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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-11-14 City Council Summary MinutesCITY COUNCIL MINUTEr ITEM Oral Communications C©usent Calendar Regular Meeting November 14, 19)7 CITY of PALO ALTO PAGE 3 3 2 3 3 2 Finance and Public Works Committee Recommends Use of Programming 3 3 3 Budget Format for Fiscal Year 1978-79 Street Sweeping Frequency 3 3 7 County -Wide Paramedic Program 3 3 8 Water Quality Control Plant Advanced Waste Treatment Facility: 3 3 9 Site and Design Approval Oral Communications 3 4 8 Adjournment to Executive Session Re Personnel 3 4 8 331 11/14/77 Regular Meeting November 14, 1977 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this day at 7:35 p.m., with Vice Mayor Brenner presiding. PRESENT: Brenner, Carey, Clay (arrived 7:55 p.m.), Eyerly, Fazzino, Fletcher, Henderson, Witherspoon ABSM T: Sher ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. Doug Arustein, 727-B Waverley, said that the building he lived in had been, sold recently. His rent had risen from $175 to $275. He and most other people in his building were going to have to eove. He thought his situation was endemic in Palo Alto, owing to speculation and rapid sales of rentaa housing. The sale price of the building in three years had gone up $100,000, "without anything having been put into the building." He said that people who were students, such as himself, and older people, were those who suffered most. He wondered if something could be done to stop those increases. Families also suffered in private housing, for their property taxes went up. i 2. Beneva G. Moultrie, 350 Curtner Avenue, #23, said she had resided in Palo Alto for five years and was the sole support of two school -age children, who she wanted to be able to continue in the system. Her present rent was $190 for a two -bedroom apartment. On December l her rent would increase to $275, a 45 percent increase. That took 39 percent of her income for rent. She asked that Council pass an ordinance prohibiting landlords from raising rents more than 10 percent unless there was a complete audit of their books and justification for the increase. She had looked, and could not find, a rental unit for a single parent with children, that she could afford. She was going to apply for a unit in Webster Wood, feeling it was the only way she could remain in Palo Alto. . 3. Richard Foreman, 7051 Alpine, Portola Vellay, had moved from Palo Alto because he could not afford to live hare. Every single dwelling he had looked at would cost well over $200 per month. He had observed, while house hunting, the amount of speculation going on —buying a house, doing some surface improvement, then charging "outrageous rents." Vice Mayor Brenner announced that en Esecutive Meeting would follow that evening's regular meeting. Since XZSU would end its broadcast time that evening at 9:'0 p.m. ehe suggested Council aim for that time to be through with the regular meeting as well. MNSENT CALENDAR Councilm ber Henderson asked that the item concerning the Programming Budget Format for 1978-79 be removed. Covacilsember Eyerly asked that Item 1 concerning street sweeping be removed. Those being the only two items on the Consent Caxendar, Vice Mayor Brenner said Council would consider them next. 3 3 2 11114/77 FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE Runr5WrinTgr BUDGET PORMAt FO FtSCAL ?!AR MOTION: Councilaeember Carey, on behalf of the Finance and Public Works C3marittee, moved ehe following recommendation which the Committee had a4opted by unanimous vote: that the City use the staff recommendation of the Programming Budget Format for the fIscal'year 1978-79; further, that the subject of zero -base budgeting be retained in Committee for further information, consideration and report, in approximately one year; and the Finance and Public Works Committee, unless it receives other direction, will implement the General Policy Guidelines with respect to the 1978-79 budget as outlined in the October 25 memorandum frets: Committee Chairman .Scott Carey. Councilman Henderson said that he had removed this item from the consent calendar and that the 1978-79 budget could not be "dismissed quite so lightly, Public officials have a rather bleak history of promising budget and tax cuts and then, when elected, accepting what is presented to them. The common trap was okaying no new programs, 'we'll hold the present budget plus a cost -of -living percentage increase'," He thought such a policy guaranteed ever-increasing governmental costa. Zero -base budgeting, he said, requires a bottoms -up approach for each year, with each department having to prove the need and cost for each program, and there was no acceptance of the present program, wath a percentage add- on. Palo Alto had a far more detailed budget than other cities, yet there was still an acceptance of present costs, with cost -of -living increases. The City did not get the priority ratings of individual programs that is a part of zero -base budgeting. Zero -base budgeting did not seem to be just a lad; it gave promise of being a way to control costs of government. He read the following from a Peat, Marwick and Mitchell pamphlet: "Zero -base budgeting is a budgeting technique which forces a structured consideration of altern- ative levels of service and alternative means of providing these services for all cost centers within an organization. Theae alternative levels of service will include a minimal level, which is substantially below the current funding level, a level required to continue required services, and an expansion -of -service level. The budget request and supporting data for all levels are assembled into decision packages which are ranked in order and priority by managers of each level in an organization s structure." Councilor tuber Henderson suggested that Palo Alto could select one department to apply zero -base budgeting technique. In relation to policing speed enforcement the question arose if it was best to enforce by increasing personnel or reducing other services: by adopting zero -base budgeting, all program* could be reviewed in detail, place them +n. priority sequence and make decisions about elfminatione, reductions, or additions. It could then be seen if the technique was good to apply to all departments. AMENDMENT: Councilaember Henderson moved, seconded by Fazzino, that Council adopt zero -base budgeting for the Police Department for the 1978-79 budget. Counci ].member Carey said that zero -base budgeting had been discussed at some length in Committee --be would have hoped that Coca c lmember Sanderson might have madehie motion then. The Committee had decided against recommending the adoption of zero -base budgeting and with a unanimous vote. The rationale in Committee had been that to a large extent the City had taken a zero -base approach during the last year.' In Braking up the budget -changes in requests for funds had not been justified only on inflation and the Committee had been assured that wherever staff or 3 3 3 11114/77 I • departments were requesting a substantial increase an analysis would be made, using a zero -bare approach. That was not specifically stated in the policy guidelines. The policy guidelines included s hold -the -line approach, implying that the Commettee asked departments requesting fends be;ond hold -the -line to do a bottoms -up analye+<is. One city using zero - base budgeting had undergone tremendous growth, which went that, unlike Palo Alto, it did not have much idea of what costs would be. The Committee felt that explanations of funding were available to them. The Committee had decided that for the time being it would take each department's