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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-06-06 City Council Summary MinutesRegular Meeting June 6, 1977 ITEM PAGE Oral Communications 9 9 7 Consent Calendar - Action Items 9 9 7 Landscape Plan - Duck Pond Area - Palo Alto Yacht Harbor 9 9 7 9 9 7 Ordinance re Residential Uses in Areas Subje t to Moratorium Provisions Of Ordinance No. 2958 South Bay Dischargers Authority Administrative and Capital Budgets for Fiscal Year 1977-78 Executive Agreement - Bullis Waste Water Lift Station inter- system Relief for the City of Leos Altos Power Parcel - Extension of BRAMCO Developments Inc., Option Stop Sign System Updating Underground Conversion -- 700 Block, Ramona Avenue Public Hearing: Water Conservation and Portioning Plan Baylanda Master Plan and Yacht Harbor Council Study Session Adjournment in Memory of Reid Bogert 9 9 7 9 9 8 998 9 9 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 1 0 1 3 1 0 1 3 9 9 6 6/6/77 Regular Meeting June f, 1977 The City Council of the City of Palo alto met on this date at 7:45 p.m. in a regular meeting, with Mayor Norton presiding. PRESENT: Beahrs, Berweld, Carey, Clay, Comstock, Eyerly, Norton, Sher, Witherspoon ABSENT: None ,COMMUNICATIONS None CONSENT CALENDAR Referral Items None Action Items Councilman Sher asked that Item 2, regarding Barron Square be removed for later discussion. The following items remained on the Consent Calendar, Action Items: Laudsc a e Plan — Duck Pond Area •- Pala Alto Yacht Harbor ORDINANCE 2991 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF TRE CITY OF PALO ALTO APP ROY I NG AND ADOPTING LANDSCAPE PLANS FOR THE DUCK POND AREA OF THE PALO ALTO YACHT HARBOR." (1st reading 5/23/77) Ordinance Re Residential Uses in Areas ORDINANCE 2992 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING ORDINANCE 2958 TO ALLOW COMMENCEMENT OF RESIDENTIAL USES n AREAS SUBJECT TO MORATORIUM PROVISIONS OF ORDINANCE 2958." (lst reading 5/16/77) The ordinance would allow residential uses other than single-family uses to be commenced in existing single family dwellings as long as it is permitted by the current toning and compliee with all other applicable lass. It would encompass uses such as a boarding house like that proposed by the Palo Alto Adolescent Services. A use permit is required fir such a use, and no expansion of the building is permitted. South Be Diechar ers Authorit etas or Fiscal Year i 7:7) The South Bay Dischargers Authority works in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Water Resources Control Board to calibrate and verify the deterministic model of the South San Francisco Bay receiving waters, and to identify and catalog areas of Sante Clara County where disposal of reclaimed wastewater for crop irrigation could be considered a viable alternative. Completion of the update/verification of the Hydroacience Water Quality Model is scheduled for April, 1978. Public hearings on the draft of the Environmental Impact Statement will be held subsequent to that. It is recommended that Council approve the a4mipistrative and capital budgets proposed for the 1977-78 operations df the South Bayv'pischargers Authority. �s,:utive reeaent - Bullis Waste Water r.ru�rr� Lift Sttati.an Int�eru areas e1ie for the ty o Loa Altos CMR:3 3: In the spring of 1972, residents of Palo Alto on Miranda Avenue complained that raw serge had overflowed from the Bullis Lift Station into Adobe Creek on several occasions during power outages and plop failures. A. investi- gation at that time revealed that it was possible to divert all the sewage flowing from this Ins Altos pump station into the nearby Palo Alto collection system serving Miranda Drive. Consequently, under the terms of an executive agreement entered into by the two cities or June 22, 1972, the City of Los Altos was permitted to construct an overflow bypass into the Palo Alto system. This bypass was to be used only during times of pump -station failure and only upon notification of appropriate Palo Alto operating personnel. Additionally, Palo Alto engineers worked with ataff members of the City of Los Altos to improve the reliability of the lift station and to improve the response tine of operating pereonnel during times of emergency. The actiops taken have averted any additional overflows of wastewater from this station to Adobe Creek; and has, therefore, solved a potential public health and nuisance problem. It is recommended that Council authorize the executiou of the Executive Agreement Bullis Station Intersystem Sewage Relief, Los Altos, for an additional period of five years. Amenaaer.t No. 1 to Contract No. 3433 BULLIS STATION INTERSYSTEM SEWAGE RELIEF —LOS ALTOS Peter Parcel - Eztenaiou of Bd Develo ants . , ton On January 3, 1977, the City Council entered into an agreement with BRANCO Develop.ents, Inc., for purchase of the Per Parcels land bank site. That agreement require* BRANCO to develop the site with low and aerate income housing for the elderly der HUDIa Section 8 rental housing programs. Section 5(a) of the sales agreement requires the buyer to open escrow by June 18, 1977. By mutual agreement, the opening may be extended for three months for an additional $1, 000 in earnest mousy applicable to the purchase price. The letter requests that the extension be for six rather than three month*. The extension is necessary because of delays in the HUD spproval process as mail as HUD required modifications to the building design. It is recommended that Council approve the attached agreement to extend the opening of escrow six months to December 18, 1977, for an additional $1,000 in earnest money. Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 3803 AGE FOR SALE OF REAL PROPERTY B ANCO DIVEROPMENTS, INC. Stoa sign Smst: (CMR:321:7) The date from a system adopted by Council August 4, 1969, improves safety and provides for ] arrosnn Park. In some cssseess the staff's recom- mendations are not booed o*s traditional ional justifications for stop afga 996 6/6/77 'te which consider recorded accident history and vehicular right-of-way but are predicated on consistency with the Council's adopted traffic control policy of "guard acid go." RESOLUTION 5409 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING RESOLUTION 4291 CHANGING THE CITYWIDE STOP INTERSECTION SYSTEM AND MAP" Under round Conversion - 700 Hlock Rai of a avenue cMR: : 7 cMR; 31$ : 7 ) In addition to the obvious esthetic improvement desired by the petitioners, that in, a majority of those owning property abutting the 700 Ramona block, there is a considerable saving of money for the Palo Altai electric utility in undertaking that work at this time of construction of a condominium at Ramona and Homer. It is recommended that the Council approve the petition and direct the staff to prepare the necessary reaolution of intent and an Engineer's report for their consideration. MOTION: Councilman Berwald moved, seconded by Witherspoon, that Council approve the ordinances and adopt the resolution and staff recommendations. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. PUBLIC HEARING: WATER CONSERVATION AND RATIONING PLAN CMR:324:7) Mayor Norton informed the audience that this is the time and place for a public hearing which had been scheduled and duly advertised on the City's proposed Water Rationing Conservation Program. The purpose of the hearing is to receive and hear comments about the City's program. Anyone interested, he said, was therefore welcome to address the Council on any part of the program. Objections or endorsements of the proposed allocation system, fines and/or penalty provisions may be made. Formal action on the item, he continued, has been scheduled for June 20. This will allow staff tine to incorporate pertinent comments from this evening's public hearing in the final draft of the proposed regulations. He declared the meeting open. Janice Diane, 3153 Stelling, expressed conceir. that the prog%ied nI n might punish people who had conscientiously been conserving water througneee the previous year. On the matter of washing vehicles with a running hose, she felt the fines were excessive, that is $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense and $250 for the third offense. She said her household of four adults were on the voluntary reduction program and she felt they should be able to choose how they used their water allocation. She found that her monitored water usage was almost the same for a personal shower as a car washing. She suggested that the City could issue a citation, but that the person cited could show her water allotment card (with its statement of water usage) in lieu of paying a fine. Mayor Norton said he would have staff summarise the water conservation plan and perhaps is that way dispel any misapprehensions. Ed Aghjays,n, Director of Public Utilities, said that a running hose could be weed to wash a car providing the nozzle on the hone was the kind that shut off automatically so that the eater was not ruxinin;g continuously. He said some portions of the proposed water rationing program were not understood: he would try to clarify them end also he would describe the severity of the drought condition. He said that on February 22, 1977, the Public Utilities Commission of San Francisco declared a water emergency 9 9 9 6/6/77 and directed Palo Alto's supplier, the San Francisco Water District, to reduce consumption 25 percent. For that reason staff recommended water rationing. On June 1, when Hetch Hetchy had received all of the expected water runoff for the season, there were 105 billion gallons of water in the reservoir. The total capacity of the reservoir was 291 billion gallons --36 percent of capacity. All reservoirs in the state showed reservoirs at about 10 to 40 percent of normal capacity. In 1976 the total delivery of the Retch Hetchy !system had been 107 billion gallons, about 9 billion gallons per month. Thirty billion gallons was the bare minimum~ for storage, which meant about 75 billion gallons were available for consumption. If conditions stay as they are, the bare minimum 30 billion gallons will be tapped into by 1979. Though the City was recommending a cutback of 25 percent, their objective was to have consumers cut back even more, and voluntarily. After the rainy season and amounts of runoff are known the rationing program will be completely re --evaluated. Mr. Aghjayan reviewed the steps taken by the City to bring its citizens dp to date on ways to conserve water, a7xi noted that the ordinaac.e stating certain prohibitions on water use had gone into effect icy 18. On April 4 Council had approved the rationing plan in concept, but had stipulated that before any fines or penalties were enforced a public hearing was to take place. After public input, to take place that evening, staff would return in about two weeks to Council with a final version of fines and penalties provisions for Council's approval. Figures disclosed that about 13 percent of Palo Altana were using over their allocations. Were they to meet those Corrected allocations, 45 45 million gallons of water per month would be saved. See pg. 1086 James Hudak, City Treasurer, said that the City had examined conservation plans of other cities and coccluded that no plan could be "universally recognized as equitable." The eleven criteria Palo Alto staff used in evaluating plans for possible use were 1) cut consumption by at least 25 percent; 2) awake sure that sufficient water is available in every household for personal use; 3) to develop an equitable program; 4) to find a program which was acceptable to the community; 5) to minimize employment or business loss; 6) to minimize damage to landscaping; 7) to provide for hardegtip exceptions; 8) to have a workable and easily administered (enforced) plan; 9) to have flexibility, so that goals could change as the drought situation changed; 10) a plan caiaaisteent with other Bay Area Districts, and 11) to allow for new hookups to water service. The differences between Palo Alto's plan and others was that Palo Alto provided a basic allotment of 10 units of water per month for every customer, and than it required a large percentage of consumption cut above that 10 unit allocation. Par. Hudak said the plan could be compared to e progressive income tax. He gave " the proportional -to --use reductions. He felt that ten units was an adequate ration for those uho praactieed normal conservation methods hater use correlated more with lot else, they bad found, rather than with aura of people in the household, and they felt those people should be allowed more water, while, at the saw time, they should also make proportionately greater cuts in usage. Apartment dwellers would be allowed 10 units par household; commercial users were a*ied to reduce use of processed water by 20 percent and in irrigation avatar, 50 percent. For public facilities a 30 percent reduction was being required, with the City itself reducing use 40 percent. The overall reduction for the City would be 26 percent, one percent more than the 25 percent cut requested by the San Francisco Water District. Water use in single- family his is April bed been cut 57 percent compared to a year ago, saulti- family had cut 30 percent, and commercial had cut 30 percent, a significant change; industrial had cut 34 percent, public facilities 40 percent, City departments 55 percent. The overall reduction ttaeni for April, had been 44 percent. Of co craws., had the 13 percent who have not cut their consumption done so, the total reduction would have been about 53 percent. A per capita rationing program had not been used for the reasons of 1) seasonality, 2) landscaping, and 3) coat et administration. A fines provision was 1000 6/6/77 proposed for those who did net meet mandated cuts in water consumption and he gave those fines. Since the City did not want people to use more water just because they could afford to pay the fines, the flow restricting part of the penalty had been evade the most difficult, for those who disregarded conservation would have flow rrstrictore