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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-01-28 City Council Summary Minutesi CITY COUNCIL r�inutes (iiii---,..„. ii- Regul ar Meeting January 28, 1985 CITY of 041 ALTO ITEM PAGE Oral Communications 5 4 5 1 Approvel of the Minutes of December 3, 1984 5 4 5 1 Consent Calendar 5 4 5 1 Referral 5 4 5 1 Action 5 4 5 1 Item #1, Sidewalk Replacement 5 4 5 1 Item #2, Amendment to Contract with Deloitte, 5 4 5 2 Haskins & Sel1 s Item #3, Final Subdivision Map - 600 Los Trancos Woods Road Item #4, Regional Water Quality Control Plant Roofing Project Item #5, Finance and Public Works Committee Recommendation re Street Lighting Item #6, Finance and Public Works Committee Recommendation re City Auditor's Work Program Item #7, Amendment to the Housing Mitigation Ordinance Item #8, Request of Mark Chandler for Leave of Absence from Planning Commission Item #9p Palo Alto's Potential Use of the Ferrari Landfill Site Item #10, Cancellation of .February 4, 1985 City Council Meeting Adjournment to Closed Session re Palo Alto Board of Realtors Acquition: 9:05 p.m. Final Adjournment: 9;45 p.m. 5 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 55 4 5 6 5 4 5 7 5 4 6 1 5 4 6 3 5 4 6 4 5 4 6 4 5 4 6 4 5 4 5 0 1/28/85 Regular Meeting January 28, 1985 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California at 7:35 p.m. PRESENT: Bechtel, Cobb, Fletcher, K1 ein, Levy, Renzel, Sutorius, Witherspoon, Woolley Mayor Levy announced that a Special Study Session re Hazardous Materials was held at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Conference Room. Mayor Levy announced the need for a Cl osed Session re Palo Al to Board of Realtors Acquisition pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8 to be held at some point during or after the meeting. ORAL. COMMUNICATIONS None MINUTES OF DECEMBER 3, 1984 Staff submitted the following corrections: Pa a 5271, first paragraph, sixteenth line from the bottom, add thewopR--"no" before the word "budget." Fourth from the last paragraph, first line, add the word "director" after the word "executive." Page 5272, first paragraph, fourth from the last line, change "DPr to "DPAI." Page 5273, second from the last paragraph, fourth and eighth lines,� nge the date to "December 31, 1983." Page 5274, first paragraph, third from last sentence, change the date to "December 31, 1983." Page 5275, fourth and second to the last paragraph from the bottom, change "Ms. Rudin" to NMS. Lee." Page 5278, first paragraph, last 1 ine change '°1984"' to '"1983." MOTION: Conncllmember Snterins mimed, seconded by Klein, approval of the minutes of December 3, 1934 as corrected by staff. MOTION PASSED unanimously. CONSENT CALENDAR WADI: >f i ce Mayor Cobb moved, seconded by Klein, approval of the Consent Calendar. Referral None Action ITEM #1 SIDEWALK REPLACEMENT (PWK 2-4) (CMR:149:5 ) Staff recommends that Council: 1 Authorize the Mayor to execute the contract with Keyco Engineering in the amount of $155,886.0 for the base bid work and add alternates 1 , 2, 3, and 4. 5 4 5 1 1/28/85 CONSENT CALENDAR (Coat'd.) 2. Authorize staff to execute change orders of up to $23,000. AWARD OF CONTRACT 1`eyco Engineering ITEM f2, AMENDMENT TO CONTRACT WITH DELOITTE, HASKINS S SELLS (FIN 2-1) It is recommended that Council: 1. Amend the contract with Del oitte Haskins & Sells to include the additional work it performed auditing the City's Bicycle Locker Program grant and auditing the financial statements of the Public Improvement Corporation, and approve payment of $3,200 for these services; and 2. Approve payment of $3,240 for additional costs incurred by the firm. AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO CONTRACT NO. 4424 Del of tte, 8asbi ns a Sells ITEM #34 FINAL SUBDIVISION MAP - 600 LOS TRANCOS W00DS ROAD (PLA i(Ck:151: 5 Staff recommends that Council approve the final map. ITEM #4 REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL PLANT ROOFING PROJECT (PWK 7)(CT{R:151:5) Staff recommends that a contract in the amount of $31,450 be awarded to New West Roofing for the replacement of these roofs with an additioal $3,000 contingency. AWARD OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT New West Reefing MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM #5 FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION RE STREET L = N P fx 2-5) (CMR:107: S Councilmember Cobb, Chairman of the Finance and Public Works Com- mittee (F&PW) , said they held two meetings regarding street light- ing and the conversion thereof. Mr. Joel Brenner prepared a report of which Council had copies. He noted that the Committee held and requested that staff prepare a preliminary report on the: disposal process related to the ` conversion and report back to the F&PW Committee regarding the hazardous materials involved. MOTION: CoueclImesber Cobb for the Fiteace and Public Works Csnaltt** moved' that staff 1*cl*te 1s the Fiscal Tar 1915 -Si *ael- O.t sad the 1945-$, Capital Improvement Progre* fondle, asd staff- ing regoi resetta far s mail ti'rear street light co*vers1 aa' prsgra# as : *stilted it .the street light ce*versioa stoutly of Nevmmber 30, 1904, excepting that the schedule be revised to five priority to Otiose artas-prtvidieg greater savings. Director of Utilities Richard Young said staff would continue to study the disposal process, and requested information through the. PTI system, Couhcilmember Rgrhxel asked abet they still/Won-where in Oder -- grounding districts. residents light opt to have no lighting as opposed to the sodium -.vapor lighting and Whether as a .neighbor- hood, they could decide ;:to provide private lighting along the streets. 