request on an ad hoc basis. Zero -base budgeting was time consuming, and therefore it could be a costly approach. Councilmember Vezzino asked George Sipel, City Manager, the approximate cost of setting up a zero -base system; also, what the costs might be of reviewing a couple of departments each yeer using that basis. Mr. Sipel replied than costs would depend on how zero -base was implemented. Using zero -base about twice the present amount of needed time would be required, about ten to fifteen person -years per department, along with time needed for the organization of the eyster---perhape that estimated time would have to be doubled. Costs would vary by departments. A zero -base approach was being used for the Fire Department that year, essentially. The Police Department vas much more complex, and it had not been planned to try the system there at present. "It's getting a little late to de that," Mr. Sipel said; he suggested that if Council were going to apply the system to one department, that he be given time to estimate how much that would cost. He asked Council to think about what would be achieved by going into zero -base budgeting --that expectation had not been really articulated at the Finance and Public Works Comegi;:tee meeting. Coincilmemeber Fazzino asked for a description of the San Mateo County zero -base system, song with the reasons for it having been chosen. Mr. Sipel said some members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, and also a new County executive, had been interested in the system, so that the timing to look at the system was right. Palo Alto, in contrast, had been in the habit of looking at specific programs and "building them up again," on an incremental basin. Palo Alto's productivity improvement program looked into various programs periodically. Some communities went into zero -base strictly from a liner-itea budget, as Palo Alto had done some ten years ago. San Mateo County was not going back to zero, but instead to 80 or 90 percent, justifying a line of service at 10 or 20 percent lower than 100 percent, an4 looking at differences in dollars and service levels. Palo Alto could do that without too much expense within are or two departments, that is, seeing what the service would be at 8O percent of the present budget. A report was forthcoming during the week telling the kind of service that mould be provided in traffic reinforcement, dealing not with reduction but increase of service. Councilmember Passim) said he thought the system in Palo Alto was moving toward zero -base budgeting. It had bin done in an incremental way in various departments throughout the past five years. He 'did not know if support of the Henderson notion before them was "the way to go." He would like some clear idea of the need to look at each department to determine appropriate levels. Be liked the Colorado system in ehich agencisf,were explored every five years, that is, "the seaset law," though he did not think it necessary to review each department each year. Ha favored establishing some formal plan for doing that, selecting which department to look at which year. He would support the motion, and ifit.passed, ho would move an amendment to establish such a plan. Perhaps a five: -year plat. would be best. Councilmambe. Witherspoon agreed that Palo Alto should be moving toward tine philosophy of zero -bass budgeting. She thought the Police Departasat 334 11/14/77 too big to begin with that year. One alternative would be for Council to say they wanted to look at the budget of the Police Department for next year, or to look at the budget of a department less complex. Both Police and Flre Departments provided essential services --maybe one of the Human Services sub-progcarme would be 1esri cru;:ial to the public welfare. Councilmember Fletcher noted that in cities where zero -base budgeting was used, no cost savings had resulted. She did not see the need to start it -- she was satisfied that Palo Alto reviewed the budget of each department "quite thoroughly." _ Councilmember Eyerly said. Council should be aware that the process Palo Alto used, compared with other communities, was "really excellent." Within the general policy guidelines the Finance Committee had recommended, the fifth point regarding productivity improvement had been implemented easily. When building budgets an the zero -base system, the increments used for study snowed the level of service and staff spoke intelligently toward that point. He pointed out to Council that in its recommendation was the statement that the Committee would retain the subject of zero -base budgeting in Committee for further information for one year. He suggested that Councilmemhers who were interested in pursuing the idea of zero -base budgeting give it more consideration throughout the coming year, giving the staff ample time "to go about it intelligently." Councilmember Clay added that "the concept of zero -base budgeting is simpler than the implementation." Council would hnve to spend a lot more time to make the, process productive. As Ccuncilmembers they were part-time people, and he hoped that staff would review the effectiveness of programs, and those departments which were to be examined could be recommended by staff, AMENDMENT TO AMENDMENT: Councilmember Fazzino moved, seconded by Witherspoon, that the Police Department as a subject of inquiry on zero -bast budgeting be deleted from the first amendment, and substituted in its place be a staff -suggested program or sub -program of its choice. Councilmember Fazzino explained he thought the matter of zero -base budget- ing should he studied for a year; the Police Department might be too complex to study during the coming fiscal year. He thought that would provide Council with more basic data on what zero -base budgeting meant as applied to a City program. Vice -Mayor Brenner said she would treat the two amendments separately; City Attorney Booth said Cot'Acii could vote on the amendment to the amend- ment first. Mr. Sipe'. preferred the amendment to the amendment to the init'al amend- ment: 1) Zero -base budgeting was in its infancy --the San Mateo County trial was the moat prominent'example and it would give the City some valuable information for making wise decisions; and 2) Departments could be submitting their budgets to the City Manager's Office within the next few weeks, and that made it late to initiate zero -base at present; and 3) Council might not have enough information on what "zero -base really is and i don't think there's been enough dialogue among members to come to a really clear decision at this point as to whether that's what you really want to do;" and 4) Some staffing probtams, with a new person supervising the budget group, made it difficult to implement a new system. Mr. Sipel said he thought staff could accomplish a zero -base system with a smell program, and that would give Council a goad' idea of how the system worked. Then Council and staff could talk about it in July, 1978. Councilmember Henderson explained that he had not made the _motion- la Committee - because he hid assumed there would be no second to it for the conversation had gone about as it was at present. He had decided he would make the motion this evening, and "things seem to be going a little bit like they did in Committee . . . " He asked about Councilmember Fezaino's 3 3 $ ... 