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1983-02-14 City Council Summary Minutes
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES CITY or- PAI() ALTO Regular Meeting Monday, February 14. 1983 ITEM PAGE Aral Communications 2 9 5 3 Minutes of December 6, 1982 2 9 5 5 Consent Calendar 2 9 5 5 Referral 2 9 5 6 None 2 9 5 6 Action 2 9 5 6 Item I1, Joint Participation in Installation of 2 9 5 6 Underground Facilities - Embarcadero/East Bayshore Item 12, Architectural Review Ordinance Item #3, Amendments to Municipal Code Item 04, Project Mobility Paratransit Coordinating Council Recommendations _e Priorities for Funding Article 4.5 Transportation Services Item /5, Request of Councllmember Renzel and Mayor Bechtel re Potential Condemnation of our Marshlands the Faber and, Laumei seer Tracts 2 9 5 6 2 9 6 1 2 9 6 4 2 9 6 5 Item 16, Request of Councilmember Fletcher re SB 2 9 6 6 142 - Preemption of City Control of Signs Item 07, Request of Mayor Bechtel re Type of Spray 2 9 6 6 for Gypsy Moth Infestation Item 18, Request of Councilmember Klein re 2 9 7 5 California Solar Tax Credit Item 19, Cancellation of February 22, 1983 Meeting Councilmember Renzel re Stanford University Interconnection Agrearent with PG&E Adjournment to Executive Session 1n41 -Adjournment 2 9 7 6 2 9 7 6. 2 9 6 1 Regular Meeting Monday_, February 14, 1983 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Avenue, at 7:30 p.m. PRESENT: Bechtel. Cobb, Eyerly, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Renze'I , Witherspoon (arrived at 7:45 p.m.) ABSENT: Fazzino ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Marvin Dole, 22117 Meekland Avenue, Hayward, Managing Partner of Empire Tractor and Equipment Company (ETEC)--the John Deer industrial dealer in the greater Bay Area. His presentation would review the bid process for a landfill contract which his firm bid on. ETEC opined that the Council's interests would be best served by a careful review of the process and the bid evaluation. The. City's bid specifications for the desired equipment were prepared excellently and were difficult to meet. The bid opening was on October 1.3, 1982, and the Direc- tor of Budget and Resource. Management, Director of Equipment Management, Superintendent of. Equipment Maintenance and others agreed that all of the City's specifications, including the service capabilities, parts availability, technical specifica- tions and the performance of the tractor itself, were meta The demonstration process required that a piece of equipment be brought in because the piece was an unusual one for a deal- er to normally stock. As a result and subsequent to the bid opening, ETEC responded by bringing in a tractor after being assured that if the tractor performed and met the requirements of the City, ETEC would be awarded the contract. The demon- stration cost ETEC somewhere between $4,500 and $6,000. Further, the demonstration was supposed to continue for one week, and was extended to nine days at the request of the City --at no charge to the City. There were four bidders, and ETEC was selected as the lowest responsible one. ETEC was advised from the outset, both verbally and in writing, that the contract 'shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder as defined herein." ETEC respected the fact that the City of Palo Alto and the City.. Manager .had the right to reject all bids. All bids were rejected, and ETEC was advised by Dale Pfeiffer that new specifications were being prepared for a larger unit. ETEC, as well as other experts in the field, believed that new specifications were not only unnecessary, but would be very expensive. It would probably cost the City of Palo Alto $40,000 to $50,000 more than what their bid required, and would obviously be time consuming. He suggested that the Council review the bid process. Mayor Bechtel advised Mr. Dole that_ the Council did not take action on items presented under oral communications. 2. _Dr. Nancy Jewell Cross, 301 Vine Street, Menlo Park, spoke on" behalf of the .Committee for Safe and - Sensl bl a San Francs squi to Creek Area Routing._ The committee was concerned with regional clean area transport development in a -corridor, which included the San Fr°ancisquito Creek and Dumbarton areas, and which were between three counties and numerous cities.: It - was. difficult to` solve the transport . problems that crossed county and city boundaries in the area; and consequently, it was the number one -area among cities in the Bay Area fo.r the transportation air quality deterioration and excess carbon monoxide. The committee was interested in solving the problem with construc- tive proposals for moving towards clean air. She presented a memorandum which dealt with the steps for achieving an area clean air transport system, which was on file in the City Clerk's office. The committee urged the Council to agendize a resolution to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), CalTrans and other appropriate agencies supporting a north access to Foothill College on Interstate 280, and a resolution to the MTC, CalTrans and others requesting the transfer of funds from CalTrans "no -FIR" projects for prefer- ential lanes and metered ramps on 101 to express bus service on 101 and preliminary studies for electric trolley service over Southbay Bridge, coordinated with 101 and other regional bus service, and proposed that the Planning Commission cospon- sor meetings and public hearings on Saturday mornings for an area clean air transport system. A recent article published in toe Foothills Sentinel discussed the reasons for such a request and meallrillrmITIt from Palo Alto to Foothill and DeAnza College nearly 7,000 people were involved as staff or students. That load on the traffic arteries was tremendous, and no other efficient way existed to go from the north part of Palo Alto other than by car or truck. 3. Bob Moss, 4010 0rme, spoke as a board member and cochairman of the Barron Creek Committee of the Barron Park Association. He thanked Councilmembers Cobb, Fletcher, Levy and Renzel who attended the community meeting on February 3, 1983, and heard firsthand about what happened as a result of flood damage and what some of the problems were. The committee appreciated the attendance, comments and some of the suggestions which were made after the meeting. Further, the committee was pleased with staff's response once they were aware of the problems. Part of the difficulty existed with the lack of information or misinformation provided by the media. Last Thursday's San Jose Mercur had an article on the front page of the "Peril-F:7 suia" ''secti�on which indicated that the total lost private property in Santa Clara County, as a result of the flooding, was about $100,000 --Barron Park's damage alone exceeded that amount. He circulated comprehensive three page flood damage survey forms, about 100 of which were distributed on February 3. Within a week, 65 were returned. The Barron Park Associa- tion were helping themselves, and held an emergency meeting last Thursday because the weather forecasts for the weekend were adverse. Twenty-three members of the Creek Committee were contacted Wednesday night for a meeting the following° day, and 16 were able to attend. A number of subcommittees were formed, one of which was a Creek Watch Committee. People would ktep active watch on the creeks-- particularly Barron Creek --and when it looked as if it might go overflow, emer- gency organizations and a telephone tree would be contacted The telephone tree would alert people that the creek might overflow. It was determined that during the flood period, a ne ber of people were unaware about what was going on. One elderly .woman, who lived by herself. on Kendall, slept through the entire flood,. go.t up the fol;lowing morning, went down- stairs and found her `,-faaaiiy :r•oom:„co pletely, under water, her furnace drowned and a ',listing ' and bubbling sound coming through the water. She, was . pttri fled and, :hdd ,r1.0 _,idea what happened. Another elderly woman living' alone on the : same block was awakened , i n the middle of the night when the flood waters reached her bed. Asa result of the emergency meeting and ,the Tither, comas. ttees which were;: set; up,,. the , i_ty Pub] i c Works Department offered `e'o Provide 0n': alert - notice`,' 'two truckloads of sand and' five hundred vaif`dbags. Igost arts the people at the meeting felt that by the time it was raining and flood :waters were ',almost over the bank, it would-be too late to help many; people. :OA Friday morning,. the committee asked the City, about the possibility of distributing sand and sandbags, and by that evening a load of sand and 200 sandbags were delivered to a gentleman's house who offered to store it. The next move was to identify the elderly, weak, shut-in and infirm who were incapable of filling and stacking their own sandbags.. It was not always easy to identify those people, but the committee was doing its best. When those people ,were identified, volunteers would check their homes, and if the possible need for sandbags existed, volunteers` were available to fill and transport the bags. He circulated pictures he took right after the flood and last weekend. The damage was spectacular, i.e., the Flamingo Hotel suffered over $13,000 in damages and was still counting. Since -the flood, he took four loads of trash to the dump. In the event of another flood, it would be useful if the City located a couple of dumpsters in the Uarron Park area to eliminate having to fight with the mud problems at the dump and to dispose of the trash early. on rather than having to wait for it to mildew. Further, the City Council was needed as Barron Park's advocates to the County --particularly the Flood Control District. The problems in Barron Park were man-made, and could be man -cured. The County had been aware of the problems and how to cure them for a long time, and the .Council's .help was needed to get the ball rolling. The Council's help was also needed as Barron Park's advocate to the Congress. Recently, the tax laws were changed, and casualty losses were now deductible to the extent that they exceeded ten percent of gross income instead of the amount over $100 of uninsured loss. He believed that was an onerous burden to most people, and that people should not be penalized twice --once by nature and once by the tax laws. Council representation and support was needed before the var- ious governmental bodies because he did not believe the people could do it by themselves. Mayor Bechtel said she was confident that staff would work closely with the members of the Barron Park community regarding the flood issue. MINUTES OF DECEMBER 6, 1982 Mayor Bechtel subrniteed the following corrections: Pa g!,2732, paragraph three, 11 lines from the bottom, the word "if mod be changed to "in force." a e 2736`, paragraph one , . under _ Item #9, third line from top, the- wora 9s.certained" should be changed to "gained." Page 2736, paragraph one, under Item 19, seventh line from top, delete the word "law," the -word "changed" should be "reviewed,"' and the word "intreresting" should be "interesting." ' Councllmember Witherspoon had the_ following correction: Page 2731, second 'paragraph, third line, --after the word "Coeiml.t tee." We rest of the sentence should read "the problem of how the City would pay for ft. NOTIO4 Ce acii ewhe,t .Cobb a*ved, $ c0*dad bi Mi0ersp,oee, wirlovfl, dt the-Otiartes : f POsaebet i4 0412 --.