5 4 55 2 1/28/85 City Attorney Diane Lee said staff was concerned, especially in a City with an older i n frasf rac Lure, about the safety of some of the streets and sidewalks. Lighting always provided an important function and warning system in terms of imperfections in those streets and sidewalks for vehicular or pedestrian traffic, One proposal -was a reduction after midnight, but based on some of the times she left City Hal l , she knew there was still traffic on the streets. The City, having assumed the duty to light the streets, had to exercise that duty with due care. She believed there would be problems with having certain neighborhoods choose rot to have lighting or even reduce the, amount of illumination. Councilmember Re=•rzel understood the mercury vapors .provided some- thing like twice as much lumins per watt as incandescent and that sodium provided something like four times as many lumins per watt of incandescent, She asked if the City had a residential standard for the number of lumins it attempted to provide. Manager of Engineering, Ed Mrizek, said the City attempted to fol- low the illuminating Engineering Society's standards of lumins when designing its street lighting systems, and would continue to try and follow those standards, If the City went from an incan- descent lamp to a mercury or sodium -lamp, it would try and main- tain the same number of lumins into the area, Councilmember Renzel clarified that the City would cut the wat- tage. Mr. Mrizek said that was correct. Mr. Young said by reducing the wattage output, the City saved energy costs. Councilmember Bechtel understood that in areas where the light fixture was attached to the utility pole, those areas would be done when that area was undergrounded. There were many areas, particularly in the older part of Palo Alto, where the poles were right next to the street area and those were considered low prior- ity areas. Mr. Mrizek said the City would hold back and not convert the street lights in those areas scheduled to be undergrounded over the next 15 years until the undergrounding happened. In other areas where there was lighting on power poles, but the City would not get to those underground projects for maybe 20 or 30 years, staff planned to convert those street lights during the first 10 years. Councilmember Bechtel said she was particularly thinking of the area between Addison and Oregon Expressway and Alma and Middlefield, where undergrounding might never occur. Mr. Mrizek said that particular area was a series circuit, and some of those circuits had to be done within the first 10 years, whether they were on power poles or on existing separate stan- dards. Councilmember .Bechtel asked about the areas where staff was going to wait until they were undergrounded, but a previous staff report indicated the area eight not be undergrounded. Mr. Mrizek said those street lights would be converted sometime during the 10 -year period. Councilmember Fletcher asked if there were apy more .options to the street light designs, if the _City. went to the sodium lighting, where the- Architectural Review Board (ABB) had some discretion in specifying that certain light standards should go. in residential areas. Mr. Young said the issue was not yet settled with the ARB. Staff was not proposing towholesale change the light standards. It was intended to keep the light standards as they presently were and only change the head portion where the lamp itself was, which would retain the same character of the standards in the areas. The top structure, where the globe was, might be changed, and pictures were contained in the previous staff report which showed the cap variety of globe fixtures that would provide a better light system and still maintain the character the City was looking for. The determination of the types of standards would be for the ARR to work out in terms of the areas that would be underground. No pole was left at the end, and staff would present the available varieties to the ARB. William Anderson, 890 Seale Avenue, spent 26 years in municipal finance, 19 years of which were in cities with municipal utili- ties. The savings was 3,000,000 kilowatt hours per year, which was almost 500 homes' worth. It .was probably the biggest savings in energy in Palo Alto. The City bragged about its energy conser- vation program, which he believed cost at least $250,000 per year. There were no cost programs, subsidized interest programs, sub- sidized cost of work programs, and the results of those were pea- nuts compared.. to the 3,000,000 kilowatt hours per year that could be saved by the street light conversions. The decision was easy, and the only problem he saw was the 10 -year stretch -out. He spoke primarily to the mercury vapor to the high pressure sodium -- roughly 2400 lamps, and the multiple incandescent to the high pressure sodium where standards already existed on the street -- some 209. He proposed the City get on with energy conservation, and believed they could all be done in 1985-86. He believed that if the City went out to purchase 2600 plus fixtures, with all of the lamps and spares, it would get the vendors' attention and the best price possible under any circumstances. Councilmember Renzel felt saddened that Palo Alto permitted its energy growth demand to reach a point where it had to diminish the quality of life in its neighborhoods by converting to sodium vapor lights. She believed they were unpleasant and unnatural looking and took away another part of the good environment