11/14/77 amendment: zero -base applies generally to a department, making it possible to get detail so that programs could be understood and ranked ---how was that going to be done with program, fop things,had to be ranked against one another. He thought it had to he done by department. He chose the Police Department because it was approaching the point where a detailed inquiry was perhaps needed on enforcement of the speed program. He was reluctant to support the Fazzino ameehlment to the amendment for that reason. Councilmember Carey agreed, that if Counc th'!embers were intrigued with the idea of zero --base budgeting, they should pick a department and begin at the present time. He thought the Fazzino motion contained the same idea as ,he Committee recommendation of retaining the matter in Committee. He. thought that he would recommend that Councilmember Fazzino be made a member of the committee which explored zero -base budgeting if the Committee recom- mendatiene passed. "Starting from scratch" with promise of saving money and increasing efficiency was an appealing idea, but it presented a great deal of work. The present staff plan, of 'icing some parts of zero -base, but not starting over completely, seemed the feast feasible at the time. Councilmember Clay said he would oppose the motion, for he thought Council was a policy -making, not a program -implementing body. Council did not have the time to spend on program -implementing. He did not want to spend his tine can detailed examination of department budgets, for such examinations required a firm knowledge of what specific functions each department had: that was the business of the City Manager. Councilmember Fazzino repeated his amendment at the request of Vice Mayor Brenner: that "Police Department" be changed to "a program or sub -program chosen by staff." He reasoned that though the item was still in Committee, his amendeeent should show Council as being on record as supporting some data collection, which would be important dotting the 1978-79 finance process. That information would show Council the principles of zero -base budgeting. Councilmember Henderson said, in response to Councilmember Clay's comments, that he thought it was the Council's, not the City Manager's job, to work on the budget. Councilmember Clay replied that he thought zero -base budgeting was "faddish;" little could be done to change fact in *he absence of a clear policy. ,le did not think Council's attention to zero -base budgeting would be productive. Vice Mayor Brenner said that in her view, the budget was Council's state- ment of policy. Programs made up the budget "and in the last analysis the existence of certain programs and the degree of emphasis on effects of programs, is the expression of Council's policy." In general she favored trying a modified zero -base budget, wh',:ch she thought was. fairly well expressed in the Finance and Public Works Committe recommendation. She would oppose both the amendment, a d the amendment to the amendment. AMENDMENT TO AMENDMENT FAILED: The amendment to the amendment failed on the following vote: AYES: Fazzino, Witherapoou NOES: Brenner, Carey, Clay, Fletcher, Henderson, Eyerly %BSE1 r: Sher AMENTMEWT PAILEA: The amendment to the recommendations of the Finance and Public Works Committee failed on the following vote: AYaES:---Fazzino, Header* NOES!„. _ RronnAr s _ Caare j ABSENT: Sher Clay, notch -all -1 Eyerly -Witherspoon 336 11/14/77 MAIN MOTION PASSED: The motion that Counc of the Finance and Public Works Committee Format for Fiscal Year 1978-79 paesed an absent. STREET SWEEPING FREQUENCY (CMR :516:7 it approve the recommendation regarding Programming Budget a unanimous vote, Mayor Sher C'uncilmember Eyerly said that the motion Council had passed September 19 had directed: "Investigate the possibility of leasing street sweepers awl/or contracting with an outside ..gency to provide service." The staff report had not answered that assignment, He read from appendix B-1, which discussed that mutter: "(Leasing or contracting) is certainly a possibility. The question would appear to be the need „r advantage of such a move. This is a basic policy question on contract work vs. use of City forces . . . One of the mein stumbling blocks to contracting street sweeping is that mechanical sweepers ate high capital cost, 'sigh maintenance, pieces of equip- ment, with very limited, very specialized function. As a result we believe few qualified vendors exist." The conclusion to ttiat matter in the staff report read, "There are definitely situations where leasing equipment and/ or contracting with an outside agency to provide service could be to the advantage of the City. However, this should be seriously considered only after a need has been established. The need might be an emergency, or a well -planned, long-term program to compare efficiency." The staff recommenda- tion read: "No action is deemed necessary at this time, since neither need nor availability of vendors and equipment has been established. However, staff will not preclude action on this matter at some ftture time." Council - member Eyerly said that in his opinion "the time is now," as indicated in the direction given by Council. He said he saw no attempt by staff to see if vendors were available, and Council would decide if there was need after :it bad seen the costs. NOTION: Council!ember Eyerly moved, seconnee by Witherspoon, that Council send the staff report on street sweeping to the Finance and Public Works dommittee in part; excepting the street sweeping Appendix B-1, which was incomplete, and request staff to furnish the Committee that information regarding leasing and availability of machinery, vendors, and the like. Ben Pawloski, Director of Public Works, said Rtaff had good reasons behind the statements. There had not been sufficient time to investigate, and one of the difficulties was that a sweeper costs about $40,000, and that cost of machinery limited the number of companies that would want to do the work. He did not know of any companies doing that kind of wnrk on a contract basis; some contract work was done involving parking lots with small, industrial -type sweepers; also, street sweeping was not a labor-- intensive activity --productivity increases rested with the equipment and currently the equipment menufactured was poor. It was a high -maintenance item, with productive abilities limited to about four to five miles an hours, and so the City could not look forward to any advantages in the amount of sweeping that would be accomplished by contract. There were some questions, perhaps, about the quality of sweeping. Therefore it was felt that opportunities afforded by contracting for street sweeping were limited at this time. Councilmeaber Eyerly said he was aware of the shortness of time, and that was why he had made his motion --he would like to have the balance of the information Mr. Pawlpeki had said he could gather. CouncilmeMber Henderson said he knew a r meber of vendors provided sweeping services for parking lots, and be thought it would be to the City's advantage to know if services could be provided in heavy periods, such as the fall, which gave an extra problem of leaves. He favored the motion. Councilmember Fletcher said she was leery of leasing expensive equipment -- her mreerience had been that leased equipment broke down more often than that which was maintained on a regular basis. 