installed for specified lengths of time, and persistent violations would lead to having water cut off. That plan was consistent with penalties in other communities. Mayor Norton confirmed that the 13 percent of users over their water allocations were in the commercial/industrial area --11 percent of home users were over to a cumulative of about 11,000 units; 18 percent of multi -family meters were over by 5,000 unite. He gave the cumu1ativee for the other classifications. Councilmen Comstock asked why a mandatory program was needed when the voluntary program was so effective. Mr. Hudak replied that if 13 to overuse it wee feared the One neighbor might say, "Why I am cutting back?" The May use that would change as dry percent of the users were permitted to continue balance of the community would do likewise. should my neighbor have a•green lawn when rains perhaps yielded some distortion in weather continued. Councilman Comstock asked about the per capita program. Mr. Hudak said the per capita program would not allow people to meet landscaping needs for larger than conventional city lots. Also, over 70 percent of single --family homes had cut back to less than ten units. Vice Mayor Clay asked if all comparisons were to be made with the corresponding month in the previous year. Mi. Hudak replied in the affirmative. The basic 10 -unit ration had been allowed in case the family had been gone in the corresponding month of the previous year. He said the average consumption per 2.5 -person household was about 17.6 units per month. Marin County allowed only about 5 units per household. Councilman ors said that since business paid about 60 percent of the taxes for Palo Alto he did not want to see theca 'go under' with the water problem. He asked if any .provision for liberalizing the program had been made. Mr. Hudak *mid there was a hardship provision in the program asking that a written petition be filed an4 Oat -the manager of the utility department could act on it. The application could be made only getter the applicaxt had adopted all practical suer conservation methods. Then, if the water allocation was so diminiehed as to affect the health, safety, and sanitation or have an unusual economic impact, such as loss of landscaping investment or loss of income or Jobe, it could be made. Councilman Malice asked if staff could act on an ordinance expeditiously. Mr. Hudak said the City had received shout Si applications, which they intended to act on as soon as possible. Councilmen Baehrs observed that soma people appeared to welcome the water shortage so that they could "...let their neighborhoods go to hell.." Councilman Sher asked about the possibility of making daily projections based on last year's use. 1 0 0 1 6/6/77 Mr. Hudak said the possibility had some merit and the computer could do it, but it was somewhat complicated. Councilman Carey asked why staff had not taken 75 percent of the 17.6 units per month and used that as the lifeline for water consumption. Would that not have resulted in reaching the 25 percent reduction? Mr. Hudak said that from the pature of the data bane along with hardship and new eervice ap?licationse it seemed prudent to allow one extra percent within an average month. The unit block of 10 had been chosen because the bulk of the water userst were within it. Also, the higher the ration the more drastic the cutback would be for those who were larger consvaeers. The range of -16 to 20 unit use last year would be allowed 14 to 16 units this year, resulting in a 15 to 30 percent reduction. Don Stevens, 3403 Alma, represented a coin -operated laundry. A computer error had been made ip his Say allocation, for it had been for 34 units and he had used 155 units, For the previous month his allocation had been 107 units, and in the month to crane his allocation was to be 84 units. He said that 34 units seemed an excessive difference. Had the City been working from the proposed penalty system his $69.00 water bill would have been $208.72. He read from a letter stating that since lauadromats were doing more business in 1977 than in 1976, it was possible they would have to shut down three months of the year in order to reach the mandatory cutback of 25 percent. They had to stay within the allotment or have their water shut off. The charge for each wash had to be doubled, which penalized their customers, unless they cut the amount of washing by 50 percent. An apartment building located near his laundroraat had said they were going to shut down their own laundries in order to stay within their allocation. His landlord also awned the apartment building. Mr. Steven said he had thought about closing his tau :dry until the water allocation was %ore favorable. He had a Laundromat is Mountain yiew where there was "plenty of water" and the only pe alty was that customers had to pay twice the price. He referred to obtaining help from 'flour national organiratioe but that he thought problems could be solved at home -- he felt laup4romats fell into a class which should have unrestricted use, for the health and welfare of the general public, and it was a hardship case for him. He esked Mr. Hudak if his sewer tax was going to rise proportionate to the water billing. Mr. Hudak said that the answer was "no." Kevin Owen, 1290 Hamilton Avenue, said he had written W. Hudak to suggest per capita allocation. He had owned his house for lose than a year and felt his family of five would receive unfair treatment if their allotment were based on usage by the previous household of two who had owned the home. He objected that in his area families with thews cr four children had twice his allotment. Ha compared that matter to a famine —those who had overeaten the previous year could continue to overeat, whereas theses who haul rationed food would starve this year. He urged that a plan be adopted that would allocate according to current household numbers. Robert A. Jack, 285 finconada Avenue, referred to Mr. Hudak's comments about allowing for flexibility and also hardship. He wondered if there were standards other than discretionary to allow for a case of a family that may have moved from a condominium into a house where there was a great deal of landscaping. Mr. Hudak replied that the water allocation would be based on the current residence, for it had been found that the amount of water consumed correlated more with the amount of landscaping than with the number of people. 