in Palo Alto. The sodium vapor lights ;.ontained mercury, and would provide a disposal problem. She did riot believe the City should make a wholesale deed si on to convert until the.. City better understood what the problems might be. There were m!ny ,people who were made ill by the imperceptible flicker all gas lights discharged. Fur- ther, there was evidence those kinds of lights prevented deciduous trees from dropping their leaves, and Palo Alto prided itself on trees. She wanted to know more about the issues before supporting a wholesale conversion. She wound not support the motion. Councilmezber Fletcher was more concerned about the aesthetics than incandescent lights, but believed it was time to move on. She was concerned about the effect on viewing the stars at night and asked whether staff had contact with astronomers because she noticed that some other communities were asked to crake conversions and shield their high pressure sodium lamps to permit night view- ing. Mr. 4rizek said several years ago there was a committee of various cities to discuss the problems with Lick Observatory, and the major problem area was San Jose and Milpitas. Palo Alto was over 50 or 60 miles away, the effects were minimal if any.. The range they were concerned about was within about a..30 raffle area. The City of Saar Jose indicated some of their East San Jose area went to low pressure sodium where the observatory coul d filter out the narrow band width. Counc ilmember Fletcher asked whether Foothill College was too small to consider. 5 4 5 4 1/28/85 Mr, Mrizek said the City never received any inpt:t from foothill College, and as far as he knew, never approached any other city. Councllmember Fletcher was concerned that Foothill College would later say its programs were being ruined by the lights, and if that was a possibility, she wanted to avoid it. Mr. Mrizek said Mountain View, which was closer to Foothill College, already had the lights, as did Cupertino and San Jose. Councilmeteber Fl etcher was al so concerned about the dark shadows cast by the trees and asked whether the globes of the lights could be put below the tree branch level on tall trees. Mr. Mrizek said where . the City was undergrounding and putting in new standards, it was putting in shorter standards to get the 1 fights under the trees, and cut off fixtures to get the light more out into the street so as to el iminate some of the dark spots. Counc i l member Fletcher clarified there was a discharge of ultra- violet rays if the outer encasement was broken with mercury vapor 1 ights, but asked about the high pressure sodium 1 ights. Mr. Mrizek said there was no problem with high pressure sodium lights if they were broken. Councihmember Fletcher said the City's conservation program was geared to lowering the peak hour use which was where the City went over its allotment and had to build more capacity, but street 1 fighting did not impact that peak hour use. Councilmember Bechtel understood Council was directing staff to return at budget time with how the poi icy woul d be impl emented if Council adopted it. She also liked the incandescent lights and the way they looked, but understood the 1 urrtin s in residential neighborhoods would remain the same, and the light fixtures had to have shielding to help the observatory problems. The cost savings were crucial --it was not just the City's peak load, it was its conception. The City paid so much per • kilowatt hour. She sup- ported the recommendation because she believed the City woul d be able to go slowly enough that it could see exactly- what they would look like so that the residents of the community would find them acceptab l e. She cl ar i fi ed that the- mul ti pl e incandescent to high pressure sodium vapor conversion basically had no dates because they were installed on power poles not in the 15 -year proposal for underground districts. Counc it +estber Woolley asked staff to comment on the one or two- year time frame versus the 10 -year time frame for the mercury vapor replacements, and why it was being stretched over a longer period of time. Mr. Mrizek said operations staff went out every day and replaced lamps and was asked if, including their lamp replacement and main- tenance of the steet 1 ights* they could handle so many lights per year ,and do it over a 10 -year period without adding additional staff Staff said it could, but if it had to be done on a one to two year bass e, the job would either have to be .contracted or ad- ditional people hired. Comic iimeaber Woolley said 1f the surveys done 1 San Jose and San Diego were any indication, Palo Alto's residents would also be pl eased about the conversion. The surveys indicated an even split at first;but after being informed of the energy and cost savings, there was generally an 85 percent acceptance of the high pressure sodium vapor lights. She believed the people of PaI t Alto were more concernedwith the appearance of the fixtures themselves and as long as the poles were dark and_ the .fixtures were kept similar, the residents would agree it was a good move. She supported the motion.. 