1 337 11/14/77 Coencilmember Eyerly repeated his motion, explaining that his motion also intended to ask staff to complete the earlier assignment, and bring to Council, information about the pcssibiliey of leasing street sweepers and contracting with an outside agency to provide service. He wanted to be able to set the level of service desired. Mr. Pawloski said he thought he could not get back with the information very soon, due to the holiday. Councilmember Eyerly replied that he understood why Mr. Pawloski may have written the prcgram as he did, but he still wanted to know about perform- ing the service a year hence, and perhapi on a cheaper basis. MOTION PASSED: The motion that Council refer the matter back to the Finance and Public Wortcs Committee in part, excepting that part of the staff report which was incomplete; and requesting staff to furnish information referred to in Appendix B -I, regarding leasing and contracting for street sweeping, passed on a unanimous vote, Mayor Sher absent. CQUNTY-SIDE PARAMEr C PROGRAM (CHB :521:7 ) George Sipel, City Manager, said Councilnembers had his report dati:ed November 10, in which he recommended that the City Council support Sunny - vale's Alternative Plan to increase the number of paramedic zones from 10 to 11. He also recommended that Council request the Board of Super- visors to fund the program fully within the County at au estimated cost of $2.)5 million, at about $250,000 per zone. He said he had visual aids which, it Council liked, would show the boundaries of the zones under three different plans. Councilmeaber Fazzino asked Mr. Sipel if be had any "hard data" on how the true cost of operating a unit was shown as about $250,000, rather than the $200,000 recommended by the Board of Supervisors. Hr. Sipel said he did not have figures with him, but that the $250,000 "is easily supportable." It included salaries, fringe benefits, supplies involved. The amount did not include initial training nor the cost of the vehicle, "which we experience every two years." The county figures of $2 million for the whole program were developed about 11 years ago, and were dated. The county hoped to do some billing for some of the services provided by the paramedics, so there would be some revenue coming in, increasing the $2 million by some amount. Cotmcilaesbez� Fazzino said he had no question in his mind that the Sunny- vale Alternative Plan was the best plan for Palo Alto. MDTIOM: Couacilmmesber Fazzino moved, seconded by Henderson, that the City Council support Sunnyvale's Alternative Plan to increase the number of paramedic zones from 10 to 11; further, that Council request the Board of Supervisors to fund the program fully within the county at an estimated cost of $2.75 million. Couacilmtaber Henderson said he thought twelve people were trained frt paramedics, which made the figure realistic. Mr. Sipel said it was close to $20,000, adding Fire Fighter's salary with the. +fferential for paramedics, and some captains were paramedics. Councilammber Carey said the county rlc.ommendation said that about 50,000 sore people would have to be served at am increased cost of $50,000. Be supported the motion. Ethel Anderson, 360 Colorado Avenue, said many of her close neighbors and friends had used the paramedic service, and it settmd to be a wonderful program. Ths paramedics were prompt, efficient, and kind. She thought Palo Alums felt good about hawing their awn paramedic people, - and she 33$- 11/14/77. wanted to keep it that way, if at all possible. Councilmember Fazzinc asked the polf.'ical process regarding the presentation of the Sunnyvale plan. Mr. Sipel said that other cities in NoLth County would consider the plan, and the results would be presented to the county executive by City Managers, and if the executive supported it, all the City Managers would go directly to the Board. If the executive did not support it, there would be some specific discussion with some members of the Board. MOTION PASSED: The notion, that City Council support Sunnyvale's Alternative Plan to increase the number of paramedic zones from 10 to 11, and further, that Council request the Board of Supervisors to fund the program fully within the County at an estimated cost of $2.75 nsil?...on, passed on a uneni- sous vote, Mayor Sher absent. WATER QUALITY CONTROL PLANT iDFANCED WASTE TREATMENT FACILITY: Set AND D'?SIdN APPROVA. ( :47O : 7 , CMR.:519:7 ) Edward R. Aghjayan, Director of Utilities, said that staff recommended Council - approval for the proposed site and design for the Regional Water Quality Control Plant modifications. At the Council meeting of October 3, Council directed staff to explore alternative locations for the two towers. After careful qualitative and quantitative analysis, staff has concluded that it would cost from $446,000 to $556,000 in additional funds to relocate the towers. That sum would not be eligible for federal or state grant funds, which would pay for 85 percent of the cost of the project. Relocation of the towers would result in increased operating coots of $4,000 per year, and increased electrical consumption in excess of 120,000 kwah per year. He said that staff felt that the towers would have a visual impact regard- less of where they were placed, and therefore felt that the money was better spent trying to reduce the visual impact at the proposed locations For those reasons staff recommended Council -approval of site and design, and also that staff be directed to work closely with the Architectural Review Board (ARE) to formulate a landscape design minimizing the visual impact of the towers. He introduced John Jenks, design engineer of the facility, to talk about the background and purpose of the project and to review the varioun alternatives. John Jenks,. design engineer, Jenks and Harrison, said he had recently seen a 1929 beport on the same subject of wastewater treatment for the City of Palo Alto. The report spoke of untreated sewage being discharged into Mayfield Slough, near the present location of the Sea Scout house, Some photos showing floating sewage and other solids accompanies the report, and there was discussion of odors and the generally unsavory conditions of 1929. A recosmendetion had been made at that time that a modern waste- water treatment plant be built. The original treatment plant was constructed in 1934; ie was one of only five in the entire San Francisco Bay Area to be constructed in the 1930'*. San Francisco, and East Bay commmitiem, San Mateo, Burlingame, Santa Clara and San Leandro, and other intervening cities, all discharged raw, untreated sewage, until after Vorld War II. He continued that in 1948 a higher level of treatment was installed, 4s well as in 1956. In 1966 the City had undertaken a program to provide secondary treatment, and that was consummated 1,1 the 1972 project --Palo Alto had been well in advance of the rest of the cuumtry. It was in 1972 that Congi'ees of the United States, Republic. Law 92500, sass adopted as the official goal to provide secondary treatment of all wastewater being discharged into the waters of the nation. Palo Alto's 1972 project was not only one of the earliest such projects, it was also * forerunner of communities joining one another in a common cause ecomouically as veil as for more effective eater pollution control. Palo Alto vas also a forerunner in its concern for the physical plant design. In 1974 state and federal government adopted remised vests discharge requirements, Wag bayed secondary treatment because of 3 3 9 11/14/77 the peculiarities of the South San Francisco Bay and the limited assimilating capacity and mandated requirements peculiar not only to the City of Palo Alto but also consistent with Mountain Vier and San Jose discharge, requiring a level of treatment beyond secondary, sometimes referred to as "tenter)." The question the consultants had to answer was how to best meet those stan- dards in the most economical cost-effective way; this was the eubject of the 1975-76 engineering report. Three elements were involved: 1) to go to nitrification; 2) to go to filtration; and 3) to enhance and support more effective disinfection requirements. The most significant was the secondary treatment, or nitrification, element, and that requirement resulted in the need for the towers, or fixed film reactors, as they wets technically known. Palo Alto