1002 6/6/77 Mr. Jack asked what would happen were a man to marry a widow with three children, thereby increasing the water usage for that household, Mr. Hudak said that i,n that circumstance it would fit the general hardship circumstance, and would depend on how much water already allocated. Don Middlebrook, 3647 Bryant Street, said that the present water allocation for his house, based on previous ownership, was unfair, and he gave the change of circumstance. Re also cited the figures of earlier meter readings of his new address, showing their seeming discrepancies and aaiFing that the need for accurate' meter readings be emphasized. H. A. Rerkbeiaer, 765 Mayview Avenue, agreed that the size of the lot should determine water allotment. He said that when neighbors quit watering it drew the water from their own area. He instructed Council that much damage could be done to the interior of a house by permitting the ground to dry out around the foundation. Robert Braud, 1900 Lmbarcadero, said the Stuart Leeb Company, of which he was vice president, had recently developed 5 commercial buildings in Palo Alto. In appearance® before Council obtaining approval on aspects of those buildings he had observed that Palo Alto emphasized landscaping as a design component of any development. At considerable cost they had complied but under present tenantship the owners had no control over water usage, which led thew to fear the landscaping would die. A horticulturist had told the that their water need would be cut in half. He asked that their allocation have some scientific base, rather than previous year's use. He asked for a yearly, rather than monthly, allocation, and more accurate meter readings. Harold C. Ulrich, 2160 Bryant Street, was financial vice president of the California Water Service Company providing water service to many other communities. He spoke for himself as an individual. He pointed cut that the water shortage was not the same as oil, for it would be replenished. He offered a water allocation schedule reducing percentages, and cited inequities in the City's proposed schedule. He thought the lifeline unit of 10 units was too great, requiring no sacrifice on the part of many. Residents of Millbrae, Atherton, Menlo Park and others only had to cut an overall'25 percent, whereas some Palo Alto users might be called upon to make as high as a 45 percent reduction. He gave some examples of ceeming unfairness, as with community gardens which received unlimited water. Mr. Ulrich asked why, with the present concern about water, the well system had not been reactivated; though, as he recalled, well water it did not have a good taste, it could be used for Landscaping and laundry. The subsidence, which was feared if groundwater were used, had occurred only in south San Jose, and bad been halted by percolation from the South Hay Aqueduct. He said the water table in Los Altos had risen 140 feat within the last 10 years due to percolation. Sines the wells were available for emergency, what was the reason they were not available for this emergency? Since 'he had heard of several people who had dug shallow wells for their own irrigation be said the water department should be careful they did riot lose their customers for the future. He asked that Council consider lowering the lifeline allocation to 5 units, compatible with other localities, and use an across -the --board reduction method of 25 percent. He recommended that lautedrosmat owners be asked to cut only 10 percent. Bud luttrill, 1417 Parkinson, said he thought the City should say that everybody should cut back to 10eunit use or build into the plan provision for varieties in need. It ha.d been shown that about 30 percent of the families could not get by on the 10 -unit allocation. Eugene O' Sulliveu, 1547 Dans, marked on the attitui of stuff which was "wait -and -see if we bad any rain in the winter before stringent cuts ware mode, He objected to the fact that a decision ou an appeal for hardship Mould be seder the jurisdiction of only one person. Be asked-askedAoby the per capita allocation was not practical. 1 00 3 6/6/77 Joe Perez, 3728 Lindero, thought staff had produced a good plan. He felt an economic incentive toward increasing conservation should be given, perhaps the base charge could be waived and give a tangible pat on the back to those who conserved. Susan Selig, 405 Kingsley, praiie4 the water allocation plan iq Monterey, where users had to justify usage over their allocation. She spoke of inequities in allocations resulting from moving to another house or having an addition to the family. She asked tIlat .in this age of economic wizardry a system be tndividuaily designed for each household, Mrs. Jean Eng, 1445 Harker, co ep1ained that people did not conserve until they had used the entire 10 units since there was no fear of penalty involved. Since her own family had been conservative the prior year they were penalized in this present year. She suggested that if people had not used their 10 -unit allotment they be permitted to carry it over to subsequent mouths. Melvin Bernstein, 726 Loma Verde, commended the fairness of the plan. He spoke of the plight of those who had conserved earlier now being penalized later. He confirmed that the erratic meter readings others had mentioned occurred on his bills as well. Fred Kunkel, 765 Garland Drive, said he was an hydrologist for the past 25 years, and he approved the steps proposed by staff. He said he was going to cut back another 25 percent over bie previous year's cut of 25 percent, and rely on the hardship clause if he found he could not achieve that cut. He urge4 that some economic incentive be given for water conservation, for those who conserved were penalized with the present billing system, those who did not were rewarded. He displayed a chart showing the flaws in the proposed water rate hike, giving the gallons per dollar, which showed that under the present system the more water used the cheaper the rate. The proposed rate change did start to charge more as usage rose, and Mr. Kunkel approved of that ratio. He suggested charging a flat rate for water, and that there be no meter charge for those who held their water usage within 4 units. He made his data available to Council if they wished to look at it. Pardo Ivanek, 1646 Madrono, said his family occupied a home they had recently purchased and enlarged, so that present readings did not correspond at all with previous mailer readings. He had asked that their present allocation be based on readings from their former residence, but he had received a negative answer to his proposal. He asked that the plan be amended so that another recourse was open in the case of such denial. George Richardson, 604 Everett, said his situation was very similar to that of Mr. Ivanek. He also mentioned that hot tubs contained about 250 gallons, but that the savings of water over individual bathing was considerable, for about 15 showers filled a hot tub. Cbriatina Sims, 2784 South Court, said that a hot tub took only two- thirds of a unit of water and accommodated to over a month's use dithout requiring that the waver be changed. Council recessed from 9:30 to 9:50 G. 8. Potts, 2125 St. Francis, said he had leased a store on St. Francis Avenue which "...had hit rock -bottom.," and for his water allocation to be limited by that forcer store's usage would be a hardship and make it difficult to sleet loan obligations. Richard Landes, 3613 Arbutus, gave insteucea when household populations, with the present allocation of water, would suffer hardship. He suggested Hutt smaller step units of perhaps 5 units mould be more equitable. 