5 4 5-5 1/28/85 Mayor levy said he favored the change, but believed .aesthetics were important and urged staff to move slowly enough so the commu- nity had an opportunity to see the effects of the changeover. If it was found to be aesthetically unattractive, it could be stopped. Councilmember Sutorius believed there was mercury vapor lighting at Foothill College, which `was also true at Stanford. The high pressure sodium would be much less of a concern and the nature of the fixtures wool d be the qualifying point in terms of any nega- tive impacts. Regarding tree: he was convinced staff did a fair and reasonable job in investigating which included additional research after encountering an article which alleged the potential damage to trees. On page 13 of the study attached to CMR:586:4, there was a discount of that concern as provided by the experts on lighting from Washington R.C. He shared the concerns about aesthetics and believed that through the staff, ARS, and Council process the conversion would be such that the result was as ap- pealing as possible. He appreciated the comments of Mr. Anderson. MOTION PASSED by a vste of 8-1, 'teazel voting no. ITEM f6 FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION RE CITY U S X- K GRAM (F-51 1 r) MOTIOU: Vice Mayor Cobb for the Finance and Public Works Com- mittee moved that the City Council immediately authorize the staffing level of the equivalent of three and one-half persons for the City Auditor's office, the distribution of duties to be left to this Auditor. RESOLUTION 6344 entitled 'RESOLUTION OF TOE COUNCIL OF ALTO AMENDING THE COMPENSATION PLAN FOR MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL AND COMMCIL-APPOINTED OFFICERS ADOPTED 8T RESOLUTION NO. $303 AND AMENDED BY RESOLUTION 118. 6311 TO ADD THE CLASSIFICATIONS OF AUDITOR AND SENIOR AUDITOR" ORDINANCE 3596 entitled *ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY 4F F1ALTO AMENDING TO.E. BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 19$4-8S TO INCREASE THE NURSER OF AUTIIURIZED .POSI- TIOINS AND RELATED APPROPRIATIONS IM THE CITY AUDITOR'S OFFICE" Vice Mayor Cobb said considerable time was spent discussing the matter. He noted that three and one-half persons would be the total staffing for the department, including Mr. Northrup, the City Auditor. Councilmember Renzei confirmed that by going to only three and ode -half positions the kinds of audits initially done would not be the high pay back audits. City Auditor Michael Northrup said that was correct. Councilmember Renzel asked If the higher pay back audits would produce enough savings to pay for the cost of the auditor if the Council went that way. Mr. Northrup said in other organizations, those types of audits usually paid the cost ofthe auditor performing the job and well In excess Councilmember Woolley asked about the distribution of positions among the three and one-half. In the staff report of January 7, 1985, Mr. Northrup made a statement, "It should be noted that an audit accounting clerk would perform some work for the profession- al auditors that would allow the professionals to devote more time to: field work and analysis. If the clerical position is added at 5 4 5 6 1/28/85 a later_ date, the pr-ufessiondl auditors wouikd be handling less complex reviews and more clerical work than may be optimum." Orig- inally, there woul d have been three professional s to one clerk not counting the secretary, and the positions were apportioned 3-0 because there woul d be three professi onal s and no cl erk. She wondered if there was a better way to distribute the positions in order to prevent the professionals from doing the work of a clerk. Mr. Northrup say d the secretary's position would be able to hands e some clerical work, but not the more complex clerical light duty audit work that he originally anticipated in the accounting clerk position. The normal office clerical -- time keeping, ordering, etc. would be. handled by the secretary. He originally anticipated an accounting clerk position to handle less complex audit work and more complex work such as accounting schedule preparation and some original research of accounting records and light duty audits of a transient occupancy tax, etc. That was not the type of work that anyone less than a senior accounting technician could perform. It was not the optimum configuration, but the secretary position could do some of the clerical work to relieve the professional auditor. Councilmember Woolley understood that the secretary woul d take care of the more standard clerical work, but since there was one half -tune position, instead of hiring a professional auditor, why not hire the accounting clerk for that hal f- time position because that would give the proportion of two to one-half, which was better than two to zero. Mr. Northrup said the nature of the work outlined did not lend itself toward clerical duties. It was more towards professional deities. Vice Mayor Cobb said based on the staffing level proposed by the F&PW Committee Mr. Northrup presented a specific budget recommen- dation and the specific kinds of positions. AMENDMENT: Vice Mayer Cobb moved, secepded by Uteri's, 1n ad- dltioa, to direct the Finance and public b"orks Committee to review tht City Auditor -'s wort plan and staffing level as part of the budget process and to review his staffing seeds at sabse4nent six math intervals, and to report to Council the results of those reviews. Couscd l aember Donal believed the Ftp li Committee recommendation for the staffing level was good for begina1ng the operation because of the probable slow level. She pointed est the City weed not see the Cad •f high pay back use of the auditor until such time as the other 'dads of •edits could be endertaken and there were proper staffing levels for them. She believed there mere op orten#ties of which Council would *ltiiately want to take advantage, and she would support the m•tien. Mayer Lary supported the m•ti sa red wised the City Auditor to seta his own eperati ore and report back rsgu1 arl y. Ne hoped the results oou14 skew significant SAViegs. It was frostratiig to be required to add p sitisms and expenses to City gevernment, but in the abject case, he believed the City was spading money in order to save Raney. AMENDMENT PASSED enaaia•us1y,. NOTION AS AMENDED PASSE! 