W48 also involved in an outstanding effort in respect to water pollution control, and beyond that, reclamation,,in a cooperative effort with the Saute Clara Valley Water District, in construction of the wastewater reclamation project. Mr. Jenks said he was pleased to announce that the project was to receive the Engineering Excellence Award as the outstanding wastewater treatment plant in the entire scion. It was to be featured in Waste Water and Water Engineering Magazine in December. Studies that had resulted in the recommended project, Mr. Jenks continued, involved three alternatives which had been looked ,t very carefully from the standpoint of nitrification. The alternatives used, as a base case, the alternative of standard activated sludge system, the standard textbook approach to the solution to the nitrification problem. The second alter- native was relatively new, having been used in only a few places in the country, though it offered significant advantages both as to cost and use of energ). The third alternative had low energy consumption but had high capital cost. Jenks and Harrison had piloted all three, and determined that the second alternative worked well and met the objectives, and also provided significant advantages. Those advantages were low initial capital costs, low operating costs, low horsepower, and low requirement for space, as well as effective and reliable operation. His firm, once having decided that, realized that there was a strcn! concern regarding visual impact. It had engaged the services of Spencer & Associates, architects, as a part of their own fee, and because the firm had designed the Interpretive Center ac well as the original waste- water treatment plant, it was felt they could best de -sensitize the impact and make it as visually acceptable as physically possible, mitigating the negative impact as much as possible. The fire had submitted a range of designs and configurations, and settled on one *which would "soften" the impact as ouch as possible. The round towers had been one such "softener," instead of the usual rectangular structure; also, naturally weathering steel had been selected for some of the other buildings at the facility, as well as the Interpretive Center. The firm's report also dealt. with the question of reliability, and econo- mies of operation. He projected some slides of the hypcthetical location of the towers, one from the ITS property; from Faber Place; from the dump site; along the road to the dump; one view of the towers now located at Sunnyvale aced nearing completion; a vier► from the Yacht Club point, ,and another view of the towers with all equipment and appurtenances of the tower incorporated into the basest of the towers. Other slides showed a view from the yacht harbor itseit; from the Interpretive Center, showing the existing incineration building, to the left of which the towers would be placed; a view from the docks of the yacht harbor, another view of the Sunnyvale towers, and the last slide showed some of the landscaping material which had attained a few years' growth, demonstrating how negative visual impacts could be obscured. His firm, --Mr. Jenks said, hired Ms. Helen Proctor to advise them on their landscaping plea. His final slides shorted the towers in alternative positions. He'ebowed some overhead slides picturing various locations in shich the tower, could be placed. Hydraulically the process involved going from the primary sedimentation tank to the towers, then back to tho aeration tanks, and all the alternatives required that process. The 3 4 0 11/14/77 alternatives hed been developed with the possibility of possible future enlargement. Depending on the alternative chosen, from alternatives A, B, or C, costs ranged from $453,000 to $600,000. Also inherent were difficulties in calculating and making allowance for the time-lag to get to each location, which might be so complicated as to be not offset by "advantages" of one site or another. Mr. Jenks acid the City's staff report reflected his firm's conclusions also. Councilmcmber Pazzino praised both the staff report end Mr, Jenks' work. In view of the costs, he wondered what options were open to Council. Re asked if any preliminary work had been done on a landscaping plan, and was there any plan that it was felt could reduce the viusal impact of the towers? Councilmember Carey left the meeting at 9:41 p.m. Mr. Aghjayan said a plan was on hand which envisioned spending quite a bit of money. Mr. Jenks would talk further about plans for doing something beyond softening visual impact. Sunnyvale's towers had no shrubbery, but it was planned that Palo Altc's would have extensive shrubbery. Mr. Jenks added that one project that had been bid, and ems contracted and designed by Ms. Proctor, included an estimated $100,000 of landscaping. The state Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had agreed to fund it. Beyond that they had been working with Ms. Proctor to see if there could be possible rearrangement, even rearrangement of the roadwork, to give further mitigation. Coun.cilmember Pazzina asked if the possibility of the towers being located within the airport safety zone had beea looked into. Ray Rewoel, Water -Gas -Sewer, said the tower site lay in the outlying area of the south safety zone --that was the secondary area of safety for the flight plan. The matter would go before the Airport Land Use Commission, (ALM), and there would be a public hearing and a recommendation by staff before the permit would be granted. Vice Mayor Brenner confirmed that the ALUC hearing was scheduled for Thursday, November 17. The demarcation line, the said, went "about two-thirds of the way through the tank." Couucilseeber Pazzino asked if it was common for buildings of the type they were talking about to lay within secondary safety pathways. M.r. Kassel said it was--contours„for secondary safety zone heights eliminated maximum heights of 155 .feet. The proposed towers were only 40 feet. Cotmcilmewber I'azzino asked how it was proposed that the tank capacity could ,be enlarged in the future in relation to Alternatives A and B. Mr. Jenks answered that the question of alternatives surrounding all of the South Bay Dischargers, that is, San Jose, Sucinyvale, and Palo Alto, vas that it was still ut..:erta.in as to:-ihelher or not, the cities would be required to A) cease e.1aeharging into the lower bay, by way of constructing a major and expensive outfall line that would collect tbo treated wastewater from the plants and dischargers mirth, of the Dusbirton Bridge, or B) whether or not the treatment plants might be required to go to a higher level of treatment, in which case the most likely prospect would be nutrient removal, that nuttlent most likely being nitrogen. His firm anticipated the proba- bility that the outfall would never be built. If not, the next step would be de-eittification, and those facilities were shown on the drawings, in response to a request from staff to show bow that additional step could be achieved. Such a step should be distinguished from a capacity increase, 341 11/14/77 because an addition to capacity might be needed, though projects did not so indicate. By the same tokee, a,i additional tower would not be needed u►tless present planning changed significantly and there was much more development. Councilmember Fazzino asked how Alternative B would differ from Alternative A. Mr. Jenks replied that Alternative B would not interfere with the orderly development of increased facilities. It suffered the disadvantage of requiring more property, a subject of referendum. Couneilmember Carey commented OR.t he was not sure the City had much choice. according to the letter from the Water Quality