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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-12-16 City Council Summary MinutesCITY COUNCIL MINUTES CITY of PA{() ALTO Regular Meeting December 16, 1985 ITEM PAGE Oral Communications 6 6 4 7 MInutes of October :;'5, 1985 6 6 4 7 Consent Calendar 6 6 4 7 Referral 6 6 4 7 Actior 6 6 4 7 Item 2, Resolution Declaring Weeds a Nuisance and 6 6 4 7 Setting a Public Hearing Item #3, Ordinance Re Town and Country Village (2nd Reading) .Item #4, Ordinance Re Stanford ;hopping Center (2nd Reading) Agenda Changes, Additions an Deletions Item #5, Request from Barron Park Association for a Letter from the Council Endorsing their Application for a Grant to Investigate a Flood Warning System Item #6, Finance and Public Works Committee Recom- mendation Re Water Reservoir Corrosion and Seismic Evaluation 6 6 4 7 6 6 4 7 6 6 4 8 6 0 4 8 6 6 5 5 r Item #7, Finance and Public Works Committee Recom- 6 6 5 5 rendation Re 1986 Utility Revenae bond Issuance Item #8, Alternate Discharge Study Item #9, Cable Franchising Financial Consul tant: Request for Authorization to .,Pay in Excess of $1U,000 t 6 6 5 5 6 6 5 7 Item #9A (Old Item #1), Webster -Cowper Parking 6 6 5 9 Garage Item #11, Reports of Mayor Levy and Councilmembers Fletcher and Renzel Re National League Conference Held December 9-11, 1985 6 6 6 0 Item #10, Request of Councilmember Renzel Re Pedes- 6 6 6 1 trian/ 8i cycl i st Improvements -4 Ar°astradero Road Adjournment: 9:30 p.m. 6 6 6 2 6 6 4 6 12/16/85 Regular fcetinu December l(, 1585 The City Council of the City If Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Avenue, at 7:35 p.m. PRESENT: Bechtel, Cobb, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Patitucci, Renzel, Sutorius, Woolley ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Ed Mayoral, 901 Addison Avenue, was concerned about the stop sign at Addison and Channing Avenues. Tl.e stop sign presented a potentially dangerous traffic situation rather than corrected one. He presented a sketch of the intersection (which is on file in the City Clerk's office). MINUTES OF OCTOBER 15, 1985 (OUT OF SEQUENCE) MOTION: Councilmember Sutorius moved, seconded by Klein, approval of the Minutes of October 15, 1985, as submitted. MOTION PASSED unanimously. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilmember Patitucci removed Item #1, Webster -Cowper Parking Garaye. 4OTION: Councilmember Sutorius moved, seconded by Renzel, approval of the Consent C,l eedar. Referral None Action ITEM #2 RESOLUTION DECLARING WEEDS A NUISANCE AND SETTING A PUBLfC HEARING (PWK 5-2) (CMR: 64-7: T- Staff recommends Council determiaa there will be no adverse environmental impact and adopt the resolution declaring weeds to be a nuisance. RESOLUTION 6452 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CIt1 OF PLO ALTO DECLARING WEEDS TO BE A NUISANCE AND SETTING A NEARING' ITE 1 ##�3 ORDINANCE , RE TOWN AND COUNTRY VILLAGE (2nd Reading) ORD NA$CE 3657 entitled 'ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY V PALO ALTO ADOPTING INTERIM REGULATIONS REGARDING THE FLOOR AREA RATIO FOR CC (COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL) DISTRICTS IN THE TOWN AND COUNTRY PILLAGE" (1st Reading, 12/2/85, PASSED 7-0, Bechtel. , P,,ti tucc i absent) ITEM 14 ORDINANCE RE STANFORD SHOPPING CENTER (2nd Reading) (PLA 3-1'-` ERD I NAMCE 3658 entitled "ORDINANCE Of ThE COUNCIL OF THE (`ItY OF PALO ALTO ESTABLISHING `,A MAXIMUM ALLOWANCE OF NEW SQUARE FOOTAGE TN BE APPROVED FOR CONSTRUCTION AT THE STANFORD S$OP PING CENTER AND: IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON FURTHER_ APPLICATIONS ABOVE THAT ALLOWANCE UNTIL JULY 1, 1987' (1st Readies 12/2/35, PASSED 7-0, Bechtel, Patitecci absent) 6 6 4 7 12/16/85 MOTION PASSED unanimously. AGENDA CHANGES,_ ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS City Manager Bill Zaner announced Item #1, Webster -Cowper Parking Garage, would become Item 9-A. Mayor Levy and Councilmembers Fletcher and Renzel added Item #11, Report on the National League Conference held December 7-11, 1985. 1 1 v ITEM 05, REQUEST FROM BARRON PARK ASSOCIATION FOR A LETTER FROM THE COUNCIL ENDORSING THEIR APPLICATION FOR A GRANT TO INVESTfGATE A FL66D WARNING SYS-TEM (PRE 2 -ST City Manager Bill Zaner said staff recommended Council not write a letter` of endorsement for the grant as requested. He was con- cerned the letter of endorsement might be construed as an indica- tion of the City's support for the project and might have some financial implications. If the grant went through the normal City grant processes which it did not, he still would not have recom- mended approval. There was not sufficient merit to grant its endorsement. The consultant selection process established by the City would also be bypassed in the grant proposal process. Councilmember Klein asked if it was possible for the City Council to write a letter which simply supported the community group effort. City Attorney Diane Lee said it was a community group project and the City Council could write a letter requesting the State Depart- ment of Water Resources to give the B. rron Park Association (8Px'!) grant application its consideration. The letter could indicate the City of Palo Alto had not had an opportunity to study the grant application, but the State Department of Water Resources was the agency best able to make the determination as to whether it was an appropriate project. Councilmember Fletcher` understood two agencies already made state- ments of the application being worthy of consideration, but believed the BPA needed an endorsement from the City that it believed the project was viable for compliance. She asked if Mr. Adams believed a warning system for a small geographic area such as Bareon Park was feasible. Mr. Adams did not believe so. The area was only about 13 square miles. The Water District was currently experimenting with two systems which encompassed 200 square miles and 130 square miles, which had not worked as yet. They would not predict floods, but only the levels of reservoirs. 4ith such a small water shed it was unlikely to arrive at a prediction to give enough warning to be useful. Mayor Levy asked whether Council could endorse the project without incuering any obligation on the part of the City for any follow up action after the study was completed or any kind of endorsement of whether the City believed the project was a good one. Mr. Zaner believed it was possible. The City Attorney drafted language in such a way as to indicate to the funding agency while the Council did not accept any responsibility for the project financially or long-term, it was appropriate for the agency to look at the value of the project rather than the Council, and Council did not stand in the way of the project 6 � 4 8 12/16/85 Mayor Levy dskea if the City presently had a warning system in case of the threat of flood. Mr. Adams said no. Mayor Levy asked if the Water District did. Mr. Adams said not to his knowledge. Bob Ma s, 4010 Orme, said the threat to life and property in Barron Park with the flooding of Barron and Matadero Creeks was serious. In January, 198'3, residents experienced a flood, rand as a result, establ i she:: a