032 Middlefield Road, supported repairing the dam and refilling the lake at Foothills Park. The lake was an integral part of the total ecological system of Foothill s Park, as well as a joy to people who enjoyed the year-round benefits of the park. 4. Alexandra Wharf, 468 Lowell, urged that Boronda Lake be refilled. The Lake provided not only enjoyment for everyone but a home for fish and lakeside birds. The animals adjusted to the Leke, and by draining it the City upset their routine and lifestyle. Since the City did not support the Yacht Harbor, the Lake provided a safe atmosphere for people to enjoy safe boating. 5. Pia Denton', 2032 Middlefield Road, said Foothills Park was a nice place and Boronda Lake was a pleasant part of it. She liked i t there and hoped the r.i.ty got the money to refill the lake. 6. Joanna Leonard, 468 Lowell Avenue, was one of the many citi- zens who wanted Council to consider refilling Foothills Park lake. The lake provided outdoor fun and was educational. It was _a hose for marsh animals and was a beautiful place to relax. The lake was the kind one wanted to tell one's grand- children about. 7.. Carole Robin, 231;3, Santa Ana, lived in Palo Alto for almost eight years. She and her husband purchased a home in the com- munity where they wanted to raise their future children. Everyone who had lived in Palo Alto loved the City for its charm, exceptional public facilities and amenities, its rec- reational and cultural activities, and its good schools. It Was unique among Peninsula communities, but just as the qual- ity of life was better, so the cost of living was higher. 6 g 3 1 3/03/86 They believed the present hardship would be worth it for the quality of life they and their children would enjoy in the future. She was concerned regarding Council's request for a Planning Department study of the Community Gardens as a site for affordable housing. Building anything on any park seemed contrary to what Palo Alto represented. For the hundreds of gardeners who used the Community Gardens, they were e part of what made the City a special place to live. For the many neighborhood residents driven out of Rinconada Park by crowds from other areas on weekends, the Gardens offered one of the few tranquil places in the immediate area to take a walk and interact with neighbors. The Gardens typified what made Palo Alto uj.ique. The Gardens were appreciated and fully utilized, and there was a waiting list for a plot. She and her husband were troubled the Gardens' continued existence was even in question. The number of people who would benefit from affordable housing on the Community Gardens' site was substantially less than the number of people who currently used the Gardens, and the imbalance was further exaggerated if one considered the negative impact on traffic, parking, and the constraints on future expansion for the thousands of Palo Alto residents who used the Library and Cultural Center. There was a disparity between 40 units on 2 acres and a neighborhood zoned for a maximum of 6 homes per acre. Such disparity cast doubts in her mind neighborhoods would be protected from excessive density and traffic in the future and made her worry that the preservation of neighborhood character was not a concept the residents could continue to count on in Palo Alto. She understood a small island of low-income housing at the Gardens' site would barely impact the overall need for affordable housing in Palo Alto. There seemed to be other larger sites where a project of greater proportions and significance could be implemented. The adverse effects of building on the Community Gardens' site so far outweighed the benefits to the Affordable Housing Program that she did not understand the allocation of Building Department resources to further investigate she site. The resources could be better spent preserving open space and parkland, and beautifying ehe City by building affordable housing in larger abandoned sites, such as Urban Lane. 8. Joan Simms, 1 424 Harker Avenue, was a Palo Alto 'resident for over 25 years. She was concerned about changing the Community Gardens to housing. Before the garden 4nd complexion of the area were changed, a survey should be done to see how many people used the garden and supplemented their families' food and Income. 9. Bill Peterson, 3017 Alma, referred to California Penal Code Section 597, which stated in part, "every person who causes any animal to be tortured, tormented, deprived of necessary sustenance or cruelly killed is guilty of a misdemeanor." He referred to the railroad crossing which straddled the east and westbound Oregon Expressway underpass which was partitioned by a concrete support at the road's midpoint. The site was attractive for roosting and nesting activities for the various doves and pigeons. Over the years it was a real problem for those concerned about the presence of pigeons in .the underpass. The City and the County of Santa Clara attempted to evict the birds by placing mesh steel wire bearing some resemblance to cyclone fencing up into the rail crossing between each girder to prevent the entry of prospective avian tenants. He was shocked and angered to see the meshing placed 'without consideration for the birds presently roosting or nesting at the site. He observed at least ten doves trapped by the meshing within the framework of the rail crossing. They appeared alive and free to move about within the confines tut were also in a state of having been buried alive. He noticed a small opening at one end of the meshing, but it was not a sufficient route for escape. The part of the crossing which straddled eastbound Oregon was closed entirely in 5 9 3 2 3/03/86 meshing literally sealing the fate of five of the ten trapped birds he observed. [gin . Friday night and Saturday he understood members of Council were notified of the problem and that an attempt was made to reach the City Manager to effect some remedial action. On Sunday evening, he noticed a small section of the meshing had been bent out on the eastbound side of the rail crossing, aad he also observed a dead dove in the meshing hanging by its neck. As of 5:00 p.m. that evening, the situation was unchanged. He hoped they could develop a compassionate and .just approach to the displacement and relocation of the birds. Removing the meshing would restore a degree of humaneness and eliminate possible criminal charges for the sad and thoughtless project. He hoped Council would instruct staff to act accordingly. Mayor Cobb said the problem was being addressed. Councilmember Bechtel said she called the City Manager on Saturday morning, and he had a full crew out there over the weekend and removed about 12 pigeons. 10. Live ui raud, 2200 Byron, spoke, on behalf of the Palo Alto Humane Society, in support of Mr. Peterson's statement. The problem should not have occurred, and the City's remedy was neither timely nor complete. The birds were trapped from Wednesday through Saturday night and were left essentially to suffer a slow death. While pigeons were not among the ani- mals with which many had warm sentimental relations, it did not mean they suffered less. She asked the City Council to issue . a directive to the City Manager with regard to future projects which involved animals that the utmost care be taken to avoid any cruelty. MINUTES OF JANUARY 20 AND JANUARY 27, 1986 Minutes of January 20, 1986 Councilmember Sutorius had the following corrections: Page 6756, fourth paragraph, third line, word "injust" should be "injustice." Last paragraph, line 2, between "of" and "confusing" insert "not." Fourth line, add word "alternatives" after "identify." Vice Mayor Woolley had the following corrections: Page 6754, fourth paragraph'_ eighth line, "Architectural Review Board" should be "Historic Resources Board." Eighth `paragraph, second 1 it e, delete second to last word on line,. "the." Minutes of January 27, 1986 Councilmember Sutorius had the following correction: Page 6799, first paragraph, eighth line from bottom, word "lay" should be "delay." Councilmember Pati tucci had the following .correction: Page 6795, third paragraph, beginning of statement, "Councilmember Patltudci suggested the possibility of a surcharge of one dollar ($1) would pay for the ilprovements over three years...' 6 9 3 3 3/03/86 MOT IUN: Counci l member Pati tuccf roved, seconded by Fletcher, peeeval of the Minutes of January 20 and January 2i, 1986, as corrected. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Renzel absent, Klein "abstaining" on the Minutes of January 27, 1986. ITEM #1 PRESENTATION BY EDIE DOROSIN - SANTA CLARA COUNTY MANUFACT& 1MG GROUP - GOLDEN' MAMA TASK FORCE (PRE 3) 1 1 Mayor Cobb attended two meetings regarding the "Golden Triangle." One was arranged by the Mayor of Mountain View, and the other meeting was with Supervisor McKenna. The' study had significant potential impact to Palo Alto, and he believed it was important to bring the matter before the Council. He introduced Edie Dorosin, Vice President of the Santa Clara County Manufacturing Group. Edie Dorosin, Vice President, Santa Clara County Manufacturing Group, said many years ago there existed the "Route 237 Task Force" whose purpose was to try to find local moneys to match State dollars in order to construct additional commute lanes on Route 237. Participating were the cities of Mountain View, Milpitas, San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale, and the ` County of Santa Clara. Measure A subsequently passed and provided one-half cent to do road construction on three specific roadways. Transportion 2000 hired a consultant to do a study which showed even after the Measure .'1 improvements, by the year 2000, the traffic conditions on 101 and 237 would be worse than they were presently. The Manufacturing Group was concerned and had put a lot of effort into looking towards Measure A as a solution at least in one direction to address the traffic problem in the County. It was disconcerting to hear they would be back where they started or worse in 15 years. Last summer, the Manufacturing Group wrote to the members of the former "237 Task Force" and asked the group to come together and discuss the possibility of developing some common conditions of development to address the traffic problem. Everyone `agreed, and the meeting was