Control Board indicating that there had been public hearings pursuant. to the Environmental Quality Act, a fact of which Ls: liatc; been unaware: In the light of those public hearings, and also the addit,iznal cost, the City was "pretty far down the road." He remarked that the estimated costs of below $500,000 were less than those estimated by Mr. Knox, Director of Planning and Community Environ- ment. As.for locating the towers, it might as well be where it was cheapest, since their visual impact was to the same degree in the various locations. He favored a commercial location, since there was less emphasis on aesthetics in that kind of 'ocale than in a residential area. Ee wished the Council had had more to say, before the project got so far along, about 6.2 site of the towers. If the staff had realized the project was in the D -suffix zone, and known that the City had jurisdiction, it was not unlikely that the location of the to:,ers would be different. He thought the need for -the facility wes unarguable, for it was not a pleasure or recreation item. He would support the recommendation, Councilmember Clay referred to a staff conclusion in the report: Any design for re -location of the towers will be ineligible for the funding to accomplish the relocation. He asked +f the location of the towers had been on the southerly side to begin with, as a part of the plan, would it have been sup- ported by -ending? Mr. Jenks said he thought Councilmember Clay could be correct, but both stage and federal, through conditions surrounding their program, mandated that a project demonstrate that its design was "most cost-effective." Assessment of that had to follow guidelines and economic analysis which is on a present work basis, including cost of operation on a continuing basis as well as initial capital cost, and at 6 percent interest. Both federal and state EPA were sympathetic to mitigation measures at additional cost, but he doubted theri concern on that issue at this particular point in time. Re thought there was a very significant question as to whether or not it would have been allowed either way. Councilseaber Clay observed that the $250,000 figure given a few teeeks ago had now grown to $500,000. He asked if the same amount of work was required. Mr. Jenks said that Table I of his firm's report gave a detailed estimate, the major item being -the pipe relocation itself. klso, there was some small piping and condo!: relocation, recirculation control system addizinns and an assumed escalation. He thought perhaps it was on the assumed escala- tion that staff and Jenks & Harrison estimates had differed. " Jenks & Harrison had assumed a lower figure at the present time. Vice Mayor Bremner asked about the chlorine contact conduit, which presumably was to go four feet underground alongside the road. Would it be practical to run the conduit under the road, and leave the roadside "a little more viable for plants and trees?" Mr. Jenks said hesaw no physical hindrance to doing that, though it would cost some additional s'ney for extending the pipe. Functionally, it could give some slight advantage in that it would extend retention time. It co►sld be a factor in the talks between Mr. Rommel, chief engineer, and Ms. Proctor about landscaping. 342 11/14/77 Mr. Rommel said his sole concern was that an extra change order would be required. Also, there was a problem in that such a change would take the pipe off the plant site, and according to the City Charter, a vote of the people would be required to dedicate that portion of the land for that speci- fied purpose. Vice Mayor Brenner asked if that would be required if the pipe were to be underground, City Attorney Booth said that if the property was to be restored to its original character, it would not have to meet the park requirements. ,vice Mayor Brenner said she had in mind maximizing the landscape area, since it was so small. She asked if there were any policy for allocating future sewer capacity. Ed Aghjayan said that the project report outlined proposed additions in each of the customer classification areas, The only policies about allo- cating capacity was in case there was insufficient capacity to meet the needs of any one class of customer, giving the City the right to review an application, for service, as covered in Rule I of the Utility Rules and Regulations. He said there was also a provis'•on where the City would be charting industry for connection charges for new and increased facilities. Council had acted on that in January, 1976, with Council to act on estab- lishing the amount of the fee within the next few months. He thought Council had leeway to give policy direction in that area, Vice Mayor Brenner answered, "Then, as I underFtand what you're saying, we wait until the end of the line and then we lower the boom, instead of having a long-term plan, I'm looking at the later enlargement of this plan as a calamity --as something that should be avoided. I'm leading into the idea of having . . , more orderly allocation for future sewer capacity, recognizing this as the ultimate size.' Mr. Aghjayan said that about 1,000,000 gallons per day had been allotted for residential growth An the plan, No capacity had been allocated for industrial growth. Staff had indicated in January of 1976 that there was no funding for industrial growth, though it was felt that existing capacity could be reduced, for there was an intense program of water conservation underway which reduced industrial capacity needs by 750,000 gallons per day, or about 20 percent of capacity. Lisa there had been c shift in development process from manufacturing to less consumptive industry, as well as the fact that 2,000,000 gallons per day of flow were removed by the reclamation plant to allow additional capacity. The plant had no capa- city problem et present, though it could have in ten years, if an industry abased up and wanted to add on a very large water -intensive facility beyond Palo. Alto's expectations. Dairies or a cannery would present that problem. If Council wished, it had the time to give staff allocating direction. Council might wish to give the City Attorney an opportunity to report on the matter. Vice Mayor Brenner asked what the situation was in regard to heavy metals. Mt. Biel replied that the City had good source control, meeting all heavy - instal discharges in all categories, with the exception of chromium --nobody me=, that. All the industries in all the cities had been questioned by the State as to sett level they should assume for what chromium shou?,d properly be. Be asked if anything further was known. John Jenks answered that chrome metal was being changed on a national scale,_ because the metal was "unrealistic" and it could be correctly said that Palo. Alto. bed an industrial waste and monitoring program, a surveillance programs, that was as good as any location elsewhere, and in the Bay Are nt least. Rigidly enforced, it provided the necessary level of protection, and that in spite of the:fact that cbs City had a concentration of industries that 3 4 3 11/14/77 gave: "very serious problems" other places. The gold was not a problem from the standpoint of toxicity. MOTION: Councilmember Witherspoon moved, seconded by Eyerly, that Council approve the present design of the advanced wastewater treatment facilities as required in Section 18.82.010 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, and direct staff to work closely with the Architectural Review Board (ARE) in developing tie final landscaping plan. Enid Pearson, Pe insulu Conservation Center, 1176 Emerson Street, displayed an elevation, sowing a side view of the proposed towers, and the Peninsula Conservation Center had drawn in a six-foot