warning system which worked in March, 1983, to reduce the flood damage from a second flood which oc- curred. The warning system consisted of physically watching the creek, and when it was about to go over bank, call people. If, as a result of the study, Barron Park ended up with a flow gauge and water height indicator which automatically signaled peoples' homes or to the emergency center the creek was about to overflow, it would be an improvement over what was currently there. As demon- strated, it would reduce flood damage. He believed it was feas- ible for a small water shed. In 1975, the Water District planned to improve Barron Creek and eliminate the flood danger by putting in a more than double culvert capacity which was scheduled for 1983. Their latest estimate to begin work on Matadero Creek was 2004 to 2006, and in the case of Barron Creek, not until after 201U. If the study contract proved feasible and if they arrived at a design for a system, the design would be available in about eight to ten months. The primary agency for stopping flooding was the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD). The SCVWD did nothing to protect the lives and property of the people in Barron Park and in Palo Alto and projected to do nothing for the next 20 to 25 years. He hoped if the grant was approved and if the con- sultant arrived at a viable project, BPA could prevail upon the SCVWD to spend between $50,000 and $100,000 in abot't a one year period for a warning system. The proposal before the Council was not the statement of work the BPA intended to enforce upon the consultant The contracting agency would be the SPA, and he would be the contracting officer if the grant was made by the State. He had more than 20 years experience both negotiating and managing contracts. He would provide a more stringent and explicit state- ment of work and requirements for performance than what Council had. The BPA was first asked to participate on November 19 and 'erought it to Council on November 25. The BPA requested Council support, particularly later when it was time to get the SCVWD to do something to hel p -the people of Palo Alto and in Barron Park. He pointed out some areas in Barron Park were flooded in less than a 25 -year flood, and could not appear on the flood map for a 100 - year flood. He urged people not to rely on the flood map. Counc i lmember Sutorius had two grandchildren living in Barron Park, and was concerned of flood impacts. He refereed to the sec- cess of an early warning system in Pennsylvania where the damage resul tiny from a flood in year "x" was multi -hundred thousand dol- lars, and two years later with a second fl oed , the damage was in the $20,000 range. Peoples' ability to respond to a warning sys- tem was cited as a factor which improved safety and allowed there to take actions which reduced the threat and actual damage. Potentially, an early warning system where none previously existed would have same positive effect. He wondered whether it was also true education awareness and time proximity to two years later would have the effect of peop a not wanting it to happen again, and with the news reports and whatever else occurred, action was taken. Subjectively, he believed it was probably the education and sour experience of two prior years. Because of the BPA's action, awareness, education, and telephone tree, he queried whether it was likely the education effort was a good one, and whether the communicationeffort of the telephone tree would be as effective as the fact there would be some awareness of a stream flow which would be communicated. 6 6 4 9 12/16/85 Mr. Moss said Barron Park's experience was no. The actual events which occurred in March, 1983 proved the effectiveness.of having someone on the scene --some actual knowledge of what was happening. When the creek was seen as being within six inches of going over bank, people were alerted to go out and sand bag their property. if sand bags were left out all the time, they rotted. The people were able to keep the sand hags where they were useful. It pro- vided time to shut off the gas, and _net things to higher ground. If manual checking was depended upon, it meant if the creek rose at midnight and everyone was asleep, no one knew until the next morning when their house was underwater, which happened to several people. They were looking for a state-of-the-art automated system so they did not need to depend on volunteers getting up at 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.a►. to go down and check the creeks During the January 1983 storm, they had a saturated ground condition and a heavy rainfall which concentrated the area in a relatively short time and sent a lot of water down Barron Creek. Someone could have checked the creek at 10:45 p.m. and it would not have been close to overbank. Twenty minutes later it started going over. Mayor Levy appreciated the need for warnings regarding floods in Barron Park and assumed the BPA was sensitive to the Council's concern regarding what the City was obligating itself to if it endorsed the project in the sense of agreeing there was need for a better warning system for the residents of Barron Park than now existed. He wanted to know the BPA's thinking in terms of the City's obligation related to the study --was the City obligating itself for; anything. Mr. Moss hoped not, and said it was not their intent. The BPA requested the City of Palo Alto, as the only jurisdiction which cared about the people of Palo Alto, to support any appropriate action by other bodies to keep Barren Park from being flooded and not having any type of warning system. Eventually, BPA hoped for a more active stance on the part of the City in supporting BPA's appeal to the 5CVWD. In the case of the flood basin, the BPA tried to act responsively and responsibly. It supported the proj- ect even though it preferred to see the money spent upstream where there was current flooding because it was the only way to get things moving. The BPA was thanked by the people in the West Bayshore area for not looking at it parochially. The BPA did not want the City to take on the burden unnecesari 1 y. He requested Council support for the concept of a system. Mayor Levy said if Council were to support t':e project in the sense of saying there were problems with flooding in Barron Park and a better warning system would be of value, but Council's only endorsement was there was a need, but did not endorse 8PA's par- ticular application per se because it was not evaluating the par- ticular application in any way and could not be responsible or obligated for any City action whatsoever based on the outcome of the study. If the Council provided an endorsement of that nature, he asked if it would be acceptable. Mr. Moss preferred Council leave out the comment about endorsing or not endorsing the specific proposal because it did not really review the proposal and the detailed project with. which BPA _ in- tended to go forward was not quite the same as what Council saw in the proposal Mayor Levy clarified Mr. Moss had no problems if the City Council specified its comments in relation to BPA's proposal that it was not obligating itself in any way, shape or form for