1004 6/6/77 O' 1" C Lee Nelson, 950 University Avenue, said that use of a hot tub drastically reduced water consumption, for, with proper usage and faltering they were able to go over six nontles between re -fillings. She felt the City should reconsider its current stand on denying issuance of permits for installation of hot tubs. Collectively, small efforts at conservation had made it possible for them to stay well within their water allocation. Ben Johnson, 441 Nalsh Ro+ec{, said that Palo Alto was a pacesetter for other cities, and that their water conservation measures were good with the exception of banning installation of hot tubs as a conservation' measure. He said his fairly had noticed a dramatic decrease of water consumption since they had their hot tub installed He asked why they had been banned. Mr. Aghjayan replied that the water shortage presented a crisis situation and that along with permits for the installation of new swimming pools permits for hot tubs had been banned as well. It was a situation which was still being reviewed. .Joseph Carleton, 2350 Rose, said that on the face of it, it was illegal to charge different homeowner® different prices for the same commodity. He read from a letter he had sent to Council, saying the proposed water rationing plan peaalized those who conserved water last year and rewarded those who had been careless in its use. He stated that the matter of water rationing would have been an ideal undertaking for a citizens' group, and continued saying that those who landscaped might consider growing again the kinds of water -thrifty plants that ha4 grown here for thousands of years. Though hot tubs had been banned he planned to get One, for, in his opinion, they had been banned from simple ignorance as had the proportion. of glass in public buildings; designers overlooked that the increased heat loss through glass was more than wade up for in increased heat gain during the winter months. Margaret Christensen, 2631 lima, asked how water could be assessed fairly in an apartment with five households on one meter. She said she was unable to manage on her present allotment. Mayor Norton said that the public hearing was taking place so that same *newer' to questions such as hers could be found. Councilman Comstock asked the size of Mrs. Christiansen's building. She replied that it was a five -unit apartment building, and that there was only one water meter: ebe paid for the entire building's water consumption. Mr. Hudak obeerved that her usage would be allocated as multi -family, with allowances this year proportionate to last year at the waste time. Ti Hari, 163 Everett, said he owned Tidytown Laundromat on Everett Street. He said his business had increased about 20 percent, largely due to the water shortage, Cute based on the previous year would impose hardship on him. Customers came prepared to wake the most of their fee, and they loaded the machines to capacity —to water was wasted. Ha had posted a sheet asking customers to suggest frays :.a which 'ester could be conserved, and be had gotten many good suggestions. He pointed out that though a laundrvuat used perhaps 40 times what an average household used, the lauuedroat served up to 600 people. Brian Jobs, 3691 LaDonna, told Council that their ban on installation of hot tubs was ill-advised. Hot tubs conserved water, he amid, end be asked that they be permitted providing they have 1) thermal covers; 2) leas than 1,000 -gallon volume. 1 0 0 5 6/6/77 Milton Taulbee, 22400 Skyline 4oulevard, said he represented Pacific Hot Tubs. He spoke of a study in which Stanford University students had demonstrated them n hot tub neither wasted nor conserved water. Brian Ambron, 2108 Mills Avenue, spoke on behalf of hot tubs *Wing he had no association wide any of the companies. He said tb.nt water consumption at his hduaehold teed dropped markedly since they had had one installed. He felt 'that people should be able to decide for themselves how they would use their water allocation. Marthe-d. Cohen, 928 California, asked that the water allocation be made proportionate to the size of the lot. She left her suggestions in the form of a letter, since she was unable to stay at the meeting. Alan Shedroff, 27801 Baker Lae, Los Altos Hills, represented the Swimming Pool Contractors of Northern California. He said he was encouraged that there might be reconsideration of the ban on swimming pools and hot tubs. He alluded to President Carter's urging that the energy interests be administered in fairness, and he felt Palo Alto in banning a email group of the construction industry, was not fair, for such a "co tic spproecht6 was not American. Swimming pool contractors could bring in water from other sources. Atherton had likewise legislated against swimming pool contractors, but they had sine: rescinded it. Sunnyvale had decided not to ban hot tube, therapy pools or swimming pools, and they relied on voluntary reduction of the citizenry. If swimming pools were covered properly the water did not evaporate and they actually used less water than the same amount of landscaping, he said. Allen Wood, 3212 Cowper, said he thought the water rationing proposal was straightforward and easy to administer. He commented on the inequities of the proportions which aubecri.bers were asked to reduce. He suggested a more gradual percentage reduction as water use rose. French Harris, 4173 Georgia Aveeu , approved the proposed plan, for the allocations seed reasonable send permitted water users to decide for themselves how they wanted to save water. He said that hot tubs improved the quality of life and also saved water. John Dahlquist, 3321 Kenneth, mid that with hot tubs loss occurred through re -filling and evaporative ions. The essential way to save water vas to make sure they were covered, and the same was true with swimming pools. Councilman F.eahrs asked about the energy consumption through operation of this filter and heating the tub. Mr. Dahlquist replied that be was going to use solar panels to heat both his hot tub and the hot seater system. The -rater that bad for erly been heated for showers was now heated for the hot tub ----it was a breakeven matter. He said that through sevings in not having to buy gas the solar panels paid for themselves in three to five years. Alien Podell, 1351 Herker, suggested that a more equitable system could be devised from the auggestioas e that evening. He said that averaging water use over a three -mantis period sight be better. Also per capita and lost -sine allocations would be reasonable, Since 2.5 wee the average number in a household, he amid perhaps be should install a separate meter for those members over that n;ab ar-'-to compound absurdity. He said he resented being stuck with the "bitter fruits" of last year's conservation. Boyd Smith, 1500 Page Mill mod, said his firm owned and managed eevsral office coasplesee in the area. He asked that the proposed ordinance permit three uses of water: 1) saltwater for manmade landscaped ponds; 2) sale of reclaimed instanter; 3) permissions to recycle water condensed item the use of fir conditionina units far landscaping. 