person for scale. In further illustration she pointed out that the Councl.lchamber was 24 feet high, to give Councilnembers an idea of the size. She said that Councilmember Carey had said he would have liked Council to have had more opportunity to review the proposed structures, and she said Council had had an opportunity, but that the Environmental Impact Report had been misleading. The EIR gave the idea that the tanks were going to be 21 feet tall, she said, whereas in reality, they ver-a almost 45 feet tall. She continued, saying the towers were going to be only 35 feet from the road, giving more impact than was illustrated looking at a distance:, across the weter, at the Sunnyvale tames. If the buildiags were to be covered with landscaping the chlorine conduits had to be moved, for there would be only four feet for trees to grow in. She favored moving the conduits under the road. In the matter of sewage, there was only 1,000,000 gallons per day allotted for residents, and none for industry. She was concerned, for she understood that the Architectural Review Board had plans for a new Hewlett-Packard plant, which, she understood, vas going to have about 13,000 employees She read the following letter into the record from the Peninsula Conservation Center: Members of the Council: Of all the abuses heaped upon the San Francisco Baylands, probably the most offensive is the pouring of our sewage into the water. Consider that less than 20 years ago minimally treated sewage actually flowed into the yacht harbor basin. The City of Palo Alto has been a leader in correcting this abuse. Our savage treatment plant does'its'job well, to'date"it'has cyst less than moat of the other treatment plants in the Ray area, capacity -wise, and it utilizes a system that requires far less land than the others. We are now mandated by the Federal government to further upgrade this discharge into our Bay. And rightfully so. The Peninsula Conservation Center supports, this Federal auto for Clean Water. Ise have studied the Elk and the Project Report. The following remarks'reflect our position and our recommendations to you. We label them 'Immediate" and "Future.." 1MPRVIATE It is unfortunate that this messive strecturs, 200' long and 42' high, is to be located so close to our Uplands. Nevertheless, because of our commdttaisnt to the Clean Water mandate, the Peninsula Conservation renter supports the Alternative 1 --Fixed Film Reactors --- with the following mitigation reeoamendations: a. In reviewing the landscaping plans, it 3s apparent that there is an inordinate some of concrete, all of which is probably not necessary. We ask that the amount of concrete to be used'be re- evaluated with the priority pieced on a minimum use of concrete and a maximum vae of landscaping, particularly adjacent to the public road. Explore the possibility of placing.the chlorine contact conduit;c easier the road, thus allowing a greater depth of soil for laniscapiai With trees. 344. 11/14/77 b, •The land within the eevage treatment plant to the southwest is presently uniandscapec.. We recommend that of this area (300') , approximately 200' southeast and approaching the dump be landscaped to help soften the impact of the new construction and to define more clearly the boundaries of the plant. c. The amount of Federal said State sans; available for sewage treatment plants is limited. The EPA and the State Water Quality Control Board have allocated money for construction of sewage plants with their capacities based on a population projection of E -Zero. (E s the lamest fertility rate and Zero is zero immigration). The Federal gcve►ramenr and the SW (CB have established the Bay area as a "Critical Air Basin." These Critical Air Basin standards must be met by all cities and counties. They are not limiting growth, the population, nor telling you not to reproduce. The IPA and the SWQCB is saying that if a city chooses to expand, it will still hhav+e to meet the water quality standards, but neither the Federal government nor the State will help fund the necessary sewage treatment expansion beyond the sewer capacities for E -Zero population projections. .The Council an.I its sewage treatment partners should recall that the entire present plant cost less than $10,000,000 in 1971. The newest bids for just two structures will cost more than S1C,000,000 and it is just 6 years later. It becomes obvious than, that further expansion of the sewage plant from the present 35 ag/d to 50 mg/d to be fursded solely by Palo Alto and its partners is probably not feaslbl.e nor acceptable to the public. Therefore, the PCC recommends that expansion of the sewage treatment plant capacities beyond the present project, from two to four fixed film reactors and the accompanying facilities, be eliminated from the plans. FUTURE In reviewing the EIR and the Project Report, the Peninsula Conservetton Center determined that there are several vital areas in which the Council must involve itself in the very near future. Some direction should be given to staff tonight to start solving these complicated problem. 1. Because of the nature of the industry in Palo Alto ' and its environs, our treatment plant dues periodically suffer from massive toxicity problas--3.e., copper and arsenic in a single massive dose kills the bacteria, kalocY.ing out the system. Coeiiderable expense and tine are spent correcting the problem and the sewage to the Bay is degraded. We under- stand that an attempt is being mode to induce industry to install equips eet to remove such toxic* at their source. This program should be expedited. We further urge the City SOT to suss in gold recovery, but insist that such cootam#.nacts be removed at the *once. lamoval of gold at the source mill be less expensive for Polo Altans than the proposed mining Proceso. 2. The amount oi. gas being consumed by the incinerator to burn the sludge is an inordinate amount. Way lammol it to be commanded for his recent modifications which have increased the "sf f is iancy of the th iaerstor sow/What, ; let we urge that studies beg** to determine mhetber or not the sludge should be burned, abet er or net the burning of solid oasts in con- junction with the sludge might ` be a feasible method of cramming pacer Uo rum the pleat, and so forth. Energy conservation suet be one of air top prioritise. 345 11/14/77 3. We consider this to be the most important section of this whole letter. Since the Federal government and the State have effectively limited the capacity of the sewage treatment plant, the City and its partners must begin to develop a policy for allocating the remaining sewer capacity of our plant. You must realize that in upgrading the plant you are now actually reducing its capacity from 35/mg/d to 30 mg/d; that to construct additional facilities to meet -a r:epulation demand or industrial demand as envisioned when this plant vas first designed (50 m3/d) will require local funding by Palo Alta, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford and East Palo Alto. The millions of dollars necessary to expand are not available locally nor from anywhere else in tie foreseeable future. A specific Policy Allocation Plan must be created which determines the number of_sewer hookups possible; who shall be eligible to receive hookups, i.e., houses or industry; where this development shall occur --Palo Alto, Mountain View, etc. It should be required that every project (housing or industrial) inform the City of its sewer requirements prior to revie by wither the Planning Commission or the Architectural Review Board. A plan for fair allocation to housing and industry must be developed tecause almost the entire remaining limited capacity could be used by one plant or