any type of action. Mr. Moss said it was fine If Council wanted to _go beyond and say Council believed thie primary obligation rested with the SCVWD', it was also fine. 6 ti 5 0 1.2/16/85 John Joynt, 3589 :.aquna. President of the Barron °rk Association, was concerned eho€It the eventual flooding of Bat ron Park, hi s home, his neiyhbors' and friends' homes, and their neighbors down stream of Barron and Matadero Creeks. He lived on Matadero Creek and two years ago witnessed the flooding and destruction which occurred in Barron Park. They experienced extensive financial damage with 90 homes being flooded in living areas, and 130 gar- ages. In the late 1950's, a storm sent high rapids down the Matadero Creek at his property. Huge trees and telephone poles thundered down the creeks ripping out unprotected properties. His neighbor's tree across the creek fell and landed on his roof. The maj or, flood just described removed ten feet of his property along the creek and the creek from the top of his property down was 13 feet. Subsequent to the flooding, work was done to his property to replace some of the lost land and an easement was granted to the Santa Clara Valley Water District which went five feet into his property. The SCVWD did maintenance work on the creek, and in 1979 doubled the size of the culvert at Matadero Road and Matadero Creek. Several years ago, he rebuilt the remaining 75 feet of creek lost with broken concrete piece by piece and backf i l l , shovel by shovel with 50 cubic yards. In 1983, another storm, centered in the Foothills of Palo Alto, caused the eventual re 1 'Hooding of Barron Park. He lost more property, but fortunately had rebuilt up the creek and it was not as bad as he anticipated. As of 1985, the SCVWD had ultimate responsibility and authority. The residents of Barron Park were told to wait another 10 or 20 years before the SCVWD could do any significant work. During the interim, they would experience one more major flood and possibly more. Based on risk charts, the floods would be greater than the ones seen to date. The BPA had organizational activities, the Concern for Creek Committee for over 15 years; the creek clean out work, which was supplemented by assistance from the City in terms of taki any removed trash from the creek to the dumps; creek watch was set up and se was a telephone tree, which worked last time. They al so applied .to the State of California and requested funds to study a more sophistocated flood warning system. The bottom line was the SCVWD was ultimately responsible and accountable for the creeks, but the SPA asked the City of Palo Alto for its help and support to assist in preparing for eventual floods. They would happen, and they looked to the City for guidance and solu- tions. The BPA and City of Palo Alto worked together on a pilot Quake -safe Study, which was for earthquakes not flooding to be used oy all neighborhoods in Palo Alto. He made little distinc- tions between acts of God like earthquakes and flooding in that they must be prepared for when they happened. He would be remiss as a neighbor, taxpayer, father, and president of the Barron Park Association, if he did not embrace the tough questions which demanded creative thinking, positive solutions, and joint efforts between neighbors, City, and Water District. Counc i l mei ber Fletcher was insulted the BPA accused the City Council of being callous and uncaring about flooding in the City, no matter what part of the City. Council did not normally enter into any kind of action without considerably more information than was received on the particular item. In terms of getting the SCVWD to take over the system if it proved feasible, they ex- plicitly said it was the function of the City and not the Water District. In terms was, the City having any influence over the SCVWD, the history was not gond . If the SCVWD had not insi tted on the Downstream Improvement Program, they could have gotton on with the Barron Park channel improvements much fasten Instead they thought up the grandios scheme for the flood basin, .which none of the Council endorsed, but had to accept for it was shoved down their throats. She was not optimistic about the City Council telling the Water District to do anything. She believed the whole proposal was sort of ,like "wishing upon a star." She could under- stand the concern about flooding, but to expect a forecasting system to suddenly be developed seemed to be unrealistic. When the Weather. Bureau developed forecasts, they talked about large geographic areas and oftentimes, they were off by several miles. 6 6 5 1 12/16/85 NOTION: Vice Savor Cobh moved, sJcondad by t"toritts; to direct staff to send a letter of community support for Barron Park Association's application to the State. Department of Water Resources including the following points: 1. The City understands and shares the concerns of the Barron Park Association with regard to flood dangers and the neces- sity for a warning system; 2. The City makes no expressed _ or implied conrrritsrent of City funds to the project; and 3. i he proper agency for implementation of the results is appro- priately the Santa Clara Valley Water District • and the City v:i 11 lobby the agency to that end. Vice Mayor Cobb clarified the thrust of the letter would be to do what City Attorney Diane Lee suggested earlier. It seemed to him by the action Council would have taken a prudent position which protected the Council. He did not believe it was so much a letter of endorsement, but rather a letter of community support because Council avoided the specific of saying "do the program." In 1983, 110 toured the situation after the floods, which were awesome. The people in the Barron Park area were seriously concerned about their areas and homes and they wanted to grab at any possible solution. He was disappointed in the tone of the letter sent to the City on December I0 (which is on file in the City Clerk's office), and did not believe it helped the situation. The City Council was trying to help Barron Park. Councilmember Bechtel said based on the fact the letter would be along the lines suggested by City Attorney Diane Lee, she would support the motion. There was no question in her mind the City wanted to protect all the residents of Palo Alto, and she shared the disappointment of the Barron Park residents the SCVWD put far to the bottom of the list improvements to the particular areas. The City pushed hard for the SCV`:-; to make improvements sooner, and would continue to do so. The letter might be one way to get some- information, and a letter like the one suggested by Ms. Lee was appropriate. Counciltaember Sutorius shared some of the concerns expressed regarding timing and inability of the City to make the kind of careful analysis it might otherwise make. He was sure 'everyone appreciated the cost of government at any level was negatively affected if appropriations were made for work efforts or activi- ties not carefully constructed and monitored. He found Council's arms to be tied in terms of further flood control actions it had the ability, authority, and financial capability to undertake. In terns of the grant review process, experts in the field would evaluate competing