•a correctsd MOTION PASSED oos Iea~va1r :.Fizz1b• abstftt. CONSENT CA ENNDAN NOTION: -. Cee ti 1Pembet lev ► $4c**epee, by I1.1*, appreea 1 Of the Ceas.it-Ca eedar: i Referral None Action ITEM f1, JOINT PARTICIPATION IN INSTALLATION OF UNDERGROUND Staff recommends that Council approve the Embarcadero/East Bay - shore Roads Joint Participation Project, and authorize the Mayor to execute the Agreement for Joint Participation on behalf of the City of Palo Alto. AGREEMENT Pacific Telephone Company NOTION PASSED unanimously, Fazzina absent. ITEM #2, ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW ORDINANCE (CMR:177:3) Mayor Bechtel said she was very impressed by the way in which the ordinance was presented to the Council. It was helpful to see the notations in the columns, which made it ;ouch easier to go through the detailed ordinance. Assistant City Attorney Sandy Sloan pointed out the following corrections in the draft of Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter 15.48, Architectural Review: Pam 9, Section 16.48.120(5), first line, should read: "Whether ne ifFsign promotes harmonious transitions in scale and character in areas between ..." Page 12, Section 16.48.130, last sentence, following the word 'the," insert: "director shall be appealable, in accordance with Section ..." Mayor Bechtel said that the Architectural . Revi,ew Board proposed two additional changes, and she asked Ms. Sloan for comments. Ms. Sloan said that the first suggestion was to retain the second to last sentence in the ordinance, to wit: "Failure of the Archi- tectural Review Board to act within said period will.; be deemed a disapproval of the application." The City Attorney's office doubted the legality of such .a statement. A due process problem could be created by deeming disapproval without evidence and find- ings being made, and she recommended that the sentence be deleted. On a practical level, the Planning staff believed that the ARB should make a decision one way or the other. The second sugges- tion of the ARB involved one year time limits on complex phase. projects, and she deferred to Mr. Freeland for response. Chief Planning Official Bruce Freeland said the intent of the one year time limit was that it might not be reasonable for all aspects of a design to be: accomplished within the one year plus one year for an extension of the time limit. He believed the point was well taken, and that the best thing might be for a direction to being back language to that effect for the second reading. Councilmember Renzel said the staff report briefly mentioned there were 135 older projects from 1979-80 for which building permit applications had, not Yet been received, and that —the estimated percentage was somewhat higher than the. 530 or ' so applications: received in 1981-82, but that it would be more trouble than it was worth to send letters. Since those " projects had been identified, and the letter would be identical with the exception of the names. of the applicants, she asked why notification represented such, a problem. Director of Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber said a sample survey was done to come up with the estimated percentage, and to do a full survey and go back through the more than 1,000 applications in that four year period would be a large under —tak- ing. Staff. -would then have to go back beyond that and would be dealing with a tremendous number of files. The first major prob- lem would be to identify what had and had not been completed, and the notification problem would follow from there. ,While the let- ter might be simple, reaching people was oftentimes not. People moved, property changed: ownership and yet the architectural approval might go with the property. Staff believed that once people were notified, even though many of the projects were no longer being actively pursued, there would be a large number of telephone calls and inquiries with people wan, i ng to meet with staff to explore their options and the impacts on them. The types of projects which were not- 'pursued :appeared to be the smaller scale projects where the interest had passed. The identification, notification, and follow-Eup would .create more of a problem than having some of the old applications technically still active. Councilmember Renzel said since the ordinance was being modified to provide for a time limit during which the ARB approvals would be valid, presumably some problem was perceived with the previous ,applications hanging fire for a long period of time, and she asked what types of problems existed. I r. Freeland responded there were two different classes of prob- lems. First, the City's general attitudes and standards changed over time. It might be that 1 five or six -year -old application would be for something out of step with what might be approved today. Second, the ARB had .a number of projects over the years where there was an initial application, and then the project some- how floundered, and was eventually in the hands: of people who did not understand the" design as first proposed. Those people came back with severe modifications or changes to the project, and based upon prior approvals, the ARB found itself dealing With changes in detail sometimes detrimental to the projects, and where it would have been better to redesign the project in the first place. The ARB was concerned with the loss of quality in the final ,executed designa when some projects moved through various hands. and people acquired property with value because of the approval. ;:'sty Attorney Diane I`';ee pointed out if the City were going to impose a different tia0 limitation with respect to phase projects, it might want to think \about a cap. If that were the case, staff would need to hear that frtaa the Council. before . putting it in for second reading. FurthlL r, the word "complex" as used in the con- text posed:a lot of p6 btems for the attorneys because it posed the question of "complex" as opposed to "simple." It would be better to deal with "phased" projects in the event of the differ- ent time limitations, CouncilMember Klein believed there. should be some outside limit, ande.he asked whether Mr. Schink had any input about the maximum a*ount of time a "phased" project. would peed.. Chairman of the Architectural Review' Board Jon Schink' said there were. -several- projects in the City --which might- `be developed in pleases-. anywhere .from three to -.seven years. -He was unsure about what would be a reasonable limit. The ARB bell-e.ve.d that with. some of the ,projects, a difficulty would occur if those projects had to come -back on a yearly basis, or 'if - buildi-ng permits were not taken out for one specific portion of the:_.phase. Councilmember Klein asked for clarification that the time limit would be satisfied:if the buildingipermit were taken out within the requisite tune. 2 -g 5 7 2/14/83 Ms. Lee said that was correct, and that the period within which to apply for a period building permit one was one plus one year. 1 1 Councilmember Witherspoon said she understood the term "complex° meant a component of a housing development. Ms. Lee disagreed and said the word "complex" was in terms of com- plicated. She believed that complex projects would be phased, and that a concern of. the AR8 would be satisfied by dealing with phased projects and setting a different time limit for those, and eliminating the term "complex." Councilmember Witherspoon said that when .a planned community zone was approved, the developer had to adhere to the approved sche- dule, and she did not see why that would not be appropriate for a "phased" project. Also once someone received a building permit and started construction, as long as a certain amount of construc- tion were done each year, they were allowed to go on and complete the project however long it took. Mr. Freeland said that was correct. Further, Councilmember Witherspoon's first point was exactly what the ARB had in mind. If a developer had a foreseen need for a longer than one year time schedule, it could be brought forward as part of the original application, and that time schedule, rather than the one year, would govern. Councilmember Witherspoon clarified that the building permit con- tinued as long as the project was being worked on. Ms. Lee said as long as one accomplished, in good faith reliance, substantial construction. MOTION: Councilmember Witherspoon moved, seconded by Cobb, approval of the ordinance for first reading as amended by starf. Further. that a requirement be added that for a phased project, the development schedule may be approved for a period that super- sedes the one year limit -indicated in Section 16.48.03©. ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled °ORDINANCE OF THE runrTr-10 rat LIIT OF ►ALAI ALTO AMENDING CHAPTER 16.48 (ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW) REGARDING APPEALS OF ARM DECISIONS" Counciimember Witherspoon said: her - intention was ;;haft if a.devel- ope?' game in and proposed a development schedule to the ARB, it would become a part of the permit once it was signed off together with the design details. Councilmember Fletcher asked to be reassured that when appeals went to the City Counci l , they could deal with more than purely design issues which were discussed or ruled upon by the ARB and *Director of Planning, Ms. Sloan responded that the ordinance contained language in Sec- tion- 16.48.0.90 that .any appeal was an appeal of both the design and the negative declaration if one existed. Councilmember Fletcher said she was pleased to see'the ordinance at the .end of the long process which was triggered by some proj- ects which went through the ARS because they did not involve a full EIR or a zoning change, but yet were major projects which aroused considerable discussion at the community level. She wholeheartedly endorsed the changes to the ordinance as pre- sented. Councilmember- Renzel asked Councilmember Witherspoon if ..her motion incorporated the ARB suggestion that Section 16.48.070 should have the language of failure of the ARB to act; within said period will be deemed a di sapproval . 