1006 6/6/77 James Hudak, City Treasurer, said that he had answered similar questions by Jack Wheatley that afternoon, and he had pointed out at the time that the City prohibited certain uses for fresh water only. Tim Ortega, 3551. Haven Avenue, Menlo Park, owned a hot tub company. He said that a heater for a hot tub wss activated for a total of about an hour each day, a requirement of energy comparable to about two showers. The overall consumption of energy by all hot tubs, cumulatively, was infinitenimal relative to the total energy consumption, Harrison Otis, 909 North Court Avenue, observed that during his lifetime in Palo Alto he had known the City to be very far-sighted in providing for its residents' needs, as was shown by the fact of Palo Alto's present utility holdings. He suggested that the City "sink a few wells," which he knew was feasible from having worked with the water department in his youth. He said that Cooper-Genscaer engines they had worked with had been powered by methane gas from the aewage facility. He said that, using •thane gasp, ocean water could be brought up to 188 degrees, and the water thus evaporated could provide water for Palo Alto. It was a method used effectively by the Navy during the war. Mayor Norton said there were no further speakers and the Public Heariag was declared closed. There would be no definite action taken that evening by Council, he said, to give staff an opportunity to use that evening's public input to evolve an ordinance they thought would be most effective. He asked staff if the 25 percent cutback requested by San Prencisco Water Department translated to 53 percent when Palo Alto implemented the plan, Ed Aghjayan, Director of Utilities, said the 25 percent reduction equated to a 25 percent reduction by Palo Alto, and that was the goal of Palo Alto's plan. The goal of water conservation in general was to achieve as much saving as possible on a voluntary basis. So far Palo Altane had cut back on water use 44 percent less than former use. Were the users who did not stay within their allocation to have done so, the City would have cut water use back by a total of 53 percents Mr. Hudak added that if everyone cut back as requested the overall cut would be 26 percent. Many users had cut below their allocation, and if all had met their allocation, along with those who had cut back even more than their allocations, Palo Alto's water usage would be cut by 53 percent. Mayor Norton said he thought 53 percent was an excessively stringent goal. He read from staff's June 2 letter to Mr. Addicott, "...To correct this problem our seasonally adjusted average formula states your allocation for November as 14 units." He said he inferred from that staff has a seasonally adjusted formula. Mr. Hudak answered that a seasonally adjusted formula was not now in use. A seasonally adjusted factor was used when correcting for a hardship case, That factor had been used in the unusual case presented by Mr. Addicott. Mayor Norton asked about the penalty for excessive use: the first offense meaning a flow restrictor would be installed, the second offense meaning the service would be sealed. He asked if that meant the penalty would be during the drought or whet other circumstances. Mr. Hudak said that ebould be stated "two successive billings.CS 1 1 0 0 7 6/6/77 Manor Norton continued, asking if, instead of the proposed census, which might cost $10,000, the City could not enclose in the utility billing a self-addressed, stamped envelope asking people to perhaps swear under penalty of perjury "I have (X) people in my household." While such a census would perhaps have misstatements, it would probably be more accurate than what the City had at the present time. Mr. Hudak said that staff had contemplated just such a census, and clerical, and keypunch time and associated expenses raised the costs. Marin, which was one and one-half times larger, had incurred about $15,000 in costs. Councilman Berwald asked if it would not be wise to emphasize conservation with the 13 percent who did not now meet their allocations. He continued, referring to Mr. Hori's comments about the efficiency of water use at a laundromat, and expressed the wish that some provision be made to facilitate water available to laundromats. Mr. Hudak acknowledged the problem, and said that on Wednesday night staff would meet with Laundromat cwners, and with laundry owners on Thursday night, in an effort to develop a reasonable program with perhaps some creative solutions which permitted cutback but did not force those owners and operators out of business. Similar plans were afoot with restaurants, hotels and hotels as well as utilities task forces of the Chamber of Commerce, which dealt with big industry. Councilman Berwa1d supported the idea of a census, perhaps using punched cards. He said he found the penalties most onerous and he suggested the 5 -unit blocks put forth by Mr. Ulrich might afford more equity. He expressed concern that the esthetics of plantings, which Palo Alto had emphasized to its citizens, might lose its importance, and he said that the City might think about establishing a fund to replace the loss of valuable landscaping. Ile urged that the accuracy of meter readings be emphasized A more "statistically defensible" plan for allocations might be a threemonth rather than a corresponding month base. He also asked that some appeal procedure be set up for violators. So fair as hot tubs were concerned, he was persuaded that they had definite merits. He continued, saying that he thought Palo Alto should not try to lead other communities in its "preservation" of landscaping, and he added that he thought that closing off a violator's service seemed too punitive, as well as a violation of the health laws. So far as swimming pools were concerned be thought they could be approved as long as they were filled with water from alternative sources. Councilman Comstock asked about Palo Alto's +ells ---when would it be appropriate to use them, and what their status was at the moment? Mr. Aghjayan said the wells were on standby basis, being used on a limited basis to irrigate the golf course, until reclaimed water could be used, perhaps at the end of this month. There was a ground subsidence problem in Palo Alto, despite what one speaker had said. The underground aquifers were interconnected --water from one was water from all throughout the'entire valley. Shifting from one supplier to another was not a solution, and only when the supply tightened considerably would the wells be available for use. Councilman Comstock asked for staff comments about per capita versus size -of -property to be irrigated allotments. Mr. Hudak replied that there were several possibilities with per capita allotments. Though some people had said otherwise, Palo Alto did not want to lose landscaping, and an the City had proposed percentage cutbacks. A per capita allocation would have "very