held in August. It was agreed the cities in Santa Clara County were not competing with each other for economic development and health but rather with Austin, Texas,and places in Colorado, etc. It was time to work together in some cooperative fashion. In December, 1985, the group adopted goals, and in January, 1986, the representatives of the public agencies voted to assess themselves an equal amount in order to hire a consultant to create a strategic plan. The consultant was asked to create a strategic plan., Phase I. The objective was to bring into better balance the employment densities, the transportation infrastructure defined as "roadway" and "public transit," and the housing supply. Phase I was to be completed in time for a May 22, 1986, Joint Cities -County meeting at which time policies would be presented to the elected officials for adoption. Phase I also concentrated on balancing the supply of transportation infrastructure to the demand created by the employment densities, and documenting the housing created by the employment growth and perhaps identifying opportunities for housing within the general Golden Triangle area. The Golden Triangle area was defined as the area generally bounded by 237 ` in the north, on one side by 1-80 and the other side by. 101. Phase I concentrated on the area within ii a Golden Triangle aad on balancing infrastructure to demand and documenting the housing issue. It was intended that Phase YI if the cooperative ieffort w -as successful, would go County -wide .and include all 15 'cities in the County in some fashion. In that way, the group would get further into housing policies. The first step of the Golden Triangle Strategic Plan was to gather dat-a. Each public agency gethered data in a slightly different way so it was an interesting exercise. The consultant was gathering data in order to put into a model and bracket the problem. They . could look at what happened if they had present employment, filled up vacant buildings and saw the construction of all the approved industrial buildings balanced -against the present roadway system, the public 3/03/86 transit system, and the amount of ridesharing. After the problem was bracketed, the consultant would look at policies in three areas: 1) Land use, which included housing, some kinds of density problems in buildings, neight limits, and transit impact zones; 2) Transportation Demand Management, which included flexible'time schedules, ridesharing programs, preferential parking, incentives to ridesharing, etc.; and 3) Transportation Supply Management, which included roadway improvements, signal improvements, left turn, right turn, and various improvements to the capital system, but at a lower cost. The idea was to look at the impacts of com- bining specific policies within, the three areas to see what kinds of trade-offs and balances could be received so at the other side of the equation the impacts could be measured against some kind of a standard. The standard presently being considered gauged the number of vehicles -to cross certain entrances to the area, perhaps all along Highway 101, comparing it to the capacity of 101 in order to see if any given city was to increase the housing densi- ties and add significant amounts of housing, what it would do to the number of people crossing 101 and going to work in a certain area. Individual cities would then have a choice to select spe- cific policies within any of the areas to allow a better balance between the demand for transportation infrastructure and what was actually created by the employment densities. The consultant was being pushed to complete the scenarios and impacts and present them to the public agencies in order to make some choices and begin the approach toward a County --wide valance between demand and supply. Equally important was building public understanding and support. To do so, the Task Force communicated with each of the ten cities not presently participating in the Task Force as well as to developers, housing builders, contractors, environmental groups, and Transportation Commission. The importance was to gather input and ideas. Councilmember Fletcher asked at what stage the Palo- Alto City Council or County Transportation Commission could provide input into the'formulas. Ms. Dorosin said the Golden Triangle Task Force was tentatively scheduling briefings the first week in April, 1986 for interested representatives of public bodies. The content of the briefings would be a review of study assumptions and the methodology so everyone could see from where the numbers were coming and how the model was being generated. Councilmember Fletcher asked whether the briefing would be a two-way street. There were some elements missing she would like to have put in. Ms. Dorosin encouraged all input. Councilmember Patitdcci asked if all the jurisdictions mentioned hed some zoning or land use responsibility in the Triangle. Ms. Dorosin said yes. A1.1 the jurisdictions had land within the general area. Councilmember Patitucci :asked if all jurisdictions agreed to take actions based on the study, or just that they were willing to look at the data, results, and suggestions. Ms. Dorosin said a joint meeting was held in November. At that time, Mayors from each city said as long as there was equity among the. jurisdictions, they were willing to give serious consideration to the recommendations coming out of the Golden Triangle Task Forces effort. Ms. Dorosin said the City of Santa Clara agreed to hold off many major development approvals on the EIRs until the Golden Triangle.Task Force completed its first phase. The City of 6 9 3 5 3/03/86 Aa corrected 4/07/86 San Jose was not issuing permits in the North First Street area for any additional developments until tn. Golden Triangle Task Force completed its first phase. - Counc f lniember Patitucci asked if the entire area was industrial or whether there was any housing, alternative uses, open space, or anything planned besides industrial or commercial. Ms. Dorosin said the City of Santa Clara had a fair amount of open space. Some of Santa C ara' s land was under the flight path so it was .a limited area. There was also a golf course, and when n the land t'se planning was changed, Santa Clara looked for dense resi- dential combined with some commercial on the golf course. Part of Phase I of the study would be to identify areas within the Golden Triangle area where there were opportunities for housing. Councilmember Patitucci asked about the current vacancy rate in the Triangle. Ms. Dorosin believed it was 48 percent, Mayor Cobb .said a comment was made at one of the meetings that mere was about a six -year supply. Councilmember Levy asked if the present study was only in terms of the existing office space, or did it al so include potential build out under the zoning of the different communities. Ms. Dorosin said the study would use the Transportation 2000 figures. The potential build out would be according to the cities, not according to general plans and was something on the order of 1,100,000 jobs. If the build out was according to general plans, it would be more like 1,600.000. Councilmember Levy clarified the Golden Triangle Task Force did not use the envelope currently allowable under the different communities' zoning. He was delighted about the Task Force but felt it should have gone or before all the building was done. Mayor Cobb asked whether measures were contemplated for dealing with those communities which might elect to simply continue to operate outside the bounds of the recommendations from the Task Force. He .a.,,Ked how the cities would deal with the communities who would no eespect the kinds of limitations discussed. Ms. Dorosin suogested lobbying those people who might not respect the res«i is of the study. Everyone agreed it was time to do some- thing different. - Mayor Cobb encouraged members of the Council individually or collectively to communicate with Ms. Dorosin. CONSENT CALENDAR P10110,1: Ceeati ms.b.r Ssteri rs meted, si',oAded by Woolley, spprswai of the Consent Calendar. Referral !lone. Action ITEM #2 AGREEM1rNT BETWEEN CALTRA$S AND THE CITY OF PALO ALTO FOR L L ., Mc AI EL CA t O `RtAL _* f. aka I E "/CIR:17):6) 6 9 3 6 3/03/86 Staff recommends Council authorize the Mayor to execute the Agreement between the State of California, the Department of Transportation, and the City of Palo Alto for installation of a traffic signal at the--inter-section of El Camino Real and Cambridge Avenue. AGREEMENT Cal Trans MOTION PASSE° unanimously, Reazel absent. ITEM #3, REQUEST OF COUNCILMEMBER FLETCHE,R RE CHILD CARE Continued from 2/2471M -U-63-11 Councilmember Fletcher said the need for child care was largely swept under the rug. The City of Palo Alto was exemplary in setting up and helping finance the Palo Alto Community Child Care (PACCC). Some organizations. also helped with monetary contribu- tions, but the suppot t had not nearly kept up with the burgeoning needs, especially in the Palo Alto area where the cost of housing was mostly out of the -reach of one -parent employed families. Added to the problem of housing costs was the baby boom of the past few years which showed no signs of slackening. The needs of the working parent had an impact on the employer and limited recruitment opportunities and retention of employees. Makeshift or non-existent child care arrangements could lower employee productivity and increase absenteeism. A joint effort and the pooling of resources were likely to result in benefits to all. MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved, seconded by Klein, that the Mayer be directed to set up a task force to examine methods for employers to provide increased child care information and services in Pate Alto. The task force would addressthefollowing issues: 1. Establit tr..z t Qa11d care information and referral network;; 2. Roles) of employer in providing or sepporting employee child care; and 3. Ways to encourage mere active employer participation in assisting employees with child care needs. Councilmember Klein encouraged Councilmember Fletcher to. specify the number of members on the task force. s f Council was guided by precedent, it always specified a number of people. He . suggested seven. Councilmember Fletcher was reluctant to limit the task force to seven. She