2 9 5 8 2/14/83 �1 Councilmember Witherspoon said no. Councilmember Renzel asked if that was an oversight. Ms. Lee responded that Ms. Sloan stated that the reason it was not included was because there were concerns about whether it violated due process to deem someone's application disapproved without giv- ing a hearing and allowing them to present evidence, etc. The City Attorney's office strongly believed 'that language would not be appropriate in the ordinance. Councilmember Renzel clarified that Councilmember Witherspoon's amendment to the staff recommendation intended that if someone came in with a phased project and offered a phasing schedule, it would supersede the City's limits. . Councilmember Witherspoon said that was correct if the ARB ap- proved the schedule. Councilmember Renzel said she supported the general ordinance, but was opposed to the addition of the phased project aspect because Council had been told by staff that the particular aspect of the ordinance was two -folds 1) the files contained a lot of old ARB approvals where building permits were never issued; and 2) when those deadwood ARB approvals were somehow reactivated and proposed for amendment, it created problems for the ARB because of changed circumstances during the intervening time period. She personally wanted staff to go back and clean out all the deadwood, but it appeared to he too massive a task. Since someone would presumably start a project within the City's time period, and once a building permit were issued, they could pursue it with due diligence --there would be no need to address phased projects. If, , in fact, there was a discontinuance of a phased •project, she believed that would be inconsistent with the City's plan to have the ARB approval not last so long that it might become outdated by subsequent changes in circumstances. If someone phasing a project could not keep it continuously in construction`, the City should not -legitimize it any further than was now permitted by both the building permits and the schedule provided. Mayor Bechtel suggested that the phasing portion of voted on separately. the motion be AMENDMENT: Coumci lmember Klein roved, seconded by Bechtel, tat in ae event shall a phasing program last more than five years.. Councilmember Renzel clarified that the last building request out of the phased project must be received within five years. Councilmember Klein said . he intended that whereas the City had a one year time period set forth in 16.48.130 as presently drafted, a phased, program could take as longas five years, with a one year extension. Mr. Schreiber said that a complex project had a series of .building permits. He suggested that the initial permit be underway within five years, and the last permit be before the irrigation and put- ting in the driveway, which might occur a long time after most of the work was under permit Councilmember Klein said.. he " intended that the architectural approvaEl to which the building permit referred would have to be undertaken: within :that five year period. He made an .example of a project with a number of different buildings , to be; done over a period of time. The tenth ..building would have to be started with- in five years, and if . an applicant did net Obtain ` the' eerui ti _ with in :.that five years, plus the .possible one extension, the process would have to be begun again. Mr. Schreiber clarified that staff would treat that the same as a planned community zone. The interpretation of the "phasing sche- dule" on a planned community zone was that the applicant had to have the initial permits_ and have the work underway before the time limit expired. 1 1 1 Councilmember Fletcher said regarding when a building permit was taken out, she was thinking more about_ the completion date of the project., or whetherthere was already a limit on how long the con- struction could take. She realized that the College Terrace did not fall under the Architectural Review Board, but was concerned about a project being built im little bits and going on forever. She asked whether that kind of situation was provided for, or whether something should be added to the ordinance to take care of it. Ms. Lee clarified that the question was whether the City could put a limit on how long it took to complete a project. In addition to practical problems, she believed there could be legal problems because'several exceptions would be required. She said that in this area, weather would be an exception because weather condi- tions experienced by the City stalled a lot of construction. A lot of the construction in the area was in fits and starts because the weather had played havoc. Financing could be a problem for someone given the stated interest rates which they were a few months ago and what they were now. A lot of other• similar type issues came into play in construction situations, and the City's ordinance would have to be reasonable. All of the foregoing situ- aticns would- have to .be taken into account, and the ordinance would become complex and cumbersome.: Councilmember Levy asked Councilmember Klein why he wanted a five year limit on construction. Councilmember Klein said he did not like things to be open-ended, and five years appeared to be a reasonably long period of time for any project the City would conceivably have. Councilmember Levy clarified that the original proposal would put a limit on each project, but would be doneby the ARB. If the ARB found itself with a project they believed should have a seven or eight year time :frame, ; they would :still have a limit on it : which was set by them. He asked why Councilmember Klein wanted to move the time frame decision to the City Council. Councilmember Klein believed that appl i can€s' deserv'ed t�'know the standards . He was concerned that the ordinance left things too open-ended, and everyone benefited when the~rules.were clearer. Councilmember Levy said he was more comfortable leaving the time schedule to the ARB. Further, he believed there was something to _be gained by developers being encouraged to move slowly rather than providing an incentive to. jump in and move rapidly. Going slowly gave everyone the opportunity to improve upon situations and .benefit from early mistakes if any existed. Councilmember Klein clarified that the five years was outside, and that the ARB could set anything under that. As stated by Council. member Renzel, there was a certain : amount of staleness and if one went too far put, the community's Conditions might change and a second look might be desirable. He did not believe the ARB should be encouraged to go too far out because times changed and the Council might find that it -might not want, to do what it had appr'pved a decade earlier. Councilmember- Rental .coaraented that the five year time: limit would not hurt anyone. Ether: they would act on the plans which were approved, or they .would : et.new. plans that -would be more to their i i king, The time limit would not cause developers to accelerate beyond what they would probably-: do.: anyway except that it Might cause them to take their plans through the AEI again after five or six years. She did not see that it altered -anything the developer would do except require them to return after five or six years because of the staleness created after plans sat idle that long. Councilmember Eyerly asked if any phased projects, other than Stanford projects, had taken more than five years. Mr. Schreiber said the longest project he could think of was EPRI which took about three and one-half to four years. AMENDMENT PASSED , by a vete of 6-29 Witherspoon and Levy voting 'no,' Fazzino absent. FIRST PART OF MOTION PASSED regarding the phasing schedule to be worked out in conjunction with the ARB and the developer by a vote of 7-1, Renzel voting 'no,' Fazzino absent. Councilmember Klein said he was .concerned about Section 16.48.120(c) at the top of page 12. It, was discussed at length at an earlier meeting, and his motion for a more restrictive, quani- tative or qualitative standard imposed upon the ARB before they could depart from the City's zoning rules, was defeated by a vote of 3-5. He noted for the record that he found the discretion being given to the ARB and the Council to depart so radically from the City's zoning regulations, at least in theory, bothersome. Despite that reservation, he would support the ordinance. SECOND PART OF MAIN meTIQIi PASSED concerning the Architectural Review beard ordinance unanimously, Fazzino absent. Ms. Lee publicly thanked Ms. Sloan for an outstanding job in put- ting together a very complicated ordinance and making it under- standable._ She believed the footnotes helped everyone understand what was taking place in terms of the changes. ITEM ,f3, AMENDMENTS TO MUNICIPAL CODE (CMR:175:3) Mayor Bechtel said that many of the municipal code amendments con- firmed actions which already occurred. MOTION: Councilmember Witherspoon moved, seconded by Klein, approval of the ordinance for first reading. ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled 'ORDINANCE OF THE PALO ALTO ARENDING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE REFLECTING ADMINISTRATIVE CMANGES' Councilmember Fletcher said she noticed the use of the masculine pronoun th'oughout the entire ordinance. Regarding the Police Department responsibilities spelled out on page 5, Animal Services was missing. She believed it was out of place to have Animal Ser- vices under the Police Department, but asked whether it was an oversight.: City Attorney Diane Lee said that if that present . section was not called out in the ordinance, the section was not changed. The ordinance before the Council did not repeal every section simul- taneously, but rather selectfvely changed those sections which were appropriate. Councilmember Fletcher said she noticed that the Refuse Utility was changed to be under the direction of the Public Works Depart- ment. She asked _ If recycling, composting and the methane gas recovery activities would also be under the direction of Public Works and whether that was appropriate. 