projects and the potential of the endeavor had value not just for Palo .Alto and the SCVWD, but for the whole subject of flood control. He believed it was worthy of evalua- tion, and Council support was appropriate. The type of letter outlined by Vice Mayor Cobb was a recognition of the BPA and their role in the community. He supported the motion. Counc i l member Woolley associated herself with the comments of Councilmembers Bechtel and Sutorius. She believed the project was worthy of the type of letter outlined by Vice Mayor Cobb because she was impressed with the organization and initiative of the BPA over the years and most recently in terms of the traffic study and earthquake preparedness. If it was another 20 years before the SCVWD made any improvements, it was a long enough period where it would be well worth coming up with an interim plan. It might well be a dream, but if it should be coupled with another City project, such as cable television. which also took on dream status at times, --it) would be a worthwhile advance in terms of flood warning for not only Palo Alto's community, but possibly other communi- ties. She supported the motion. 6 6 5 2 12/16/85 Counc i 1 member P ati tucc i hed d problem with the process. It seemed to him Council went about its business predictably and bureau- cratically at times which served for Council to see all the options, analyze the different alternatives, allow for a variety of input from the entire community, and to try and come up with the best long-term solution for Palo Alto. He saw Council responding purely politically to one of the better organized and more effective local community organizations in a way the City Council would recommend to them it did not want to proceed. Council should take a little more time on the entire issue. The discussions were interesting and there were probably residents in other parts of the community who were interested. He wanted to see the issue pursued perhaps in the budget process or the F&PW Committee in terms of who was responsible for flood danger warnings, how one dealt with it, how to educate the community, and whether there were projects for which the City should apply. To have the matter be upon the City Council in a two-week period of time without the proper analysis bothered him. He did not see the letter as being a letter of endorsement, but rather as political since there was no commitment whatsoever to aggressively entertain involvement in the project. He would not support the motion. The idea of the project and the amount of energy shown by the BPA was good, but it should be directed in terms of how the City might deal with the issue. Mayor Levy was also dismayed by the tone of parc of the discus- sion. The ,,,project might be funded by the State so it was up to the State to analyze the project and determine whether it was worthwhile. He respected the BPA and their having taken the initiative to develop the request. The letter from the City Council did not have to say more than the City was able to say, and whether the State accepted the letter he lid not know. The letter was the truth in that the Council was concerned about floods in Barron Park and the City shared a recognition of the concern with the Barron Park neighborhood. The City recognized floods were 1 ikely to reoccur. before the SCVWD got around to doing the necessary work. The Council also recognized there was not presently an adequate flood warning system. The Council was not saying the project being put together by the BPA would solve the problems. It . was up to the State to make the determination. The Barron Park Association did not ask the City to evaluate the project. If they were successful. the community would benefit. The Council's job was to indicate the need and make assurances the Barron Park Association was not a transitory or frivolous appl i- can`, and he could do that wholeheartedly. Regarding the letter from the BPA, he learned as' a public official not to be thin skinned and worry about whether his eqo was wounded by a strong letter. He respected the letter and the turmoil residents of Barron Park went through on more than one occasion over',the past several years and hopes Council could make the small effort to ease their way. He did not know i.f the plan would be successful, but Council should not be an impeliMent. Councilmember Renzel bel ieved the motion was worded sufficiently general and ensured the City from having to spend moneys to imple- ment the particular project, which was not to say it would not be under press ee to do so if the SCVWD would not. She shared Cour c i lmember Pati tucc i' s concern about process. The grant wat Under the Riparian Habitat Restoration Grant Program, and the only way she saw a flood warning system resulting in riparian habitat restoration was if it were a substitute for a project of digging out and putting in sand bags and concrete channels, etc. She was concerned about.,Ahe program under which the grant was being solicited; Normally, if the City were to .do such a study, there would be a consultant selection process -to determine the best consultant to-do the job. In the -subject instance. a consultant went forward with a proposal and, sought out the 81/Vend the National- Weather Service and the Flood Control District to support his particular grant application, and Council -had yet to see the consultants qualifications. She was in a bit of a quandary. She 6 6 5 3 12/16/85 supported the concept of encouraging the program, but believed Councilmember Fletcher raised some good questions about the effec- tiveness of such a small area. She joined Councilmember Patitucci in opposing a letter of support because of the procedure; aspects. Councilmember Klein sympathized with the desire for a better flood warning system in Barron Park and it was hard to oppose the motion because it seemed to do something. He was persuaded by the remarks of Councilmembers Patitucci, Renzel , and Fletcher that trying to do something was not nececessarily the right thing to do. He believed there were better approaches and Council should explore what they were. He was bothered by the process and effectiveness and believed everyone recognized it by the hedged language being suggested. It sounded to him more like a non - endorsement. As an employer, he occasionally received letters of recommendation which read the same where all the prior employer said was the person was nice, which meant not to hire the person to him. Similarly, he believed a nonendorsement letter of en- dorsement would translate to the State they should not do it or they would get nixed signals which bothered him. If the Council endorsed something, it should be doge with persuasive language. He would reluctantly oppose the motion. Mayor Levy was disturbed because` he heard his colleagues saying they did not want the City to spend any funds and did not believe it was the City's responsibility or obligation, but at the same time, they asked the Council to not endorse or send a qualified letter of support to a private group who was wi 1 1 ing to take on the responsibility. It seemed Council was in danger of getting on its high horse and saying it would not do anything unless it was