104stiliftsli. ITEM #7 AMENDMENT TO THE HOUSING MITIGATION ORDINANCE (PIA 2-14 ) Couhciamewber4 Witherspoon commented that the term "recreational faci1 ity" sewed vague in the ordinances 5 4 5 7 1/28/85 Executive Assistant Glenn Miller said the Building Department would have to use its best discretion when evaluating a specific proposal on what was a facility available only to those employees of an industry or commercial use oriented directly toward recrea- tion. Staff attempted to not get too specific in terms of variety of different definition to specify three or four key uses and have those eligible as exemptions. Councilmember Witherspoon clarified staff believed it was less confusing to the public to ';e general rather than specific Mr. Miller said yes within the areas of hazardous materials stor- age, child care, recreation, and cafeteria. Councilmember Fletcher asked about the hazardous materials storage area being exempt. fo her, it was not a discretionary activity such as child care or a cafeteria or a recycling area and was part of the overall necessary construction of the facility. She asked about the reasoning behind putting the hazardous materials storage in the beneficial categcry. Mr. Miller said hazardous waste or materials storage facilities was a specific use frequently discussed with the industry. It was a requirement, but also a City -endorsed use. It was one of the other uses most difficult to convert. Councilmember Sutorius said the housing mitigation process was aimed towards job generation and therefore the impact on housing. Storage facility per se and the square footage associated with it was not an employment oyment generating use. Councilmember Renzel asked how one distinguished between the City - encouraged hazardous waste containment, and the City encouragement of certain kinds of ventilation, windows, stairways, etc, There were downside risks to hazardous chemicals, but on the other hand, they were essential to the employment function in any corporation that used them. They were part of the employment gene ration in that respect, and she did not believe there was a way to distin- guish between a testing lab that might only occasionally have a person in it. Director of Planning and Community Environment Kenneth Schreiber said there would be few, if any, employees in a hazardous mater- ials storage facility and it would be hard to convert the facility to anything more employment intensive. The City required the hazardous materials storage facilities, and it was an issue raised in repeated discussions between staff and the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber believed it was not only a City requirement, but it had a public benefit, and a sense of fairness was that it should be exempt. The few employees and difficult nature of conversion, was the primary basis for staff's recommendation that it be ex- cluded. Councilmember Renzel said within a given operation, it was clear there would not be an easy way to convert the hazardous materials storage, However, if one ceased the operation and -the building was sold to an office developer who was not planning to use hazar- dous chemicals, .she asked whether the City would, at that point, have any means of plugging into the housing mitigation funds for the employment generation which would then occur. Mr. Miller' said it was unlikely that a hazardous materials storage facility could easily be used as office space Without electrical and other permits to make the Ftc__f l its► usable. It would then fall under the ordinance unless converted illegally. Councilmember Renzel clarified that if a building was solsd and became an office, when appl icatioo was made for permits for elec- trical outlets, etc. the City could then apply the housing mitiga- tion ordinance. 5 4 5 8 1/28185 Mr. Miller said the specific square footage originally exempted, because it fell under the section, would then have to comply with the ordinance. Councilmember Rehzel clarified the City had some system to know it was exempted and would then become subject to the ordinance. Mr. Miller said yes. Councilmember Renzel asked the City Attorney about any obstacles to applying the Housing Mitigation Ordinance to a subsequent con- version of exempted spu;e. City Attorney Diane Lee did not see any difficulties, but sug- gested the particular portion of the ordinance might be strength- ened by providing what the monetary consequences of a conversion would be, including clear language that it would be a continuing violation for every day the conversion occurred without a tender of the housing mitigation payment. She suggested it might be ,kidded to the end of the ordinance in a separate section. When the matter was first discussed, the .idea was that it was something to be drafted for later inclusion. Councilmember Fletcher asked regarding the hazardous materials storage facility what square footages they were talking about. Mr. Miller understood that most of the hazardous waste storage areas were in the neighborhood of 2500 square feet, which was why the original 2500 square foot exemption was proposed. He also understood that some were larger, but generally they were not talking about a large amount of, square footage. Councilmember Fletcher suggested an option might be to look at the square footage that would be exempt. When talking about job cre- ating facilities, she