drastic effects" on many of the large lots in Palo Alto. A per capita allocation which also added some 1008 6/6177 allowance per square foot would be more difficult to administer, but not unduly --he said he would like to make an allowance for landscaping. If the drought continued through next winter then staff would recommend only per capita allowances, if, for example, a 50 percent mandatory cut were needed. Councilman Comstock asked if staff needed Council instruction to prepare a per capita plus a square -footage plan now, and asked if that instruction were given staff would they be ,able to draw one up by June 20. Mr. Hudak said that since a census was needed the plan would take some time to implement. Marin had needed two or three months. Councilman Comstock said that the proposed water allocation procedure waa faulty in that it did not yet make allowance for the number of people in a household nor the size of the lot. He said he would press that issue. He said be thought procedures could be worked out for apartment buildings which only had one meter. He recalled that the purpose for the hearing vas because there was not enough water to go around. He feared the wet weather in May had given many a false sense of security and that the saame happy results might not be visible in August. He feared "volunteerism" would fall off and that a fair mandatory program that was acceptable to citizens would be needed, for by then there might be 18 percent "water hogs." Vice Mayor Clay said that he did not think the community needed a water rationing ordinance at this time, and the data bore him out, though he thought it was wise to have an ordinance ready when it was needed. He supported an ordinance with per capita allowance and lot -size provisions, as well as allowances for certain industries. MOTION: Vice Mayor Clay moved, seconded by Berwald, that staff draw up an ordinance which could be put in place at the appropriate time, with the provisions for the suggestion made. Councilman Carey said that he opposed the motion for he felt some control measure would be needed when "volunteerism" wore thin. He said he would support the staff proposal suggesting that lifeline unit be lowered to 5, with a credit system based upon number of people per household and lot sire. A census such as that proposed could be made, which might take two or three months, so the ordinance could be passed with credits to be given retroactively. Re said he thought that if the City regulated the amount the householder could use the allocation as desired. He also disapproved the penalty system and voiced understanding of the difficulty the citizenry alight be having staying within the allocation. He asked if adjacent cities were using the underground well for their supplies. Mr. Aghj&yan said that those cities which were using the system, that is, Mountain View, 25 percent from wells, Sunnyvale, 50 percent from wells, had aleeeye used that system. The hope was that those cities would cut their water consumption by 25 percent, which would include water from the yell system also. Mayor Morton said that he thought the sole penalty should be monetary Corrected and that though some guidelines for water usage had been. set earlier, See pg. when the ordinance waa adopted citizens should be able to decide for 1086 themselves hew they wanted to use their allocation. Councilmen Sher said conservation performance had been very good but that weather had favored the effort. Denny had been disgruntled and the ordinance should enact a fair system to avert that disgruntlement. In enforcing the ordinance a penalty system was needed for non-compliance, and fining only for that water used over the allocated amount seemed too 1 009 6/6/77 mild; also, he favored the use of the flow restrictors for violators, with charges for installation and removal. He favored using the 5 -unit block allocation, and he stressed the need for more accurate meterings. He said he would like to know whether or not there was any control on water usage at the public gardens. On the matter of water charges, he thought the structure that required higher payments for more consumption wa.s the most equitable. Councilwoman Witherspoon thanked the public for their participation. She thought that if people used under their allocation they should be able Corrected to carry those savings over to the next month. She confirmed with Mr. Hudak See pg. that permits for pools, hot tubs and Jacuzzis could be issued for health 1086 and sanitary reasons. Mr. Hudak responded to Councilwoman Witherspoon's suggestion that perhaps water savings could he carried over, saying that Retch Hetchy did not permit savings to be carried over, yet they did penalize over -users. He added that carrying over savings would atao be very difficult to administrate. So far as meter reading was concerned, an objective in the utilities department was that meter readers be incorrect no more than once in 2OO readings. That objective had been met, though they had problems and made mistakes from time to time. Hr. Aghjayan said that seven meter readers read 60,000 gas, electric and water meters monthly --those figures meant about 300 meters might be read too swiftly hence if any customer found the reading was incorrect the City is happy to adjust the bill. Councilman Eyerly asked what year's figures would be used as a guideline for making further cutback should another dry winter occur. Mr. Hudak said that normally the City only carried one year's records in the computer, but in anticipating the present situation the City had saved records of 1976 consumption, so that future cuts would be based on them. Councilman Eyerly said that he did not think Palo Alto wanted to become "a brown community," and the Santa Clara County Water District had Jurisdiction over the well waster supplies. He said he would like to see the consumption cutback alleviated somewhat, perhaps by lowering the lifeline to 5 units. He thought perhaps a 15 percent cutback request rather than a 25 percent cutback request might be better, for in Palo Alto it was known that such goals were usually overachieved. He reminded ataf€ of the hardship clause. Vice Mayor Clay said be should perhaps restate his motion for he had heard Council. bers May they would vote against it. lie said staff had wanted clarification sad direction yet staff had said they could not return to Council until June 20 for they needed census data. Mr. Hudak said he thought staff could return June 20 with a plan which would predict what would happen if it were put into effect, though putting it into effect without more complete census data could not be done. Vice Mayor Clay said his motion bed asked that staff return with an ordinance which could be put in place at the appropriate time, with provision for per capital Allowance, lot -size considerations and attention to the need• of certain industries. He said Councilmeabers comments agreed with the provisions of his notion, yet they said they would vote against it. 1 0 1 0 5/5/77. Councilman Sher