absolutely perfect -by the Council's standards, yet it did not want to go into the' efforts to ensure it followed those standards. If Council sent the letter, it would answer the request of the BPA. Whether it was qual ified was for someone else to determine. It was a statement of the Council's position and what it could or could not say. Councilmember Fletcher grappled with the issue because she believed the wording of the motion protected the City. The impl i- ceti on, if Council defeated the motion, was the City would take the initiative and get into the flood -control business, which she did not believe Council should do, Council should not stand in the way if the State determined the` project to be worthy. She was personally sceptical, but supported the motion purely because the City was protected under the wording Councilmember Patitucci took issue with Mayor Levy's comments. He did not believe Council said anything about the substance of whether the project was feasible. He believed those who opposed the issue were concerned Council' did not have the opportunity to review the project as something it might want to endorse for the City, to select a consultant, or to budget funds versus other alternatives. He believed the idea was intriguing and worthwhile, but the question was whether eleventh hour proposals by consul- tants whose qualifications seemed okay, but who ..certainly did not go through a competitive process, and delegating it to the BPA when perhaps the City should embrance it itself, were appropriate. He wasopposed to the motion on the basis of process only. Councilmember Renzel clarified by not sending a letter of endorse- ment Council did not stand in the way of BPA's going forward. It had adequate letters of support to go forward currently. Mr. Zaner said Councilmember Renzel was correct based on his understanding. MOTION PASSED by a rote of 5-4, Fletcher, Klein, Renzel , Patitucci voting no.N 6 6 5 4' 12/16/85 ITEM #G, FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMI iTEE RECOMMENDATION RL WATER RESERVOIR CORROSION AND SEISMIC EVALUATION (UTI 7) (CMR:642:5) Councilmember Bechtel for the Finance and Public Works Committee said the project dealt with analyzing some of the City's steel water tanks to ensure they did not leak. The project was approved in the Capital Improvement funds last year and was delayed, and more tanks were now included. MOTION: Councilmember Bechtel for the Finance and Publick,Works Committee moved re Water Reservoir Corrosion and Seismic Evalua- tion approval of the staff recommendation to proceed with negotia- tions with Yilialobos & Associates for corrosion investigation and with Beyaz & •Patel , Inc., for seismic evaluation. - AGREEMENT PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR WATER RESERVOIR CORROSION INVESTIGATION Yi l l al obos & Associates - AGREEMENT PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR WATER RESERVOIR SEISMOLOGICAL EVALUATION Beyaz & Patel, Inc. AMENDMENT: Councilmember Sutorius moved, seconded by Bechtel, to direct staff to appropriately correct typographical and attesting action initials. AMENDMEMT PASSED unanimously. MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED unanimously. ITEM %7, FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION RE 1986 UTILITY REVENUE BOND ISSUANCE Item removed from agenda by staff and rescheduled to December 23, 1985. ITEM ;8, ALTERNATE DISCHARGE STUDY (UTI 7-4) (CMR:641 : 5) Courrc ilmember Woolley asked for a ballpark estimate as to the cost of the study. Assistant Director of Utilities/Operations Steve Hayashi said the cost of the study would 'run in the neighborhood of approximately $100,000, whi ch would depeed upon tie amount of sampling and field work involved. Mayor Levy clarified Cauncil was being asked to approve the develop+,ent of the scope of the study, and there would essentially be no out-of-pocket costs at that point. Mr. Hayashi said that was correct. During the remainder of the fiscal year, staff looked to deeel op the scope of work, determine the agencies involved and include a dollar amount in,. the 1986-87 budget for the study. John Mock, 736 Barron Avenue, referred to the current effluent discharge location, and understood the water received tertiary treatment and was only slightly worse than drinking water, which was in contrast to at least one city cited several times in the past few years for discharging raw sewage into the Bay.. He sus- pected that was the motivation for the expensive deep water dis- charge plant. Both the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the State Fish and Game had comments about the proposals, particularly concerning the Flood Control District in the ITT properties. lie supported them. Their comments concerning toxic trace elements and the existence of wildlife on the ITT site seemed particularly relevant. The Flood Control District already had a productive salt water marsh and he did not want to see the area substantially 6 6 5 5 12/16/85 changed, a view shared by U.S. Fish and Wildlife. The ITT site was more open to question particularly an the issue of several species of birds doing poorly in the area; for example, Burrowing Owl and the Black Shouldered Kite. He supported the view that a carefully designed system could enhance habitat, but might only involve a portion of the "waste water" and then only seasonally at best. Putting the relatively clean water through the Yacht Harbor might help the situation, but he understood from the recent debates it would not solve the siltation problem. Furthermore, Fish and` Game was particularly concerned about the impact on the California Clapper Rail, an endangered specie. In contrast, the City naturalists indicated the current, outflow devel oped a small productive freshwater and brackish water marsh which they often showed to people on their walks. While Fish and Wildlife and Fish and Game neither supported nor opposed it, they seemed willing to consider continued use of the existing outflow, which proposal was being considered that evening. Furthermore, being a short walking distance from the Baylands Interpretative Center, he felt the area was a valuable educational resource as it showed a different bio- logical community from the rest of the salt marsh which would probably improve _with time as the plants, animals, etc., became more accustomed to the fresh water. On the other hand, removing the "effluent" from the area would probably result at least in a short-term deterioration of the area until a salt water marsh reestablished itself. He urged Council undertake an environmental analysis of the current outflow in order to support the position when the Bay folks came forward with their outflow procedure. He also Mined Council presented alternative plans informally to the community so it could look into the impact on wildlife on a leisurely basis since they were hard to deal with on a short-term basis. 