was inclined to say 15 members, and after the discus- sion Council wou. d probably identify several groups who might want to participate. She did not believe one representative from' the Santa Clara Manufacturing Group'would be sufficient to involve the entire field. Vice Mayor Woolley asked if the task force would do a needs survey. Ccuncllmemuer Fletcher believed it was an important element. Vice Mayor Woolley clarified the motion did not include a survey of , need. Councilmember .Pat itucci generally supported the concept of increased employer involvement -and the shoring of information which might be the `ptalyst for grays to look at end provide for chill care. He asked' how much Palo Alto City staff time might be necessary to support the prof#ct and what type of funding or fail sties might be required Iv, 0* task force. City Manager ni l l laver said it depended on the depth to which Council wanted staff to -work. For research, data gathering, needs survey, a written -report, coordination of the activities where the task force was involved over a period of six months, a person mignt be needed one and one-half days per week. Councilmember Patltucci asked if money was in the budget to sup- port such an effort and if steps had been taken to set up and receive adequate support from staff. Mr. Lane; said if such a task force were set up, staff would hire someone on an hourly basis. The funds would be found either within the existing budget or staff would request a ;;.udget amend- ment, Councilmember Patitucci asked if Councilmember Fletcher reeiewed her plan with representatives of employers who were interested in the set up Councilmember Fletcher said yes. She spoke with Pieter Giles and some individuals in industry. She also discussed the matter with City staff and was told it would be useful for the benefit of the City's employees. Lee Muckey, 175 Evendale, #4, Mountain View, Executive Director of the Palo Alto branch of the Palo Alto Area YMCA, said the YMCA supported the implementation of the Child Care Task Force. There was a task force of providers made up of representatives of PACCC, the Recreation Department, YWCA, YMCA and others which.investi- gated particularly school -aged child care, but the YMCA had an interest in trying to meet the important :needs of child care throughout the cor Aunity, both with the schools and with employers. Dorothea Almond, 4135 Old Trace Road, was a child care consultant and co -director of the Child Care Resource Center at. Stanford University. She supported the motion to create a Child Care Task Force to explore options involving employers in the area of child care in Palo Alto. The Child Care Resource Center at Stanford had 16 years experience as an employer facilitating child care. In the main Child Care Center at Stanford, 25 percent of spaces had to be unofficially kept open for students because every space would be taken by permanent staff who were on waiting lists to get child care two years in advance if necessary. Waiting lists were one to two years long, and pregnancies were often planned to fit into the waiting list schedules. 1'he need was particularly great for infant and toddler care and after school care. The child care need was shared by every city and county in the country. California was fortunate to have the Child Care Resource and Referral Network to help people find child care, The Network accumulated experience in research as to needs, availability, and affordability of child care. Both PACCC and the Child Care Resource Center at Stanford belonged to the Network. Presently, the Network was developing a brochure for employers spelling out various approaches to. the .problem. Palo Alto was fortunate to have its own community child care facility in place. Its staff was eminently equipped by its own experience and linkage to the California _Network to explore, with employers, feasible child tare options, By pooling resources, no one needed to assume excessive risks and expenses. Varied and imaginative improvements in the child care situations could .be achieved. The Child Care Resource Center at Stanford would b.e glad to share its experience with the Task Force. Nancy Pfl ager, 3990 Ventura Court., Executive Director. of Palo Alto Com:aunity Child Care, said recent studies showed most children lived in families with working parents 8y 1984, almost half of all mothers of babies under the age of one were employed --double since 1970. The shortae e of l i abl a Child car; was more evident as the number of families where both parents worked outside the home increased. In a study regarding the major needs of child care in Santa C; ara, County, affordable care, infant care, school aye care and iw pravements in information and referral services emerged as the most pressing. The Palo Alto School Board addressed the express need for after -school care by issuing guide- lines for care on school sites and encouraging the schools and parents to work to solve space problems in order to have addi- tional care available for that age group. The shortage of infant and toddler care remained. Most calls to referral agencies were from parents`4eeking care for infants and toddlers. Most child care centers did not take infants. Family day care.homes provided most infant care. Less than one-half of all family day care homes took infants, and only one of PACCC's twelve day care homes pro- vided infant care, and that day care home always had a waiting list. Approximately 25 percent of all employees nationwide cur- re,ntly provided some form of child care assistance to their employers, which represented dramatic growth in _the past three years from six hundred employers in 1982. Employer involvement in child care of whatever kind or amount had si yni fi cant implications for parents in the thi l d care system, government, and society in general. There were issues of cost, quality, affordability access, and equality. In any corporation there were well -paid employees who could afford the cost of quality child care. Employee -supported care which offered salary reductions and flex- ible spending accounts benefited the middle and upper income parents. The Federal ,government helped that group, but the income of support personnel did not ellow them to benefit from salary reduction or to afford quality c__`are or services. There ,should be some recognition of the need for ,scholarship programs or other support for those families so they `:oul d have the same access as middle- to high -income parents. The City of Palo Alto provided subsidy moneys in PACCC centers for working parents whose working monthly income was below T1,650 for a family of two, which was helpful, but in terms of the median income of Santa Clara, there was a large group of working ipeople earn,eg more than that, but less than they needed to comfortably afford quality child care services. The group was often forced to settle for what was affordable, but possibly unsafe, unhealthy, unstimul ar ing, and unequal when compared to their more affluent work mates There were many issues to consider in the provision of child care and many views to be heard. On behalf of PACCC she endorsed the naming of a task force to study the need for gore high equal ity, affordable child care services for employees of Palo Alto employers. Meg Miranda, 4129 Wilkie Court, spoke on behalf of herself and her husband, who was taking care of their two sons. They were PACCC users and wanted Council to take all appropriate action to encour- age employers to become" more involved in child care. She was concerned with the spiraling costs of child care especially: infant care. She wanted a ceiling on user costs. She worked part-time for a nonprofit -agency, and all but about $120 of her income Trent to child care per month. Employers should not ignore the efact that -their employees were parents. Available, high-qual_ ity, and appropriate child care i pacted the employees' ability to concen- trate on their work. It would not be too long before Varian, Hewlett-Packard, and other employers in the area began hiring PACCC graduates, so it , en‘s to the employers' direct benefit -to see that child care was avai lobe ea, Jerry 8aldee, 385 Colorado Avenue, said both his daughters were in PACCC centers --one in the infant/toddler program and one in the after -school program. He considered the PACCC centers a,_ necessi ty for survival..-, Even with PACCC, he Paid a lot of his : and his wife's , comb.lned _ income for . the benefit of -putting his_ kida.. in those .centers,. approximately $15,000-X16,000 income per year which .was over $800 a month taking the after-tax -income. It was 6 9 3 9 3/03/86 important for parents to be productive and for Palo Alto to have young working parents, but it was difficult for parents with young children to live in the community due to the cost of housing. Council was trying to address the cost -of -housing issue by pro- viding more affordable housing, but it was unclear what the City was doing to help working parents live in the community in other ways. He hoped Council followed Councilmember Fletcher's recom- mendation which he supported. Lora Smith, . 