2 9 6 1 2/14/83 City Manager 8i11 Zaner responded that those divisions had been under the direction of Public Works for some time. Public Works was in the process of completing negotiations with Getty for the gas, but were working closely with the Utilities Department. Councilmember Fletcher asked if there were any changes to the duties of the conservation programs under the Utilities Department. Mr. Zaner said no. 1 1 Councilmember Fletcher asked whether the "community environment" portion of the Department of Planning title was really necessary. It had always seemed like a long and cumbersome title to her although she was not against having the Department of Planning consider Community Environment. Councilmember Levy said he was also struck by the use of the masculine pronoun. He asked whether it would be appropriate to make an amendment to delete references to the masculine or feminine pronoun by an amendment to the motion, or whether it should be a separate motion. Ms. Lee said it should be a separate item. Councilmember Levy believed that normally when a code was amended, the Councilmembers received the former wording with the changes indicated by crossing out the old language and substituting the new. Ms. Lee said that was dome on occasion in the interest of clarifying sections, but given the fact that the changes to the code were basically administrative and because of the size of the ordinance, she did not do so in this case. Councilmember Levy said he had problems going through the proposed changes because he did not know what was new and what was old. Under the Division of Budget and Resource Analysis, Section 2.08.170(6) on page 2 of the ordinance, it struck him as improper that "there shall be rendered to the City Controller a report for submittal to the City Manager." That sounded like the report should be rendered to the City Controller and the City Manager both, and if one wanted to communicate with the other regarding it, it should so state. The _ concept of having the code indicate that one CAO had no responsibility essentially except to submit a report seemed wrong in his opinion. It was minor, but should not be included. Mr. Zaner said staff tried, to bring the code up to date with the actual practices and because the City Attorney had some concerns about conflict of interest forms which needed to be filed in the near future. If Councilmembers had questions or comments with regard to the manner in which the code was organized, he preferred that they be laid out rather than trying to amend the ordinance tonight and construct a whole administrative ordinance without staff being given a chance to explain the implications. As far as he knew, the language was 25 years old. He could not tell of its origin or whether it had any value, but from a practical point of view, the ;City's operations went on irrespective of what the clause called for. He 'believed that to begin changing pieces of an ordinance which ran about 20 pages lone without giving staff the opportunity to reflect on it, would be a mistake. Mayor Bectel said she agreed with for. Zaner. She was struck by the level of detail which was something normally under the purview of the City Manager. The office ,organization,.,whether: it be which department was administered :by which department head, Was his. responsibility,, and she was bothered by its need to be in the Municipal Code, at all. Because those responsibilities were 2 9 6 2 2/14/83 included in the code, the proposed amendments shuffled responsi- bilities to affirm the current practices. The Council would bog themselves down by going through all of the details. She hoped the Council could move on. She was also struck by the use of the masculine pronoun throughout the entire ordinance and asked the City Attorney about it this morning. Ms. Lee advised her that at the beginning of the Municipal Code, a definition of terms existed. The word "he," wherever used, was intended to also mean "she." She was reassured by the definition, and believed i.t would be a tremendous waste of time for the City Attorney staff to change the approximately 1,000 pages in the Municpal Code to reflect that change. She encouraged the Councilmembers not to pursue that idea further. Councilmember Levy said he was originally troubled because he was not sure what was being amended since the old language was not with the new language. At some point, the Municipal Code should be totally evaluated. If the City was going to have a Municipal Code, it should be kept current. He shared Mayor Bechtel's ambivalence as to whether that type of thing should be before the Council, but if . so, he was troubled by a few things. Regardless of the definition at the beginning of the code, he was -still troubled by the use of the masculine pronoun throughout the ordi- nance. Further, he was troubled by the fact that there was a duplication in titles as they were used throughout the code. The term udirector" was used not only for individuals who reported to the City Manager, but for individuals who report to other direc- tors. He believed that could become confusing, and was something to be clarified by having more consistency. He noticed that the responsibilities of different department heads --where they should be the same in terms of reporting to the City Manager and coordi- nating efforts within their departments, etc., were not in fact stated that way. He suggested that those things be remembered during the next review period. Councilmember Renzel said she supported the amendment with respect to item 2.08.170(6) because the City currently had a City Con- troller and that position was going to be reviewed. The amendment proposed by Councilmember Levy did not -;,contemplate any major organizational change, but recognized an organizational situation the City now had. At such time as it was changed, it would be appropriate to consider whether those ordinance changes were still appropriate. At present, she concurred entirely with Council - member Levy that the . Controller should not simply be a funnel of information to the. City 'Manager, but rather should be the person in charge of evaluating and dealing with the moneys, securities, accounts receivable, etc. It was important forthe current proce- dural situation to be clarified, and for it to be modified at the appropriate time. Councilmember Eyerly asked for clarification that subparagraph ,6) intended that when the Director of Budget and Resource Manage- ment rendered. the City Manager a report:, for accuracy it was required to go through the City Controller for substantiation. Mr. Zaner said that was correct. Councilmember Eyerly said he had a problem with the amendment because the procedure was not befog analyzed. _"The Director of Budget ' and Resource Management was. required to clear his work through. the City Controller. Councilmember Klein said he supported Mr. Zaner's`,remarks. The issue was being handled inappropriately, and it was not a good use of the Council's.: time He believed Councilmember Eyerly had some good points on tine #$sue,. but it' also got to the issue Of the motion passed last week to take a whole look at 'the City's finan- cial structure. Ho:`wols not going to vote on the amendment because. it was an inappropriate way to handle the issue, and because the amendment Was already under study. He would move to continue the whole item if the .Council was going to receive a series of amend- ments to the proposed ordinance. AMENDMENT FAILED by a vote of 3-4-1 as follows: AYES: Levy, Renzel, Witherspoon NOES: Bechtel, Cobb, Eyerly, Fletcher ABSTAIN: Klein ABSENT: Fazzino MOTION PASSED by a vote of 7-0-1, Levy "abstaining," Fazzino absent. Councilmember Levy asked about the use of the masculine pronoun throughout the municipal code. City Attorney Diane Lee said she could not begin to estimate the amount of staff time it would take to go through the Bode. It was not just a question of substituting one word for another, but a question of going through and determining where another word would be more acceptable than "he" or "she." It was not a task that could be given to someone who was not skilled in legal drafting. Cost was.a factor that should be considered in terms of approach- ing that kind of an issue. Councilmember Renzel asked whether subsequent ordnance changes could be drafted in gender -neutral language to the extent possi- ble. Ms. Lee said it could be done if that was the direction of the Council. ITEM #4, PROJECT MOBILITY - PARATRAiiSIT COORDINATING COUNCIL irtirmrimirrnias -- PRIORITIES FOR Councilmember Cobb asked what the Paratransit Coordinating Council was, where it came from and what it did. Associate Planner Gayle Likens said the Paratransit Coordinating Council was a county level body, established through the Board of Supervisors as the advisory body to the Board on matters relating to transporation for the handicapped and paratransi.t services. It was also recognized by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) as the review body for grant applications at the County level. Each of the nine bay area counties under MTC's direction, had a Paratransit Coordinating Council MOTION: Councilmember Eyerly moved, seconded by Fletcher, approval of the.,staff recommendations as follows: 1 To endorse the: pri art t i es for Article 4.5 fueded services pro- posed by the Planning Committee Paratransit Coordinating Coun- c11 as modified by staff's. recomaeedatlons; and 2. That stiff tr-ansmf t a letter with those ecomeendat i ons to the chair of .the PCC Executive. Cosmittee. Councilmerber, Fletcher commented that at the last MTC-meeting', its.; representative, Roy Lave,. announced that there would be: a0 per cent reduction _in funds for paratransit services in the county. Further, the five year - poi ici-es plan for the _ transportati.on agency was discussed, .and a c`omm_isstoner noted that no line item was -con- tained In the budget regarding paratranslt services. County staff had- always"been adaeat. that Paratransit services were -not vices provided by the County. Transit"Agency. She said she had picked up on that and gage.a,history of Palto- Alto's attempt to - 2 9'6 4 2/14/83 Corrected 5/23/83 to yet funds since .the start of Project Mobility from the County Transit, that there was no legislation prohibiting such a source of funding and that it was time to reopen the issue. She had received a lot of support on the commission and the reduction in TDA funds might open a new avenue for possible future funding. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Fazzino absent. Councilmember Eyerly commented that a lot of discussion was gener- ated on Items 13 and f4 tonight and in the interest of shortening meetings, which he supported, he asked if staff would object to putting Reports of Officials on the Consent Calendar. He believed that if Items 13 and 14 were on. the Consent Calendar, they would have gone through. City Manager Bill Zaner said there was no problem putting those kinds of items on the Consent Calendar. Staff attempted to deter- mine which items would generate questions from the Council, and those items were not listed on Consent. ITEM 15, REQUEST OF COUNCILMEMBER RENZEL AND MAYOR BECHTEL RE ) oIirlEIAL CUN MAC US -� Councilmember Renzel was concerned about an article she read in the newspaper that members of the San Mateo County Board of Super- visors were discussing the condemnation of Palo Alto's Faber and Laumeister Tracts. Those parcels were located in the Palo Alto marshlands and preserved under park dedication, and the Board was considering those lands in order to provide a parking lot for Marine World. She believed their intentions were good, but the thrust of the discussions ignored the serious problems of losing marshlands in a very sensitive area. Another more serious issue was whether public parklands should be a target for private com- mercial ventures by way of a higher jurisdiction's using its con- demnation powers to acquire them. MOTION: Councilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Klein, that the Mayor send a letter to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors strongly protesting any attempts to use condemnation powers as a way to circumvent Palo Alto's park dedication ordinance. In adds tion, the letter should protest any consideration of allowing marshes to be filled for a private commercial venture. Mayor Bechtel noted that a letter was received from the League of Women Voters which supported -the motion, and which urged the Coun- cil to take any steps necessary to retain the Faber and Laumeister tracts as open space marsh. Councilmember Klein slid he believed .that Councilmembers Bechtel and Renzel should be commended for bringing the matter to the Council `s attention., The potential condemnation would be outrag- eous, and he hoped.the letter would be written using the strongest possible language. Councilmember Cobb-, suggested the following language: . "In the event of any effort to use condemnation power to purchase -.the sub- ject tracts, Palo Mte would have no Choice but to use all ovai1= able legal --remedies to prevent'such a condemnation:_ and to protect and preserve the City`s irreplaceable baylands," COUNCILMEMBERS RE14HEL AND KLEIN INCORPORATED THAT LANGUAGE INTO THE MAIN MOTION.- Councilmember Eyerly said he supported. the .thrust of the main motion, and asked whether the Council could do something stronger than sending; -a_ letter from the Mayor. He suggested that staff provide a "resolution for the Council to adopt, which::rwould go on record in opposition, to that kind of action. i 1 Mayor Bechtel said that when she worked for a member of the Board of Supervisors, it appeared that a letter carried more impact than a resolution worded in terms of whereas clauses. The resolution did not appear to be as readable and was less likely to have much impact. Counciimember Renzel said that while she concurred with Council - member Eyerly, everything possible should be done to strongly express the Council's feelings. No formal proposal was currently before the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, and it was important for. the Council to relate its strong feelings about those particular issues to the County Board to put them on notice of the City's concern. It the item were actually proposed to the Board o.f Supervisors, she wanted to go forward with a resolution and anything else. Councilnember Fletcher seconded Mayor Bechtel's comments about resolutions. She said that when she attended workshops with the League of California Cities --one of which specifically dealt with lobbying techniques --one recommendation was to never send resolutions because they were thrown out. Letters, on the other hand, were read and had more of an impact because on the whole they were more readable, She supported the motion. She spoke to Arlen Gregorio last week about the matter, and was advised that the threat was far overblown, and that in his opinion, there was not a chance in the world that the San Mateo .County Board of Supervisors would do such a thing. For insurance purposes, how- ever, she supported sending a strong letter in opposition. City Attorney Diane Lee pointed out that she expected one of the reasons the Board of Supervisors was not contemplating the action was because they had the legal authority to only condemn the City's parklands of it was for a better and more appropriate pub- lic purpose. The Condemnation Act presumed that parklands were the best public purpose a governmental agency could have. Fur- ther, under the current eminent domain law, she believed there was no opportunity for the County Board to do so. Mayor Bechtel said that was nice to hear. MOTION PASSED unainously, Fazzino absent. ITEM j.6, REQUEST OF COIINCILMEMBER FLETCHER RE SB 142 - PREEMPTION Councilmember Fletcher believed her memo was self-explanatory, and apologized that copies of the bill, which she requested,, had not yet artrived. A bill was currently before the legislature, and if. passed, would preempt a city's control over signs on commercial properties within that city. Further, it would be a preamble to a succession of similar bills. regarding any types of change in zoning or other regulations. NOTION: Councilmeaaber Fletcher coved, seconded by Cobb, that the Mayor .write a very strong letter in opposition to SB 142, to Assemblyman Sher asking that he intervene on the City's behalf,, with a copy to Senator Ellis, author of the bill, and members of the Senate Committee on Business and Professions. _NOTION PASSED unani.ously, Fazzino absent. ITEM 07, REQU ST OF HAYOR BEGHTEL RE TYPE OF SPRAY FOR GYPSY MOTH Mayor Bechtel said she was contacted bymembers of .the Sierra Club at the beginning of January who asked that the Council encourage the state to use another type of spray other than the Bt which`' Was. proposed.. The Sierra Club was not opposed to the spraying ,per se,, and_realize!'-that the gypsy moth infestation could be disastrous for California as it was presently disastrous in 17 eastern states states. The Sierra Club wanted to ensure that whatever pest -con- trol mechani.srns were used would be safe for the residents of the area as well as the insects. She supported the Sierra Club's request to ask the state to look for an alternative pesticide because Palo Alto had a long history of integrated pest management programs, and was. an environmentally aware community. The request for a more biological spray was reasonable, and in mid -January she arranged a meeting' between state officials, food and agriculture representatives, health department representatives and members of environmental organizations. Mr. Zaner also attended the meeting. It was agreed at that time that the Sierra Club would propose an alternative plan to the state, which would involve a careful timed application of another type of spray known as Bt, or commercially known as dipel. The area to be sprayed had a radius of about a quarter of a mile and comprised approximately 489 homes. Most cases of gypsy moth infestation were brought in by Easterners who arrived in the area with vans or furniture, lawn furniture, swing sets or perhaps an RV which contained egg masses. The previous programs for checking by the federal government, in the east before a moving van even left a state, were good but now that the program was not .as good, cities were finding that gypsy moths were being brought in. It was important for the City Council to find out about the different kinds of sprays because this might not be the only time Palo Alto was sprayed for the gypsy moth. She was assured by state officials that they were working closely with federal agencies to try and improve the inspections to alleviate any future problems. The state initially proposed to use a spray called Bt, but were asked to consider an alternative proposal. The Gypsy Moth Science Advisory Panel did not believe the use of Bt and associated elements in the proposal were likely to eradi- cate the infestation in Palo Alto. Isi A. Siddiqui, Chief of Pest Detection/Emergency Projects, State of California Department of Food and Agriculture said that Mayor Bechtel had summarized the situation well in terms of the sequence of events and the responses to date from the Department of Food and Agriculture. The Department did its best to respond to the proposal submitted by the City, but the Gypsy Moth Science. Advi- sory Panel and other scientists, without exception, advised that the use of Bt would not achieve the eradication of the Gypsy Moth and could not recommend its use in the eradication program. All of the nine California infestations were small, and .there was a ,good chance of eradicating the Gypsy Moth from the state with the use of carbaryl. - In the past four or five years, carbaryl had successfully wiped out gypsy moth infestations similar to the one found in Palo Alto. Don Henry, Project. Manager for the California Department of Food and Agriculture,, 1220 N State Street, Sacramento, said that the state's proposal entailed the treatment of 489 properties in an area of approximately 160 acres in Palo Alto, with a focal point of Alma and Charleston Streets. The proposed application would use 780 spray of carbaryl by ground and it required a minimum of two applications and a. maximum of .three, The: difference between two and three applications would be the type of:emergence received from some egg.masses,which were confined in the proposed treatment area. Those' egg masses were currently being monitored, and when a peak emergence was seen, the sprays would be timed to coincide with that emergence. Should there be a - prolonged pr extended emergence which would last into Wit, , e - thi r'd application would be necessary. Previous experience in the.. Bay= Area in.<< 197/ indi- cated a peak emergence:`the third week of March and that two appli- cations of carbaryl, with a maximum of three, would be successful. He reminded the Council that the Medfly commenced with 12 proposed appllcations"wht.ch continued until the eradication was successful. With the _gypsy moth, -the state could accurately predict that =three: applications would be required to eradicate the problem. The ,,state would, either -by direct mail or hand, notice, contact each i rich vdi ua1 property owner In the- area two Ito three weeks _ prior ,to the anticipated first treatment. At that point, citizens would be 2 9 6 7 2/14/83 s Corrected 5/23/83 1 1 r 1 advised about the material and would be encouraged to contact the state's office should there be some special scheduling problem. An example would be when both the husband and wife worked, and it would be impossible to keep two great danes in the house during the treatment. The state wanted to work with the homeowner to schedule a convenient time for treatment even if it had to be on a Saturday. The treatment would be supervised by a permanent state anomologist, and people operating the sprayers would be hired by the State of California, and trained by he and other anomol ogi sts. He assured the Council that the treatment would be conducted most professio;ially. Further, he believed that the state's past treatments demonstrated that the state could treat a property or series of properties, and not disturb the home life of the individual people nor miss any unsafe conditions. Puddles, if any, would be swept and outdoor play equipment or patio furniture would be hosed. Bird nests, fish ponds and swimming pools would be tarped, and dog dishes would be put under cover. The state would go out of its way to