1 1 MOTION: Councilmember Renrel moved, seconded by Fletcher, to adopt staff rec©inendation to direct the Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQ6i- staff to work with the Regional Water Quality Control Boara (RWQCB), San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development (BCDC) , State Department of Fish and Game, and D. S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, in developing an acceptable scope of work for an environmental analysis of the effect of the waste- water effluent at its existing location. Councilmember Renxel was delighted to see Council going in that direction. The beneficial impacts of the existing discharge point were ignored, and Mr. Mock pointed out there were major short-term impacts in radically changing the discharge point because wildlife was accustomed to it. She heard f-om people in the California Department of Fisn and Game that the mouth of the sewer outflow became a popular site as a first place to feed during the changing tides because of its productivity. There :were important pie:es of information the City could get from the study, and she encouraged Council support of the motion. Councilmember Patitucci clarified that "Regional" meant the Bay Area. He asked what jurisdiction was covered by RWQCB. City Manager Bill Zaner replied it was the City's plant. The City considered it a regional plant since they serviced Palo Alto, Mountain View, Stanford and others. Councilmember Patitucci asked of what took place after the scope of work was returned. 6 6 5 6 12/16/65 Mr. Hayashi said after the scope of work was completed, the City would include in the following year's budget process a list of projects where consultants were required, and at that, time the F&PW could decide in terms of their involvement with the coisul - tant selection process. From there it went to the F&PW fer con- sideration and a recommendation, and then to Council. Councilmember Woolley asked whether the second sentence of the staff recommendation in CMR:461:5 was part of the motion. Councilmember Renzel said no. Councilmember Woolley agreed. She was a little astounded to hear the possible cost of —the study could be $100,000, and wanted the City to get the most for its money. - She believed the second sentence indicated the most likely Step 2 was something to do with the ITT Flood Basin site. It was possible to set up the scope of work for Step 1, and if staff had Step 2 in mind, they might do it a little differently than if a definite Step 2 was not. in mind. Councilmember Renzel added at the regional level , the three South Bay discharges were joined together in a Joint Powers agreement and worked together to also demonstrate the beneficial aspect of the outfal 1 s in the South Bay. If that study wa, successful, a local study might not be needed to go further. If for some reason the South Bay dischargers Study was not persuasive with RWQCB, .the City was then required to undertake some expensive studies on whatever alternatives were considered, so the study was no dif- ferent from any of the others in terms of the fact it would cost a lot of money if the City had to move in that direction. She asked -if her understanding was correct. Mr. Hayashi said she was correct in terms of the South Bay Di s- charye,'s Study in that it was a regional study looking at the receiving water, the South Bay water; whereas, the City was looking at a site -specific study trying to indicate the effluent had not degraded the localized envir-.7nment but hopefully had enhanced the area there. MOTION PASSED unanimously. :TEM 09, CABLE FRANCHISING FINANCIAL .CONSULTANT: REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PAY iN EXCESS OF $10,000 (Pitt 7-3) (CMR:643:5) City Manager Bill Zaner said the request was to pay for the added cost of having the financial consultant, Mr. Brittain, present throughout the week Council discussed cable. Mr. Brittain s firm was originally contracted for $10,000, which was the limit to which City staff could commit. The actual charges exceeded that amount. _ The funds were available and no budget amendment was required, but his authority ended at $10,000 so it required Council approval for an additional $7,324. Vice Mayor Cobb asked whether the $7,000 was basically burned up in those last few days of Cable hearings, or whether there was a substantial overrun beyond the $10,00.0 plus what was burned up during those last few day. Cable Communications Coordinator Jeanne Moulton said the latter was correct. Vice Mayor Cobb asked. staff to separate the two so he could under- stand how :such was overrun and how much was used during those four or five >days. Ms. Moulton said $10,000 was used before the consultant came to • a J V 2� 1 'T Palo Alto, aed th remai�tieg $7,324 was what it cost for hint tG attend the hearings. It was 36 -hours at $I60 or $5,760, plus his costs, which were $1,564. Councilmember Woolley. asked about the source of the funds since -staff said no budget amendment was required. 1 1 e Mr. Zaner said the funds came out of the Operational Contingency Fund which was set up for the General Fund. Councilmember Woolley asked how the City was doing in terms of the money allocated for Arnold & Porter for the whole Cable process. Ms. Moulton said there was a balance of $13,000 which the City expected to use up by the time the franchise agreement was closed. Councilmember Woolley clarified the money with Price Waterhouse had nothing to do with the funding for Arnold & Porter. Mr. Zaner said that was right. Councilmember Woolley said it was not the case in the first phase when they went through the RFP process. Mr. Zaner said that was correct. Originally Price Waterhouse was Arnold & Porter's subcontractor and was included. Mayor Levy clarified the original $10,000 did not anticipate the consultant being present for the Council hearings. Ms. Moulton said that was correct. Mayor Levy said it was obvious to him the consultant would be needed when Council discussed the financial elements, and he asked why those costs were not included. Ms. Moulton said staff did not believe he had to be present thee. It was only after staff issued the staff report on September 12 that financing became an issue. Mayor Levy clarified the consultant was present for four Council meetings which amounted to 36 hours. MOTION: Vice Mayor Cobb moved, seconded by Klein, to authorize an amendment to the contract with Price Waterhouse for $7,324 for cousultlaq services during the Council hearings on cable franchi si rig. AMENDMENT TO CONTRACT Price Waterhouse Councilmember Patitucci was tempted to abstain since he had nothing to do with the issue; however, it did not appear Council was done with the expenses they had to deal with to complete the obligations under Cable TV. Since he sat in the audience through- out the proceedings, he believed he cduld participate. He asked about the b it 1 s from the consultant, and whether they included hours per day and hourly rate, or a total dollar amount agreed to up to a certain amount. Ms. Moulton said the bills from Arnold & Porter and from Price Waterhouse were based on an hourly rate and totaled, and then the expenses were totaled. 