explained he was going to vote against the motion because he thought an ordinance was needed by June 20. Councilman Beahrs left the meeting at 11:00 p.m. Councilman Carey said Council should vote on the motion, and if it failed he was going to move that an ordinance be brought before them on June 20, and that the ordinance include credit for lot size and per capita population per household. Vice Mayor Clay objected to developing an ordinance without good data to base it on. Councilman Berwald asked that Vice Mayor Clay include in his motion the considerations of lot size, per capita allocation, blocks of 5 - unit allowances --all major items discussed that evening. Vice Mayor Clay said that those inclusions were all right; he had assumed from the wording of his motion that they would be included. Councilman Berwald said that the question seemed to be a philosophical one --would the townspeople cut back on rater usage to the required poent voluntarily, or was en ordinance needed to bring about that required cutback? He said the motion asked that an ordinance be prepared --whether or not it vas passed was a separate matter. MOTION FAILED: The motion asking that an ordinance for water rationing with certain specifications be prepared failed can the following vote: AYES: Clay, Comstock, Berwald NOES: Carey, Eyerly, Norton, Sher, Witherspoon ABSENT: Beahrs MOTION: Councilman Co.atock moved, seconded by Clay, that the meeting adjourn. Mayor Norton ruled that he would ignore the motion to adjourn in order to bring about some resolution of their evening's deliberations on water rationing. NOTION WITHDRAWN: Councilman Comstock said he would withdraw his motion to permit that. MOTION: Councilman Carey moved, seconded by Comstock, that Council direct staff to have ready for Council discussion on June 20 a proposed water conservation ordinance which would essentially include what Council had before th,mm tonight, incorporating the suggestions and points discussed which both Council and public have had, in that proposal, and in addition provide for a credit for lifeline usage based upon the number in the household and the size of lots. Councilman Carey explained that Lot size and number in household might not be based on firm data, yet the ordinance could still be readied, and water rationing method could be decided in terms of policy. He thought perhaps the way to reduce inequities for those who bad conserved water the year before would be to reduce the lifeline from 10 to 5 units. Mayor Norton said he would like clarification from staff the differences between 10 and 5 units as applied to the water conservation measure. 1 0 1 1 616/77 1 1 Mr. Hudak replied that the major implication in the 5 -unit allocation was that more customers were affected. About 3,500 customers, 14,000 in the single-family classification, about one -quarter of subscribers, used under 10 units. Only about 1,500 users were under 5 unite. If users of between 5 and 10 units were asked to cut down, more water would be freed for larger users who had been asked to cutback 40 to 30 percent. Councilman Carey ,said perhaps that water so conserved could be credited to thou; with larger lots. Mr. Hudak asked if Council wanted staff to use the former allocation plan and have people petition for exceptions based on per capital per household. Councilman Carey said Council would allocate water without users having to petition for it. Mr. Hudak asked If Council meant staff should allocate so much per capita and so much for landscaping. Councilman Sher asked if the motion contemplated that the plan that was to be presented was to be adopted within two weeks, though it was aekeoxledged that it could not be implemented until the census wasr completed. Councilman Carey said an ordinance could be implemented for allocation of 10 units, and then perhaps could drop down to an allocation of 5 units as soon as the lot size and numbers in households were known. Councilman Sumer confirmed that the motion instructed staff to bring an ordinance based on what had been said that evening, and also bring a modification of the plan based on available data of about how much the allocation would be per capita. He assured that commercial allocation would obviously not be based on per capita but on previous water use. Vice Mayor Clay affirmed that staff understood the Council direction and would return with the prepared ordinance and other data on June 20. Mr. Hudak replied that he felt he understood the direction; while there would not be extensive data there would be some projections on what could be expected once the data were obtaihed. They would be able "to make some pretty good extrapolations" from data on hand from the 1975 census. Councilman bervald asked if staff understood the sense of the motion that they would '...fairly and thoroughly and conscientiously evaluate the possibilities of all of they • uz ctl's suggestions and the suggestions from the public," and he confirmed that there was no commitment from Council that the ordinance would be passed. Hz. Aghjayan replied that all suggestions, written from the public and oral in the meeting that evening, would be evaluated carefully, and staff's recommendations would be ;available for Council on June 20. Vice Mayor Clay asked if the public hearing, was closed, so that Council would not have to hoar another four and ono -half lours of public testimony. He pointed out that though staff had been directed to incorporate suggestions wade that evening, some of the suggestions had been contradictory. Mayor Norton replied that when the ordinance was before therm he would give the public the opportunity to speak on it if they so desired. 1 0 i 2 6/6/77 fry MOTION PASSED: The motion that staff draw up an ordinance incorporating the suggestions made that evening for equitable water allocation and present it to Council June 20 passed unanimously, Councilman Beahrs absent. BAYLANDS MASTER PLAN AND YACHT HARBOR COUNCIL §TUDY SESSION. Mayo' Norton announced that Council would hold a study session on the Baylands Master Plan and Yacht Harbor on June 14, at 7:30 p.m. They would discuss items not yet acted upon, but no action would be taken that evening. There would be no public input at the June 14 meeting. ADJOURNMENT IH MEMORY OF MOTION: Councilman Comstock moved, seconded by Clay, that Council adjourn in memory of Reid Bogert. Mr. Bogert had served for three years on the committee to Eliminate Architectural Barriers for the Handicapped. Councilman Comstock said Reid's passing would leave a S.p for those who knew him for his good humor and capacity for hard work, Mr. Bogert had died at his home May 31, 1977. MOTION PASSED: The motion passed un the following vole: AYES: Berwald, Carey, Clay, Comstock, Eyerly, Sher NOES: Norton, Witherspoon ABSENT: Beahrs Mayor Norton explained that on June 13 Council would discuss the City budget, then discuss the items undsr unfinished business from that evening's meeting. Council adjourned at 12:15 a.m. ATTEST: &ity Cler 1 0 1 3 6/6/77 APPROVE: Mayor