leave the area in the same manner as it was when the homeowner left in the morning. After the property was treated, a notice would be left with the homeowner advising when any commodies could be harvested, and fruit would only have to be washed and could then be eaten. Only foliage like shrubs and trees, and some selected groundcovers like rosemary and juni- pers, that might be potential hosts would be treated --not vege- table gardens. Phone banks would be installed in the state's Campbell office, and people could call toll free or collect. Councilmember Cobb said his house was about one block from where the infestation began, but that he was not in the spray zone. He asked for a specific response in terms of the health effects of carbaryl to humans and animals. Mr, Henry deferred to Peter Kurtz, a toxicologist for the State Department of Food and Agriculture, for response. Dr. Kurtz said that the carbaryl--or sevin--as it was called, was probably one of the most widely used chemicals for pest management by homeowners. Under the conditions which the chemical was to be used, no health threats were identified. The material was used widely to treat pets for fleas and was available foe the last 20 years. A lot of material was written on the chemical, and he believed that, in terms of the proposed uses, the main thing to remember was the rate of application. The number of times it would be applied was down at the lower end of the scale in terms of what was currently being used by homeowners in their own yards and on their pets. Regarding the concern expressed over the potential for irreversible effects or chronic effects such as cancer, all of the studies to date had not shown -it to be carcinogenic or related to any tumor formation. A study was done where the material was given to dogs and where abnormalities or birth defects were seen. In that study, the animals were fed amounts ranging from 3 mi l i grams per kilogram of body weight all the way up to 50 mi l i grams per kilogram of body wet ht , and a sporadic incidence of birth abnormalities was seen. When the results were analyzed, experts at the Environmental Protection Agency and other scientists believed that those effects were not teratogenic .in that they did not interfer with deve'opment, but were more or less of a toxic effect in the total process of the animals that, were being given the material. He reminded the Council, that the material was given to the animals in their diets an a daily basis for a prolonged period .of time, and that effects were not seen at the lower 'end of the dose scale. Carbaryl was one of the most popular chemicals used with dogs today for flea control and was not producing those kinds of effects. - All scientists agreed that there was no correlation between those finds and any kind of .health threat. The greatest concerns expressed were with regard to theenvironment, but in terms of the proposed application, no adverse effects have been identified. Councilmember Cobb said the worst case situation would be where a child, who could not read, got a piece of fruit and ate it shortly after it was sprayed. He asked what the toxic effects would be. Or. Kurtz responded that carbaryl had a tolerance on food, and if a child were to eat a piece of fruit, the materiel would not accumulate in the body and would be rapidly excreted. It would probably take a lot more than a piece of fruit to exhibit any kind of noticeable effect on anyone. A person would have to consume such a large quantity that they would probably not be able to con- sume enough. Councilmember Cobb said the City's proposed alternative did not appear to be acceptable to the state, and that in the State's letter it was noted that the panel strongly believed that Bt would be unlikely to eradicate the problem. Further, Item No. 1, on page 2, of the letter indicated that the tests using the Bt for mule in Pennsylvania in 1982, achieved good foliage protection anu larvae reduction --but not eradication. Item No. 3 said that any experimentation to allow the larvae to complete its development presented a considerable risk of escape. The concluding sentence of that letter said that the method of eradication proposed by the Sierra Club and Citizens for a Better Environment, could enable the infestation to multiply and spread in 1983 with greater ad- verse environmental consequences in the future. He found those statements to be interesting and alarming, and asked that they be expanded upon. Further, he asked how likely it was for the pro- posal to be effective, and what would happen if it was determined to be ineffective mid -stream. Mr. Siddiqui said there was a risk in trying a program with a com- bination of strategies. If Bt were shown to. be adequately effec- tive, his job and that of his staff would be easier because people would rather use Bt, and was included in all previous situations. In Santa Barbara for example, it was a situation where ground spray with carbaryl was just like the program proposed for Palo Alto. Then, with the larger area of 15 square miles, there were six applications. of Bt. The reason for the combination program in Santa Barbara was because gypsy moths had been found in the area about three years before. Before the state went with that pro- gram, they wanted to make sure that the limits of infestation were defined. If the infestation in Palo Alto was the same as in Santa Barbara, they could have gone with the carbaryl on the ground and Bt over the larger area. Bt alone was, not used in Santa Barbara's program because no scientific evidence to date indicated that eradication could be achieved with Bt. One set of leaves treated with Bt and one set of leaves treated with carbaryi and Bt were shipped to Pennsylvania. The results were that about 13 to 14 percent of the larvae died with the leaves treated only with Bt, and there was a 93 percent mortality rate with those leaves treated with both Bt and carbaryl. Councilmember Cobb said that in the alternative proposal to use Bt, a comment was made that it would be a good experimental test ground to see how effective it might be. They were talking about 160 acres and about 5O0 homes apart from a larger community and surrounded by a still more urban area. He asked how effective a -:; test would be under those circumstances, and how hard or easy it might be for the infestation to spread if the experiment did not work as well as expected. Mr. Siddiqui said -there would be less environmental damage by pro- ceeding with a small, carefully designed program than going with a socalled experimental program, and having to spray a larger area with carbaryl.: A case in point was the medfly where the, state used an experimental program of stripping. He was the head of the •' stripping program under Jerry Scribner .and -knew "what it took to try an experimental program and then have to spray a larger area with more potent chemicals. e 1 Councilmember Renzel asked if carbaryl broke down and how long it took for the poison to be completely broken down on a piece of fruit. Mr. Henry said that tolerances were established for individual commodities by the Environmental Protection Agency and 'had to do with the physiology of each individual piece of fruit. Within citrus, a grapefruit would absorb a little more of the material into its rind than a lemon versus an orange. He was not sure about the differences between avocados and citrus, but in residue tests done by or for the EPA, it was felt that the material had broken down sufficiently after one day for avocados and loquats. It might have to do with oils or secondary chemicals within the fruit that were on the surface of the rind or peel or whatever so that each individual fruit had to be treated separately. Further, carbaryl generally began to breakdown after 10 to 14 days, which was why a second application was proposed for 10 to 14 days after the first. 'By 21 to 24 days, most material would be down to levels below what would even be toxic to insects. A .lot depended on the climate --the name "7" implied that_after seven days the material began to breakdown. It actually began to breakdown a little before that, but in terms of toxicity to certain cater- pillar insects, about 10 to 14 days was expected in the field. The material did not persist like Ddt, which persisted over long periods of time in the soil or water. The lawns and soil were not going to be treated and it would probably breakdown within four to five days in soil —because of the microorganisms which used -the material as a carbon source. Ph was a factor which broke down the material. Most of the soils in the area were slightly on the alkaline side so soil would not be a problem. The only residue would be on foliage. Councilmember Renzel said she knew a lot of beekeepers in Palo Alto, and it would be very important for public notice to be given in advance. While the state was giving individual property owners notice, it would not necessarily be public notice to beekeepers whose bees would forage within that range. Mr. Henry said the state was obligated to notify any beekeepers who were registered with 4t.he Agricultural Commissioner of Santa Clara County, 48 hours prior to any treatment. The reason the State officials liked going door to door was to find those people with particular problems. People with hives would be given the opportunity to move them to another area. He did not recall any bee hobbyists within the 160 mile area from the egg mass surface. Councilmember Renzel said she knew of of a lot of beekeepers with- in 1.5 miles of the zone. Mr. Henry said he could not see that the carbaryl would not have some sort of a depressing effect on the bee population whether they be backyard hives or native bees, but 160 acre area was a big area to the total thousands of acres within the City limits of Palo Alto. The material would not be out there long, and the treatment would only occur in March or early April and the rest of the spring buildup for bee breeding would take place after that. He did not believe the spraying would depress the bee populations of any commercial bees, wild bees or hobbyist bees. That problem. had not occurred in Santa Barbara where 270 plus acres were treated. Councilmember Renzel requested_ that to the extent it was apt to be the third week in March, that a general statement be made to that effect. She did not believe 48 hours -was a long time for those people who desired to remove their bees. That task was pretty cgmplex and ,it might catch people off guard. If people knew that spraying was likely to occur and wished to remove their bees, it would; be helpful to know the approximate time by which they would have to be removed: 2"9 7 .0 2/14/83 Mr. Henry said the point was well taken, and that individual bee clubs would be notified as well as the public notices that would appear in local newspapers with maps of the treatment area. Mr. Siddiqui said that Item No. 7 of Mayor Bechtel's letter indi- cated that Palo Alto would pay the incremental cost of the Bt pro- gram That fact was not addressed in the state's response to the Council. If the relative effectiveness of the Bt was the same as carbaryl, the cost difference would have been brought up. In order for Bt to be effective, it would take about six to eight applications. If the cost of the two programs were to be com- pared, they were talking about the proposed program with two to three applications of carbaryl costing about $41,000 as opposed to six{ to ten applications of Bt costing anywhere from $80,000 to $1i20,000. Greg Van Wassenhove, 3838 La Donna, represented the citizens of Palo Alto who were not informed about the program. He was a Deputy Agricultural Commissioner for San Mateo County and was con- cerned that the City of Palo Alto would pay for the incremental costs of the Bt program which were higher than the comparable sevin program. Under the Bt program, he could see that there was going to be about $17,000 in application. He was concerned about those increased costs as a citizen as well as the possibility of the pest getting out of control, the City's liability for adopting some sort of plan, and its agreeing to cover the increased costs. He was further concerned about those costs which might occur if an egg mass was carried out into the Sierra Padre Forest this winter and an infestation got started there. It could be concluded,. beyond a reasonable doubt, that someone from within the treatment area of the City of Palo Alto took firewood to that area and started the infestation. He was concerned that the affected homeowners were not informed of the meeting. He went around to ten properties in the area and asked whether they had received any notification of tonight's meeting --no one responded yes. Further, he asked if anything was seen in the newspaper. The City Council meeting was published in the Council Digest, but only three of the people he spoke to received the paper and none of them had read about the meeting. He believed that City staff and some of the .affected homeowners should be involved in some of the liability questions to see what they thought about using Bt as opposed to sevin. City Attorney Diane Lee said that with respect to the liability issue, the choice or decision about whether to use one program or the other would be protected by the discretionary immunity pro- vided in the Government Code. That decision would be subject to liability. Liability would or could arise if whatever program chosen by the Council was carried out in a negligent manner. The decision as to which program to chose was discretionary, and, therefore, immune from liability under the Government Code. Howard Houben, 3292 South Court, lived a few blocks from the pro- posed spray area. He supported Mayor Bechtel's proposal to use Bt instead of carbaryl to treat the gypsy moth infestation. He believed the fact that the gypsy moth, infestation in San Jose,. lasted for six years left several messages for Palo Alto. One was that the gypsymoth was not an immediate threat to spread to the forests of .California, and that carbaryl was not an immediate cure for the problem. Since it took six .years. in San Jose, there was no reason to think it would not take six years in Palo Alto. Mayor Bechtel said that tne. San Jose spray program was with dimilin,_ another spray, and that the problem was eradicated within a year. Mr. 'aooben said that finds.. occurred until 1981 or 1982. He believed that the need for the gypsy moth program in California was -there and that the infestation should be controlled until the true extent could be determined rather than a crash program that would chase the infestation from property to property as was the case in the medfly program. He believed Bt was appropriate for such a control program -=it was not harmful to humans, animals or other pest control programs. The gypsy moth problem was a long- term one for California. The problem had arisen before and would do so again. He did not believe carbaryl was a long-term solution to the problem. According to newspaper reports of the state's justification for the use of carbaryl to eradicate the gypsy moth, the concern was that if the problem got out of hand, people would be harmed by the excessive use of pesticides. He believed that the State of Connecticut had found that there was harm to humans from the use of carbaryl in attacking the gypsy moth. On the other hand, Bt might be part of a long-term solution to control and elimination of the gypsy moth from California. Bonny Kay Parke, 3292 South Court, said she was pregnant and had a two -year -old daughter who attended a child care program at a loca- tion within the spray ;zone. She was concerned about the health effects of carbaryl, and added that in Connecticut where carbaryl was used a lot, the Department of Health Services was motivated to send out a news release cautioning that carbaryl might cause a series of health problems. That was done because numerous com- plaints and symptoms were observed following the use of carbaryl which prompted an evaluation of its toxic agents. The complaints were not only in terms of immediate health effects, but long-term ones as well. A member of the Toxic Hazards Department of the Department of Health Services said that it could cause headaches, dizziness, eye or respiratory problems, "but besides that imme- diate harm, we are quite concerned because animal studies indi- cated that sevin was a suspected cancer causing agent." Addi- tionally, she pointed out that studies on three separate species of animals had shown sevin to cause birth defects in their off- spring. While there was no evidence at this time that sevin caused birth defects in humans, the fact that studies done with dogs, guinea pigs and rats all yielding similar results was dis- turbing and should serve to alert people to the potential danger. The fact that people were continuing to move to California from the east, continuing to bring egg masses, and the fact that the pesticide lasted for 14 to 21 days, was a cause for great concern among parents as well as parents to be. It was hard to keep a two-yearold from going out and picking a leaf. . Even though the material was not on the ground and only on some `:fruits, the fact that it was on leaves was scary to her. She hoped the Council would consider the fact that the Department of Health Services came out with that news release. Penny Katz, 3550 Emerson Street, said she was also pregnant and. that her three -year -old son attended a daycare home in the area to be sprayed. She was from Connecticut and had seen the devasta- tion that the gypsy moth caused. She suggested that if carbaryl was such an effective gypsy moth agent, it would have been more widely used and there would not still be an infestation in Connecticut. Last June while at her mother's house in Connecticut she stepped on at least 100 gypsy moth caterpillars. In her parent's neighborhood, the most effective anti gypsy moth procedure was to place some sticky substance around the trunk, of a tree capturing the gypsy moth caterpillars as they climbed up. It was not totally effective., but appeared to be as good as the spraying being done in the area. The area in South Palo Alto to be sprayed had a number of young families. -She ' asked whether. carbaryl had been used in densely populated areas before and whether . it was' safe for children to pay in :yards shortly after being treated. She asked whether Mitchell Park would be sprayed. Ruth Tr oetschler,, represented 'the Sierra Club and was 'one of those people' who called the City of Palo Alto and suggested, that there might be an alternative method for use in eradicating the gypsy moth from Palo Alto. In, the end the people had to look at the alternatives" aga:1 n`; and again- 'and. Make , the "'same ';choices again and again. When: they talked with representatives. from the state at 1 8 at the meeting arranged by Mayor Bechtel, Don Henry mentioned that Bt had never been chosen because it had. never been used to eradi- cate.-- That was crucial --if a material was never chosen,- how would .its effectiveness be known. Ten years ago, she could not say it would be effective because the data on Bt and the gypsy moth was poor. More recent data suggested that Bt, if used properly, was close to , being as effective _ as -carbaryl . The state did not say that any one ehemical could be assured to produce eradication. Carbaryl would not kill 100 percent of the larvae. The term 100 percent eradication was never used because there could always be survivors. The tebst :recent data from Pennsylvania showed one study where the Bt -was better than carbaryl. She questioned whether Bt would need to be used six to ten times because it was less persistent than carbaryl and would need to be used more often. Both chemicals needed to use the egg hatch and the larval development, which they would not use, to time the sprayed- prop- erties. Carbaryl was preferred because it was a lot more sloppy, and since it was a lot more persistent, the timing couldtbp off and it would still be effective. Bt.was environmentally as safe as one could be with sprays. Further, regarding the leaves which were taken from Santa Barbara and shipped across the country, Bt was not persistent. The leaves were in a box which was moistened, and Bt did not hold up well An warm, moist situations. She did not believe. the test was a proper oneJor Bt's effectiveness. She wished the state would use fit in Palo Alto. She did not feel there would be a risk because the infestation and number of appli- cations would be small. There.wes no doubt that the gypsy Moth could be eradicated this year, but no one would ever know. Mayor Bechtel said she was frustrated because apparently there was another insecticide which environmentalists, and the state, agreed could be used, but that it had not been certified for use by the Environmental Protection Agency. It was used in 1977 in San Jose, but was no lohger considered to be certifiable. She was concerned that the City was stuck. The state officials responsible for the program said they would not approve any other .pesticide but car - beryl. The program needed to commence within the next few weeks to a month because that would be when the insects hatched. The only thing she could do was stress that in -,the future and with all programs with thegypsy moth_ as well as any otherwhere the State was involved that the state be aware that they jrust look for alternatives. to carbaryl and that the City of Palo Alto was against the use of strong pesticides in the City. In addition, she wanted.. the City to be notified early about such infestations. She believed the City was given notice of the- infestation in