162 Bryant, had two children. In Palo Alto the parents of young children were fortunate if one parent could stay home with their children. She stayed home part-time because they had a low standard of living. PACCC made her feel she could send her children off without a qualm. Many parents in other cities had many problems with their child care and were not secure in their care. She suggested employers be put in touch with PACCC in order to come up with ways to solve the worries of parents. Rachel Samoff, 3527 South Court, Executive Director, Children's Pre-school Center, serving Syntex families, said there was not enough quality child care in Palo Alto due to the changing demo- graphics of the labor force. Many women no longer chose, nor were they able, to stay home and raise their young children. Child care was a necessity for more people. Businesses were taking an interest, anti employers playing an active and innovative role 'and the provision and support of child care services were growing rapidly. Some programs included resource and referrals, subsidies for fees reserving spaces in existing programs, and supporting the improvement of quality in existing programs. Businesses were becoming involved because it served their interest. Child care on or near site offered businesses the possibility of reduced absen- teeism, turnover, tardiness, and enhanced their ability to recruit effective employees, increased productivity, morale, and a company standing in the community. Businesses were searching out ways to support child care. Since October, 1984, when the Syntex -sup- ported child care center started, she had requests from represen- tatives of 17 local companies asking for ideas and advice on how to get involved in helping employees with their child care needs. Many representatives were from small to medium sized companies who could not consider 1 ayi ne out the money it took to set up s center such as Syntex did. Nevertheless, they were interested and recog- ni ged their employees' need for help. The proposal, for a task foece night be a good vehicle to facilitate and provide assistance to companies anxious to get into the area of child care. She sup- ported the proposal. Ellen McGinty King, 1570 Walnut Drive, said the availability of quality child' care was crucial. She benefited from the PACCC system in Palo Alto, and was obliged to speak for those less fortunate. She emphasized the values of quality, reliable child care available. She urged Council to . support Councilmember F etcher's motion and to take whatever other steps to encourage and support the expansion of child care in Palo Alto. Vice Mayor Woolley said there was little doubt about the need for quatitee child care in Palo Alto, but :she: was coac.erned If .Counci l gave direction to form the task- forces, It , indicated some :financial commitment on the part of the '. City. Thee financial commitment could be in the form of existing staffsupport, the hiring of new staff, or some other kinds of financial support. She was also concerned the City al ready supported PACCC and. a large portion Of the ra ty's support was of an administrative nature which shoant . al l faei l ies who enjoyed PACCC' were; -subsidized. She ; did not imagine all families who used PACCC needed to be subsidized. She was not sure the .money .tas being handled.- In_- the most.effective way. Child care, along with: the Senior Center, got: the lion's :share 'of the money the City budgeted for human ' se ry fees so the C1 ty_' s : Gomel t-- meat was" already siy,rificant. On -pie the other hand, the city of Palo Alto was .an .employer, and should be +cognizant of the needs of its employees. Helping to find chi l -d tare WAS_H4 fri nge benefit : to an 6 4.4 0 3/03)86 employee and put the employer in a better position to ettract qualified people. The problem could riot be ignored, but she . saw the City acting as a catalyst in the endeavor., not the sole sup- port for the task force. She wanted to see some of the other organizations also become involved. She supported the idea, but wanted to hear how the City could make the extent of its support clear. AMENDMENT: Ceenc i l member Klein mewed, seconded by Ssatori us , that .the task force shall be comprised of nine members. Councilmember Klein was not locked into . the nurn er of members in the task force, but believed a number was needed. He could never remember a task force where the .Mayor had absolute, open-etded discretion. It was important the public be informed as to how many spaces were open. He assumed Council would follow its usual process of advertising, having people submit resumes, etc. He was open for discussion. Councilmember Sutori us seconded the amendment because he al so believed a number was important. It seemed with the interest expressed and type of expertise available, a task force of nine could work effectively and count on the availability of other individuals and organizations for resource assistance, sub- committee activities, etc. Councilmember Bechtel believed nine members were too few. Councilmember Fletcher had mentioned at least seven individual groups and she suspected there were a few others. She envisioned the task force as a working group and did not believe it should be limited to nine. She preferred 11 or 15. Councilmember Klein did not bel ieve it was appropriate to have designated seats on commissions created by the City. The fact that Councilmember Fletcher listed possibilities was E'ine, but he aid not want to designate any seats for, any particul ar groupv. Coe c i lmerber Fletcher did not see the make up of the task force the same as Councilmember Klein, partially because the City went through the entire process in 1971 and wound up with the City being the sole °provider of child care assistance. She .envisioned a much broader base of people intimately involved with employees. As one of the speakers said, they were eager to find out how to do things, how-to yet involved, and how to provide for their employees' needs. 1n order to have the right kind .of people, the City needed to ensure the people involved were at a senior enough level in their organizations so they had authority to make commit- ments, etc. She suggested the task force be comprised of 15 people as follows: One from PACCC, one from Palo Alto Area 'Infor- mation and ;Referral Service, one from the Palo Alto Unified School 0i str i c t, one from the Chamber of Commerce, one from Downtown employers, .one from the medical clinic, one from the YMCA, one from Stanford, one from the City of Palo Alto, one parent, and five from industry. SUBSTITUTE ANIMISM: C►veci 1iurrmber Fletcher moved, seconded by Woolley, that ' tbo task force be ,w: mere then IS members. Vice Mayor Woolley seconded the substitute amendment because she also envisioned the task force as a working group of people, not a group who just got together for meetings and staff did the work in between the meetings. If a survey was done, she envisioned the survey ' be administered by members of the task force. The City's involvement would be limited to reproduction and typing of the sheets of the ,survey. She believed it would be more reasonable for the task force to do the work themselves if it was a larger group of people. Councilmember Levy . fare oreo a smaller group of people in order to yet the . work done, 6 9 4 1 3/03/86 SU8STITUTF AMFRPOE ?T PASSED by a vote of -3, Patitticcf, , �►laie, Levy vatting "no," Rehzal abssat. AMENDMENT: Caeuc1 l member Klein moved, seconded by Woolley, that the City of Palo Alte expenditure. Met exceed $15,000. Councilmember Fletcher said Assistant' City Manager June Fleming was involved with the planning of the proposal, and she asked for comment. Assistant City Manager June FlemingFleminge, had no problem with the $15,000 expenditure limit. AMENDMENT PASSED eaanimowsly, Renzel absent. TASK FORCE Si1OULO PROVIDE A "REEDS SURVEY INCORPORATED INTO MAIN MOTION SY MAKER AND SECOND TKE COMMITTEE SHOULD CO LETE ITS WORK IN SIX MONTHS AND PROVIDE COUNCIL WITH A WRITTEN REPORT INCORPORATED INTO !MAIN NOTION BY MAKER AND SECOND Councilmember Levy said the purpose of the motion was to examine methods for employers to provide increased child care information and service. He assumed the sense of the motion was not for the City to increase its child care efforts directly, but a way to coordinate and secure cooperation from the employer's sector so they could provide increased information and service. Councilmember Fletcher pointed out the City of Palo Alto was a sizable employer with hiring problems. NOTION PASSED ■eamissusly, Reaze1 absent. Mr. Zaner said the only comrneais he heard with regard to the par- ticipetion by staff, other than a $15,000 limitation for staff and any additional expenses, was from Vice Mayor Woolley who opined it should be the task force itself that did the majority of the work. If that was the Council's understanding, he needed to know because it changed the way the job would be approached from staff's point of view. Councilmember Fletcher envisioned the task force being a shaeed responsibility; on the other hand, if staff believed it would run more smoothly, efficiently, or competently if staff took a larger role, she did not want to.prescribe the methods of operation. Mr. Zaner had no problem with staff taking a traditiunat staff role, but did not want to leave the discussion with the Council - members or the -public believing staff would have c' ne role when . it might end up with a different one. He was comfortable with staff taking a traditional staff role which was rather ' active in terms of research, reporting writing, etc. There was sufficient money to de so. Counc 11*eAber SUtoriusa believed the City shout d have input into the process, and the coordina•'.,Sr might be able to provide -input representative of the City. It was. not inconceivable that the staff person Working with the task :force from one department ra,ight need assistance from someone in personnel as an additional resource. Councilmember Levy envisioned the committee .as one of outreach to the community to try and develop and coordinate a' way in which the community in general could respond to the need for child care. He did not ,Want to see -staff do the majority of the work and the com- mittee Simply respond or -relate to staff -developed concepts, but rather the.. reverse. vice Mayor uoui icy was comfortable °since there was a cap of $ 15,000 on the amount the City would spend, that when t'hie overall program was figured out, staff could do as much as it could. Councilmember Bechtel believed there would be a lot of expertise from members of the task force so the extensive needs survey by staff would not be necessary. She saw the need for at least one - quarter time or less staff person who would ensure the work got done and assure the paper work was completed and the meetings made meaningful. She did not see the responsibility being totally the task force's, but rather a shared responsibility. Mayor Cobb said if staff did not take an active role as a cata- lyst, he did not believe the results intended within the pre- scribed time limit would happen. On the other hand, he wanted the committee to be a world ny committee and do its job as thoroughly as possible. The needs survey might need some staff attention.