asked whether warehouses were treated any differently under the City's existing ordinance than office build- ings for purposes of housing mitigation. Mr. Miller said the goal was to limit the number of uses to fall under the exemption to as few as possible and to those which were the most difficult to convert and received the most endorsement from the City. Staff did not want a variety of uses. In terms of differentiating between warehouse and hazardous storage, it was up to the Building Department to make the determination. Councilmember Witherspoon referred to Councilmember Renzel `s con- cerns, and did not believe a building permit was issued until con- formance with City regulations, one of which was the housing miti- gation. If one made apps i,cation for a building permit to convert the hazardous waste area, she clarified that the housing mitiga- tion regulations would have to be complied with before the build- ing permit was issued. Ms. Lei, believed Councilmember Renzel's concerns were broader than just hazardous materials storage facilities. There was more con- cern about monitoring other kinds of facilities that *ere easier to convert because in • some cases a building permit might not be required. NOTION: Ce tscilraersber litherspesn caved, secoaied by Recbtal , to adept the staff receeeeadatioa to approve the al adseat to the Deming iitiRatioa Ordinance end et this tine no amendment be made to the ordinance regarding mixed uses* ORDINANCE FOR FIRST REAR NR entitled *ORDINANCE Of TAE ;CalliCIL or To Ck. "-.ALTO AMEIDIRG . CNAPTER 1$.47 MAIMING APPROVAL OF = PROJECTS OTTO tlPACTS OR WISING* 5 4 5 9 1/28/85 Councilmember Bechtel believed the staff recommendation was rea- sonable, and it was reasonable to Include day care facilities on - site, cafeteria, recreational facilities, and especially hazardous materials storage areas because many existing companies were hav- ing to add them due to the new requirements imposed upon them. They did not add to the numbers of employees working in the area, and the basic goal was to tie the exemption to housing mitigation. She supported the ordinance. Counci1member Renzel asked if the City now required housing miti- gation for bui i ding renovations i f tht.y resul ted in any new empl oymen t. Mr. Miller said bui 1 ding renovation would only fall under the ordinance if it was over 2500 square feet and the site already had 20,000 square feet. A renovation on a building that did not increase square footage would not have to comply with the ordi- nance. Council member Renzel clarified if someone had up to 2500 square feet of hazardous materials storage, cafeteria, or any of the exempted uses, and the bui l ding use changed and the bui 1 ding was renovated and there was no other increase in square footage, but just the conversion of something up to 2500 square feet, it would not fall under the Housing Mitigation Ordinance unless the City specs€iEd it through some mechanism as suggested by the City Attorney. Mr. Mill er said that was correct. Councilmember Renzel clarified the amendment covered the situation where if the space was created, over the long-term the City had a mechanism by which to mitigate the changes. Ms. Lee clarified the amendment would be drafted for future in- clusion in the ordinance as opposed to being part of what was adopted that evenings She did not have the specific language, and believed it was an additional item to be prepared and returned to Council . Coufcllmember Renzel asked if the City was under a thne ;►fnd for passing the ordinance as a first reading that evening. Ms. Lee said they were not, but it might take awhile to work out the language. She did not believe anything could happen in the gap time that would be `'t;,ffected by the addition. Councllmember Renzel asked if an amendment -would apply if someone received a building permit during the interim period. Ms. Lee said the ordinance would apply in terms of subsequent con- version to a non-exempt use. Any amendment would apply. If some- one received a building permit today to put in an exempt use, and in four or five weeks converted that use to a non-exempt use, any new ordinance or amendment would apply to that conversion. NOTION HISSED esasimeesly. NOTION: Coiacilmember teazel moved, sec•adei by Fletcher, that the City Atterae,, draft iooloolo aaeeadlmg tie. ardIaamee to iloglide the later ceeveusiee of exempt facilities to Woe these 'causer - sleet enderthe srdiieece. Councilmember Fletcher was concerned about the pessioility of a child care facility, area being converted to an office without the City's knowledge because there might net be any permits necessary. She was eager to cover that possibility and that there be punitive damages if it tarnes` Out that -a -conversion' occurred and the hous- ing mitigation dye was not paid. She wanted the employers to know an exemption was for a particular use. 5 4 6 0 1/28/85 Vice Mayor Cobb said the staff report rioted a concern about having too much latitude because of the difficulty In enforcement, and he asked how staff viewed the enforcement problem as related to the motion. Mr. Schreiber said staff would make every effort to monitor sites, but projecting out 20 years, there was some possibility-- partic- ularly if there was a distinction between sites constructed before the ordinance and after --that something could slip through. If the conversion. applied to all child care facilities and all hazar- dous waste materials storage facilities, then it was easier to catch because it was easier to administer. The City Attorney indicated the intention was to apply to