one housing development. Our final observations are: the EIR by J. B. Gilbert & Associates was inaccurate, inadequate, and misleading -the towers were depicted as being 21' tall; the cost of the project was not clear and did not include the cost of the total project which was actually estimated to be $8,800,000 in the Project Report by Jenks and Adamson, which was excellent. We were most dismayed to leari. that the City did not follow the process required of private developers so that the Planning Commission was not involved in the Site & Design process until after the project: had already gone to bid. We request that the Council direct staff to prepare a flow chart and checklist that all pro;ucts must follow, including city projects. Yours truly, (signed) Enid Pearson, Conservation Director Ed Aghjayan, Director of Utilities, asked if Ms. Pearson thought the concrete used was excessive is the pavement or in the structure itself. Ms. Pearson replied that she thought the concrete in the pavement was excessive. She thought some could be eliminated and more landscaping could be put in. Mr. Aghjayan said the City intended to use her suggestion. Sill lug even, 3353 Aims, voiced disappointment as a resident and tax- payer in Palo Alto, at the City's method of conducting business. The project had been advertised in magazines about four months ago, saying that bids were to be hold -for sixty days. The time had passed and Palo Alto still had not awarded the contract. The City bad been able to obtain plans and specifications for $40 a set, $25 refund, and the City could have found out if the towers vete such and such a height. He objected that various contractors had bad to spend money, yet the contract might never be awarded, and that there might be a re -bid. Contractors had been given only 60 days, and he thought the City should have defined its needs in that time also. The City had not arrrded the contract to the "lowest bidder." Kr. Mugteren suggested the City give the bid to the second lowest bidder, and save that contractor from further losses. 346 11/14/77 He thought the City owed contractors who spend money bidding on projects for the Cety some consideration. In elosiag he asked that the chlo:inc pipes be left in the location originally planned, and that the treeo be placed on the other side of the road. the 'price oft' the -project', =he Said, should be cut to the bare minimum. Vice Mayor Brenner said thanks were owed contractors who permitted time to the City to complete its process. The height of the towers had been incorrectly reported, and the Site and Design process had been inad- vertently bypassed. Council had been helped in discussing problems with Mr. Jenks that evening MOTION PASSED: The motion that Council approve the present design of the advanced waatewater treatment facilities as required in Section 18.82.010 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, and direct staff to work closely with the ARB in developing the final landscaping plan, passed on a unanimous vote, Mayor Sher and Councilmember Carey absent. MOTION: Vice Mayor Brenner moved, seconded by Pazz;no, that in view of developing a sewer capacity plan, Council direct staff to seek information as t� the capacity of the sewage treatment plant in relation to various city plane of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, and so on, and to report on what activities are wastewater intensive, both in quantity and quality; and in connection with those questions determine if the South Bay Dischargers pipe is necessary, or -if secondary tertiary treatment will take place; and whether staff anticipates there would be federal and state funding for secondary tertiary treatment should it be required; and further, in comparing the South Bay Dischargers project to the secondary tertiary, if there is a question of disadvantage of removing freshwater inflow from the South Bay in the case of the P':.-dchargers project. Vice Mayor Brenner said she would like support from Council in sub- mitting the questions to staff for a report to be made by them at a later date, perhaps also containing staff recommendations. Counci;member Eyerly sale: the motion was quite large for him to assimi- late at that time; he asked that she agendize the item, first putting her thoughts on paper so he could think about them at some length and they could be discussed before the staff was given an assignment. Vice Mayor Br a ner's motion was a big package.. Vice MayorBrenner replied that she assumed a great deal of the infor- mation requested in her motian corald be answered by the staff. Cauncilmeaber Clary asked if staff would respond "as to the magnitude of the effort required." Mr. Aghjayan said be did not think it would be a major assignment. Staff had some of the needed information that bad to be accumulated. He asked Vice Mayor Brenner if she wanted to address the policy issues she had alluded to earlier. Receiving her affirmative, be said that doing that kind of research (on allocation of services using wastewater) would entail studying specific rules and regulations of other cities. He thought Council might want a report from the City Attorney on the legal implications of may policy action on the matter that the Council sight take. Be himself would like to have several months to work on the matter. Vice Mayor Bremner said that would he agreeable to her. She thought that information staff returned with would give Council a base for further discussion. Time was not as ieeortant assachieving a workable body of information. 347 11/14/77 Councilmeribcr Fazzino spoke of Ms. Pearson's suggeptio that the City develop a flow chart for certain projects. He said he understood that the Planning Director was developing such a booklet. It would be available in the Spring. Councilmember Henderson asked if all of East Palo Alto's discharge went through the same plant Palo Alto used. apceiving an affirmative answer he said Palo Alto would have considerable concern about industrial development that might take place in East Palo Alto, though it had been an area in which development had been supported. Mr. Remmel, Water--Gas-Sewer, said th.ve concerns had been considered in the last planning session. East Pao Alto had acquired an additional 240,000 million gallons of capacity at that time, for future growth. Mr. Aghjayan pointed out that the wastewater treatment plant was a regional facility, serving five cities and Stanford University,, there- fore policies which were formulated would have future impact on those communities' ability to grow. He thought the City Attorney would have to look at Palo Alto's contractual responsibilities with the various agencies. MOTION PASSED: The motion that staff gather information on wastewater intensive activities, and the necessity and possible funding of secondary tertiary treatment, and inquiry of effects of removing freshwater inflow from the South Bay on the Dischargers project passed on the following vote: AYES: Brenner, Clay, Fazeino, Fletcher, Henderson, Witherspoon NOES: Eyerly ABSENT, Carey, Sher John Jenks of Jenks & Harrison said that in spite of some of the negative casaaents made that evening, :.he wastewater treatment plan held promise of being the finest of its kind in the country, and d.t would help keep Palo Alto in a leadership position in municipal concern for the environment, as well as economics. ORAL COIIwN?C�i?IONS None ADJOURNMENT TO zacuTin SESSION RE PERSONNEL Vice Mayor Brenner said Council would have a short recess and then hold an executive session. Council adjourned to an Executive Session re personnel at 10:15 p.m. The Executive Session and the meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.a. ATTEST: 3 4 8 11/A4/77