` Mr. Zaner suggested staff develop a proposed program to spell out more clearly staff's role for Council to review. He was concerned he heard different expectations from different members of the Council, and they were talking about a task force to be composed of members of the community who would in turn have different expectations. He wanted to be clear about what people expected from staff with the limited funds. The planning document would be prepared and submitted to Council. Councilmember Fletcher was not comfortable with going out and advertising _for members of the committee because she believed the City would be left holding the bag at the end of the process. She wanted to have the specific 'rganizations represented. She had people who expressed interese in serving, and to open the process up to everyone would not be representative of the employer and provider group she believed would be affected. Mayor Cobb clarified the City normally advertised for such a task force. Mr. Zeiler said there were times when Council authorized the Mayor to appoint a task force for a subject, times the Council pre- scribed the functional areas from which the task force members were to come, and other times the City advertised. Mayor Cobb believed Councilmember Fletcher's list was a good one and he would be happy to work. with it. ITEM #4, PUBLIC HEARING: CALIFORNIA AVENUE PARKING ASSESSMENT DISTI IC' i#6 -f Continued from 2/24/86J{PLA__4-6-3j Mayor. Cobb said the public hearing was completed and closed. !lffTIOs: Councilmember Klein moved. seconded by Woolley, approval of the resolution ordsriw'R changes and ■edlficatisns. RESOLUTION 6496 entitled *RESOLUTION ORDERING CMAAGES 'Aug Milifrc ls" California fvease Parking Assessment District Ne. 86-1 MOTION P*5aii ii uaari.Rssly, Menzel Absent. NOTAON: Couecilmomber Klein mewed, seconded by Cobbs approval *1 Ube re:ol Sri! es ael0R.t 1 wO oeisi er' s report and ordering the work end acgpis1tie.s. RESOLVT� : . . O •*tits '* UTii�s TINE ENGINEER'S R PIT- .. iuu Tag .NM ANS ACONISI_TiONS* Carnevale Avelino) #r1 c! Ass•<essaeat T stri t No. $6-1 6 9 4 3 3/03/86 Councilmember Fletcher wanted to revive the discussion regarding the allocation of the assessments for the Keystone and Fine Arts Theacre. She did not favor exempting the establishments because they did use the public facilities, but on reflection she believed the City might have a formula whereby they were partially exempted because they did not cause the peak need. There seemed to be some justification for granting a partial exemption. City Attorney Diane Lee said if Council wanted to make any more changes, staff would have to start again by giving formal notice. Mr. Overway would have to hand out notices to all the businesses as was done the first time. On a the public hearing was closed, any changes would return the public hearing process to square one. NOTION PASSED u*animeasly, !teazel absent. MOTION: Couac i l Member Klein moved, seconded- by Cobb, to set March 24, 1,86, as the Nearing _ date on a Resolution of Necessity regards peg eminent domain. MOTIOII PASSED uoanimorsly, ;teazel absent. ITEM #5, MORATORIUM ON THE 'ISSUANCE OF BUILDING PERMITS FOR BOARDING HOUSES IN THE R-1 ZONE (PLA 7-8) (CMR:188:6) Councilmember Sutorius referred to the moratorium ordinance and said there was no exception process. City Attorney Diane Lee said given the short duration of the par- ticular moratorium, staff chose the proposed form. The City did not always provide exception procedures in a moratorium ordinance. She only recalled an exception' procedure being included in the Downtown Study. Councilmember Klein was concerned about •procedure given the short period of time staff had to work on the ordinance. Council received staff's draft ordinance and a proposed revision prepared by the Professorvi l l e neighborhood group. Ken Alsman, 1057 Ramona, thanked the Council and members of the staff. The definition of *boarding houses" was difficult, par- ticularly when dealing with a communsty .as diverse as Palo Alto. The residents were concerned about what might happen with too much delay in setting some parameters. Seven bathrooms on at 5,000 square foot lot was nOt the neighbors' intent in terms of what might happen. It was essential to define boarding house because there were many homes in the community where someone could merely decide to make into boarding houses without any permits. He urged the moratorium period and definitions be as stringent as possible so noching slipped through in the next six months. He referred to some amerdnent to Item 2(1) dealing with living -room and dining room, and the original intent was correct. The scribbling should be eliminated. Mayor Cobb asked if it was true Mr. Valcan changed tact. Mr. l 1 smen said there was no further .construction, nor had the improvemeats been removed, since the last City Council meeting. He did not know Mr. Volcan's intent, but he believed it. was pos- sible to take the house presently as it was, add the bathroom currently framed in within the living room under the parameters set forth that evening, and rent the house out to seven or eight people. The neighborhood was still concerned about the- possi- bility. t ouno1lmember. dethtei asked when the next- Policy aad 40rocedures (PIP) Committee meeting was scheduled and Whether it would be possible to refer the moratorium ordinance:to the P&P Committee. 6 9 4 4 3/0.3/86 1 City Manager Bi 1 1 Zaner said the next scheduled meeting was in April , but suggested a special meeting. Councilmember Bechtel said Council needed to be careful about the person with a legitimate large family who wanted to add more bath- rooms than the moratorium ordinance allowed. She referred to "Innovative Housing," a new housing group from Marin County, which was a group who rented a home together. First the group ensured adequate parking, looked for large spaces, and rented such a facility in Los Altos. She did not believe the City wanted to exclude those kinds of people who were accepted in their neighbor- hoods, but the City wanted to ensure the ordinance was drafted to do its intended job. MOTION TO REFER: Ceeeciisewber Klein moved, +seconded by Bechtel, to refer the item to the Policy ;ad Procedures Committee at a Special Meeting •n March 18, 1U6 and that the item be reteraed to the City Council on March 24, 1986. Mayor Cobb asked how 1 ikely it was the project in question might slip through and get approved in the intervening three weeks if the, motion to refer passed. Director of Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber said the project as originally proposed, which included eliminating the two kitchens in the structure, were continually not accepted by the City. There was abort a two-week turnaround in the plan check process currently. Staff was unaware of any substantially revised plans, and it was unl i',.ely new plans could be processed by March 24, 1986. If, however, a valid application were received, staff would be legally obliged to process the application. Staff did not have the prerogative to artifically hold something up pending -meeting. Ms. Lee said if a P&P Committee meeting were held on March 18, 1986, she was not sure staff could get information in the packet. The City Manager assured her he would have information delivered to Council the preceding Friday. Councilmember Fletcher was nervous about the possibility of the particular owner proceeding without the necessary permits if he hear=d Council delayed action. She did._. not believe the matter was so complicated Council could not deal with it that evening. Councilmember Klein did not see an immediate risk and felt it was more important for Council to proceed in an orderly : manner which did not inadvertently inconvenience lots of innocent" people legitimately trying to remodel their houses. Mayor Cobb asked if it was correct Council could take emergency action on March 17, 1986, if necessary. Ms. Lee.: believed staff would coordinate any effort with the P1 anni n,g Department and would simply put the , matter back in the packet. Mayor Cobb was concerned something night slip in through the three-week window. ° Based on the City Attorney's comments regardsng the meetmy of March 17, 1986, .and Mr. Valcan's state- ments th:t he abandoned all plans which triggered the problem, , he believed the City was protected. He also found it .difficult to believe the entire project could be turned around in terms of plans yol ng through check, " etc. Council wool d use March 17, 1986 as a fall -back if necessary. He supported the referral. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Menzel absent. 6 9 4 5 3/03"/86 ITEM #6, JORDAN/GARLAND SCHOOL SITE - OPEN SPACE LEASE NEGOTIATIONS WITH SILO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT (PRE 8-2) (CMR:183:5) Vice Mayor Woolley did not participate in the item because of a conflict of interest. Director of .Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber pointed out two corrections in the staff report (CMR:183:5). On page 2, fourth line from the bottom of the page, the first "x .05 shnul d be stricken. It was all multiplied bye .05. On page 5, rectal credits should read: "100% of all rental payments made during tee first year of this lease; " 50% of all rental payments ,nade during the second year of this lease; "37.5% of all rental payments made during the third year of this lease;" Mr. Schreiber said the same modification carried over to the recommendation on page 7. Councilmember Sutorius asked about the past summer's pool program. Director of Recreation Paul Thiltgen said costs were slightly over $20,000, and revenues were approximately $8,000. The program was somewhat reduced from the projection in the staff report (CMR:183:6). Councilmember Sutorius asked about the time period of the summer program. Mr. Thiltgen said the program started when school closed for the summer until school opened in September --about 12 weeks. Councilmember Sutorius said the year-round program projected potentially 18,000 in individual fees, whereas the summer program projected 3,000, The summer program was the height of the season usually associated with swimming, and he asked how there could be six times the Participant. in a period of time only about three and one-half times as lone. Mr. Thiltgen said the use was different. During the summer there were four pools open, so the use was spread among those pools. Also, in the summer most of the 3,000 swims were drop -in recrea- tion