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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12061937City Hall, Pale Alto, California. December 6, 1937. • The at 7:a-,0 P.M., leyor Sa1swan Present: Absent: Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date pursuant to adjournment of November 15, 1937, with presiding. Roll call as follows: Blois, Bonham, Cashel, Collins, Costello, Cypher, Mrs. Merner, Mitchell, Richards, Salsman, Thoits, Wood. Goddard, Mosher and Thomas. The minutes of the meeting of November 15, 1937, were approved. Bids on improvement Plans No. 55 (layfair) The special order of the . day was the opening of bids or the improvement of Martin Avenue, •Linco..n Avenue, Channing ,:venue, Center Street, Regent Place, Somerset Place, Kirby Place, Tevis Place and Kent Place, under Improvement Plans loo. 59. The bids were opened, read and publicly declared, the name and address of each bidder, the unit price of each item and the total amount of each bid being stated. FoJaowing are the names of the bidders and the total amount of each bid: bond. " Union:Paving Company A J. Raisch Piazza & Huntley Palo -Alto Road Materials Co. Granite Constrixctidn Co.,Ltd. 427, 683.85 28,413.07 29,097.55 29,675.10 32,094.90 Each bid was accompanied by a certified check or a bid; On motion of Thoits and Blois, the bids were referred to the Street Superintendent and City Attorney for tabulation and report. Later the Street Superintendent reported thaat the bids had been tabulated and that_. the Union Paving Company *as the lowest bidder. He recommended that --the contract be not awarded et tb.is meeting but that the matter be referred to Committee No. 1 for consideration and report at the next meeting on December 13th. Action on the award of contract was deferred and the bids were referred: to Committee No. 1 for a report at the aext meeting. Hearing on Assessment. This was the for the improvement of Avenue, Lincoln avenue Plans ' No . 53. time set ;.for a nearing on the assessment Forest Avenue, Pitman Avenue, Martin and Center Street, under improvement The affidavit .of the City Clerk of posting and mailing tices of the filing of the assessment and the time of -hearing, a a the affidavit ofpublication of the notice in the Palo Alto :rimes were placed on file. No protests -to. thee -assessment _were received, and there '..as no one present who wished to address the Council on this matter. The hearing was declared closed.. Resolution No. 1183, confirming the assessment was {1 read,. and on motion of Mitchell and Thoits, was adopted by unanimous, vote on roll call. Sponsor's Agreements on WPA Projects 1,ic:e. Sponsor's covering WPA s p agreements projects eCt� for the construction of sidewalks and drainage, Serial Number 0943-445 and Serial Number 0943-398, were presented with a Construct request from WPA officials that the City Engineer: and city permissic] Clerk be authorized to sign these agreements. Palo Alto, laid by t; hn opinion of the City Attorney relating to An agreem( sponsor's_ agreements on WPA projects, with the recommendation . line, pre; that these agreements be signed in the form demanded by the thorks, Y•1C.4 WPA, was received. On motion of Thoits and Wood, the City Engineer and AoDrc City Clerk were authorized to sign these agreements on behalf of the City. •:•:.airman c appropria Decision. on Wagner Case of 260 cop This was r The City Attorney presented a written report in regard to the judgment rendered by the Court in the case of Coen• Wagner vs. the City of Palo Alto, to the effect that the City must , either pay to Mrs. Wagner the amount of the judgment - rendi"ered in 1927 in the sum of 41610.00, plus interest on said the Counci. sum at the rate of 7 per cent to date, plus the sum of ".x'1000.00 " the Co:nmu, as damages to the building, or execute a deed to quit claim the city's interest in the land now being used as a street, P,e.=;�,, and also pay the interest upon the judgment and. $1000.00 forthe destruction of the building. The City Attorney advised that he is going to take steps on behalf of the City to rec estiv have the judgment reduced. A letter to the City Attorney tax bill cc from Alfred Aram, attorney for Mrs. Wagner, relating to the "' Di_igley sty decision in this case was read. paid a per living,. an The City Attorney's report on this matter was placed This was r€ Petition of Veterans Welfare Board to Cancel Taxes .A petition was received from the Veteranst Welfare the Cancel l: Board requesting -,the. cancellation of taxes on certain- in. error ag properties now owned by said Board. This was referred to It was expl Committee No. 5, the City Assessor and City Attorney for a assessed va report. improvement should be c veterans' e: of 4700.00 A claim was received from the Methodist Churcn in the Cozmi ttse N; amount of 432.00 for damages caused by the stoppage of the sewer. This matter has been considered by the Board of Works which has denied responsibility for the claim and has requested the City' Engineer to:: report the facts to the Council. r the Counci . The City Engineer reported that at the time the ;evolving repaving.of Hamilton Avenue was being done a certain amount of these char 171 debris -and broken brick was allowed to fall into the sanitary renewed: serer; that this debris was not removed and drifted down the pipe, later forming: •an obstruction in the sewer between Webster.. and Byron Streets. Tile City Engineer was of the - opinionthat the contractor for the street improvement, the Palo Alto Road Materials Company, is at fault in this instance and should, settle -the claim. He reported that the company has been advised to' --this effect and has been requested to pay the claim, buthas not as yet made a settlement. Actionwas deferred pending a further report f rodi oord of Works:• • The City Clerk was requested to advise the Claim of Methodist Church attorney -for the Methodist Church of the status of their claim. License Agreement to War Department ,A communication was received from Col. H. E. Pitz, Constructing Quartermaster of the War Department, requesting permission to lay a.10 -inch water, pipe along` certain streets in Palo Alto, to connect Moffett Field with-tnepipe line to be laid by the San -Francisco Water Department at California Avenue. An agreement permitting the installation of this water pipe line, prepared by the City Engineer and approved by the Board of Works, was presented. This was referred to Committee No. I. Appropriationfor Recreation Survey Co=ittee A communication was received from Mr. N. P. Neilson, ,:airman of the Recreation Survey Committee, requesting that an appropriation of $16.000 be authorized for covers and binding of 260 copies of the Palo Alto RecreationSurvey Report. - This was referred to Committee 40.