6 4 5 8 12/16/85 Mayor Levy reluctantly supported the amendment. Staff should have anticipated finances were a sensitive issue, and Council should have been notified as soon as staff realized an overrun in the particular element, although small , would occur. There was a hi saory of overruns in connection with the evaluation of the Cable TV potential franchisers. Council made its concerns regarding overruns clear to staff on many occasions, and he believed staff made an error in judyment not to have notified Council as soon as they knew there was an overrun. He found the amount of the bill acceptable. Council yot excellent service from the consultant and the cost of $160 a hour was what a seasoned senior accountant with a CPA ci rm received, and the rest of the costs were in line. MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM #9-A, (OLD ITEM #1) , WEBSTER-COWPER PARKING GARAGE ' (PWK 6-2) (CMR:627:5) Councilmember Patitucci removed the item from the Consent Calen- dar because the excess work for the supervising engineers appeared to be due entirely to the problems encountered by the contractors they supervised; therefore, the, contractor should be responsible for those payments. It was not clear to him whether there was a direct connection between Council's action and acknowledgment on the part of the contractor that they would be responsible for the additional costs. He wondered what the connection was, or what the mechanics were for recovering the additional t51,000 from the SKB, since it was their action which necessitated the costs. City Attorney Diane Lee said when the City closed out the con- tract, it would deduct $51,000 from the contract retention. She understood the City made progress payments, but withheld a certain percentage, which would be considered when the contract was com- pleted. The .contract was riot yet completed, and there were also other ahernatives, suet- as the assessment of liquidated damages against the contractor, ur a default for collection under the contractor's performance bond. Therefore, the City had various alternatives to recover the $51,000. Councilmember Patitucci clarified the City expected to eget the money back and it would not cost the City anything. Ms. Lee said yes. MOTION: Councilmember Suterius moved, seconded by Patitucci,.to approve the staff recommendation authorizing staff to negotiate final payments through change orders to Parsons Brinckerboff Quads i Douglas for a sum not to exceed a total of %131,0#0, and to ascend Contract $o. 4307 to authorize such additional services which wil bring the aggregate limit of the contract to $560,000. AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO CONTRACT NO. 4307 Parsons Brincker<hotf Quade & Douglas MOTION PASSED unanimously. COUNCILMEi4BER REFUEL RE ITEM #11 REPORT ON NATIONAL LEAGUE. CONFERENCE- AffEAo OF ITEM #10, P R ICYCLIST IMPROVEMEWI - KRASfRADERO ROAD (PWK 2-2) Councilmember Renzel said Arteraas Gi n zton, a signatory to the letter attached t e her memorandum (on file in the City Clerk's office) , was on her wary to the meeting. She suggested Council first hear the report on the National . League of Cities. 6 6 5 9 12/16/85 MOTION: touncilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Fletcher, to bringforward Item 011, ahead of Item 010. MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM 011 REPORTS OF MAYOR LEVY AND COUNCILMEMBERS FLETCHER AND RENZEL RE NATIONAL LEAGUE C6NFERENCE HILD DECEMBER 9-11, 1985. Councilmember Fletcher attended the National League of Cities Conferences regularly since her appointment to the Transportation Policy Committee, and said the December meeting was the best she had attended. The Committee amended the National League policy to include the resolutions brought to the City Council regarding ride -sharing tax incentives, support for public transportation and for Amtrak, which were then passed by the General Assembly. She took a bus tour on an articulated bus, which held about 100 people, showing the transportation system, the Seattle Metro and the ride -sharing program which the Seattle Metro ran, the Park and Ride lots and various other things. She attended a workshop on the transportation of hazardous materials on which she intended to follow up; a workshop on the City's role in foreign policy issues at which two people from the federal government tried to ward off all the people in the room, which was filled, who had different opinions. She always gravitated toward the Goodyear exhir 't because she had her eye on the rubberized railroad crossing peas for a number of years and knew Seattle had an installation at the side of the' roadways to make it easy for bicycles to cross tracks. She talked to the exhibit people and got a tour and staff tar from the bicycle coordinator in Seattle to show the installation there, which gave her considerable ammunition for getting a similar installation in Palo Alto. Seattle had a City ordinance which prohibited smoking in any public building, so the entire confer- ence was smoke -free, which was a delight. Councilremner Menzel went to an interesting workshop on time man- agement and discovered she should cell people she had an appoint- ment in ten minutes so she could get off the phone quickly. It was an interesting session on how to be mere productive and use time. There was an interesting session where Mr. Longfellow from Arizona spoke about the fact the majority of city governing offi- cials were born prior to 1941 and the value systems of people in that era were different from those born after 1941. It was found governing officials governed many people with a significantly different value system which presented both opportunities and conflicts which needed to be dealt with. She attended a workshop on housing for the homeless which, while not a huge problem in Palo Alto, was a thorny problem with which to deal . The speakers were mainly from large cities; the City of New York spent about $200 million each year housing some 19,000 people a night, which was only the tip of the iceberg. _ Homeless people were a signifi- cant problem in the nation. She hoped the question and answer session produced some solutions for smaller communities with a smaller number of homeless. It was her first National League of Cities Conference so she had no basis for comparison, but the speakers were outstanding and the people conducting the workshops were knowledgeable. It was quite informative. Mayor Levy, said the thrust of the workshops and meetings was ques- tions of •economics and the ramifications of the . federal tax legis- lation presently being formulated. There was a pre -Conference day -long workshop on the development of city economies, which rtlatea to the interrelation of cities, the private sector of cities with universities, and cities with other layers of govern- ment. He was asked to participate in the workshop on university relationships, and Andy Doty from Stanford was also there. They discussed the impact of the Stanford developments, particularly the Industrial Park from their different points of view. He men- tioned the present impacts after 30 years in Palo Alto and found most city officials were not interested in .. the 30 -years after view, but .rather how to get started developing the relationship 6 6 6 0 12/16/85 with the university. Mary resolutions were passed related to the tax legislation being considered in Congress. The League was on record asking Congress not to reduce general revenue sharing; I,t was opposed to the mandatory infliction of Social Security and