time, predominantly children and only ,about a three- or four-hour period during the day. The rest was filled with classes which was a much smaller use time, so the volume was less. During winter months the City .had a high number of adult conditioning and adult swimming programs at Ri nconada. There was an overflow and the City anticipated the overfl.ow would fall to Jordan. Those programs were on a longer schedule starting earlier in the morning and running all slay. Councilmember Klein asked what it would cost to build a new pool the size of Jordan's. Mr. Thi l tgen estimated about $160000 to $200,000. Councilmember Bechtel asked if locker room facilities were neces- sary; Most participants could come and go in swimming suits and did not need a locker room. She asked whether the locker rooms wore only for staff use. 6 9 4 6 3/03/8$ Mr. Thiitggen said if the use was pfiwarily neighbor'hned, the pool could probably ;let away without locker rooms during the summer, but if the use was from around the City, people needed to change. During the winter, it would be hard to get along without lockers and warm showers after getting out the pool. Mayor Cobb clarified at a minimum the pool needed some sort of bathroom facilities. Mr. Thiltgen said yes. Mayor Cobb asked how one got bathroom facilities if one did not get .access to some part of the balance of the site. Mr, Thiltgen said a strictly portable bathroom unit would be the only alternative. Cuuecilmember Levy referred to the gym locker rooms, and asked if the City used the gym locker rooms, whether any other user of the gym would still be able to have satisfactory access to the locker rooms, or whether the City's use would make it difficult for the school district to rent the gym to somebody else. Mr. Thiltgen said City access to the gym locker rooms made it slightly more complicated for the school to get use. Some type of barriers had to be put in to separate the area. The primary access to the gym presently was through the locker rooms. It was complex. It was less expensive and a more efficient use of the pool to have the portable locker rooms. Councifinember Patitucci presumed temporary locker room facilities also had bathrooms Mr. Thiltgen said yes. Councilmember Patitucciaclarifled the facility consisted of bath- rooms and locker rooms. Mr. Thiltgen said yes. Fred Kunkel, 765 Garland Drive, Secretary of the Jordan/Garland Neighborhood P.ssociation Steering Committee, said their memorandum (on file in the City Clerk's office) expressed the Association's approval of the City of Palo Alto's pending offer to lease the 1.6 acres of Garland turf and the 7 acres of Jordan turf. However, they were concerned the seven -tenths (7/10) acres of Jordan pool and adjacent blacktop area might be excluded from the area leased. The Association requested the seven -tenths acres be included. They were also concerned the Palo Alto School Board had not offered to lease the City the eight -tenths (8/10) acre include with the 6 Jordan tennis courts, They urged eight -tenths acre be leased to the City of Palo Alto. Meredith. Warren, 2318 Louis: Road, queried the 12 weeks the pool operated. They closed Jordan pool in August because the Palo. Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) started early that year. For two weeks in the summer the pool did not operate because of repairs to the filter. She was concerned about a lack of communication between staff and the citizens of Palo Alto. To her knowledge, after Council voted to pursue the inclusion of the Jordan and PAUSD lease, no attempt.. was =made by stuff _ to determine the need for the pool felt by the citizens of the Jordan area, If there was a study, the citizens wanted to see it, Concerning -the pool itself, over 300 people in a few days signed a petition to keep the pool open, Mr. Schreiber, at the last School Board meeting on February 18, 1986, shared Council's thoughts on the terms of the lease, and in no way indicated the Jordan pool --included in the PAUSD packet as within the lease --was in question. The community had no time to respond to the proposed elimination of the t Nadi- tional recreational resource, and few were made aware of the 6 9 4.7 3/03/86 threat only the previous day, and mane were dismayed with the pro- cess. Many of the people who signed the petition lived in Palo Alto, but outside the traditional use areas of Jordan_ Those people believed the City could ill afford to lose another pool if the quality of life in Palo Alto were to be maintained. While the PAUSD population might be contracting, the population of the City as °a whole was not, and the City needed to maintain as many recreational facilities as possible. She understood staff asked if the Master Swim Program wanted to use Jordan. If true, it implied staff recoeei zea the overcrowding of the Rinconada face it - ity even in the winter. For the last two Saturdays it was impos- sible to take advantage of the extended adult conditioning times because swim meets were scheduled at Rinconada. Even in winter, during adult -conditioning hours lanes had to be shared by two or three and sometimes up . to six people. The consensus was the Rinconada pool was overcrowded in the summer. A friend's children who lived in the 1800 block of Hamilton Avenue, outside the Jordan swim area, refused to go to Rinconada on a weekend because it was so crowded. According to staff, between 300 and 400 children took afternoon lessons at Jordan pool. Rinconada pool could not accom- modate that many more children in its already heavy use. Many Palo Alto children spent the first part of their summer in summer school and - needed to be offered lessons in the afternoon. Rinconada has general swim in the afternoon. She asked .how the City could deny those children valuable swimming lessons. The Jordan pool was located in the most central of all the school district properties and was within biking distance of a great percentage of the school -aged population. Residents in the south and west ends of town could, at a cost, Jewish Community Center, and swim at the tersnan pool, or at the Wilbur or Gunn pools. Those in the north part of town could swim at Rinconada which accommodated residents not only of Palo Alto, but the entire Peninsula and, hopefully, Jordan. To spend a relatively small sum of money to repair the pool might in the long run save a valuable, non-recapturable community asset. It was up to Council to save as much of the quality of life associated with living in Palo Alto `as possible. Bryant McOmber, 2161 Boron, applauded Coucicil's action the previ- ous summer to pursue lease of the Jordan recreational facilities, specifically including the pool and tennis courts. He was a member of the Steering Committee of the Jordan/Garland Neighbor- hood Association, and use of the pool was a speci; is concern to the Association.. The Association met in' a general session the previews summer and drafted a resolution to the PAUSD which also applied to the City Council. The Association unanimously approved retention of the playing fields and the swimming pool , and regarded Council's action the previous summer _ as positive and farsighted. He was dismayed to see the staff recommendation that the swimming pool be filled with sand. There was a need for the pool. The replacement value spoke for itself, : and the cost of maintaining the, pool was probably no different from the cost of maintaining any other pool. Rinconada pool and Rinconada Park were becoming increasingly a +avai 1 ab le to Palo Alto residents due to a heavy non-resident use. The Jordan pool was not yet dis- covered by many outside of Palo Alto. The pool was an oasis for younger swimmers without the aggravation of overcrowded condi- tions. He spoke fori many who would be disappointed to see the Rinconada pool not teken up by the -City and filled with sand. Carol Heeraaanoe, 208 M. California Avenue, said City staff recom- mended the City' not Tease Jordan pool. The loss of the Jordan pool would mean . no swimming lessons, and traditionally Jordan pool accommodated children who attended: smellier school in the morning. Jordan was the only pool which offered afternoon lessons. Occa- sionally, Gunn pool offered afternoon lessons, but it was absurd for young children , to bike from north Palo Alto to the Gunn pool. There was no other facility presently aveil able..: She talked with Mr. Thiltgen who hoped the City could get the Palo Alto High School pool, which was previously, committed to Another . -tenant and was noc available in the afternoons. She associated her. el f with what others said about Ri nconada pool. She was a lap swimmer. loved the facility which she used three times a week, but for children it was too large and crowded. Parents were uncomfor- table sending their children to Rinconada for recreational swimming. If the pool was filled with sand, it was lost forever. Instead of considering cost, she urged Council to consider the quality of life in Palo Alto. 