• 4. Opening of Children's Museum An invitation was 'received, addressed to the members of the Council, to attend the opening of the Children's ?Museum in the Comxunity Center on Friday evening, December 10th. Recuest of bLrs. - inaeley for Tax Refund' k letter was received from Mrs. Catherine L. Dinbley requesting a refund of 42. -00 -paid as personal property tax with tax bill covering her property -at -340 Churchill Avenue. Mrs. Dingley stated.in here -letter -thatfor the past two years she has e id a personal property tax in Berkeley where she has been living, and that -her hose here.has been rented unfurnished. This was referred- to Committee No.-- 5 and the City Assessor. hec.uest •of- Assessor for .Cancellation of Assessment - A letter -was received from the city Assessor requesting the cancellation of an assessment for improvements assessed in error` against Lots 11 and 12, Bloc}: 49, South Palo 'Alto. It was explained -by. the Assessor -that. through an error an assessed valuation of $1150.00 was placed against these. lots for improvements; that in. order t.o correct the books this assessment should be cancelled and that a deduction of $450.00 allowed for veterans' exemption should also be made, making a net deduction of $700.00 in the assessed value. This natter was referred to Committee No. -5. Reimbursement of Revolving Fund A report was received from the Board of Works requesting Council to provide the sum of $6,709.56 to reimburse the ;;evolving Fund for the following items, with the provision that these charges may be again revivd in the event the projects are renewed: California Avenue Widening $ 252.09 Cambridge Avenue Widening 3,803.39 Charming Avenue Widening 129.66 Colorado Avenue Widening 20.85 Cower Street Widening 297.26 Highway Widening, Mayfield 403.35 Lytton, Hamilton ac University Widen. 485.10 Opening alley in College Terrace 121.00 Opening Dana & Center Streets Opening Webster Street South Oregon Tract Roads Closing Oxford & Cambridge 318.72 123.78 496.13 258.23 $6,709.56 On motion of Thoitsand Richards, this matter was referred committees No. 4 and io. 5. • Use of Old Animal Shelter A report was received from the Board of Works advising the Council that it agrees to the temporary continuance of the use of the kennels and yard space of the old Animal Shelter as shown in letter of November 1, 1937, from the. Board of Safety to the Council. On motion of Mrs. Merner and Blois, this report was approved. (Councilman Wood left at 8 P.M., and was absent daring the rest of the meeting.) Change of Setback Line Ordinance No. 729, changing the setback line on the northerly side of Hamilton Avenue, in block 118, Crescent Park, from 40 feet to 30 feet for a distance of 100 feet easterly from West Crescent Drive, as recommended by the Planning Commission, was given second reading. On motion of Mitchell and Thoits, this ordinance was adopted by unanimous vote on roll call. Ordinances Amending Zoning Ordinance Four ordinances amending the Palo Alto Zoning Ordinance previously recommended by the Planning Commission and Committee No. 1,,:were considered. Ordinance No. 730, amending Section 1002 of the Zoning Ordinance by striking therefrom Paragraph 5, Nurseries, truck gardens and greenhouses; ,Paragraph 7 (h) , The office of a veterinary, and Paragraph 7 (1), Any similar use, was given second reading. On motion of Collins and Richards, the ordinance was adopted by unanimous vote on..r.oll call. Ordinance No.. 731, adding Section 1009 to the Zoning Ordinance with regard to the placing of signs and the storage of materials in residential districts, was given second reading and discussed. On motion of Thoits and Bonham, the ordinance was adopted on roll call, all present voting Aye except Mrs. Merner and Mitchell, who voted No. Ordinance No. 732, amending Section 1000 of Zoning Ordinance by adding the definition of the word was given second reading, and on motion of Cypher and was passed by unanimous vote on roll call. Ordinance N. 733, adding Section 1022 (a) to the Zoning :ordinance providing for the enforcement of the provisions of said ordinance, was given second reading, and on motion of Thoits and nichards, was adopted by unanimus vote on roll call. Traffic Congestion at Alma and Lytton Councilman Cypher advised that a number of complaints have come to him In regard to the traffic congestion at the intersection of Alma Street and Lytton Avenue, especially anoync the "school", Costello, six P.M., a view to reii the Board of Street Co in regard to district. erected for Board expec of signs and ::ix P.G., and suggested that an investigation be made with a view to relieving the. condition. This matter was referred to ;:ie Board of Safety and Committee No. 2. Street Signs Councilman Richards asked what progress is being made in regard to the installation of street signs in the business district. He was advised that several types of signs have been erected for considerationby the Board of `'works and that the Board expects to take action shortly in regard to the selection of signs and their installation. The Council adjourned. TEST: 7 ity Clerk