Medicare coverage on local governments; requested preservation of mandated environmental programs; reauthorization of the Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG), maintenance of the tax incentives for historic preservation; maintenance of fundings for mass transit services and Amtrak; and essentially went on record in support of the federal tax reform bill HR 3838. It also supported resolutions requesting help to try and relieve the nationwide munici-pal insurance crisis; help from the federal government to reduce acid rain and acid fog; help in flood control and water conservation; and help in public transportation and maintenance of funding .for local transportation which was in great jeopardy. The one resolution Council supported on apartheid was approved without controversy at the General Session. There was probably a lot of controversy in Committee, but there was no discussion and 'it went through in the General Session. Resolution No. 14, included language urging the nation's municipal governments to pursue a phased -in withdrawal of funds; and make no investment of funds under their control , in companies doing business in the Republic of South Africa. It also requested the federal government modify its policy and state legislators be urged to support legislation and other policies prohibitin.g the investment of State funds, pensions, state "university funds, etc.' The only discussion in General Session was regarding the Davis/Bacon Act, which mandated if federal funds were involved, the local government must pay the highest prevailing wage for any work done. The pre-existing League policy was they work for a revision of the Davis/Bacon Act; however, there was a presentation to work for its repeal; and, in a controversial session, the repeal recommer .]tion was passed. Also, the new head e of the League of Cities was :;or Henry Cisneros, the Mayor of San A►+tonio, with whom he was impressed. ITEM #10, REI}UEST OF COUNCILMEMBEi REFUEL RE PEDESTRIAN/BICYCLIST IMPROVEMENTS - ARAS ItADERO POAD (s`I''IC 2-2) Councilrnemoer Renzel said sometime ago Council asked staff to work with the Palo Alto Bicycle Advisory Committee on suggestions for circulation along and through the Arastra property. Because of the fire, many large trees had been, or were in the process of being, removed, and it appeared there ;night be opportunities to improve accessibil ity for pedestrians and bicyclists beyond the boundaries of the Arastra property itelf. MOTION: Counc i l aae.ber Renzel moved, seconded by Bechtel , to direct staff to work with the Palo Alto Bicycle Advisory Committee to sae if clean-up activity from the Arastradero Rord fire offers any opportunity to improve accessibility for pedestrians and bicyclists beyond the boundaries of the Arastra property. John Mock, 736 Barron Avenue, said. two projects were involved in the upper segment of Arastradero Road: one was undergrounding phone and other utilities; and the second was the development of the Arastra preserve on the Palo Alto side of the boundary. 'On the Los Altos Hi l 1 s side, a combination of the town of Les Altos His 1 s and Palo _Alto Sewer District removed nearly all the eucalyp- tus trees from the Palo Alto boun°e3ry to Page Mill Road. It was a mess and he urged Council to loo': at it. It also removed most of the shielding from the houses .on .Tracy Court, which were previ- ously fairly well hidden and now were fairly conspicuous. How- ever, it allowed the opportunity for a separate pedestrian bypass from Page Mill to the Arastra property. Another possibility was the Bressler property. Since the fire, all of the structures near the road on the Bressler property ` were demolished and cleared. He did not know what people had in mind for the Brese';'er property, but it might be an opportunity to ask for an Osement along Arastradero Road to allow construction of a bicycle .path from the Palo Alto City limits through to the existing Arastradero Trail 6 6 6 1 12/16/85 which was at a reasonably level point near the base of the LAIC Power Laboratories,'going all the way up to the American Institute for Research. The second thing concerning Arastradero Road was, when the park improvements were made, the fences were placed close to Arastradero Road leaving less room for joggers and forcing some to jog on Arastradero Road instead of on the dirt. It also made it more dangerous for disabled vehicles to park on the side of Arastradero Road which tended to force the bicyclists into the street giving more opportunities for accidents. He queried whether it was staff or the contractor who did the work that placed the fences too close to Arastradero Road. Artemas Ginzton, 28014 Natoma Road, Los Altos Hills, represented the Santa Clara County Trails and Pathways Committee, who were concerned and working for paths and bicycle routes throughout the County. When the Arastra Park Plan was adopted in 1983, the City Council directed staff to work out a way, at some point, for a bicycle path to be constructed along or parallel to the road, or within the right-of-way. Information from the hearing that night was specific and several people spoke about improvements that could be made to the road to make it safer for bicyclists particu- larly with reference to an off -road bicycle path, as well as the improvements in the road itself. One of the principles Palo Alto Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC) was particularly concerned with was if there was a bicycle facility with a path close to the road, the bicyclists were forced off the road by automobile drivers. The Committee worked with there for a solution to the Arastradero Road and to have the road safe for bicyclists. The situation was changed since so many of the trees were gone and the road improve- ments were going in. The Committee hoped to have the item referred to PABAC, or staff to cooperate with the Los Altos Hi 1 l s Trails and Pathways Committee and San Mateo Bikeways Committee. It would take some funding from Santa Clara County because part of it was in the County. Councilmember Fletcher did not remember the President of the W'esteen Wheelers or any other bicyclist advocating an off -road bike path. Normally bicyclists did not like them. The item was referred to PABAC several months ago before the clearing opera- tion, and PABAC looked at all their priority projects for which they were applying for funding and determined it would be expen- sive and somewhat down the line. On the other hand, it was useful to let PABAC know there were changes going on, and they should be made aware of them. She would support the motion, but did not expect the project to suddenly move up ahead of all the others which were years down the line. Councilmember Renzel asked if it was necessary to mention the San Mateo County Bike Committee and the Los Altos Mi 1 1 s Trails and Pathways Committee, or whether would staff deal them in the course of things. City Manager Bill Zaner said staff would deal with them and also with the othee pol itical jurisdictions involved when it came to sharing the financial load. NOTION PASSE© unanimously. ADJOURNMENT Council adjourned a". 9:40 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED:. 6 6 6 2 12/16/85