'Regarding timing of the recom- mendation, last summer people frorn the community went to Council and said they wanted to keep the. Jordon pool and presented a petition with over 300 signatures, Cot:n , < < vote; to keep the lease of the Jordan pool, and she believed they talked about the possihil ity of a ten-year lease. About three ago, the PAUSD started talking about the lease. She picked up a copy of the lease and believed things were proceeding so the community would have the Jordan pool. About 24 hours ago, she discovered staff recommended not to lease the pool. There was no time to think about the matter except for the few who responded. Council needed to consider both the community and the staff recommendations before reaching a decision. She feared because of the short lead time given by staff, most of the community was totally unaware there was chance of losing Jordan pool. She urged Council to wait for community reaction before making a decision. Mayor Cobb noted that before Council was a basic lease and staff asked Council to address interpretation of the crediting of rental payments, insurance, and the question of the pool. Counc i l mernber Klein queried whether PAUSD had a position on the first two items. Dr. Julian Crocker, Superintendent and Secretary to the board of PAUSD, said the insurance situation was acceptable as presented by staff. In terms of the rent credit, the Board interpreted the rent credit ended with the termination of the lease. Councilmemoer Klein clarified there was a difference of opiniee on that point. Or. Crocker said .that was right. Councilmemeer Bechtel said regarding the swimming pool item, one speaker suggested Council defer- a decision, but she preferred to decide not to close Jordan pool at that time. When Council spoke about the pools the previous summer, it believed the Jordan pool provided a needed community service. The Jordan pool was expen- sive, but it would be more expensive to build a new pool, and it was an irreplaceable resource. MOTION: Counciimember Bechtel moved, seconded by Cobb, to approve the Garland and Jordan open space leases with the +fold lsarins modifications: --Section 3.6 of both leases to read as follows: IR the event, that City purchases, at say time either during the term of this least •r after tersioation of this lease, from the District any portico or all of tine loosed property defined in Exhibit A pursuant is Education Code 393!0, rental payments node by the City wettest to this . lease shall be credited to parrthese ,price en tom follOOlog schedule: 1. HOD of all rental pay..sts made dories' the first year of this lease; 2. Set of all rental payments made during the second year of this lease; 3. 37.5% of all rectal payments made during the third year of this !lase, and 6 9 4 9 3/03/86 MOTION CONTINUED 4. no credit for rental payment made during or after the fourth year of this lease. --Section 9.0 of both leases to add the following language: Should the City be unable to purchase insurance, coverage will continue by either self -insuring for the required amounts, or the City may eater into a pooling program with applicable coverage. City shall inform School District within 30 days •f any change relating to specific limes of coverage. Should the City be unable to provide coverage, the School District shall have 'the option •f accppting, lower limits, if available, or' have the right to germinate said lease if they so choose. Mr. Schreiber said regarding the modification of Section 9.0, the modification read, "Section 9.0 of both leases to read as fol- lows:" and should read, "Section 9.0 of both leases to add the following ienyuage :: MAKER AND SECONS OF MOTION AGREED LANGUAGE TO INCLUDE, "SECTION 9.0. OF BOTH LEASES TO AOIO TOE' FOLLOWING LANGUAGE." Mr. Schreiber clarified the 'limit of Section 3.6 related to the rent credit and the two interpretation issues between the City and PAUSD. Differences of interpretation were the termination of the rent credit, and the modified wording clarified the rent credit was available to the City in perpetuity; and the second was whether the rent credit applied to enly a portion of the site if eel_ ail the open -space acreage was ever purchased or applied to an property purchased. The clarification was the rent credit applied to any purchase of open space at Jordan or €iari and. Mayor Cobb clarified the interpretations and understandings were the same with respect to the Cubberley lease. Mr. Schreiber said yes. Councilmember Patitucci referenced the interpretation of the credit, and said it appeared possible under the current interpre- tation for PAUSD to give the City 90 days' notice fog the lease to terminate, and then for PAUSD to offer the property for sale, and the City to be the purchaser and not heve the credit apply under the interpretation of PAUSD. Mr. Schreiber said that was a correct conclusion. Councilmember Patitucci said there seemed no reason` to have any credit. It was difficult to see nem anyone could nave interpreted that the credit would not carry over to an eventual sale, maybe` not in perpetuity, but for same reasonable time period in which the credits earned by virtue of paying the rents could be applied. et asked if his conclusion was logical. Councilmember Klein found it unseemly for Council to jockey on the small points with the PAUSU, but was not.. unsympathetic go what Councilmembe-r Patitucci said nor to PAUSD's interpretation. A1lEMOMENT: Co•ieci iuember Klein moved, seconded by Iecht*I ,- to mood the langeage of %e. t1•n 3.6 co canons with *of . this lase •r,' to read, "of tb i s ,lease or witMi a tmo years oft termination of Mils lease.* Councilmember Klein wanted to come up with some reasonable compro- mise The PAUSD had a point that "perpetuity" was a little too long. To prevent the situation Councilmember Patitucci hypothe- sized, some longer period of time seemed to be the answer. 6 9 5.0 3/03/6 City Manager Bi 1 1 Zaner urged Council not to adopt such an amend- went.- Staff originally recommended, on the Cubberley lease, no such arrangement; in the compromise arrangement actually worked out by Councilmember Sutorius with members 'of the School Board, everyone understood the eg reement to mean precisely what . steel' described until the last School Board meeting when a new member of the Board announced, unknown to any of them, ha_ had a different interpretation. The Cubberley lease was in effect for a while, and staff believed the lease was negotiated in good faith. If Council reduced the period to two years, they again reduced the amount of credit received toward an eventual purchase of the prop- erty and would not have made the best use of the money the City was paying for rent. The City offered to purchase the ,property from the PAUSD, who did not want to sell the property.,' Staff's objective was to conserve as much of the rental funds for Council as possible, and uryed Council not to reduce the time period to any degree; it should remain for the full length of the lease. Mayor Cobb understood the motion, the interpretation was the two years after the conclusion of the lease. Mr. Zaner understood, but said the credit should run at all times. The funds were paid in and should be available to' the City when- ever it purchased the property. Under that provision, the funds were available only for a period of two years after the lease expired, which was a total of 12 years. The City offered to pur- chase the property, and the PAUSD did not want to sell the prop- erty, but the City should et least have the value of the money at some time in the future if PAUSD determined they wanted to sell. Councilmember Fletcher agreed with Mr. Zaner the original proposal was to have 100 percent of the lease payments • o to a purchase, and the compromise of the formula was reasonable. She opposed the amendment. Councilmember Levy concurred with Councilmember Fletcher. Councilmember Bechtel assumed as long as the City did not own the property, it would lease it, and beyond a ten-year period another lease would be negotiated. It was only in the case where the City no longer had a lease, and two years following, that the credit was no longer applied. She doubted the City would be able to use the playing fields without leasing them. Mr. Zaner disagreed. He saw no need for the lease. He .recom- mended against the Cubberley lease. He did not believe Council needed the lease to do what it wanted, which was to secure the fields essentially for soccer play for the youngsters is the community. The fields had no other value. The City was already committed to maintaining the fields regardless of whether leased, and paid for the service. liven the fact Council's policy was to lease the • field* it seemed Council should get full credit for what it paid. He reminded Council the interpretation and strange rea- soning was solely the logic of one Board member who came on the scene after the Cubberley lease, and made the public interpre- tation which now appeared to be accepted by everyone, and which neltaer staff anticipated nor agreed to prior to that date. It was unfair to saddle Dr. Crocker since he was not a party to the initial negotiation on Cubberley after which the lease was patterned, so he did not have the history. Councilmember Sutorius opposed the amendment for the reasons cited by Couhc i l a ember s Fletcher and Levy. He did not know where he stood with respect to including or not including the swimming pool. He encouraged his colleagues to seriously consider the motion. If a pool was included, .Council should consider the applicable capital in repair and maintenance costs, and he saw no recovery in the contract. A reasonable lease which contemplated. capital costs of the magnitude associated with the pool should be 6 9 6 1 3/03/86 protected in some fashion by a clause in the lease for recompense to the City in the event the PAUSE) terminated the City's lease under the 90 -day authority, or if the PAUSE) did not extend the lease at termination because the capital improvements were to the physical pl art, and the City should at least recover its depre- ciated cost at whatever time the City lost use of the facility. A life could be established for the major capital plant involved, for example, the plumbing had a given life, so the expenditures, if Council considered them, should be subject to some recovery. He was concerned if Council only looked for the legitimate ability to have the lease payments credited to the City for a period of two years after the lease. Councilmember Patitucci agreed, but was not opposed to some limit which statscr,if the property was sold to a third party, the lease payments credited would terminate at that point. It seemed if the property went up for sale and the City did not purchase it, the City's rent credits would end at that point. Mr. Schreiber said that was correct. If the property was placed for sale, the City had the right of first refusal for the open space areas. Councilmember Patitucci asked if the termination point was obvious4 Mr. Schreiber said yes, if the City did not exercise its right of refusal and the property were sold to a third party. Councilmember Patitucci believed the City paid a reasonable rent for the property, but the precedent was in the Cubberl ey lease and it should be followed in the subject instance. Council agreed to a credit toward the ;,urchese. It was a long-term arrangement with the PAUSE), and he did- not see it ending in ten years. He was not sure where the PAl'SD would be in ten years, but if a credit were agreed upon, it should apply to the point when the property was up for sale regardless of when it happened. He opposed the amend- ment. Councilmember Klein believed Council lost sight of the fact they were discussi ny the school district --not a private developer. The PAUSO supplied public :amenities in much the same way as the City with regard .to parks and recreation except PAUSD was no longer in a financial position to do so since Proposition 13. As the pri- mary governmental supplier of parks and recreation, the City was obliged to step in and try to remedy the financial situation to the extent possible within its own financial limitations. He dis- agreed with the .City Manager because it was appropriate for the City to pay rent when looking at the City's broader responsibility of providing recreational facilities to the comnunitya The City needed to consider the PAUSD was no longer in a position to pro- vide recreational facilities. As. such, he would have preferred to not have any credit at all when (uoberl ey was first negotiated. He did not believe the credit was appropriate . since they were dealing with the PAUSE) and because it was a bargain lease. Council needed to recognize State law gave the.. City a :rate on school •sites far less than what the market would bear and it particularly applied if and when, the. City purchased Jordan, Cubberley, etc, On balance, the City .should not treat the PAUSE) as an ordinary land owner, and some reasonable period of limita- tion on how long the City's credit lasted would. have been appro- priate. He hoped if the amendment failed, Council .would dothings which made sense for the entire community. Counc 11 hember Levy clarified the ir+ i i al year's rent was $9,500. Mr. Schreiber said no, the total for the Jordan. and Garland sites for the first year was approximately $55,000. 6 9 5 2 3/03/86 Cou,ncilmember Levy c.l erified Section 3.1 _of staff report (CMR:183:6), only referred to the Garland site. Mr. Schreiber said that was correct. Mayor Cobb said the two leases were for properties PAUSD could no longer afford to maintain and support. The properties were used by the public for recreation and were considered to be a part of the total recreational amenities of Palo Alto, and the City would maintain and keep them in the best possible use for the City. In terms of the Cubberley fields, by the time the City stepped in, the =fields were in serious decline and there was a ways to 0 to get them backs to wheiNe the City wanted them. Jordan was still in good shape and would stay that way by being brought under the City's wing. The City was trying to find a way to use its .own resources to help PAUS1 which provided public amenities in the past and Council was arguing over some small amounts of money in a lease he fully expected to run for a long time. Given the short cancellation clauses and some of the other stiff clauses in the leases, which included the PAUSD being able to take back any portions of the properties to use for parking, etc., if necessary, the City needed a modest way for the City to protect itself. He did not support the amendment. AMENDMENT FAILED by a vete •f 2-4, Klein, Bechtel voting "aye," Woolley "not participating," Renzel absent. Counc i lmernber Fletcher said if all the expenditures on the bottom of page 5 of the staff report (CMR:183:6) were necessary, it would cost $173,e00, which was approximately the cost, of a new pool. She was concerned the City had many capital expenditures, including 8oronda Lake in Foothills Park, and there was a pos- sibility the City might acquire the Chuck Thompson Swimming Pool, which could trap the City into some substantial expenditures. The City's expenditures were increasing, whereas revenues might be in jeopardy in a few years because ,of federal and state cutbacks. She was willing to support the' pool then, but would be concerned about substantial capital investments at the particular pool because it should be weighed\against the other necessary expendi- tures. Council should make a priority choice rather than each individual expenditure in isolation. a Councilmemher Levy said the motion did not speak to how to handle the capital costs for the pool, and asked if another motion would be required for the first year expenditures on the pool. Mr. Zaner said staff would not do any kind of long-range, exten- sive repairs to the pool without returning to Council. No funds were budgeted. Councilmeraber Levy said the wording of the lease did not tie the City into operating the pool, but if the motion passed, he believed Council desired to operate the. pool. He clarified staff would return with the costs for the pool, which would be as out- lined on page 5 of the staff report (CMR:183:6), approximately $60,000 for capital and repairs, Mr. Loner said if. Council adopted. the lease and desired to operate the pool staff would return with whatever budget amendments or required authority were necessary to put the pool in a condition to operate it as a municipal facility. No funds were presently budgeted, but approximately $6©,000 would be required, Counc ilmemoer Levy asked if it was possib'l'e to operate the pool for the first year or so without incurring the major costs of pool plastering. The PAISO was involved in discussion on the long- range future of Jordan, and he believed:; in a year and one-half. the City would know more about the future of Jordan and be able to make an informed decision on whether to commit to a significant amount of capital funds: 6 9.-5 3 3/03/86 Thai 1 t9 sa id i f Cvuruc i l operated file pouf wi thuut the recom- mend"d improvements, it would be operated in less of a condition than another City pool would be operated. There were some por- tions which needed replastering and patching, but staff could stumble through for a year if that was Council's direction. 1 1 1 Councilmember Levy was motivated by a reluctance to reduce the service the City provided to the community heretofore. Generally, Palo Altc increased service even with eignificant future budgetary constraints. He knew from first hand experience using the Rinconada Pool that it was heavily used for adult swimming. The member of the public who said there were usually_ two or three people per lane during recreational swimming was accurate. He disagreed with the member of the public who talked about the crime and danger of sending their children to Rinconada having also done So.- He found Rinconada to be a Safe place albeit a lot ' of people from out of town used the facility. He believed Jordan was Well used and would be more so in the future and was needed to maintain the quality of service and life in Palo Alto. Council should go ahead and -maintain the Jordan facility in use. Mayor Cobb associated himself with the comments of Councilmember Levy. The Cubberley pool was lost forever because it was filled with sand. It might have been a wise decision for Cubberley, but when he looked at Jordan and the comments about how heavily Rinconada was used he queried the uses of Jordan in two, three or four years. The City was currently pursuing the Adea of a per- formance zone Which would permit 'the PAUSU to keep Jordan as a source of Funds in Ways which would be acceptable to the neighbor- hood, and ultimate tenants of Jordan might want to provide a pool as an amenity. The question of the Chuck Thompson pool and facil- ities was raised, but Council would not know the ultimate= disposi- tion of that particular site for a while. He believed there were things Council needed to know before making an irreversible deci- sion to close the pool. It bothered him,:when the City reduced services and left itself i, a situation whore it had a facility like Rinconada which was so heavily used it was almost not. enjoy- able to continue to use it. He supported the motion, but cau- tioned the Council needed to watch how it spent the City's. money at Jordan and hoped for the first year the expenditures would be minimized until the City knew Where it was gcins with the other facilities and could make more informed decisions. Councilmember Sutorius clarified the motion included the City would have a pool, but did not commit as to whether it would be a summer or year-round program. He asked if staff wanted direction from Council or assumed Council was talking about a summer pro- gram, which was what. Council agreed to undertake In 1985. If there was a question in anyone's mind, it should be discussed in order for staff to understand the sense of Council's direction. Mayor Cobb said the motion would approve the Jordan and Gari and open space leases with two modifications. One modification to Section 3.6 as outlined on page 7 of the staff report (CMR:183:6), regarding the question of credit; and Section .9 having to do with insurance. In terms of the pool, the pool would be included in. the lease. The motion did not say row the pool would be operated or what would be spent on the pool. MOTION PASSE uuaaim•esly, i[•oaley 'mot participa'ting, Reszei 40004 - NOTION: Cosmci lmeiber Sechtei mevsd„ seceeded by Kleist to direct stab` to return to .the Cf ty Cooed] with necessary items to sa.intaid a slimmer swimming pr•gram this slimmer emd to provide the pros add cons re di scessi em •f a mister program and a Year-nsaed program, 6 9 5 4 3/0316 AMENOM : Ceeec1 lmember Levy ,.ved, sece ided by Fletcher, to ei d , motion to direct staff to do a bare bevies estimate, as wall as b normal cost estimate, for costs for oae avid one-half years. Councilmember Levy clarified bare bones would be the cost to operate the facility for approximately a year and one-half. Councilmember Sutorius said the City was into March and the summer program for 1985 :started in June. a did not believe Council could anticipate it would spend $58,000 to get all the things done. He bel ieve�d the program would be' simil ar to what it was the previous summer. He suijorted the; amendme t, AMENDMENT PASSE© aeaiimont4y, Weol l ey `net Renzmi absent. MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED a*gniarously, , Weal l ey "net partici- pating,* . Reazel absent. Participating,* ITEM .1 RE UEST OF MAYOR COBB RE CANCELLATION OF THE MARCH 10, 98 UU C IN MOTION: Councl lmeaber Bechtel - 'med.. seconded by Fletcher, cancel the March` 11, 10$4, City Connell meeting. MOTION PASSED raaaimovsly, Neo11e!„ Reazel absent. ADJOURNMENT Council adjourned at 10:55 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: 1