all, and in that sense, administration would be eased. MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM #8, REQUEST OF MARK CHANDLER FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM 1sLAHKIriI CaiiMiSSIO� MOTION: Cosac I l a> ember Fletcher 'eyed, seconded by Reazel , that Planning Commissioner Bark Chandler be granted a leave of absence from the Planning Commission from September 5, 1985 through March 20, 1986 ender Palo Alto Min1c1pa1 Code Section 2.16.015. Councilmember Klein said Planning Commissioner Jean McCown would be gone from approximately August through December, and he expected she would also request a leave of absence. He intended to support the request for leave of absence for both Commission- ers. The memo reminded the Council that the Code provided that Council could either leave those positions vacant for the time a commissioner was .on leave, or they could be temporarily filled. He believed it would be appropriate to make the decision that. evening as to whether to go forward to leave them vacant or fill them temporarily. He preferred to temporarily fill the posi- tions. Planning Commissioner Mark Chandler expressed his gratitude to City Manager Bill Zaner for promptly bringing the matter forward. Councilmember Sutorius was pleased that Commissioner Chandler was. selected for the fellowship, but., asked if his acceptance and par- ticipation in the fellowship wad; tied to a formal knowledge of whether a leave was granted or if knowledge at a later time would he satisfactory. Commissioner Chandler said he received the materials, but had not returned them, waiting for the decision on his leave. There were many factors going into his decision -making, but he • would proceed one way or the other in any event. His decision would be much easier i f . he rec eived a response from the Council. Councilmember Sutorius asked whether the leave was a factor in Commissioner Chandler's personal decision, or a factor of • the charitable organization's decision. Commissioner Chandler said it was a factor .in his personal and family de i si on process. Councileeeber Sutorius was pleased that Commissioner Chandler qualified and received indication of eligibility for .the fellow- ship and that the provision in the Code for the leave o f absence existed. He was aware when Council voted unanimously to reappoint Ms. McCown to a four-year term last summer that -she would be ap- plying for a leave of absence relatively early in her terra under the professional sabbatical process. When atided to the fact that there were two potential vacancies in that Commissioners Wheeler and Cul l en' s terms expired July 31, 1985, and he had no,. indication of their personal intentions in terms of applying for 5 4 6 1 1/28/85 reappointment, he was concerned about considerations such as num- ber of vacancies, how to handl e them, and temporary versus regul ar appointments. He believed Council should take those situations into account. He was concerned about whether they might face sit- uations where the availability of a quorum and the experience level of the Planning Commission might present some concerns for the P1 anning Commission and hence the public and Council . Councilmember Witherspoon was concerned that Council expected a lot: from its Planning Commission and gave them an incredible work load, and she saw no indication that it wield be. less during the period being discussed. It took a new Planning Commissioner a certain amount of time to come up to speed, and it woul d be nice to find experienced Planning Commissioners to appoint to vacan- cies. She was also concerned from Mark's point of view, that the fellowship was vol untary, and occurred during a period just previ- ous to the expiration of his own term and for a six-month period, She hoped Mr. Chandler would explore with the •fellowship the pos- sibility of doing it a year from the time he was accepted. By that time he would have made a decision about whether to continue on the Al anning Commission or take the fell owshi p, which she agreed would be an exciting opportunity. She would reluctantly vote against granting the particular leave. She believed if Ms. McCown requested a leave, she was entitled to one. Ms. McCown put in a lot of time on the Planning Commission and the leave was related to her job and job opportunities. Counci"lcsember Pletcher believed Council should consider to grant a leave of absence because it was permitted by the ordinance, and that it was not for Council to look into the motivation of the person, although it was a factor. If Mr. Chandler decided to accept the fell owshi p and leave the Planning Commission whether by leave of absence or resignation and likewise with Ms. McCown, it did not change the picture on the Planning Commission because Council could still make appointments or leave those positions vacant. She believed Council must vote on whether Mr. Chandler deserved the leave of absence because the :situation on the Plan- ning Commission would be the same one way or the other. Couneilmember Bechtel supported the motion to grant Mr. Chandl er a leave of absence for approximately five and one-half months. Pal o Al to asked a lot of its vol unteers in the community and P1 an- ning Commissioners were volunteers. They committed week after week to attending meetings from 7:30 p.m; until midnight, or what- ever plus reading all of the materials, making site visits, etc. When a volunteer Planning Commissioner had to make job andperson- al decisions around that volunteer obligation, she believed Coun- cil owed the volunteer an 'opportunity to take a temporary leave and to be assured that he or she may return to that position. Those persons dedicated a great deal of time and energy and exper- ience. Council would not lose a commissioner, but would gain an experienced commissioner when he or she returned. Mayor Levy concurred with Councilmember Bechtel's comments and would support_ the motion. KATIeN PASSED My a vste of 7.2, Witherspoon, Sutori us voting No.'s _ Mayor Levy congratulated Commissioner Chandler on receipt of the fell owshi p. NOTION: Coe cileeaber !Klein moved, seconded by Fletcher, to f111 the vacancy created by Commissioner Chandler's absence and direct the City Clerk to adverttse the temporary vacancy :when the i ely 31 a p1 retl eo of terms are , advertised. City Clerk Ann Tanner said the recruitment process woul d\coemence during May any appointments agendized for Council action 'during the latter part .of July. 5 4 5 2 1/28/86 Vice Mayor Cobb said he was long aware of Commissioner McCown's plans and intended to support her opportunity. He believed the vacancy created by Commissioner Chandler's leave should be filled, i f possible, with a former P1 anning Commi ssi finer. He asked whether Councilmember Klein would be interested in adding language to the effect that preference should be given to former commis- sioners. Councilmember Klein said he might --agree ft would be hel pful to have a former commissioner fill the vacancy, but was disturbed by formally stating that one group of citizens had a priority over another. Vice Mayor Cobb did not disagree, but believed those people could be up to speed faster and fill the role far more easily, effi- ciently, and knowledgeably. As a former comma ssi oner, he was aware there was a learning process involved and he hoped that in- dividual Councilmembers would approach those persons in the hope that one would step forward. Councilmember Bechtel originally pl anned to oppose the motion to temporarily fill the vacancy because there was nothing magical about thenumber seven. As pointed out, there could be potential quorum problems, but she did not believe Council had to lock it- self in. If the decision was made to reappoint incumbent commis- sioners, it might be generally felt that five was sufficient if Council was assured they would all be there and there would not be quorum problems. She did not see a tremendous advantage to tem- porarily filling the vacancy. She woul d support the motion because of a timing problem in that appointments had to be made prior to the September 5 date. Councilmember Witherspoon supported the motion. She pointed out that Commissioner Chandler was planning to be gone for almost seven months, and Commissioner McCown was planning on being gone for four months. That was a long time to keep the P1 anning Com- mission without members. She hoped Council could find people with experience who could step into many of the ongoing discussions, such as the Downtown Study, etc. MOTION PASSED aaahiweesiy. ITEM 0.9, PALO ALTO'S POTENTIAL USE OF THE FERRARI LANDFILL SITE (g -W1( - UttAR:106 : Si MOTION: Mayor Levy raved. seconded by Woolley* to adept the staff reeerr*rdatimw to direct the City Manager to infers the City of Mientaim View that Palo Alto will net exercise its capacity rights. Councilmember Witherspoon said assuming the City's rights to use the Ferrari Landfill had a monetary value, she asked if the City explored the possibility of getting something for living up those rights. City Manager Bill Zaner said yes, but the City did not believe it could find a buyer because the: City's rights expired in 1987. Councilmember Witherspoon asked, about some of the other cities. Mr. Zaner said the only cities dumping at the Ferrari Landfill were cities that already had capacity rights there. They had ade- quate room and did not need Palo Alto's capacity. Councilmember Renxel said that as the City's. representative to the Solid Waste Management Authority, she hoped the: capacity .: at Ferrari might have given some pay back on the $250,000 or $500,000 the City put into the Solid Waste Management Authority. She was sorry it . cost the City money to exercise its rights. She would -reluctantly s pport the notion, but believed it wes unfortunate that the one possible return on the City's investment in the Solid Waste Management, Authority did not pan out. 5 4 66 3 1/28/85 i Councilmembcr Sutorius referred to Cor'ncilmember Witherspoon's questions and asked if there was any possibility that a nearby city not involved in the process might have an opportunity to find some capacity at a rate lower than they were presently paying. He was specl_,fically thinking about East Palo Alto. Mr. Zaner said staff looked at ways to transfer Palo Alto's capacity rights to East Palo Alto, but were unable to do so. MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM #10, CANCELLATION OF FEBRUARY 4, 1985 CITY COUNCIL MEETING (011 Mayor Levy said there was no agenda before the, Council for the February 4 meeting, and further, the City Council meeting of Monday, February 18, fell on a holiday, and while there was no agenda laid out for the Tuesday, February 19, 1985, meeting there would likely be a work session. MOTION: Mayor Levy moved, secomdeJ by Witherspoon, to cancel the February 4, 1985 City Council meeting. MOTION PASSED unanimously. Assistant City Manager June Fleming said the regular meeting of the Policy and Procedures Committee was scheduled for February 19, 1985. A ADJ0URHMENT Council adjourned to a Closed Session re Palo Alto Board of Realtors Acquisition at 9:05 p.m. FINAL ADJOURNMENT Final adjournment at 9:45 p.m. ATTi E$T: APPROVED: