HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-09-27 City Council Summary MinutesRegular Meeting
Monday, September 27, 1982
Communications
Item #1, Appointment of Three Architectural Review
Board Members to Fill Three Year Terms Commencing
October 1, 1962
Consent Calendar
Action
Item #2, Uniform Rental and Laundry Services -
Agreement with Aratex/Red Star
PAGE
2 5 3 2
2 5 3 3
2.5 0 8
2 5 3 4
2 5 3 4
Item #3, Street Resurfacing Program - 2 5 3 4
CIP 82-70 - Contract with O'Grady Paving
Item #4, Vehicle Maintenance Reporting System, 2 5 3 4
Contract with Mai nstem, Inc.
Item #5, Approval of Plan Document for Deferred 2 5 3 4
Compensation Program
Item #6, Approval of Plan Documents for
Employee's Health Plan, Dental Plan . and
Retirees' Health Plan
2 5.3 4
Item #7, Calaveras Hydroelectric Project 2 5 3 4
Agenda Changes, Additions and Deletions 2 5 3 4
Item #8, Finance and Public ' Works (F&PW) Committee 2 5 3 5
Recommendation re Closing the 1981-82 Budget and
Summary Report of Financial Position July 1, 1982
Item #9, Finance and Public Works Committee 2 5 3 6
Recommendation re Foothills Fire Management Plan
Item #I0, City . Facilities Deferred Maintenance 2 5 4 4
Funding
Item #I1, Recon"si derati oh of '` Social and . Community_
Services Requests . for First .Time Contractor Funding
or Expended Requests from Existing Council
Item #12, i -tton Gardens III - Issuance of City of
Palo Alto Insured Health Facility Revenue Bonds
( Lytton Girdens Hospital), Series B
2 5 4 4
2 5, 4 7
2 5 3 0
9/27/82
ITEM
Item #13, Grecian Health Spa Parking
Item #14, State Senate Bill 999 re Fireworks
Item #15, Request of Councilmenbers Fletcher and
Levy re Gun Control Initiative (Proposition 15)
Item #16, Request of Councilmember Fazzino that 2 5 6 1
staff be directed to study the proposed amendment to
the Smoking Ordinance
Item #17, Request of Vice Mayor Bechtel re Annual 2 5 6 2
Report
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2 5 4 8
2 5 5 7
2 5 5 7
Item #18, Request of Councilmember Fletcher re 2 5 6 4
Dumbarton Bridge, Sunday, October 3, 1982
Item #19, Request of Councilmember Renzel re 2 5 6 4
Stanford Liaison Committee
Item #20, Vice Mayor Bechtel re October 18 Meeting 2 5 6 4
Adjournment 2 5 6 4
2 5 3 1
9/27/82
Regular Meeting
Monday, September 27, 1982
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.,
Vice Mayor Bechtel presiding.
PRESENT: Bechtel, Cobb, Fazzino, Fletcher, Klein,
Levy (arrived at 7:31 p.m,), Renzel, Witherspoon
ABSENT: Eyerly
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
1. JoAnne Wetzel, 787 Stone Lane, was a member of the Friends of
the Palo Alto Children's Theater, and spoke about their
Bicycle Safety Program. The Director of the Children's
Theater, Pat Briggs, asked the Friends to help promote bicycle
safety at the Theater. There were so many children riding
bicycles and it was decided to encourage the wearing of
bicycle helmets. An art competition was held through the Palo
Alto Schools to design a helmet decal. The contest was won by
a sixth grader at Crescent Park, Whitney Wood, and decals for
bike helmets were now available for all participants in the
Children's Theater for 50 cents. A "participant" was defined
as being cast,' crew and audience. The second part of the pro-
gram involved setting up some grants for members of the cast
and crews of the Children's Theater productions who could not
afford to buy a bike helmet. No grants have been awarded as
yet, but the next production would include a cast of over 75
people_
2. Robert Snider, 981 Oregon Avenue, spoke regarding Ordinance
3363, Overnight Parking. He submitted a petition with the
signatures of 16 of his neighbors indicating that his truck
posed no hazard and was not en aesthetic eyesore. He
requested an exception to the ordinance due to the fact that
he resided in Palo Alto for eight years and parked his truck
in front of his home for seven years,
3. Dr. Harvey Roth, 3422 Kenneth Drive, said that the exhibit of
cost effectiveness, with the consolidation and reorganization
of City employees to take upthe slack created by the resigna-
tion of the Director of Sic i al and Community Services, should
also -be looked at in other :: areas of City government.; This
should effectuate a cost saving's ()fiat least $75,000 in salary
and fringes. For a City Manager who was concerned about
hiring additional mangement people, the attempt at cost effec-
tiveness should be rewarded He requested cost comparisons
between Stanford Hospital and Community Hospitals in terms of
room costs. There was no way that a University Hospital
involved with research, teaching and training of future
physicians, coul d possibly compare with a communty hospital
only involved with the treatment of patients. It was time to
consider a community hospital for Palo Alto. Why _ not let
Stanford be the specialty facility: that it should be. A law
was passed in the State of Massachusettes in terms of regula-
ting the coSts of hospitals It was an important considera-
tion because the costs of hospital s had skyrocketed al ong wi th
the advent of the carriers. He again requested the alcohol
containers label ing memorial ization. It was originally
requested on May 24, 1982, which wasfour months ago. He was
surprised ,that: not one member of the ` City Council would
agendl ze the matter.
ITEM #1, APPOINTMENT OF THREE. ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD MEMBERS
City Clerk Ann Tanner read the list
of applicants:
JOHN ALBRECHT
ANTHONY CARRASCO
VIRGIL R. CARTER
DAVID LI-KOU CHAO
SALLY M. ELLENBERGER
DAN E. FINKLE
LARICK HILL
STANLEY KARATZ
LINDA LUDDEN
ELENA VALLARINO
GARY WETZEL
Ms. Tanner announced the results of the first round of voting for
the first position:
VOTING FOR LUDDEN: Klein, Witherspoon, Cobb., Fletcher,
Fazzino
VOTING FOR CARRASCO:
Levy. Renzel , Bechtel
Ms. Ludden received five votes and was appointed.
Ms. Tanner announced the results of the first round of voting for
the second position:
VOTING FOR CARRASCO: Levy, Klein, Witherspoon, Renzel,
Fazzino, Bechtel , Fletcher, Cobb
Mr. Carrasco had eight votes and was appointed.
Ms. Tanner announced the results of the first round of voting for
the third position.
VOTING FOR CARTER: Fazzino, Levy, Bechtel. .Fletcher, Cobb,
Witherspoon, Klein
VOTING FOR CHAO: Renzel
Mr. Carter had seven votes and was appointed.
Vice Mayor Bechtel congratulated the winners and thanked the other
candidates for their interest .in the City of Palo Alto.
CONSENT CALENDAR
MOTION: CoaaciTeeuber. Cobb moved, seconded by ailtherspoon,
approval of the Consent Calendar.;:
Councilmember Levy said. regarding Item #6, Plan . Documents for
Employees' Heal th Plan, Dental Plan and Retirees Health Plan,
since the contract was already approved, . what was being approved
with the documents.
City Manager .Bill Zaner said the contract= was.,:approved by Council,
but the subject documents .contained the ee nts_ applied to the
City's employees; that, i s ,` _ the documents given to the employees
indicating the agreement with the union.
CouncilMeober- , Levy asked to be recorded as voting
#6, Plan Documents for Employees* Health Plan.
Counc i 1meaber Renzel asked to be recorded as voting "
#7, :Cal averas Hydraelectrid Project.
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-9/21/82
1
Referral
None
Action
ITEM #2, UNIFORM RENTAL AND LAUNDRY SERVICES (CMR:488:2).
Staff recommends that Council authnrize the Mayor to execute a
three-year contract with Red Star Industrial Service in the amount
of $82,828.
AGREEMENT
Aratex/Red Star
ITEM #3, STREET RESURFACING PROGRAM - CIP 82-70 0 (CMR:496:2)
Staff : recommends that:
1.. The Mayor be authorized to execute a contract with O' Grady
Paving; Inc. in -the amount "of $371,340:95;
f . :
2. Staff be authorized to execute change orders to the construc-
tion contract up to 15 percent ($56,0001. of the construction
contract amount
AWARD OF CONTRACT
O'Grady Paving Company, Inc.
ITEM #4, VEHICLE MAINTENANCE REPORTING SYSTEM (CMR:504:2)
Staff recommends that the Mayor be author$ zed to execute the
contract with Ma i n stem for 1982-83.
CONTRACT RENEWAL
Mal astern, Inc.
ITEM #5 , APPROVAL OF PLAN DOCUMENT FOR DEFERRED COMPENSATION,,
l; :
Staff recommends that Council approve the Plan Document to become
effecti ve immediately.
ITEM #6, APPROVAL OF PLAN DOCUMENTS FOR PAtg_IUAL111±112LILML
rill fgt. PL N AND RETIREE— HUU.TH PLAN TCMR:
Staff recommends that Council approve the :City Employees' Health
Plan, Dental Plan, and Retirees' Health Plan documents.
ITEM #7, CALAVERAS HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT (2nd Reading)
ORDINANCE 3390 entitled `ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF
Twirrrrimr-PIL0 ALTO APPROVING THE TERNS AND CONDI-
TIONS OF A MENDER AGREEMENT BETWEEN NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA POWER AGENCY AMO CERTAIN PARTICIPATING
MEMRERS, AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF
SAID AGREEMENT NY OFFICERS OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO°
(1st Reading 9/14/82, Passed 7-1, Renzel °no,* Fazzino
absent
APPROVAL OF: CALAVERAS PROJECT AGREEMENT.
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Levy voting 'No," oa -Item 16, Approval
of Neal th PI an Documents * Renzel' eoti nq ° no, ` en I tel #7 ,
Calaveras $ydroelectric Project,, Eyetly absent.
AGENDA :CHANGES, ADDITIONS AND _DELETIONS
Councilraember Fletcher added Item #18, re, Dumbarton Bridge.
Councilmetber Renzel added..,IteM 119, Stanford Liaison Committee.
ITEM #8, FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS-(F&PW) COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
FM-
PU'SITION JULY' I, 195
Counci1member Witherspoon said it was. the first time the Finance
and Public Works (F&PW) Committee separate and apart from the
budget considered the fi nanc i al summary . of . the previous fiscal
year. The ordinance authorized the closing of the 1981.82 budget,
the establishment of reserves and the appropriation of $846,698 to
continue projects which were funded in the previous budget but
which were not completed in time. She poi n ted out that CMR: 512:2
from Larry Moore in the packet tasked the Council to authorize the
electric utility system impr'vement reserve be increased by
$811,000, the capital projects reserve be decreased by $655,618,
and the self- insurance reserve be decreased by $155,382.
MOTION: Conncilmember Witherspoon for the Finance and Public
Norks Committee moved that the City Council adopt the Ordinance
authorizing closing of the 1981-82 Budget, the establishing of
reserves, and thereappropri ati on (carry over) of $846,698 to the
1982-83 Budget.
ORDINANCE 3391 entitled 'ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF
illrawcITT OF PALO ALTO AUTHORIZING CLOSING OF THE
BUDGET FOR FISCAL TEAR 1981-82'
Mr. Zaner said that during the final closing of the books for
fiscal year 198I.-82, it was determined that there was approxi-
mately $811 0000 which flowed to the general fund which had been
generated by the utilities on the assumpti on that some projects
and programs would be completed. The memo indicated that those
projects were not done, and those funds should be retained in the
Utilities area. In accordance with the City Charter, if money was
left in Utilities at the end of the, year, it would automati cal ly
revert to the General Fund. The. ` documents submitted by Ci ty
Controller Al Mitchell were accurate. Staff requested that that
action be reversed and that the money be put back in the Utility
Fund from whence it came.
Counci1member Klein hoped Council would not take any action
tonight on the September 23 staff report since it did not appear
appropriate for the Council to consider that without having it
first referred to F&PW. If Council acted on the motion as it
presently stood, he would move that the staff report of September
23 be referred to F&PW.
Counci1member i4i ther spoon said Al Mitchell mentioned that staff
now had a committee who met quarterly and tried to do the
financial forecasting for the City. She understood that the
Committee met in September, and she asked about the financial
forecast for revenues for the first quarter.
Director of Budget and ; Resource- ` Manage>rent Lar�r�y Moore sa:i d that
Councilaesber Witherspoon was Correct. The Cobol ttee would not
meet until. the end of . September, wh_ich was the :`first. quarter. It
was expected that revenue esti bates for the sales' -tog would
probably die`,revised downward s The :target for .`.1982=-83 wet $9.2
million, and 'it was expected' that that target Would' not` be reached
in the 1982-83 fiscal year.
Counciloeaber Witherspoon commented that a Price ,Waterhouse
capital needs report was di scussed, ,and she asked when, that was
expected, to return.
Mr. Zaner said it 'was kit a capital, needs report,,''bot `rather "a
Price Waterhouse ` - study an the ".transfer of po1'_icy free the
Utilities to :the General Fund. Price ., Waterhouse was -working on
that, the contract was let, and stiff was working with them to.,get
that report fin# Shed and on to the' .Council
1
1
C9unc i l member Witherspoon,. said .she was concerned , because at . the
beginning of October or November, the Committee started planning
the format and pol icy for next .'year's budget. She hoped that both
the forecast and the Price Waterhouse report would be received
before. then.
Mr. Zaner . said .both of those should, be completed: by that ti me.
Councilmember Levy asked about the statement oh. page 2 of the July
30 report, "that the excess of 1981-82 revenue over expenditure
was $5.3 million.". He was surprised that the figure was that
large and he asked for a detail of that figure. There was also, a
statement that "this year we would be lucky to break even." From
what Mr. Moore just said, it sounded like they would be very lucky
to break even. There appeared to be a swing this year of $5.3
million or more from last year to this year. That augered ill for
the future. He thought that should perhaps be a part of the
material to go to the F&PW Committee in connection with the
September 23 memo in order to have it spelled out in writing and
some. discussion. Further, in Statement C, the Current Assets
Balance Sheet, in the middle under budget control accounts, it
indicated than an estimated revenue for this year adopted budget
would be $54,274,000 and appropriations from the adopted budget
would be $60,791,000 or a deficit of $6 mill ion. He was concerned
that since the elements were so complicated, the question shoul d
be answered in connection with the F&PW Committee consideration of
the September 23 memo, which he agreed should go to the F&PW
Committee.
Mr. Zaner saw no problem with referring the $811,000 transfer to
F&PW.
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Eyerly absent.
NOTION; Councilmember Klein moved, seconded by Renzel, that
CMR:512:2, dated Sept.e ber 23, 1982, be referred to the F&PW
Committee.
Vice Mayor Bechtel concurred with the motion particularly since
some discussion at the F&PW Committee concerned the self insurance
grogram, and the amount necessary to be in that program as well as
the prudent amount necessary for reserves _ for capital projects as
well. She thought i t was necessary to discuss the matter since
both of those items were recommended for decrease.
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Eyerly absent.
ITEM 19, FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION RE
Councilmember Witherspoon said the Finance and Public -Works (F&PW)
Committee was repressed with what the staff 'committee produced,
She hoped the City could implement the plan as soon as possible in
order that she might feel more comfortable with the fire situation
n the Foothills. The minutes reflected that to get going: on next
year' s fire season, the City would realistically have to spend
some money before the end of thi s fi scat year al though _only a
token amount was budgeted.. She asked where the money was coming
from.
Mr. Zaner recommended that funds be taken . from projects ..that were
already appropriated in the 'Capital Improvement_ Fund, funds which
were not necessary for those projects --either left over or
projects that 'were not done and used to implement the plan for
next' Year. There were three pi aces .: from. which to take the
money.. --:the FoothiI1 s Fire Management study had $10,000; the
Arastra Lane the Study had a bel mice of about $7,000; and, the
Foothill s Fi re Management -Program had 132,000, for a total of
roughly $50,000. Staff 'felt the .- program could be done for- that
amount. There would be no new appropriations -}only transfers.
MOTION: Councilmeaber Witherspoon for the Finance and. Public
Works Committee moved that Council approve the Foothills Fire
Management Plan as submitted.
ORDINANCE 3392 entitled 'ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF
int GiiT OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR 1982-83 TO ESTABLISH AND PROYDE FUNDS FOR
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT N0. 82-26 'FOOTHILLS FIRE
MANAGEMENT PLAN'
Councilmember Witherspoon commented that the Committee did not
discuss the budget amendment except to mention that it would be
nice to - have the program in place by next fire season.
Fire Chief Bob Wall introduced Jeff Paulsen, Ranger at Foothi l l s
Park. and Frank Fi al a, Battalion Chi ef, and sai d they were instru-
mental in preparing the Foothills Fire Management Plan. Palo Alto
was fortunate not to have experienced a major wild land fire in
Foothills Park, and experts said it was a matter of time, It was
prudent, in a proactive mode, to profit from the experiences of
other cities and jurisdictions with similar physical locations of
an interface between the urban and the foothills area, and now was
the time to implement the plan.. Staff _ received feedback from
resi dents, the California Division of Forestry, Los Altos Fire
Department, and the Midpeninsula Open . Space District in the
development of the plan. He said the presentation was not
intended to be an all encompassing education c;n wild land/fuel
management, but rather as an introduction to some of the main
features of the management plan.
Mr. Wall said that large unbroken fields of mature brush and a lot
of dead and dying brush and large continuous beds of fuel pre-
sented problems once a fire started'. Once a 'fire" developed speed
and energy, unprotected homes were di ffi cul t for fi remen to save,
which was an objective' -of the Fire Management Plan. Small: fuel
breaks would not even slow a fire moving through the Foothills.
Staff establ i shed a control burn : i n the Foothi l i s dur'i-ng' the
winter season, and after six inches of rainfall. He said that the
height and flame front leaped across the small fuel break. There
were a number of ways to do fuel breaks, and staff experimented
with one i t felt was effective and addressed the problems of the
Foothills locality. The idea was to open up an area heavily
choked with dry and tender explosive brush.. by mechanical means.
Staff experimented with Caterpillar tractors and a chain. The
chain was large and was put between two tractors. The tractors
drove slowly through the underbrush which tenderly developed a
path as it went through and removed the brush. After about three
weeks, it was able to be burned safely in a controlled manner.
The ground was not disturbed in an undo manner and the next phase
was to seed the area with pernel grasses which were fire resistive
and much easier to manage in an area that was previously burned.
The grass sprouted quickly and, provided food and forage for the
animals, it was much more pleasing, and the fire break was more
effective.
Mr; Wall said that prescribed burning wool d al so be used- in -the
Foothills Fire Management_. Plan.' Under proper conditions and Yln
certain,, areas fire would- be run through It in order to eliminate
some o f: the lower brush and reduce the load and burn down the
dead and dyi r►g brush to eliminate the fi re from going ` from the -
1 ower, position up l nto. the upper stories of the trees and brush'
.
The result el eared out 0f -the underbrush i r;-. Order that- if.' a fire
occurred, It would re.ainr low and -much' -easier to c ntrol-. Part of
the idea was to.: establish a Foothills HanageMent pl an 40110h
through the- fuel management:. techniques, >wrould- bring back some of :
the grasses to large '-arees whit were pre.viousi _choked out by
encroachment of brush.
Chief Wal l deferred to Frank Fiala
a
expl anatl on of clearing an: area like
more effective as a fire break -- -a
Battalion Chief, for
an
Page;. Mill Road to make it
2 5 3 7
9/27/82
1
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1
Frank Fiala, Battalion Chief said that the objectives in widening
not only Page Mill Road, but portions of Skyline, Los Trancos and
Arastradero were that in their present state, growth infringed to.
the cleared road bed and they would not be effective in stopping
fire, and the roads were al so needed for mobile attack and evacua-
tion of residents in the area. The report stated that only Inter-
state 280, in its_ present state, would be an effective fuel break.
He did not mean to suggest that Page Mill Road would be turned
into a ?80. In discussions with the California Department of
Forestry,` and other experts, something in the area of 20 to 40
feet was suggested as what was needed for clear road bed. The
intent was not to remove all of the brush-- specimens would be
1 eft-- and as with the work in the park, a major goal would be
preservation of the natural appearance of the areas along Page
Mill Road and the other roads. The main objective was for the
fire to stay on the ground and not be transmitted through of d
brush., debris or trash into the trees and across the roadway where
the canapy joined from both sides of the roadways. Brush and
debris would be removed, chipped and piled, and where possible it
would be burned. Trees would be limbed up to a maximum of 20 feet
in order to provide for a beoken capacity across the road. Some
areas would be disked . In those areas prohibiting the use of a
tractor, the area would be cleared by ,hand crews. Erosion prob-
lems had not been a problem because equipment was not introduced
which would damage the ground in those areas.
Council member Cobb said that the Committee . for Green Foothills
raised the issue of inter -agency cooperation. He thought the idea
was interesting and asked for elaboration on how that would be
handled.
Mr. Wall responded that staff worked well with the inter agencies,
and that the California Division of Forestry was a big help and
very supportive. They opined that the plan and project woul d be a
model not only for the Palo Alto area, but for the whole bay area.
There were many areas with the i denti cal problem, and the
California Division of Forstry had a unique situation of pro-
tecting unincorporated ,area which often bordered municipal j uri s-
dictions. They were interested in what happened in Palo Alto
because fire could ,easily transmit over to the next j uri sdic-
ti ons. The Los Altos Fire Department contacted Palo Alto and was
interested in the plan. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District (MPROSD) had a fire management plan written about three
years ago. Palo Alto worked with them as they implemented their
plan, and they met with staff on various occasions to look at Palo
Alto's plan, He thought the exchange of information and the
willingness to cooperate was there. There were no agencies bor-
dering the Pal o Al to area unwilling to participate or to support
Palo Al to.
Counc i lmember Cobb said a specific point was made that some fires
would be closer to a Woodside Station or a Los Altos Station. He
asked if those stations would respond because of the local
cooperation and proximity. He asked if there was any need to
formalize the arrangements in order, to guarantee . that kind of
response and no cost to the City.
Mr. Wall responded that formal mutual aid plans existed. Further,
mitten automatic aid plans existed which meant that in the fringe
areas --or border areas --Palo Alto would respond and they respond
automatically--ere!s before a normal mutual aid situation arose. A
normal mutual' aid situation existed when resources were' nearly
expended and additional help was requested. ,Under automatic aid,
the assistance was dispatched automatically. He felt the City Was
well covered.
Counci lmeaiber- Renzel : clari fled that : the State Firefighting crews
suggested 20 to 40 feet On: each side of the road or 40 to 80 feet
plus the width of the road.
Mr. Wall said it varied according to the needs of an area --the
terrain and the kind of fuel in the area. In some cases, only
five or ,six feet would have to be cleared, and other areas might
have to go further.
Councilmember Renzel asked about the time frame for clearing along
the roads.
Mr. Wall said completion was estimated to take about five years.
It was a working plan, and as staff worked with it, they would be
sensitive to the needs of the resi dents. The residents that
contacted him were open and a good rapport existed at this time.
Councilmember Renzel clarified that the prescribed burns were
beyond the fire break areas and into regular patches of shrubbery,
etc.
Mr. Wall said that was correct. The idea in a prescribed burn
program was to take an area and to run fire through it dependent
upon the age class or how old the fuels were. It was a natural
phenomena for the area which 'reduced the fuel load, which would
grow again, but which would not become volatile for about 12 to 20
years at which time the brush died and became much dryer.
Councilmember Renzel asked if the City wool d be devoid of shrub-
bery at some point. The topsoil was shallow in most of the foot-
hills area and it was not easy to get things to grow there on pur-
pose. She would be concerned about overdoing it.
Mr. Wall said the natural setting of the foothills would remain,
and different age -class brush was all that would be seen. Younger
brush provided less of a fire danger, and it behooved wild life to
take out the old age -class fuels and allow room for them to move
in. It also provided a sprouting action_ . About four weeks after
one patch was burned, the root crown of the brush was starting to
come up which the animals loved. When it was choked with brush,
the animals could not get in and feed effectively.
Councilmember Renzel said the Arastra Land Use Study was a source
of funds, but she thought the 77 acres was still being studied.
City Manager Bill Zaner said that was correct. The study was
finished, the consultant made his report, and the funds . being
requested remained from that study. The study of the Arastra use
was still underway.
Councilmember Menzel clarified that the full funds were available
to finance it.
Mr. Zener said that was correct.
Councilmember Klein asked if the MPROSD and the Committee for
Green Foothills received copies of the report prior to the Finance
and Public Works (F&PW) Committee meeting,
Mr. Wall said yes.
Councilmember Klein asked who received ,a copy of the report p:pior
to the meeting.
Mr. Wall said copies were sent to all of the key residents in the
Foothills, the Cities of Los Altos, Los " Altos Hills, Portola
Valley, Woodside, California Division of Forestry, MPROSD, Sierra
Club and the Committee for Green ,.Fo.othill s.
Councilmember Klein clarified that no oral . comments were received
prior to the F&PW meeting
Mr. Wall said he received a call from some of the: residents in
support of the plan, and a letter ,from
received from Bill Hewlett
on August 26, supporting the plan.
2 5 3",9
9/27/82
Councilmember Klein asked if Mr. Wall received the letter from the
MPROSD dated September 24, and if so, his response to the concerns
raised.
Mr. Wall said they were concerned about the roadways, which staff
addressed to night, and the width of the fuel breaks. Fuel breaks
varied because of different needs in .different areas. It depended
upon the conditions around the area where a fuel break was to be
installed. One might be nine feet wide and be effective. Another
fuel break might be required to be extensive. He reiterated that
experts were brought into the area to advise on .the kind of breaks
to be used, where they should be and how they should be installed.
Further, other areas around the State were studied where similar
plans were being utilized. The California Division of Forestry
just implemented a major fuel management plan, and a forester was
brought on board who provided a lot of help. The area was also
reviewed by air at no expense to the City. He said the MPROSD
brought up some; good points, which were in the City's considera-
tions in the plan. He read the letter as basically supporting the
plan.
Councilmember Klein said that in the letter from the Committee for
Green Foothills, Betsy Crowder stated "we question why Palo Alto
appeared to be taking on the responsibility for the entire cost of
implementation of the fire management plan when it could be shared
by the jurisdictions around it."
Mr. Wall felt that the City's first responsibility was to the Palo
Alto area. Staff had seen some economic support from other
agencies. He did not know what the final figure would be of the
California Division of Forestry and the assistance provided by
them to date, but he opined that it would be in the area of
$15,000 to -$30,000. He did not feel that Palo Alto would shoulder
all of the economic burden, but someone had to start it. Palo
Alto needed to move ahead and he was sure that Los Altos, Woodside
and the California Division of Forestry would do their part.
Councilmember Fletcher said she was curious about whether the
grasslands planted would grow and die in the winter, or whether
they would be lawns and kept sprinkled and trimmed.
Mr. Wall said they would be natural. They were perrenial grasses
that would be seeded and grow naturally. The only maintenance
would be to run fire through it every so many years.
Vice Mayor Bechtel asked if Mr. Wall had personally spoken to the
Fire Chief of Woodside.
Mr. Wall said not personally. During the last couple of months,
Palo Al to had a couple of exercises with Woodside at the supres-
sion, or Battalion Chief, level. They worked at the operations
level bringing them into the area to go over some response areas
and routes.
Vice Mayor Bechtel said she had heard from a member of the public
that the Woodside Fire Chief had no knowledge of the plan as of
two weeks ago. She was concerned about communications particu-
larly with Woodside because one of their fire stations was fairly.
close.
Councilmember Renzel asked i f the designs for Palo ill to' s`- fire
breaks were coordinated with the fire plans of any other agencies.
Th.e ;:MPROSD mentioned that Ridge 1301 .was a little different from
their. plan. _Palo . Alto's plan showed, some of the breaks stopping
right at the Palo Alto boundary and she was concerned that the
fires Would,_ not respect those kinds of boundaries. She asked -if
it was known where other agencies were planning to construct fire
breaks or whether they were` factored in where they belonged. for
Palo Alto with the hope that others would coordinate with the
City.
2 5 4 0
9/2/82
i
1
Fo FF s ii a responded that a study was done several year ago in the
othi l i s Park area, and a seminar was hosted by Palo Al to,
wherein the sites for the existing breaks were selected by the
action of the group. Some locations were chosen, i .e., the
Trapper's Trail break, because a very wide grass covered break
already existed coming across Mi dpeni n sul a' s 1 ands down from Black
Mountain to Page Mill Road. At Page Mill Road it became an
uninterrupted grass. field, and at the end of that in San Mateo
County there existed a 1 arge natural fuel break. Palo Al to
desired to complete that . fuel. break across its lands. The roads
were considered to be 1ntrical to the protection of Palo Al to. A
lot of consideration was also given to fires coming from other
agencies or jurisdictions into Palo Alto. For example, Ridge 1301
in the area at the Adobe Creek drainage was considered to be a
substantial threat to the City of Palo Alto. It was important
that adequate fuel -breaks be constructed there to protect the City
from that area and there from. us.
Co unc i l member Cobb clarified that the way the plan was expected to
work was also factored into the budget estimates --that a certain
amount of the fi refi ghti ng woul d be done by others because of
proximity, etc. If other agencies had to withdraw from coopera-
tion in the future because of economics, etc., what type of budget
risk would Palo Alto be taking if it had to pick up the full
load .
Mr. Wall said Fire Departments in the area traditionally worked
effectively and honorably on mutual aid .plans and agreements.
Another jurisdiction was not charged when. Palo Alto responded in
exchange for their response into Palo Alto when necessary. It was
not known what would happen in the future, but the primary assis-
tant in the area was the California Division of Forestry. He.
expected them to be around --they had an area of land adjacent to
Palo Alto's. They had mutual aid agreements with them, and the
risk of Palo Alto opening itself up to excessive costs for sup-
pression of a large fire was minimal. A statewide mutual aid plan
and a countywide mutual aid plan existed which were very
organized, and in the event of a large fire, Palo Alto would not
just ask Los Al tos for assi stance, but would go to a second and
third alarm plan I, plan 2 or plan 3, which would bring in units
from San Jose, Milpitas and everywhere.
Vice Mayor Bechtel said variances were described in widths of fire
breaks dependent upon need, etc., and she asked if aesthetic
aspects had been considered.
Jeff Paulsen, Foothills Parks Ranger, said they were concerned
about the aethetics when the bull dozers came in, but realized
that the aethetics were not bad. The bull dozers could scallop
the edges of the large fire breaks in such a way as to look
natural to the untrained eye. In areas along roadsides and in
forests, the underbrush would be cleared out and it would almost
be more attractive. The grass .would grow back and would appear to
be natural : grasslands rather than natural brush lands. There
would not be much of an aesthetic impact:
Mr. Zenner acknowledged the work done by Chief Wall and his staff.
The item was in the City budget for a number of years, and the
assignment was made to Chief Wall about a year ago. The first
move was to seek a consultant, which proposal was rejected by the
Fire Chief because the most was $44,000. The report before the
Council was a first cl ass product, and an excel l era model for
other cities Nto follow, done completely - by the > Palo Alto Fire
Department. He thought it was also ii portant to recognize that
the project was • cooperative effort lead by the Fire Department.
A number of City departments were involved, and the final product
was outstanding -=gone worthy of Palo Al to --and one that would make
a :difference in the years to come,
Vice Mayor Bechtel a reed. The Council's- questions were not
intended to be critical, but rather to bring assurances. The Fire
Management Plan was necessary in order to achieve some protection
of what everyone liked to see and have in the foothills. She was
concerned about the kinds of communication between the various
agencies and some of the questions raised by the Committee for
Green Foothills and by the Midpenlnsula Regional_ Open Space
District. She asked how the Council could be sure, if the plan
was approved as -is tonight, that .the visual impacts would be
adequately discussed and taken care of. She would be more comfor-
table if the matter were continued to allow for further discussion
with the various agencies.
Councilmember Witherspoon said the staff could be urged to commu-
nicate personally with the other agencies, but did not think the
Council could afford to wait any longer because Palo Alto had
barely six months to prepare for the next fire season.
AMENDMENT: Councilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Fazzino,
that staff circulate the Plan among adjacent agencies and
encourage cooperation among surrounding jurisdictions.
Councilmember Renzel said it would be wise for staff to send the
Plan to all of the City's adjacent agencies not only those with
fire responsibilities, but any who may depend upon others for fire
responsibility.- Other governmental councils and planning commis-
sions might be i ntere" ted in the Plan and they should be afforded
the opportunity to contact the Palo Alto City Council with any
concerns about what would take place with respect to their commu-
nities. Further, the City Council had the opportunity at any
point, in response to concerns about the way the plan was imple-
mented, to say stop. The City Council had the opportunity to have
the plan come back if it did not work out and modify or cancel it
if necessary.
Councilmember Fazzino thought the amendment was good. He did not
see any "burning" desire on the part of the groups who made sug-
gestions in the letters to have the plan held up. A lot of work
was done by staff and those groups, and staff indicated its inter-
est in working with those groups and other jurisdictions in
resolving the problems. The amendment met the specific concerns
of the Council, ensured interjurisdictional resolution and commu-
nication, and at the same time allowed Palo Alto go move forward
with the Fire Management Plan.
Councilmember Fletcher asked whether the motion included direction
to staff tocommunicate with the Committee for Green Foothills and
the Mi dpeni nsul a Regional Open Space District regarding the spe-
cific concerns raised in their letter.
Councilmember Renzel said her motion said :other jurisdictions,
which was intended to mean the MPROSD,, She felt that since the
Committee for Green Foothills had raised questions, it would be
appropriate to keep them informed of the status of the report and
apprised of any specific actions when they were to take place. In
the beginning stages, it would be advisable to keep everyone with
a concern well apprised of what was going on and why.
Vice Mayor Bechtel asked if the amendment could: include that the
plan emphasize' and be concerned with the visual irpact of the fire
breaks as well as the aesthetics,
Councilmember Renzel said she had no trouble' with. that, but under-
stood that-, that was included in the plan.
Councilmember Klein. thought the proposed amendment was unneces-
sary.
Councilmember Fazzino did not understand the need or the sense of
the proposed amendment. Both he and Councilmember Klein agreed
with the reed to recognize the aesthetic issues, but that criteria
already existed in the report, and it was inappropriate and added
semantical problems as an amendment.
Vice Mayor Bechtel strongly argued against Councilmember Fazzino's
position, and said it was a real concern.
AMENDMENT PASSED unanimously, Eyerly absent.
AMENDMENT: Vice Mayor Bechtel moved, seconded by Levy, to
ensure that visual impacts were stressed in any of the Fire
Management programs.
Councilmember Renzel clarified that the amendment intended that
staff pay attention to the visual impact of what they were doing.
Vice Mayor Bechtel said that was correct.
Councilmember Klein said he would bow to no one in his concern for
the visual 'impacts of the foothills. He felt that amendment was
already in the report, and thus a slap in the face to staff to
reemphasize it. He thought it unnecessarily bowed to what could
only be inferred from the letters from the Committee for Green
Foothills and the MPROSD. He felt staff was very sensitive to the
issue and it was unnecessary to say it again. He would oppose the
amendment.
Vice Mayor Bechtel said if there: was a choice between a 300 foot
fire break and the disked clearing without any underbrush, and
some other mechanism, she .hoped some other mechanism would be
selected.
Councilmember Renzel said she understood the motion to mean that a
high priority should be given to the visual impact in terms of
assessing the impacts. She thought that would be the area the
public would be most concerned with, The people who lived up
there seemed to be very supportive of the plan` and were concerned
about the fire hazard which the City Council must also be. She
would support the amendment because it would not hurt for the
Council to go on record in conjunction with approving' the Fire
Management Plan to give a high priority to the concern of visual
impacts. She did not feel it was a slap in the face.
Councilmember Levy said he endorsed Councilmember Renzel's com-
ments, He did not intend for the amendment to be considered as a
slap in the face. • He felt staff was very sensitive to the aes-
thetic considerations and the entire plan respected those sensi-
tivities. The amendment was a way to go on record to re -enforce
the Council's concern that when it got down to on -sight activity
that everyone was aware of the Council's concern about the aes-
thetics in the foothills.
Councilmember Klein said he could :nu t i!agi.ne, having read the
report, that staff would choose the example given by Vice Mayor
Bechtel. He saw staff -as being. as. s.e sitive to the aesthetics as
anyone else;
Councilmember Renzel said that the Baylands often -had hands on
work --the guy dri Ving the tractor -who was not a'" pernane.nt staff
member and was not necessarily aware of the City's priorities and
concerns. There were numerouspermit violations with the _dredging
operation in the Bayl ands'because the person , dri v•i ng ` :-the bull -
dozer='did not .know what they ,were supposed to+ .beedothgee Council's
expression of a high prlerity in that regard> right res It rr the
message being communicated ,tp the, peopl with tyre hands-on
responsibility to pay attention to the finer details..
2 5 4 3
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Corrected
1.2/20/82
eounci1member Fazzino clarified that it was Councilmember Renzel is
intention that each bulldozer operator be given a copy of the
resolution. He opined that. the Council engaged in ridiculous
arguments about unnecessary language. He urged nonsupport of the
unnecessary amendment. The item was already' listed as one of the
Amain criteria in the report. He said that passing unnecessary
measures would not set a good precedent.
Vice Mayor Bechtel did not think there was anything inappropriate
about responding to letters from` jurisdictions such as the Mid-
Peni nsul a Upen Space District, and it made sense to show that the
City was responsive and willing to cooperate. She encouraged
Council support of the amendment.
AMENDMENT FAILED by a vote of 4-4 as follows:
AYES: Bechtel, Fletcher, Levy, Renzel
NOES: Fazzino, Cobb, Witherspoon, Klein
ABSENT: Eyerly
MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED unanimously, Eyerly absent.
ITEM #1O, CITY FACILITIES DEFERRED MAINTENANCE FUNDING
Councilmember Witherspoon said she would have preferred it if the
item had been referred to the Finance and Public Works (F&PW)
Committee. She could not find CMR:451:2 referred to in the report
and would be voting without a list of the suggested projects.
MOTION: Counci lmember Witherspoon moved, seconded by Renzel,
that the matter of City Facilities Deferred Maintenance Funding
and (CMR:461:2) be referred to the Finance and Public Works (F&PW)
Committee.
Counci lmember Renzel said that .when she received informational
reports, oftentimes they were dispatched to recycling after being
read. She suggested that in the future, if later action on a
subject was suspected, the Council be notified about that fact.
Vice Mayor Bechtel said that she requested and received a copy of
the earlier CMR, and it mentioned some items of deferred
maintenance that needed to be taken care of. She suggested that
if the notion for referral to the F&PW Committee passed, thata
more specific itemized list be prepared about what the budgeted
amount would cover.
City Manager Bill Zaner said staff could prbvi de Council with a
detailed list, which covered plumbing, walls, windows, door knobs,
etc. He said the list was of a level of detail that the Council
might not be interested in.
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Eyerly absent.
ITEM 111 RECONSIDERATION OF SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
Adminstrator :for Social and Community Services, .Hal Anjo, -said. the
item included a request for action on a funding request that, was
deferred at the time. the Finance and Public Works (F&PW) Committee
_considered funding requests of human :service contracts. When the
matter was- before the Council on June 22, the Council passed those
human service requests .and deferred the funding Of the one request
that was recommended. The Senior Coordinating Council originally
requested $5,325 to help fund an escort service for the La .Comida
Lunch _ Program. At that time _ the possibility of several county
cuts existed that would affect the Senior. Day Health Program as
2 6 .4 4
9/27/82
Corrected
12/20/82
well as the La Comida program, and staff recommended that any con-
siderations for new or expanded funding be deferred until the
County took action. Tonight's recommendation followed the County
action.
Counc i l member Klein said he did not understand the dollar figures.
of the ' Seni or Coordinating Council item with regard to transporta-
tion,
Mr. Anjo said that the amount of $5,325 was requested by the
Senior Coordinating Council in order to cover the La Comida lunch
program and some additional moneys to cover the shortfall for
their Senior Escort Service program. Actually, the Senior
Coordinating Council expected a cut of around $27,000, and were
then told that the difference to make up that program in terms of
costs to transport people was about $2,000 plus, which was the
$5,325 figure. When the money was not cut from the basic Senior
Escort Program, they returned to the original request for the
special money for the La Comida program.
Councilrmember Klein asked for the total cost of the program.
Mr. Anjo said the total amount of the requested program was
$3,751. He clarified that there were two components to the escort
program. One component was not at all funded by the City. That
money was entirely funded by the Council on Aging. the total of
which he did not know off hand. The money being requested was
over and above the $3,751 to supplement moneys that were going to
oe cut from the Senior Coordinating Council program. He believed
the total funds for that program was around $30,000.
Counci member Klein asked if they requested $5,325 from the
County.
Mr. Anjo said no because they anticipated a funding cut. Actually
they received their normal funding for Senior Escort Services of
about $30,000 --nothing was cut as was originally anticipated.
Councilmember Levy understood that $3,700 was being requested for
new services. Everything done last year was _funded by the County,
and the CoU ity funded as usual.
Mr. Anjo said no. About $3,600 was funded last year by the City
using Project Mobility excess moneys. The Transportation
Department staff expected that they could only fund that program
once because they had the excess of Project Mobility money. The
Senior Coordinating Council returned with a funding request to
have the City pick up the costs .if the La Comida Escort Service
Program under General Funds, plus an additional $1,500 to $1,700
in the shortfall they expected with the Senior Escort Service
Program which was funded by the Council on Aging.
Councilmember Levy said he assumed that the City was being asked.
for the money which it funded last year from Project Mobility
funds. He asked if Project Mobility was a County. program.
Mr. Anjo said Project Mobility was funded by Transportation
Development Act (TOA) moneys from the State of California.
Mr, Zaner clarified that the State had not cut its funds,
Transportation .Development Act funds were not . reduced. The City
had excess funds last year, and the Council authorized those to be
used for Project Mobility. This year, those funds were not avail-
able from the City except if they were taken out of the General
Fund.
Vice Mayon- Bechtel- saidshe understood- that it was the same dollar
amount that was approved last year by the Council. The only
reason it was deferred from the budget process was because the
City was originally being asked to fund _a greater amount. Because
the greater amount was not necessary, the -City was being asked to
fund the same amount as last year.
•
2 5 4 5
9/27/82.
Diana Steeples, 3198 Ramona, applauded the staff for winding their
way through the complications of the Council on Aging and the
State Transportation Development Act. She said that the original
request of ,.the Senior Coordinating Council was higher because they
thought their general escort, which takes •seniors, to doctors,
grocery shopping, and other destinations, might: be reduced., The
Palo Alto City Council's budget decisions ewere . made before the
Council on Aging's budget decisions. The Council on Aging did not
cut the general escort funding; therefore, the request of the
Senior Coordinating Council was reduced; to the same amount which
they received from the City last year --$3,751. The general escort
service funding would continue to be funded this year by the
Council on Aging. It would cost the Senior Coordinating Council
$18,752. The purpose of the request to the City Council was to
enable disabled, home bound seniors to have access to the sociali-
zation and nutrition of La Comida by providing them with door to
door transportation in a van, with an elevator lift, to be bor-
rowed during the day from the Senior Day Health Program twice a
week --Monday and Wednesday. The Senior Coordinating Council would
like to be able to offer the service everyday, but economic con-
straints dictated that twice a week was the only reasonable level
of service. The service had been providedfor two years and 12 to
14 individuals were brought per trip. It was anticipated that
1,142 one-way trips would be provided to La Comida during the
coming year. Because of the delay, the Senior Coordinating
Council was able to "borrow" from the Council on Aging up to
September 1, 1982 in order that those who were accustomed to the
service would not have it deleted. She said that if the item were
referred to a committee, a decision would have to be made about
what to do. It was hoped that since the Council deferred action
earlier, it would come back to the Council without referral to a
committee.
Mrs. John Tufel , 1417 Dana, was blind and said that those who were
disabled were grateful and appreciated the service of the van.
She said they looked forward to Monday and Wednesday and going to
La Comida. There were 10 to 15 individuals, and all but she and
her husband were widows and lived alone. She said having a nur-
ishing meal at lunch meant a lot to those individuals. None of
the women went out alone, and hardly had any visitors. The visit
on the buses was like a party. She hoped the Council was able too
affor1 , to continue the program.
Bob Moss, President of La Comida, 4010 Orme, clarified the rela-
tionship between the transportation program and the nutrition pro-
gram. . The funds being requested by the Council did not have any
direct effect on La Comida itself --the total number of meal s and
the manner in which they were served would be totally unaffected.
According to the contract with the County and through it the
Council:-: on Aging, La Comida was supposed to have an outreach pro-
gram —to bring home bound people to the site and provide a certain
number of meals. Funding directly through La Comida had never
been available for the outreach program, and the only alternative
to the disabled and home bound to having transportation to the
site would be the Meals on Wheels Program, which La Comida pro-
vided for Werth County --primarily Palo Alto. La Comida was under
contract to provide 5A meals per day, and _ currently provided 46 or
47 on an average day. If those 10 or 12 people who were currently
transported - two days a week were able to get on the Meals on
Wheels Roster, it would reduce the total number of meal_ s served to
the, home bound. He thought the project was worthwhile and hoped
the Council could fund the relatively small amount of money.
MOTION C. sci 1 me.bets Fanzine moved, seconded by genxe1 ,
approval of the budget,' aaesdaent ordinance for the _ additional
finding . reqeest of $3,751, and that. the Mayer be authorized ..to _.
execute the anendneet to the Senior Coordinating Coaaci l
Contract.
1
1
MOTION CONTINUED
ORDINANCE 3393 entitled 'ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF
Tk. ut PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR 1982-83 TO PROVIDE' ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR
THE SENIOR COORDINATING COUNCIL'
CONTRACT AMENDMENT
Senior Coordinating Council
Councilmember Fazzino did not feel the need to discuss the item
additionally since the item was before the Finance and Public
Works (F&PW) Committee a few months ago. He said he and a few
other committee members made it clear at that time that dependent
upon County action, they would move ahead with the program.
Councilmember Levy said the F&PW Committee considered and approved
the roquest dependent ; upon the final outcome of the County
funding. He was comfortable in supporting the motion. -
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Eyerly absent.
ITEM #12, LYTTON GARDENS III - - ISSUANCE OF CITY OF PALO ALTO
Councilmember Witherspoon clarified that the proceeds from the
bond sale would be used to pay off the holders of the earlier
bonds. She asked if the City would be obligated to a prepayment
penalty.
Vince Forte, represented Blythe Eastman, Paine Weber, the invest-
ment banker, and said that the original bonds --Series A --were sold
with a seven year maturity. They were not prepayable in terms of
calling in the bonds," and the procedure was called an advance
refunding. Some slight benefit was gained by being able to
advance refund, a process whereby the proceeds of the new bonds
were taken, which for clarification purposes was called Series
1982 --as opposed to Series B --to purchase government obligations.
The Series 1982 bonds would mature on the same dates as the Series
A bonds which covered the possibility of a default on those
bonds. }.
Councilmember Renzel clarified that the other bonds were not paid
off immediately, but rather government obligation bonds were pur-
chased and those revenues were used to pay whatever the bond
holders would have earned anyway.
Mr. Forte said that Series A bonds had a maturity schedule which
called for ,certain amount of principal and interest each six
months. There were specific government obligations which were
sold by the treasury that had the exact maturity date of the
bonds. Series A bonds required- .a payment of interkest or interest
and principal every April- 1 .and October 1. The securities matured
on precisely the same date when the Series A bonds had payments
due. If a bond were purchased to mature in 1988, which was the
last year of the Series A bonds, it would be paid off in 1988 plus
interest payments up to that date. If a 198e bond was purchased,
interest payments would be received up to 1985 at which time ° the
entire; principal would be paid off..
Councilmember.. Renzel clarified that during the interim, period up
through` 1988 when the last , bonds eoeld be ,-paf.d off,, :.the City . was
actually borrows ng cheap money and , purl ng off ::a :'hi qh i ntertst.: r4 to
on ether lmoneys.
Mr. Forte said both ,series would be .,outstanding ,until 1,98 .-r >3 He
said the reason for proceeding at this time was- because _ one aspect
.of -last year's issue involved time. delays in a terrible interest
rate market. - The bonds were issued for. a" seven: year maturity; and
64 7:
9%27/82
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i
it was now planned to make it a full 30 -year maturity in order to
alleviate any balloon payment or major principal payment due in
any given year that was not expected. In essence, they were going
to their long term, fixed rate mortgage.
Counci1member Renzel said once that was done, there was no poten-
tial should the interest rate drop further.
Mr. Forte said under the new issue, they would be capable of
prepaying the bonds after a ten year period, or the same type of
advance refunding could be done with. the Series 1982 bonds. That
was not anticipated because, the mathematics of such a transaction
would require interest rates or equivalent security to be around
7.5 percent. He did not think the rates would be that low in the
immediate future.
Councilmember Renzel asked for a clarification of the term
"advance repayment."
Mr. forte said that while the bonds were still outstanding_ and
payments were still due, they did not look to Lytton Gardens' cash
flow as the source of repayment. As far as Lytton Gardens was
concerned and their balance sheet and revenues, the Series A bonds
were no longer under their control
MOTION: Councilmember Cobb moved, seconded by Fazino„ approval
of the resolution.
RESOLUTION 6069 entitled °RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF
LO ALTO AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE AND
SALE OF CCITT OF PALO ALTO INSURED REVENUE BONDS
(LYTTON GARDENS CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL), SERIES X982,
THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF INDENTURE LOAN AGREE-
MENT, CONTRACT OF INSURANCE, REGULATORY AGREEMENT,
OFFICIAL STATEMENT ANL CONTRACT OF PURCHASE AND CER-
TAIN OTHER ACTIONS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH°
Councilmember Cobb commented 'i' that the work of Lytton Gardens was
very important in the community. He was pleased to make the
motion.
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Eyerly absent.
RECESS FROM 9:30 .m. TO 9:48 .m. VICE MAYOR BECHTEL ANNOUNCED
I TEM #13, GRECIAN HEALTH SPA PARKING (CMR:501:2)
Counci1member Fazzino asked about the status of the total
Evrgreen Park Traffic Study.
Di rector of Planning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber
responded that the study was scheduled for the Pol icy. and
Procedures Committee meeting of October 26. It - was previously
scheduled for the first meeting in October, but CATV was scheduled
for that night.
Counci1member Fazzino asked ..if consi deration for all eviation of
some of the concerns was within the context of that study.
Mr. Schreiber said that the Grecian Health Spa problem w.as a
localized example of commercial_ .ini•,rusion into the neighborhood.
The Evergreen Park_ Study would discuss things that could be done
to reduce vehicle -traffic in the area, but even within the frame-
work of that study, they were back to th same point ..`made. in
CMR:501:2 that cars could be moved around and would end up . in
front of other peoples' houses, but no effective and economical
means existed to get the cars out of that area.
2 5 4 8
9/27/82
Councilmember Faxzino asked i fe in searching desperately for an
economical solution to the problem, there was any way in which the
curbs could be painted to allow residents along the street to park
with, a permit.
City Attorney Diane Lee said that if permit parking were to be
all owed, the streets would . have to be signed in addition to
marking the curb.
Councilmember 'Klein asked about the procedure for implementing a
rezoning of the parcel
Mr. Schreiber responded that the City Council could initiate a
rezoning as well as a Comprehensive Plan change on any property in
Palo Alto. That item would go to the Planning Commission for pub-
lic hearings and back to the Council.
Councilmember Klein asked what alternative zones would be appro-
priate.
Mr. Schreiber said other commercial zones would be appropriate
although he did not think they would effectively speak to the
problem or they could look at residential zones. If the use
became nonconforming, there would be a minimum 15 -year
amortization period.
Councilmember Cobb said a major argument against a' permitting
system was cost. He clarified that the numbers presented in the
staff repo`r't -..dealt:.. with :100 percent , enforcement; that is, a
regul ar patrol as opposed to an enforcement on an ;as-needed,:basi s.
He asked if cost savings could . be realized with a ,permit system if
the problem' were brought under _ control , and then, having the patrol
be as -needed: to keep, the probl em. under :controp.
Palo Al to Pol ice Lieutenant, Chris :purki n, said: that .1:f tte= prob-
lem were addressed .with exi st:i ng .fiel d personnel --as opposed to
hiring new personnel for enforcement --the cost would be reduced,
but the residents' satisfaction would be minimal .
Councilmember Cobb said there was no question that in the initial
stages of a perms t system significant enforcement exercises would
be necessary to get the message across. , lit wondered if that _level
would have to be maintained on an on -going basis or whether it
could be' done with regular patrols once enforcement was estab-
lished. He was looking for ` ways to accomplish a permit system
with less onerous costs.
Lt. Durkin said it would be difficult to handle because all of the
Pol ice Department's calls for services were priority zed.
Emergency calls required a three -minute response, priority call
requi red a five-minute response , and nonpri on ty calls required a
60 -minute response. Parking citations: fell under the nonpri on ty
area . unless there' was something unusual about it. Most- of the
time, officers were occupied with emergencies and priority calls.
City Manager Bill Zaner said while cost _ was : important regarding
the permit -: system, and staff recommended against any kind of a
permit system on cost alone, Mr. Schreiber:, had pointed out that a
permit system would move the problem rather than solve it.
Councilmember Levy asked about the hours when the problem
existed.
Asst stint Transportation Engineer Carl ' Stoffel said the ..heaviest
parking. occurred Monday' through Friday from about 4:00 p.m. ' to
8;00 p.m. Residents living: directly. across : the street from the
spa, prUbably' experienced the problem all the time the spa was
open.
David Gleason, 296 Stanford Avenue, President of the Evergreen
Park Residents' Association, said the problem had been ongoing for
quite a while and he requested that action be taken tonight. He
did not feel that CMR:501 :2 dealt with the problem. He realized
that some of the objections had to do with the inconveniences to
the neighboring areas not now affected. Staff did not want to set
a precedent for numerous other residential areas near commercial,
industrial and nonresidential parking generators. He understood
that, but an attempted solution might discourage some of the
problems in the long run. A commercial unit that generated 400 to
500 cars per day and only all owed 25 parking pl aces woul d
obviously create a problem. It was a behavioral problem, but when
it was the commercial establishment generating the traffic, the
neighborhood should not have to absorb all of the costs --the
commercial establishment should have to deal with the problem. He
felt the problem would conti nue in Palo Al to until adequate
parking was provided.
Karen Olsen, 121 Park Avenue, felt that the problem was more than
one of inconvenience --it was now a safety problem to the local
residents In the heaviest hours --between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00
p.m. -- the cars literally parked around the "U" of the fork. A
bike lane went down Park Boulevard, and when people were coming
down Park Boulevard and trying to make a left hand turn .onto Park
Avenue, a lot of the vision was blocked by the parked cars. Park
Avenue had less width than Park Boulevard, and when cars were
parked on both sides of Park Avenue during the heaviest hours,
there was not much room left in the street for cars to pass each
other. She said the corner had to be taken tightly especially
when cars were wrapped around the corner, and if someone opened
their car door, an accident could occur. There were chi 1 dren on
bicycles, elderly people, and a small day care center in the area,
and it was becoming a hazardous area. She urged that permit
parking and/or the corner of the "Y" be painted red so no one
could park there and some visibility could be provided.
Lynn Davis, 134 Park Avenue, agreed with Karen Olsen. She had
three children of her own and she cared for four other children.
She lived on the corner of Park and Ash, and shenot only got the
spa traffic, but the people coming out of the gas station as well.
She recently fenced in her yard because one day a car came up on
the sidewalk practically on the .lawn where her small, chtl d was
playing. Parking in front of . her house was continuous . One .on
occasion when a lady from the spa parked in front of her house,
she was blocked in by Ms. Davis. When the lady went to her door
to ask that her car be moved, she was asked if the spa had told
her where she should park. The lady responded that she was a :new
member and had not been told anything. Ms. Davis:- did not feel
that the spa eras trying to help i f they, were not telling their new
members of . the problems. If something was not done, she was
concerned that someone :would get hurt.
An anonymous'`resi dent said they were still asking for relief fro
the constant noise, traffic litter, traffic problems, harassment,
and -vandal ism. The Council was aware of the problems, and there
had been no change since August 18. There was no improvement .in
the parking -,,spa personnel and patrons istifl 1 preferred to use, the
residential streets. Police .enforcement of the red zones, etc.,
had not helped the parking problems. The only acceptable parking
for the spa would, be El Camino "and in the CF zones. The parking
Vs were seldom used, and the same parking problems existed " with
regard to the red zones by fire hydrants. Patrons seldom
responded when paged, and:: employees were sometimes the ones
bl ocki ng the driveways. The patrons often teased the neighborhood
dogs, and noise from the whi r~l pool s still exceeded 'the acceptable" '-
noise levels. The garage was designed In such a way that - sound
echoed ;onto Park Boulevards. Park Avenue, and El Camino Constant
danger existed for, bi cycl i sty, pedestrians, children, loggers and
walkers by the "-lack, Of :adequate : parking. She_ was offended by the
use of the street and .bashes as a bathroom. The spa admitted that
�ti
it had no control over where its patrons park. The resi dents were
told by the Spa that it was not ;its responsibility . Stranger s
were .in the neighborhood constantly and the instance of crime had
risen. The problem had existed for at least eight years, and
something must be done. A maximum permit parking on Park
Boulevard and Park Avenue and minimum permit parking on Ash and
the frontage road on €1 Camino was proposed by the residents. The
plan was expensive and i t was realized that the costs would con-
tinue to increase. The problem could no longer be ignored; and
further, the restriction of commercial parking in residential
areas was in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan. It was also
suggested that the property be rezoned. David Gleason suggested
many uses that would be compatible with the neighborhood in his
letter to the City Council . From 1978 to 1980, the residents
talked with various City staff members about rezoning the prop-
erty. If permit parking were instituted, it was suggested that it
be only for residents --not for businesses or anyone el se.
David Schrom, 302 College Avenue, said that for several years . he
appeared before the Council and addressed the issue. He was happy
that the Council was now considering the kind of action that would
provide some relief. The problem was of long standing, a lot of
people coMplained often. Characterization of the Grecian Health
Spa parking as an isolated type of phenomena was inaccurate -for
both Evergreen Park and the City as a whole. College Avenue prob-
ably had as many cars of nonresidents parked on it in an average
day as the area around the Spa. Ash Street and Leland Avenues
both had the same sort of situation, and he had heard someone say
that providing permit parking for a several block area around the
Park would just move the problem to other streets, and he asked
the Council to understand that the cars were already on the other
streets. As a rest dent of the neighborhood who lived on another
one of those streets, he believed that a more appropriate sol uti on
was permit parking for most or all of the neighborhood. Si gni fi -
cant concern had been raised about the economic impact of the per-
mit system, and he al so felt that a cost measured in tens of thou-
sands of dollars a years appeared to be out of line with the kind
of situation which existed. He was skeptical that such large sums
would be necessary to enforce permit parking in the area. He
understood that the total Spa membership was on the order of 500
or 600 people, and if each enforcement effort yielded only five or
six cars, assuming a low rate, of repeating offenders, after only
ten sweeps, they would be talking about ten percent of the people.
He felt that severe penalties towing and heavy fines--woul d be
sufficient to deter people after a short amount of time. Enforce-
ment on a complaint basis afterwards might prove to be adequate.
When he went to school back east, there were streets ;:where from
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. parking was prohibited and the tow trucks
lined up at the head of the street. A person was :only towed once
at $50 before learning not to park in a given area. The other
aspect of the economic analysis looked narrowly at the question of
costs without discussing the costs of continuing to do nothing.
It aright appear to be a larger issue than what the Council wanted
to ` address specifically tonight, and yet what was done tonight
would affect the issue. He felt that Palo Al to ` s capital assets
were put into pl ace at a time when people were, r;el ati vel y
speaking, more able to rearrange the world to their satisfaction.
He clarified that when the average Palo`Al tan in 1970 earned about.
$7 per hour, and a barrel of oil cost $3.50, the : average . Palo
Al tans` hourly wage bought two barrel s _ of oil . Today, the average
Palo Al tan earned about $20 per hour, and the same barrel of oil
costs al Mott$40. The average wage earned about half a barrel of
oil or one -sixth as much. The streets were put in place using
substantial amounts of energy, intensive capital equipment, and
other resources f " those reel *cement costs were cossi dered now,
and ,i f _asked -whether an ,amount equal to the ,.'replacement , costs of
the existing assets divided by :_their estimated useful life, was
put ill the budget each <year, most would agree thart enough
resources : did not, exist : to do that. The conservative members of
the City Council might be ` surprised to discover that the existing
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parking situation was a subtle scheme for redistributing income in
Palo Alto. In effect, the residents of Palo Alto were being asked
to always provide parking for their own cars off the street which
imposed on some-- including people in Evergreen Park who recently
remodeled and were forced to add second stories because inadequate
space existed on their lot to go out with their houses and, still
provide parking. The residents were being asked to expend tens of
thousands of dollars i n order to get their cars off the street so
that the patrons of commercial enterprises could park on the
street for free, rather than parking being provided by the commer-
cial enterprises. The net effect was to transfer wealth from , the
residents in the community to the commercial enterprises. That
appeared to be in direct contravention to the ideas expressed in
the Comprehensive P1 an which were to protect the residential
quality of Palo Al to.
Director o.f P1anning and Community Environment Ken Schreiber com-
mented that regarding the alleged safety problem on the Park
Boulevard/ Park Avenue area at the tip of the triangle. City
staff researched the accident reecords, which was an indication of
safety problems, and found no unusual number of accidents. If
parking 'in the area created safety problems, the City should be
ooking to banning all parking . ' If parking created the problem,
it did not matter . whether the car was a visitor to the residents
or a visitor to the Spa.
MOTION: •Coencilmember Klein moved, seconded by Cobb, as fol-
lows:
FIRST PART OF MOTION: I) Institute permit parking system .in the
neighborhood on a trial basis (boundaries to be determined by
staff); and 2) Enforcement to be on a limited enforcement basis as
set forth in Item #2, on Page 2 of CMR:501:2).
SECOND PART OF NOTION: 3) Request the Planning Commission to
begin process of considering a change in the Comprehensive Plan
for area from Park Boulevard 'down to Stanford Avenue on El Camino
and Leland Avenue and impact on residential communities adjacent
to that areas
Council member Cobb strongly supported Counc i 1 member Klein 'is
motion', -He said there was a long - history of voluntary methods''
that were not working, and he questioned Whether the Spa was
dealing with the ,problem in as good as- faith as would be ex pec tee,. --
He pointed out that the nature of the business was to have a high
degree 'of turnover in terms of the number: of patrons, and it would
be a never-ending _job to try, and educate the patrons on. parking..:
Councilmember_ Witherspoon said the issue had been discussed at
great length on two other occasions.___ She ecpnsistently felt that,
the nei ghborhoode was -very :anti dui ate, but, i t - was not an isolated
problem. There .were: neighborhoods in the downtown area who had
the same experiences. Wherever there were residential areas -with
limited parking al one the streets , adjacent to a cowmerci a,l.. area:,
the problem would exist. -Staff's ._estimated that .1i tee, parkl ng
would cost 115,000 the fl rst year ,e andefu11° enforteaeent: _would cost
$25,000 thee first year,; ' She did -not feel the eCity Council', could
a fford e to=- set that kind of a precedent. She wool d , not support the
first part of-_ .thel_ - aotilon The s1 tuatt on warranted., looking ag ai n
xt rezoning, :4W andshe Would: support the Second...par.t of the :motione
toUncilmember Fletcher would support the' motion if she felt .it
would solve the problem. ' She felt that ,was far from -:what.. would
happen. When the :neighbors were notified that they ,would have to
apply .:at . City Hall for- a penal t t > rove, their place of residence
and obtaAin -another permit everytime guests : were expected, -_she
envi si oned ; that there would more complaints than there were now..
She was disappointed.: that the Grecian Health Spa was not , repre-
sented at the meettng. She had no solutions, but :feel t that. permit
parking would not solve the problem.
Councilmember Renzel particularly supported the second part of the
motion, to consider a land use change and rezoning of the property.
That dealt with the fundamental problem of an inappropriate land
use for the location. In' the meantime, something had to be done.
It was not fair to , pit the neighbors against the Spa patrons who
had no vested interest in the neighborhood and who might not be
continuing at the Spa for very long. It subjected the neighbors
to retribution of various sorts, and the same was true ` when
employees were threatened with being fired if they were caught
parking in the neighborhood. If a neighbor reported the illegal
parking, and a person was fired, there were chances of retribution
as well as generating a lot of ill will. Given that the City - had
made good faith attempts to manage the problem and had not suc-
ceeded, she would support a permit program. She was not afraid of
it in terms of a precedent because such a program was recommended
in the downtown area to manage the overflow parking there The
method was already recommended, although not adopted, in other
neighborhoods. Something needed to be done.
Councilmember Klein felt that everyone knew .the problem well and
there was no need to address the fact that something needed to be
done. Councilmember Fletcher's comments were particularly appro-
priate —there was a change in management and a lot of promises
were made to the City that were not kept. He did not think the
management of the health spa could be expected to do anything
until some action was taken by the City. It was questioned
whether a permit .system was needed because ,other neighborhoods , in.
town were also -impacted by commercial areas adjacent to them.
That was true up to a point. It was suggested that the subject
neighborhood: was 'more artic_ulate,, and he• submitted that, there was
no such thing in Palo Alto as an inarticulate neighborhood. ;He
fel t these people were more: patient. than , most: idei:ghbprhoo.d s would
have been. The problem was: different-- there were other. areas; with
commercial areas adjacent to them, but this one was more extreme.
Differences A n degree should =lead -the Council to make di sti nc-
ti pns. °tie d4 d not think that instituting. the permit- parking
system would commi t theI City to do, i t eanywhere el se. ..- The degree
of a prob em. must be evaluated, and he ., found this : situation was
extreme and called for a different ; type of solution.. .•That would
not bother him in confronting the next neighborhood with a similar.
problem because he knew of no other neighborhood with a problem as
extreme. He did not know whether the permit system would move the
problem around, and regarded the motion as an experiment, but
there was a significant chance that it would work,
Councilmember Fazzino said he could think of no othe.r areas in
town with the commercial use pouring. this. numbr of cars into. such
a small neighborhood area. He agreed- with Councilmember Klein
that in the long term, a zoning change and the iadopti en of better
parking measures for. El Camino in, conjunction with ongoing amend -
rents to the Comprehensive Plan and -Zoning Ordinance were probably -
the only way to go to resol ve the problem for the long term. _ He
was disturbed that the City had not yet ,resolved ,the Evergreen
Park area traffic problems —it was something he pushed for a year
and a •half ago. He felt that some- -of the `-alternativesvese regarding
the resolution of the. entire area's traffic probl ems, could ., be
brought to bear • on ethi s particular problem. Berrien on . Park
Boulevard or. Park Avenue were discussed in the past as a possible
prevention 'of traffic 'into.- small: neighborhood streets. Whether or
not -barriers were supported, looking at .resolution of thee problem .
for the- entire area `might find one solutionuttone to this . problem. He
believed that 'was a better way to go thane the enforceMent program
and. permitting,, and wished the City_, did, not ..have 'to spend that
kind of 'money He preferred_ to paint the_°curb red' and give people
who , Lived In .the - area a scarf et• letter' for their _ ;cars. to park
there, but -Staff:- said no. 'Since_ staff advlsed:. that tiffs was the
Only. way . to go, he - would- =support:theeaoti one beeatreee the problem •
had becomes -unbearable .in that area, Se hoped staff could use its
intell igente:;tcy. go =back •and: co.nsl,der some lower cost approaebes
than the peril tti dg. process .
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Councilmember Levy said a problem existed, and it was a general
assumption with government that wherever things were less than
perfect, a solution must be tried even though it was doubtful that
the solution would be satisfactory, He agreed with Councilmember
Fletcher that the proposed action would ;':e unsuccessful. He had
heard a lot of confusion because at times the Spa parking was the
problem, sometimes it was the Spa's physical noise equipment prob-
lems, ' sometimes it was the gas station next to the Spa, and com-
ments were made about the Fosters' patrons which was the next par-
cel. There was no question that if a change in the Comprehensive
Plan was justified that it would be on a larger region basis. He
could not justify taking that one parcel, which probably generated
less traffic than the gas station next to it, and saying it should
be changed, but nothing else, Further, he felt Councilmember
Witherspoon was correct that the parcel was not unique --there were
many large areas around town adjacent eo residential neighbor-
hoods. Perhaps the specific facility was different in its use and
not so intrusive upon the neighborhood, but the concept of commer-
cial with. substantially different kinds of use adjoining residen-
tial waa found broadly throughout -the City. Instituting a permit
parking system specifically designed for this parcel, would set a
precedent that would have large numbers of residents located up
and down El Camino, close to University, coming, in. The Council
had been naive in looking at the problem and thinking that
pleasant requests, pleasantly made, would solve the problem. One
requst was for all of the patrons of the Spa to kindly park on the
other side of El Camino. They would not park there unless there
was strong law enforcement governing where the existing law was
violated in proximity to the spa. The Council should focus its
efforts initially toward strict enforcement. When cars were
blocking driveways or intruding on the red zones, they should be
immediately ticketed. That would not result in retribetion for
the neighbors. The neighbors would not be doing the ticketing, it
would be the City of Palo Alto. It should be done through regular
heavy police patrolling of the neighborhood. He was sure that the
residents would not be reluctant to contact the Police Department
whenever there was a specific problem. If the Council urged that
the Police give high priority to patrolling the area, they would.
That should be - the start. He had heard of.. problems related to the
street lights, the traffic light, repainting the curbs, noisy
equipment at the Spa, and driveways blocked. The greatest diffi-
culties were related to parking in red areas and parking in drive-
ways. If that were intensively patrol led, he felt the matter
would be dramatically reduced. He urged that that be done before
embarking on plans which he did not see could be limited to this
one parcel in the long run.
Councilmember Cobb did not think there would be much of a cost
lifference between going to a permit system and a rigorous
enforcement plan. He felt that the problem was unique in that the
number of cars and trips associated with the Spa, relative to the
amount of space available on the subject property, was uniquely
high. to doubted that there were any other businesses in the
community that could match that kind of a ratio. To the extent
that the unique ;.measures would set a precedent for an equally
unique situation --one with that kind of unusually large ratio of
cars and trips going into `that kind of a neighborhood elsewherein
town --created no problem for him, The Couneil'. must help .,with a
difficult and unique si tati on, and the precedent it would set was
limited only to those that were equally. bad., He urged that` 'the..
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Council support the motion.
Mr. Zaner clarified that staff recommended against a permit
system.
Courwcilmember Fletcher reminded the _ Council- that a 'lot of the
costs went into putting up signs and, administering the permit
system itself
Vice Mayor Bechtel asked for clarification about whether_ the per-
mit parking system aas to be on a trial basis.
Mr. Zaner commented that should the motion pass, staff would like
the opportunity to come back to the Council with the details of
how to put the system together. He said the approach would
require a resolution by the Council.
Uon Cline, 2455_ Alvarado, said he had heard a lot about the cost
of enforcing a permit system. He thought those costs would be
largely reimbursed by the costs to the driver who parked there and
received a ticket
City Attorney Diane Lee said theoretically that was the .case, but
the courts had the problem on the City's behalf of collecting the
revenues from the violators. After a certain point, if the court
was unable to collect, warrants were issued and if people: still
did not appear, the court asked the City to dismiss the case.
Mr. Zaner commented that assuming a permit system was effective,
no more tickets would be issued because those people would not be
there. The enforcement would have to continue because otherwise
people would come back which would leave the enforcement costs
without the revenue coming from the violators.
Councilmember Fazzino asked about the City's general experience
about percentage of revenue received from parking violators in
town.
Ms. Lee responded that it had not been good, but she was advised
that the Department of Motor Vehicles was holding the preregistra-
tion for drivers with outstanding violations.
Councilmember Fazzino thought the point should be considered. He
encouraged Mr. Zaner, if the motion passed, to try and recoup the
costs of the program as quickly as possible from the violators.
Mr. Zaner said staff would attempt to ascertain a figure as to the
number of dollars being obtained versus the number of citations
issued. An administrative problem would be created by trying to
keep track of the citations issued in one place and those persons
who paid and those who did not.
Councilmember Fletcher said that when motorists saw cars parked on
a street, there were likely to also park on the street. and maybe
not notice a sign.
Vice Mayor Bechtel said she was torn about the item trying to
figure out. if this .Grecian Health Spa was different or unique from
other facilities throughout Palo Alto. She was willing to support
a permit system on a trial basis because they were talking about
doing the same thing for the area surrounding .downtown Palo Al to
next year.
Councilmember Fletcher said that . the program downtownwould permit
vehicles" to park on one side of the street for paying a fee
FIRST PART OF MOTION PASSED by a vote of 5-3, Levy Fletcher,
Witherspoon voting "no,' Eyerly absept.
Councilmember Fletcher said that perhaps the Council might give
the Planning Commission the assignment to . evaluate the situation
and make recommendations rather than to . proceed to change the
zoning. The Council could also recommend that the zoning be
changed to multi family because the other uses would still present
parking problems.
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9/27/8g
Ads Corrected
12/20/82
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Councilmember Renzel understood the motion to - request the Planning
Commission to look at the Comprehensi ve Plan designation and
zoning for the property. She did not think it was lawful to
instruct . the Commission to change it, but rather to review and
evaluate where changes were needed.
Councilmember Klein agreed,. He did not think the Council should
ever direct the Planning Commission to do anything, but rather
should seek their advice. He intended to make the motion as broad
as possible so that. the Planning Commission could study the matter
to the depth deemed appropriate by them. He clarified that the
Commission was free to come back with as creative a recommendation
as possible within the City' s rules and regulations.
Counci imember. Renzel said that -if the Council did snot -assign some-
thi ng,.: staff -would trot do. =the work.; ;The : Caurrci l> ' needed', --be
clear i f they' -intended ,to ° study the area. surrounding; . they ;Spa + as
opposed -to the Spa itsel f. without. the -adjacent properties in order
for the Commission to : have latitude.. . )There ewer°e only 80 : spaces
available in seven blocks of parking on one side of the street.
She thought perhaps it was worth looking at _whether the whole area
was too congested. She would support the motion either way, but
preferred that it bea little broader.
Councilmember Klein had no objections to broadening the motion.
He asked staff for a definition of the area.
Mr. Schreiber said Park Avenue to Stanford Avenue along El Camino
should be looked at and its impact on the residential adjacent
communities.
Councilmember Witherspoon said she observed that the Council's
concern was with causing on -street parking problems, and that the
new parking regulations were not in effect when the building was
constructed. Hopefully, .at- the end: of . the,: 15 year amortization
period, any commercial application would require on -street
parking.
Vice Mayor Bechtel was concerned that many of the uses described
right also generate ` the same parking demand.
Councilmember Levy understood that they were now considering the
rezoning of two or three blocks on El Camino. He said- the problem
involved essential 1y seven or eight R-1 - homes on Park Boulevard.
They were considering rezoning a substantial stretch of property,
including a : number of businesses that were currently unrelated.
He would not support that.
}
Councilmember Klein said he would agree if he could accept the
characterization. The Planning Commission was not being told to
rezones but rather to look at the problem and try and find a solu-
tion One solution was to changer the Comprehensive Plan designa-
tion to see whether , that would reduce the parking problem.
Councilmember Levy asked if there was a problem with the Sandonoe
Mine Company.
Mice Mayor- Bechtel said she understood the motion to ask the
Planning Commission to look at the area surrounded" by Park
Boulevard to Leland Avenue and Stanford Avenue.
SECOND PART OF THE NOTION PASSED by a. vote of 7-1, Levy voting
"no,* Eyerly absent.
Count' l eember Fl etcher sal d that the PI annf ng ° Comma
the option of recommending no change.
Councilmember Levy said staff recommended that the nearby resi-
dents be encouraged.. to report license plate numbers of vehicles
parked near their homes to the manager of the Spa He thought the
problem had gone beyond that, and suggested that the residents be
encouraged to report license plate numbers to the Police
Department for more direct action.
Mr. Zaner commented that , that would be appropriate if those
vehicles were parked illegally --many of the vehicles were not
parked illegally. The Spa requested assistance from the neighbors
so that they in turn could work wi th .the patrons..
ITEM #14, STATE SENATE BILL 999 RE FIREWORKS
NOTION: Councilmember Fazzi no moved, seconded . by. tenzel .,, to
reaffirm the Comncil es opposition to :this legislation and that ;it
call upon citizens in the community to write Governor Brown :and
urge his veto of SB-999.;: and to send an urgency telegram with
Councilmeabers' names on it, September 28, 1982.
Vice Mayor Bechtel encouraged members of the public to tell all
their friends to contact the Govenor and urge him to veto SB-999,
which was opposed by all of the Fire Chiefs in Santa Clara County
and most of the State because of the extreme hazards and numbers
of fires caused by fireworks each July 4»
Councilmember Cobb suggested that a telegram be sent with all of
the Counci lmembers names since it would convey a sense of urgency
from the entire Council.
Councilmember Klein emphasized that they were running out of time.
The Governor must sign by September 30. If it were not vetoed ,by
September 30, it would become law.
NOTION PASSED unanimously, Eyer'iy absent.
ITEM #15, REQUEST OF COUPICILMEMBERS FLETCHER AND LEVY . RE= GUN
X810( rATT1ATIV1 tilfeU USI
Councilmember Levy commented that the question--of.controlling con-
cealable handguns was before the Policy and Procedures Committee
on a referral from the Council since last Spring. ._ The Committee
deferred •taking action, andwith the statewide initiative being on
the ballot in November, the Policy and Procedures Committee con-
cluded that it would be better for the Council to endorse the
Statewide initiative rather than to take specific action at this
time. One reason was because the State had considerable more
flexibility in what it could do than the City would have. Addi-
tionally he felt that the elements of the State measure , were
essentl al ly that it would outlaw virtually all new sales of .-guns
after April ; of 1983 and: call for the registration of all conceal-
able handguns by November, 1983. The initiative only dealt .with
conceal able handguns, which Wass what the Council had asked the P&P
Committee to look at. The initiative would ensure that the legis-
lature would not be able to ban handguns, shotguns or rifles com-
pletely and . would remove the legislature's authority. in the area
completely. It would requi re a vote of the people to impose any...
kind of ban on weapons in the future. The initiative represented
a ,middle of the road measure and would not go e0 far > as -to ban : all
ownership of handguns, but would essenti el ly put a freeze on the
number of guns now in circulation within the. State of California.
He i personally. fei t ,that tiJi to mat the,:. ki"nde ssee that e shou:l . be
considered on "a statewide basis —obviously any action _takeii by the >.
City of Palo Alto would have small effect .; if the surrounding comp
Pool ties didnot take stoner,.;measures. He= personally_ fel=t,•that
the State measure was a .good One and would do a great deal towards
eliminating the amount of deaths and Injuries each year; caused by
concealable small weatpens.
MOTION: tonscitnember Levy moved seconded by Fletcher, that
the Council go on record as endorsing Proposition 15.
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Donald L. Cline, 2455 Alvarado Drive, asked whether anyone besides
Councilmembers Levy and Fletcher had read Proposition 15. If all
the controversies about handguns were stripped away, and the
initiative looked at the way it was written , it was a rotten law.
One paragraph said an individual must be 18 years old to buy a
handgun, and another paragraph stated that someone must be 21
years old to possess a handgun. There were several paragraphs
that were poorly written. He disagreed with Counci l member Levy
that the initiative was not confiscatory. If there were actually
four to six million handguns in the State of California, and if it
were assumed that it worked out to one handgun per resident of the
State of California, then after the date the law would become
effective, all future residents of California would not have the
option of shooting on a target range with a handgun, metal is sil-
houette shooting, and the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984
would not be allowed to have their pistol competition The entire
matter was ridiculous. For example, the law implied that it would
be a misdemeanor for the first offense of carrying a concealed
registered handgun. If the handgun were not unregistered, it
would be a felony. He said there were police officers that did
not enforce the law, and Police Magazine recently reported that 97
percent of the line officers and administrative personnel all
across the United States were opposed to the law. He would hate
to see this or any other Council pass a law as naive as this one.
The San Jose Mercurl who very much supported the handgun initia-
tive had stated that it would obviously not keep guns out of the
hands :of criminals. He submitted that if that were the case, what
was the point because guns in the hands of law abiding people were
not a problem. He said there were so many laws that it made as
much sense to pass another law against murder or assault with a
deadly weapon.
Amy Vossbrinck, 552 Kellogg Avenue, said that six of the nine City
Councilmembers, including Mayor Eyerly, the entire Human Relations
Commission and former Mayor Alan Henderson endorsed Proposition 15
as individuals. Most police chiefs in the ;state of California
endorsed the initiative because it was fair, cost effective and
constitutional. It was endorsed because it allowed people who
wanted to have handguns to keep their handguns and it took hand-
guns away from criminals. It was already pointed out that crimi-
nals would not register the handguns. Unregistered handguns would
be confiscated and owners of such weapons would be put in jail for
six months. The question before the Council was whether it was
within its jurisdiction to endorse the initiative. She said, yes,
because society, was such that individuals had to take responsi-
bility sometimes for things that were felt to be beyond their
immediate responsibility. She paralleled the decision regarding
Proposition 15 and the Crime Prevention Program in Palo Alto. The
program workedbecause individuals in their neighborhoods agreed
to take responsibility .for more than just their individual homes.
They agreed to watch out for their neighbors and call in when they
saw something suspicious. It could be said, that it was in their
best interests because it protected theirs neighborhood, but that
could also be said about the initiative. It was in the hest
interests of the City Council and the people of Palo Alto to
endorse Proposition 15. The, City of Palo Alto, its City Council,
and :the Police Department were powerful in the State of
California, and Council's decision tonight would say something to
the people of the State of California. She encouraged the Council
to use its power to endorse the ` Proposition
Judy Sorey, 220 O'Connor, felt that ,.the Council should endorse
Proposition 15. The Menlo Park City Council endorsed the initia-
tive " two months ago because it.. was felt that the issue was rele-
vant to the City. She urged the Council to endorse the . issue,
Menlo Park Police .Chief McNamara suggested that the City= ;Cot fl 1l
endorse the 1 ni ti a.ti ve, and the : Police Department had commented
that almost daily they had to respond to a handgun crime in Menlo.
Park. In the lest 22 days, the Palo Alto Police Department
responded 11 times to handgun crimes. That was every other day,
but still enough of a number to indicate the problem.
Robert Pope, 537 Hi l bar Lane, .said he moved his family and his
business to Palo Alto three years ago because he perceived the
City to have a quality of life that was second to, none in
California. Palo Alto stood for so many things because the people
of Palo Alto, through their elective representatives, took stands
on issues dealing with the sustaining of live and with the
ongoingness of life. He spoke of the lead position on energy con-
servation taken by the City, and its stand on the nuclear freeze.
He submitted that the handgun initiative was another one of those
issues that dealt with life and the quality of life, and another
opportunity for Palo Alto to take a stand on something that was
important to the people. He was confident that . each of the
Councilmembers were apprised of the issues and were impressed by
the ; reasonableness of an.. issue that requested only that those
people who felt a legitimate need to have a handgun would
register. It seemed a cruel bit of irony if a Council that would
express unanimous concern over the safety of fireworks could not
express _ that same concern with handguns.
John Walker, 19375 Greenwood Circle, Cupertino, spoke of an
experience he had with a little boy being shot, and recently spoke
with a ,. friend who remembered the occasion. His friend said the
young man who p1 ayed with his father's gun and shot a hole in hi s
friend, was cleaning a pistol about eight years later which went
off and blew a hole in him. He submitted that perhaps pistols
were dangerous. He observed that when laws were written , they
were tested by the courts. A perfect law had never been written,
but it appeared that the time had come when those who abhor vio-
lence and seeing people killed uselessly needed to say stop.
Handguns in and of themselves did not kill people --people killed
people --but if the weapon were taken out of the hands of people
and its use restricted, it might save a life or two. Automobiles
were i icenced, and before receiving a driver's license one had to
pass a test, perhaps the sale should occur with handguns. Control
of something that killed a large number of people every year was
needed; and, it behooved the Council, as well as those who felt
strongly about wanton and ofted careless death and destruction, to
take a position.
Philip Eure, 326 Roble Hall, Stanford University, urged the
Council to endorse Proposition 15, the handgun registration
initiative. As a representative of Californians Against Street
Crime, the sponsors of Proposition 15, he worked in Palo Alto
,during the unmet and met with law enforcement officials, members
of the clergy, and supporters of handgun control and tried to
mob i l i ze ., support for Proposition 15. Everyone he met with was
interested in stemming the rising tide of handgun violence. The
Proliferation of handguns and handgun related violence had reached
epidemic propositions in the nation and in California. Last year,
there were 11,522 murders committed With handguns in the Country,
1247 of which were committed' in ` California. In the past five
years, the number of . people murdered with handguns in the State of.
California had risen by, 158 percent. Proposition 15 was .a
sensible response to the problem. It . was a good .,law because t,,
was aimed at limiting criminal access to street guns while" :pre-
serving the right of .,law abiding citizens to own their own guns.
Thethree major provisions of the law included:' 1) comprehensive
registration; 2) mandatory prison" sentences for people caught
carrying unlicensed .guns; and 3)_ limitation on .the sale of new
guns. The gun lobby advocated doing nothing,' but whether Propose-:
tiers 15 was totally or partially successful, it was >time to do
something. Given the experience in Massachusetts, ,which had, a
siM1 iar law, there was every reason ;to b(el ieve that `Proposi ti"on -15.
vioUild : work in California. The passage of Prop. 45 would be a
stand ',by ,. the people, to control the prkbl i fer.at i on of handguns and
handgun -related violence. Enough was enough. The :Palo 'Alto City,
Council was a wed l respected body state'wfde; ` consequently, , a vote
to endorse Proposf ti on 15 :_:would encourage other city councils and
voters , to do 'likewise. We Must ail take respons#bil i ty and, actto
control' the epidemic of handgun Violence. A vote to endorse
Proposition 15 was an acknowledgment of,_ that responsibility. He
urged the Council to endorse Proposi ti,on 15.
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Karen Harwell, 1335 Dana, said that as she began to study the
issue, she became aware that the problem was of epidemic propor-
tions. In countries considered civilized like the United
States --Great Britain, Switzerland, Canada --their statistics did
not even compare with the United States. Last year, Great Britain
had eight handgun murders; Switzerland had 34; Canada had 52;
Israel had 58; Sweden had 21; West Germany had 42; and the united
States had 10,278. She was appalled at what was happening, and
did not understand how the United States could have such violence
in its society. She concluded that there was so much violence
because because it was allowed. People must be able to prove
their accountability before being issued a driver's license, and
yet people were allowed to have weapons with no accountability.
She felt that the initiative was an accountability it was the
duty of citizenship. A uniform standard was necessary for the
ownership, transportation and distribution of handguns.
James Lyttle, 930 Roble Ridge, said that although he preferred
that handguns be completely banned, the passage of Proposition 15
would considerably reduce handgun abuse✓=;. The evidence was over-
whelming that where handguns were controlled in the United States
and other parts of the world, the number of manslaughter and gun
accidents were measurably reduced. The legislation made sense and
he urged endorsement.
Carroll U. Fruth, 108 Lois Lane, said he had no use for incompe-
tent and irresponsiole parents who left guns around. At the
present time there were over 20,000 laws on the books --all of
which said that a criminal could not possess a gun. Only one of
those laws was effective. In the case of Hanes vs. United States,
the Supreme Court stated that a cririna was no require o
register any gun, to declare it, or to turn it in. In other
words, the initiative would not disarm a single criminal. The
violence on the part of the criminal element would increase
because they would have a never ending supply of guns. He under-
stood that the cocaine/heroin import sever line was in good shape.
Guns would simply be added to their merchandise. He felt the leg-
islation would do nothing to deter crime, but merely put a burden
on the honest public. He was satisfied that Proposition 15 would
have no effect on the criminal element and could nit urge its sup-
port.
Counc i lmember Fazzino said he had already endorsed the proposal
publicly, and applauded Councilmembers Levy and Fletcher for
bringing the matter up tonight. He totally supported ::the initia-
tive and believed. it was 15 years overdue. Registration,
licensing and a freeze on guns was far more effective than a .city
by city ban on guns. II was incredible to him that people were
still opposed to registration of firearms. There were parts of
the proposed law which made him grimace given the poor wordman-
ship, but the basic intent of the law was clear and could with-
stand a court challenge. He viewed the initiative as being much
more of an "anti -crime" than "anti -gun" bill, and believed that
the law must be used in conjunction with the "use a gun, go to
jail' approach. The mandatory jail term was an important aspect
of the bill to signify the seriousness of the measure. He was
upset each time the the pro- gun lobby in the Country became
hysterical about constitutional aiid other \_rights particularly when
when they were not talking about confiscation --simply registration
and licensing. There were many other tools and machines used in
life which were registered and licensed, and it was incredible to
him that anyone could _-become upset about a gun being registered.
He encouraged Councl 1 , support of Proposition 15.
Counc i l member_ Fletcher said she collected a few newspaper articles
this summer and presented a few headlines. San Jose Mercury, July
6, 1982, "Girl ..eleven wounded - by adults' gun `tight wn1 cli was . a
family feud Peninsula Times/Tribune, August 5, 1982, "Gun fire
kills Los °Ange er -g r yea d girl was injured by target
shooters. Peninsula Times/Tribune, August 5, 1982, "Victim of
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9/27/82
As Corrected
12/20/82
Redwood City shootout may be hospitalized rest of fife. Eleven -
year old Sunnyvale girl was caught in the cross fire of shooting
incident in Redwood City." San Jose Mercury, September 2, 1982,
"Two-year .old dies after shoos; g h1msel f. Father kept gun in San
Jose home for protection against prowlers." The particular young-
ster pushed a chair up against a filing cabinet and opened a
drawer the father: never realized he could reach. September 20,
1982, "Teen wounded in cross fire in East Palo Alto." She did not
know .how many children had been killed accidently in California,
but 156 children, age 12 and under, were killed nationally in
1981. To say that Proposi ton 15 would not keep guns out of the
hands of criminals was not accurate. The number of handguns was
increasing by 500,000 per year in the State of California. Many
of those guns wound up in the hands of criminals as a result of
burglaries. Another headline in the San Jose Mercury, July 21,
stated "At Age 12, he was accused of borron977-77m5777 years old
was a member of a teen gang that burl ari zed homes and stole cans
of juice and packs of crackers, radios and guns." Guns wound up
in the hands of criminals if they were in the homes of people with
no criminel intentions. A 197E study by the U. S. Conference of
Mayors concluded that a handgun kept in the home was far more
likely to cause serious injury or death to a family member than to
an intruder. The United States was the only industrialized
country in the world that did not put reasonable controls on hand-
guns, and the statistics show the results. There were 30,000
crimes in California every year, and 2,000 in California due as a
result. It was time to put a stop to the increasing use of hand-
guns. tianguns were available to almost anyone without any con-
trols. She urged support of Proposition 15.
Councilrrember Levy commented that Ms. Vossbrinck mentioned that
Mayor Eyerly had endorsed the initiative, and pointed out that
Mayor Eyerly had written a memo, which was included in the
Council's packet, before he left on vacation asking support of the
Proposition. He reiterated that Proposition 15 did not call for
confiscation of handguns in any way, but rather the registration
of all concealable handguns currently in existence in the State of
California. in fact, it opened a window after November,, 1982, so
that citizens desiring to acquire a handgun before April of 1983,
it could still do so. After April: of 1983, the legislation
required that the sale ,of new handguns would cease. Guns in the
possession of individuaVs could still be sold to other individuals
and registered. He appreciated the tremendous support he received
from Palo Alto residents who.,appeared to support the initiative in
tremendous numbers... He urged -'Counci 1 endorsement .of Proposition
15.
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Eyerly absent.
ITEM #16, RECD ZEST OF COUNCIL MEMBER FAllINO THAT STAFF BE DIRECTED
Councilmember Fazzino said that recently a member of the public
had presented a proposed :amendment to the Smoking Ordinance. He
placed the item or the agenda for Council consideration.
Susan Macafee, Mill Valley, said last week she presented the
Council with a copy of the City of San Rafael's ordinance which
was. _amended in July. She presented two pieces of literature- in
response to Counc i l member Cobb request for : proof that -there were
types of air . venti l l ati ng equipment on the market that ''removed
smoke from the air. A particle count made by the Pale Alto Police
nepartment,l ast year showed how many minutes it took to take 'smoke
particles out of the air. She also presented a Peninsula Times
Tribune article which dealt; with how the people thin the"'""Tty
a Cati ens - Department felt about sitting Text to someone who.
smoked. She was before the Council beckute she felt that restau-
rants and bars should be offered the - al ternatl ve or puchas1 ng air
purification' equipment.
Councilmember Fazzino asked Mr. Zaner for comments regarding the
San Rafael ordinance and whether the City had received concerns
from restaurant owners or others about the need for the air
purification equipment.
City Manager Bill Zaner said that after receipt of Ms. Macafee's
letter last week-, he made .a request of departments .to determine
whether there were any complaints or difficulties in enforcement
or implementation of Palo Alto's own ordinance. He found no com
plaints, difficulties or requests for exeMpti ons or relaxation in
the restrictions. The ordinance appeared to be working well-, and
the enforcement procedures did not appear to have :any problems.
He saw no problem with the City's existing ordinance and no need
to make any changes at this point.
City Attorney Diane Lee said that Section 8.!4.070(b) of Palo
Alto's Smoking Ordinance provided that "the ventilation exceptions
shall not apply to the following areas where smoking is to be
absolutely prohibited.: ..elevators, restaurants...." The ordinance
went on to list some areas where the exception for ventilation
would not be allowed.
Counci lmember Cobb said he suffered from cigarette smoke, and that
there were restaurants in town where the ordinance was no.t in
force. He asked how that was handled,
Mr. Zaner responded that it was done on a complaint basis, The
patrons normally would call and the City sent someone out to check
and make sure that the areas were designated "smoking" or "non--
smoking." -
Councilmember Fazzino said that after discussing the matter- with
staff and ascertaining that no concerns had been raised by members
of the public about implementation of the Smoking Ordinance, he
was disinclined to move -ahead with any changes.
NO ACTIN TAKEN
ITEM #I7, REQUEST OF VICE MAYOR BECHTEL RE ARNUJAL REPORT
Vice Mayor Bechtel said that most years, the City Manager prepared
a report ' to the ci ti zens enti tl ed "CI ty of Pal o Al to Annual
Report." Usually -the report was received at approximately, the
same time by citizens and Councilmembers. - This past year, there
was an arrangement made with the Palo Alto Weekly and the report
was inserted in that newspaper and distributed to every home in ,
the City. She had no quibble with the general report, but thought
it would be appropriate if the report included a simplified anneal
revenue and expenditure report. She sai d the report contained a
number of items which staff presented as being of particular
interest to the citizenry. She was not suggesting that the
Council go through the report on a word for word basis, but
believed it would be valuable if the report were brought to the
Council prier to. its distribution to the citizenry. At the same
time, the Council should have the option of approving the general
policies as to kinds of items such as the pie charts and other
items, that would be of value . in the annual. report.
NOTION: Vier : Mayor Bechtel sieved, seconded by Klee, that *ten
the- Reseal: Report is prepared, staff give Council tee days to
respond . before it Is ' completed dad include revenue did expoedl tote
report and -"pi a :chart. °
Councllmeober . Fazzi no sai d he wanted veto pow-er.' dyer the°Epi ct�aires
contained .1n the .report_ :Beyond that, he ;thought- the— pie_ chart
-approach was a -good one, but encouraged that it not `be "p.ut on the
ogende.and gone over like 'the Comprehensive -Plan. . He did- not mind
having -.the basic ideas brought —to the CoOncfl ,- but .urged : the
_ Council to remember that it --sWitt a staff annual-,- report. ::
of general gui del Ines, the . Council should make that dec i Sion ` as
.long as it was finally produced and allowed tia be :sent out by City
staff.
Councilmember Klein said the motion was well taken. The .Council
may know it was a staff report primarily, but the cover said "City
of Palo Alto Annual Report." The citizenry had every right to
expect that a City of Palo Al to Annual Report some way or another
had the imprimatur of the City Council.
City Manager Bill Zaner encouraged the Council not to adopt the
motion. He had no problem with Counci 1member s making suggestions
about items which should be included in the report. If budget
data was of interest to people, that was fine. Departments were
requested to prepare newsworthy articles about what had been done,
but to establish a committee of the Council or the Council itsel f
to edit the document would tie the Council into detail that would
never end. He said he was so distressed during the report process
last year that he omitted it from the budget this year. .
Vice Mayor Bechtel said her motion did not intend that the City
Council edit the annual report nor would she like to see a
committee of the Council do so . She thought it would be valuable,
however, for the fi n i shed product, to be circulated for the
Council's information.
Mr. Zaner said staff would be happy to forward the galley =proofs
to the .Council. The difficulty would come when a Councilmember
wanted to do one thing and another wanted to do something else on
the same issue or story.
Councilmember Witherspoon agreed with Mr. Zaner that the Council
should not be involved with the report at all except to edit their
own photos.
Vice Mayor Bechtel and Counci1member Klein agreed to include that
the report be circulated to the Council with ten days to rc:.pnra
Council member Levy was not excited about the motion, and felt that
Mr. Zaner's remarks were valid. He insisted that since the
Council had been sub.i ected for the past years to having i ithei:r
photos in the report, that next year it should be staff's turn
Council's setting general objectives was fine, but to do anything
el se beyond that was not only a poor use of Council's time, but
would set a terrible precedent for other elements of communica-
tions in the future. He would only support the .motion if the
Council only set general ab j ec ti ves for the City's Annual Report.
Vice Mayor Bechtel agreed with Counci 1 member Klein that the Report
represented a City document, contained the Counci1members '
pictures at the beginning, and looked to the public as if the
positions and statements' contained therein were those of the City
Council .:. She believed that since the report was done with City:
money, it should have some input as _to the general goals and
objectives. She did not want the Ceiuncil involved in rewriting`
the document each year.
Counci lmember Fazzi no commented that 'the first annual report was
created in 1904 and after the report in 1975, the. custom was
stopped for about three or four. years. He gave the staff credit.
that all statements contained in those reports were simply an
#ndication of City policy as adopted by a majority of the. Council .'
No controversial • statements had been *ode about :.where the ; City
WW1*, be __ gel ng- all statements related ;to , adopted::,forwal:: City
P01,4y. r. &1O - f i.t that. Was important to re bera
MOTIOl
voting
0 by, a vote of 5.3, Levy F1 et ber and $1 ther.spe40d.
.fl y absent.;
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9/27/82
ITEM #18, REQUEST OF COUNCILMEMBER FLETCHER RE DUMBARTON BRIDGE,
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APPROVED:
Counci lmember Fletcher said that the new Dumbarton Bridge would be
put to use on October 3, 1982 prior to its being opened to motor
traffic. On October 3, 1982, the bridge would open to bicyclists
and pedestrians, The day was scheduled to begin with a foot race
which will start at the Bohannon Industrial Park in Menlo Park.
People could register that day from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. for
$10. The race would go across the new bridge, with no automobile
traffic fumes, and end at the wildlife refuge on the east side of
the bridge. Then, the bridge would be opened to anyone_ wishing to
walk or ride a bicycle. An organized bicycle group ride --not
race --will leave from the Menlo Park Recreation Center at 12:15
p.m. for a leisurely ride up to the crest of the bridge where
there will be a ceremonial event. Governor Brown was expected to
attend. ` A shuttle service would be provided from a park and ride
lot to be announced. She said the bridge would mark the first
time that bicyclists would be legally allowed to ride on any
bridge across the bay and she intended to ride across the bridge
and take BART to Oakland when she had to attend meetings there.
The public was invited and urged to attend the ceremonies for the
new Dumbarton Bridge.
NO ACTION TAKEN
ITEM #19, REQUEST OF COUNCILMEMBER RENZEL RE STANFORD LIAISON
Counci lmember Renzel said that the Council received in this week's
packet the March 29 and June 17 minutes of the Stanford/Palo Al to
Liaison Committee. The minutes were interesting, but took a long
time to get to the Council. She felt that two page minutes could
be turned around a little faster than two or three months. She
requested that staff somehow expedite Council receipt of the
minutes.
Mr. Zaner advised that City staff had so much trouble getting
those two sets of minutes from Stanford that they volunteered to
take over al l admi ni sttati ve duties. The City __would now take all
the minutes and publish them in a more timely fashion.
NO ACTION TAKEN
ITEM #20, VICE MAYOR BECHTEL RE OCTOBER 18 MEETING
City Manager Bill Zaner advised that the matter would be brought
up for formal action next week.
ADJOURNMENT
Council adjourned at. 11:55 p.
ATTEST:
.4-44. 41'r
Assi s.tant City C1_erk-
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9/27/82