December, and that the; spraying had to be started by March. She understood that the state discovered the gypsy moth in traps in July, and .said it would have helped everyone to have known sooner about the potential,. MOt1OAl: Mayor Bechtel moved, seconded by Cobb, that the state be strongly °urged to find alternatives to carbaryl in the future. Councilmember Cobb asked if some other experiment were tried in Palo Alto that did not work, how long it would have to wait to get back at the problem with carbaryl.. Mr. Henry said a trapping program was run by the state beginning in late April through October._ Traditionally, adult moths were picked up in late June or July in -northern :California and. some- times it was into the month of August. One . would not, know the success. of the program until s; r,tetime late in August, then based upon the life history of the insect, would have to wait the entire. winter before going, through the appropriate treatment activities the following March or April 1984. Counci hnember Cobb commented that if the program was unsuccessful, a multiplication factor would go on during the waiting period. Mr. Henry said there was a potential for the insects to multiply or .spread out of the area dependent upon the movement by humans or dispersal. Councilmember Cobb asked about the dangers to pregnant women and whether those dangers could be included in the notice so people could. properly protect themselves. He also asked about _children playing in yards immediately following treatment.. Mr. Henry said that if a woman felt she should leave the area, the state would work with her and treat the property when it was most convenient for her to not be there. In the past, state officials had driven people out of the spray area when they had no transpor- tation. Individuals must make up their own minds about whether to leave the affected area and for how long. Dr. Kurtz said it was difficult to make decisions for other people. They tried to look at all potential factors when coming up with an assessment of health risks. He could not disagree about the potential of the material, nor that rats and mice were affected, but reiterated that those effects were the result of very large doses. The effects were not seen with the lower doses. No health abnormalities had yet been correlated. If there was believed to be a risk to pregnant women, the state would be remiss in allowing the programto go forward. If a pregnant woman wanted to leave the area, it could be done on a voluntary basis. If it was necessary to evacuate those people, the state would have been certain to make that a part of the notice, but did not feel that was necessary. Councilmember Cobb asked if Dr. Kurtz would recommend that women not be in the area during the spray or that children be kept out of freshly sprayed areas and for how long Dr. :Kurtz said it was not necessary to recommend that pregnant women leave the area. As a general rule, children -should not be allowed -to play in a freshly sprayed area until the spray 'was dry and the trees ceased to drip. That was the proper safety method for children, and if children could not be kept from licking' :a leaf, the state .calculated that an average tree would contain approximately 14 micrograms per square centimeter of carbaryl. Micrograms were defined as 1/1000 of a mi l i gram and a very small amount. The material did not absorb well into the body and would be excreted rapidly. The state believed that there were no long term or acute hazards with the program as designed. The hazards which were seen were primarily caused from accidents --a sudden concentrated spill or something like that. The carbaryl was to be applied in such a manner as to not represent a significc:ant health hazard to which people should not be subjected. Comnci lraemberr Eyerly thanked the `state officials for the straight.- forwwardness of their answers and the presentatlOn. He appreciated the'cooperation- which was promise. to #be given the horne�fler5 "and: people in the general area. He believed the state's program for applying the spray was a . good one. Councilmember Fletcher asked for how long a resident would be expected to leave the area if that was what they opted to do. Dr. Kurtz said it was difficult to determine for how long someone was expected when that was not the recommendation. That question had been asked before, and the state's response was that according to its data, it was not necessary to leave, and that each indi- vidual must make that decision. The material actually began to breakdown the minute it was put - into the environment. The program would have three applications, and would be timed such that an effective dose would be present at the time the insects were doing their damage. He could not say for how long it was necessary to leave when it was not necessary to. ,leave at all. Councilmember Fletcher asked about the toxicity of the leaves or drippings on the lawn from the standpoint of a child handling the leaves. Dr. Kurtz recommended that children be kept out of the area until everything dried. After that time, the material stuck well to the surfaces and there would be a very low hazard for children.. Councilmember Renzel said many were concerned, when the medfly spraying came up, . that it opened a wedge for all pests who found their way to California as a means to spray like made. The spraying was not entirely successful to the east and ended up selecting insects that were not re.sistent to sprays and causing the need for even stronger sprays. It was a scary prospect to think that Palo Alto might have a new bug show up every year and have to be sprayed for it. Clearly, the gypsy moth could be devastating and the City would have to do something to eliminate it, but it was distressing to see the City again being subjected to poisoness sprays. She was sorry the state was not willing to consider Bt as an alternative in the small area considering the size of the infestation at this time. Mayor Bechtel shared Councilmember Renzel's frustration. She said that someone had commented earlier that with 17 states being infested in the New England area, perhaps the state was trying to hold back the tide in Palo Alto. It might not be possible to keep the gypsy moth eradicated particlarly if the kinds of inspections done in the past were not reinstituted. She understood that the state officials were trying to ensure those inspections, tut with the number of people who moved in each month it was difficult to do so. NOTION PASSED unanimously, Faxzino absent. NOTION: Mayor Bechtel roved, seconded by Klein, that in the future, Palo Alto be notified as soon as possible concerning the infestation •f the gypsy meth or any other dangerous insects.. MOTION PASSED MPaniMausiy, Fazzine absent.. ITEM #8. REQUEST OF COUNCILMEMBER KLEIN RE CALIFORNIA SOLAR TAX Councilmember Klein said he noted that Governor Deukmejian pro- posed the elimination of the Solar Tax Credit. Staff pointed out that the Governor also proposed the elimination of the conserva- tion tax credit... If those moves were past, they would have seri- ous negative impacts on Palo Alto's solar and conservation pro- grams.. NOTION: Coeac i I rerber Klein moved, seconded by Witherspoon, 'that the Mayer send a letter t• the Governer :And State. ,l egi sl aterd opposing the metres to eliminate the solar tax and coaservatien tax credits. Councilmember Klein said he took Mayor Bechtel and Councilmember Fletcher's statements regarding the most effective means to express a position to heart and decided to have the Mayor convey the Council's sentiments in appropriate letters to the Governor and: area legislators. Councilmember Renzel suggested that a resolution be passed and that the Mayor send a letter .incorporating its provisions. Councilmerrber Klein said that the letter and resolution should contain appropriate references to the solar and conservation tax credits. Counci lmember Fletcher asked whether there was a preference regarding the two resolutions that were at the Council's places. Councilrnember Klein said the two resolutions conta ned alternative forms and language proposed by staff to include references to the tax credit as :well as the solar tax credit. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Fazzino absent. ITEM 19, CANCELLATION OF FEBRUARY 22, 1983 MEETING MOTION:- Cau cilmeober Renzel moved, seconded by Witherspoon, to cancel the City Council meeting of February 22, 1983. MOTION PASSED unanimously, Fazzino absent. COUNCILMEMBER RENZEL RE STANFORD UNIVERSITY Councilrnember Renzel commented that in the back of this week's packet was a'request from Stanford University regarding the expan- sion of Willow Road, The third paragraph of that letter indicated that the item_ might come up at tonight's Council meeting. She fond it offensive that such an important item was put in the back of the packet. The item was not brought up because Councilmember Fletcher found another way for the Council to avoid the emergency deadline. She found it incredible that Stanford University had again come so close to a very urgent deadline and was not able to remember that the Council's agendas were established by Wednesday noon. She wanted to serve notice on Stanford that. she was not going to support any emergency ordinance or emergency actions fur them when they could not get them on the Council's agenda at the proper time. Stanford had a regular business office and people who were in a full scale planning -department who were capable of meeting deadlines. She found it offensive to see matters proposed for action without being on the agenda. INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENT WITH PG&E City Manager Bill Zaner said that last week the Council adopted a resolution with regard to the interconnection agreement with regard to PG&E. The City was informed that there were some prob- lems with the language, but had not received back from NCPA or PG&E what that language problem might be. There was .a possibility that the language would come back this week and that it might become necessary for staff to request a special meeting in order to consider that language. If that language was received and appeared to be changed substantially, staff would contact the Council and request the special meeting. Mayor Bechtel clarified that it would be a special meeting to be held prior, to the next regularly scheduled meeting on February 28. Mr. Zaner did not : know when_ the . language would arrive or what it would look like. Mayor Bechtel encouraged Staff to put the matter on an agenda date and not request a special meeting if possible. Mr. Zenner said staff would= make every effort to do so. ADJOURNMENT TO EXECUTIVE- _SESSION Council adjourned ,to Executive Session re Litigation at 10:20 p.m. FINAL ADJOURNMENT Cou�;c,i adjourned at 10:30 psm. ATTEST: APPROVED: