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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-08-05 City Council (5)City of Polo Alto C ty Manager’s Report TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY SERVICES DATE:AUGUST 5, 2002 CMR: 365:02 SUBJECT: FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOK SALES LOCATION This is an informational report and no Council action is required. BACKGROUND In September 2001, the City of Palo Alto, the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) and the Jewish Community Center (JCC) came to an agreement to transfer ownership of the Terman Community Center back to the PAUSD for use as a third middle school. Consequently, the JCC needed to relocate from Terman. The City and PAUSD committed to-house the JCC"s operations on the Cubberley Community Center and Greendel sites. The Terman agreement also impacted the Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL) book sale operations. On March 22, 2002,. FOPAL was notified by PAUSD that it would need to vacate the site on or before September 25, .2002 (Attachment A). Subsequently, staff will be finding a location for FOPAL on the Cubberley campus. DISCUSSION The relocation of the Terman facility uses to Cubberley has been difficult at best. To complicate the situation even more, staff recognized the serious overcrowding of the Mitchell Park Library and agreed to relocate the office space of the traffic adjudicator and the City’s emergency services from Mitchell Park to the Cubberley site. As staff considered options, the following guiding principals were observed: ÷ Adhere to the approved master plan of the Cubberley facility, ÷ Minimize the impact on revenue generation, ÷ Minimize the impact on the site’s parking capacity. At the same time, staff prioritized efforts to focus on the JCC relocation first, as it was tied to a City agreement and had the greatest impact and the tightest time frame. Second CMR:365:02 Page 1 of 3 in priority, are options for the FOPAL book sales and the relocation of the Mitchell Park Library uses. The following are the complex twists and turns that have occurred as we strive to satisfy all the necessary changes: ÷ In November 2001, the City and JCC reached an agreement to lease 1500-2000 sq. ft. of existing classroom and office space plus a gymnasium to meet the JCC’ s needs. ÷ In the winter of 2002, the new JCC administration said it needed 3000- 4000 sq. ft. of classroom space and a gymnasium to meet its needs. ÷ Due to a lack of available .space, staff pursued the alternative of providing a grouping ofrelocatables to move all.the JCC’s space needs into one location. ÷ Initially, it was suggested to locate 3000-3500 sq. ft. of portables on Site A (Attachment B) and it was also suggested to the FOPAL that the City could pursue providing 3000-4000 sq. ft. of relocatables on a dirt parking lot on Site B (Attachment B) if the JCC option was approved. ÷ The FOPAL organization proposed that staff pursue the re-designation of one of the artist studio wings for FOPAL and displace the existing artists or require that the artists combine in the remaining studios (Attachment D). Staff responded to the organization that this was not an acceptable proposal as it went against the spirit of the creation of the Cubberley Community Center (Attachment E). ÷ At the same time, staff pursued the Mitchell Park Library project by moving the Police adjudicator office to Room 3 at the Mitchell Park Community Center, which displaced the Youth Community Services (YCS) office. The Office of Emergency Services and the YCS offices were relocated to two 700-sq. ft. classrooms on the Cubberley site. ÷ When the proposal on Site A proved to be too small for the JCC and ran into problems with the City building codes, the JCC facility was relocated to Site B, along with the FOPAL building. ÷ Subsequently, staff learned that the Greendell property line runs diagonally through the Site B location, thus limiting the location to only one building on that property (Attachment C). ÷ Because there was an August 10, 2002 deadline on the JCC relocation, staff proceeded with facilitating the JCC’s project as a priority. ÷ Staff is now re-evaluating Site A for a possible FOPAL location. The site is smaller than FOPAL requested, at 3000 sq. ft., but there are covered walkways and adjacent rooms that could be made available for books sale days. ÷ As recommended by City planning staff, Rolf Jensen and Associates, Inc. of Walnut Creek has been hired to investigate what size building, if any, could be located on this site. This may be answered before the August 5 Council meeting. CMR:365:02 Page 2 of 3 If this action does not work out, the only options left are to not renew some present leases for existing tenants, reduce the amount of space Foothill College uses or put relocatab!es elsewhere on the parking lot and further impact the present parking problem. RESOURCE IMPACT There will be some costs to install the relocatables. POLICY IMPLICATIONS Staff will concentrate its efforts on placing relocatables on the Cubberley site to minimize impact on the Cubberley Master Plan. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A: Attachment B: Attachment C: Attachment D" Attachment E: March 22, 2002 Letter from PAUSD to Palo Alto City Manager regarding the Friends of the Library Use of Terman Cubberley Community Center Site Map Map showing PAUSD/Cubberley Property Lines March 22, 2002 Letter and Memo from FOPAL to Palo Alto City Manager Regarding Space Allocation for Book Sales Operation at Cubberley Community Center April l, 2002 City of Palo Alto Response to the FOPAL PREPARED BY/DEPARTMENT HE~D~ PAUL THILTGEN Director, Community Services CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: Assistant City Manager CMR:365:02 Page 3 of 3 Attachment A PALO ALTO UNiFiED SCHOOL DISTRlC ,,;, 25 Churchill Avenue Palo Alto, California 94306-1099 Business Services Phone: 650-329-3706 Fax: 650-329-3803 March 22, 2002 Frank Benest, City Manager City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Ave Palo Alto, CA 94301 Re: Friends of the Library use of Terman Dear Mr. Benest, The Palo Alto Unified School District has determined that in order to accommodate projected enrollment ¯ at the new Terman Middle School the Friends of the Library will be required to vacate wing 30 of the Terman property. As you know, the District is to reacquire possession of the Terman Middle School on or before September 1, 2002, at whichtime the District will begin the renovation of the property in order to open the facility as a middle school for the 2003-2004 school year. The School District has assessed its needs for the operation of a middle school and has determined that Wing 30 will be necessary and therefore the Friends of the Library will be required to vacate Wing 30. We are requesting that you inform the Friends of the Library that they will need to vacate Wing 30 on or before September 25, 2002. Given the District’s need to begin the renovation as early as possible it is important that the Friends be given as much notice as possible in order to ensure that they are able to vacate the premises in a timely fashion. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me. Very Truly Yours, Robert F. Golton Deputy Superintendent cc:Shelby Valentine, Friends of the Library Mary Frances Callan, Superintendent Attachment B Cubberley 4000 MID GREENDELL/’~/SCHOOL / /~/ ¯ , PAVILION ~1 to SAN ANTONIO RD. Community Center DL E FIE L D ROA. D BLIC PAY TELEPHONE LED PARKING ARE FIRE ROOM AUDITORIUM CHARLESTONSHOPPING CENTER to EAST CHARLESTON RD. ~ Cubberley Community Center 4000 Middlefield Road, T2 Palo Alto, California, 94303 Office: 650-329-2418 JUL-24-02 NED 02;54 P~ OITY OF B756 P, 02 Attachment C j/,# s FRIENDS OF THE PALO ALTO LIBRARY P.O. Box 41 Palo Alto, CA 94302 Attachment D Frank Behest, Manager, City of Palo Alto Palo Alto City Hail 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 March, 22, 2002 Dear Frank, The attached memorandum proposes the allocation to Friends of the Palo Alto Library of specific spaces at Cubberley Community Center to allow Friends to maintain its community book sales at current activity levels. Implementation of this proposal would save the cost of installing relocatables and the ongoing leasing costs associated with~their use. ,.In addition, there would be no loss of Cubberley parking spaces. The memorandum also provides backgrotmd on the monthly book sales conducted by FOPAL and identifies the benefits the community derives from those sales. (By way of perspective, much of the success FOPAL’s book sales is attributable to its membership of over 1,000 Palo Alto households making it one of the largest Friends organizations in the State.) All of the undersigned, as well as those receiving copies of this letter and memorandum, have been involved in ongoing discussions aimed at resolving FOPAL’s book sale space issue. We believe it is appropriate that you be aware of where matters stand at this point, and we anticipate that our task force will pursue this proposal in greater detail. We are not proposing to give this communication further distribution at this thne pending a satisfactory resolution of this space issue. Please do not hesitate to comact us if you have questions or wish to discuss these thoughts in greater detail. Sincerely your~~.~ Marty l~ddock Shelby Valentine FOPAL Book Sale Manager President, FOPAL Attachment Tom Wyman Member LAC and former Co-Manager FOPAL Book Sales cc: Paul Thiltgen Maw Jo Levy Attachment D MARCH 22, 2002 TO: FRANK BENEST, PALO ALTO CITY MANAGER FROM: FRIENDS OF THE PALO ALTO LIBRARY RE:SPACE ALLOCATION FOR BOOK SALES SPONSORED BY FRIENDS OF THE PALO ALTO LIBRARY As you know, Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL) leamed in early December, 2001 that after September 1, 2002 the PAUSD will take over Terman Middle School.. Thereafter, FOPAL will not be able to use classroom space that it has been using to prepare for and conduct, monthly book sales. FOPAL fully appredates and supports the School District in assuring that classrooms are available for expanding school emolhnent. We do not want to interfere with that effort. Background: FOPAL presently occupies about 6,900 square feet of space, including three storeroom areas, in six classrooms at.Tennan. In discussions with Staff, FOPAL has been offered 1,920 square feet of space in the form of four relocatable units the City proposes to install on an unpaved parldng lot at Cubberley Conuntmity Center. This space would be entirely inadequate in temas of FOPAL maintaining its present level of activity which involves receiving and storhag book contributions, sorting, pricing, preparing for and conducting its monttfly book sales with the involven~ent of about 100 voltmteers. k is generally recognized that FOPAL, through its book sales, anakes inaportant contributions to the City, its residents and to a larger cotmnunity. These include: FOPAL book sales generate over $110,000 annually which is contributed to the Palo Alto library system. FOPAL finds new owners for thousands of books every month, many of which would otherwise be discarded and become landfill. Reducing waste going to landffil is of significant economic value to the City. Using data obtained from staff, FOPAL estimates that if FOPAL book sales were digcontinued, file City would incur additional landfall costs in the range of $40,000 per year. The ready availability of books at low prices is a genuine contribution to the education of the community, especially our young people. Hundreds of people including many children attend FOPAUs monthly book sales. Those attending book sales repeatedly speak of the value of the sales and commend FOPAL for sponsoring this public service. Residents are pleased to be able to contribute their thousands of books every month because they recognize that their books will find new homes, and the proceeds from the sale of their books benefit Palo Alto libraries. (People simply hate throwing away their books!) Nonprofit organizations are invited to select books at no cost following the monthly book sales. Those responding include special education schools and both school and public libraries, hospitals, jails, mad individuals who select books to send to overseas populations. In addition to these substantial contributions to the community, the conduct of FOPAL book sales involves many hundreds of people each month including book donors, FOPAL volunteers and volunteers from other nonprofit organizations and, most importantly, many hundreds of customers who purchase an estimated Attachment D [18,000] books each month. FOPAL volunteers repeatedly comln~lt on the importance of sales as a commtmity service and how fulfilling the work is to them personally, Proposal: In reviewing the situation at Cubberley Community Center, it has come to FOPAL’s attention that three class room wings out of some 12 wings are used as studio spaces by artists. Insofar as can be detemfined, there are 6-8 artists leasing space in each of the three wings. The leasing program began in 1991, and FOPAL understands that there has been no turnover among those artists who originally rented Cubberley classroom spaces as studios. FOPAL further understands that the rent the artists pay is modest, on the order of 55¢ per square foot per month. We are unaware of any long term leases or commitments to retain studio space for present occupants. FOPAL proposes that Cubberley Wing E, F or U be redesignated for use by FOPAL to prepare for and conduct book sales. With this space, FOPAL could nmintain its present level of activity and artists would still have the use of two wings. Moreover, this proposal would save the cost of erecting relocatables and ongoing leasing costs as well as not elindrmting critically needed parldng spaces. (Access to Wing F is especially convenient for ongoing book deliveries.) Considerations Supp~__~ the Proposal: FOPAL believes flaat the City has both a fiduciary mad sodetal respcrnsibility to assure that public resources are utilized with the overall objective of serving a larger public good. In other words, one may well question the propriety of a small number of individuals using public resources indefinitely to the exclusion of others who may wish to use those same resources and by doing so make a substantially greater public contribution by providing valuable community services. In seeking precedents for prioritizing usage of public facilities, FOPAL has determined that a nmnber of state colleges and universities have developed formal polities and procedures goveming the use of their facilities. For exanaple, the following excerpt from a policy on the use of university facilities at California State University, Bakersfield states: CSUB facilities are primarily for the purpose of conducting its educational programs. For several reasons the University does permit campus and off-campus organizations to use its facilities. Some programs, although,not part of the University curriculum, add immeasurably to CSUB students’ educational experience. Finally, judicious scheduling that permits off-campus groups to use cmnpus space when such use does not inteifere with its educational programs can generate income for the cmnpus. Pmother college has a scheduling priority for its facilities ranging from for-credit academic uses down to "university non-academic" uses and finally "other uses." While not speaking directly to city administration, these policies articulate the basic principle that custodians of public resources have a responsibility to consider the overall benefit to their respective constituencies in designating and allocating the use of publicly owned facilities. FOPAL submits that as an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of an important City service, working closely with City staff and involving and serving hundreds of community residents merits priority consideration in the allocation of City facility spaces. Attachment E Marry Paddock, Book ¯Sale Manager Friends of the Palo Alto Library P.O. Box 41 Palo Alto, CA 94302 Shelby Valentine, President Friends of the Palo Alto Library P.O. Box 41 Palo Alto, CA 94302 City of Palo Alto Office of the City Manager Tom Wyman, Member Library Advisory Committee P.O. Box 41 Palo Alto, CA 94302 April 1, 2002 Dear Marty, Shelbyand Tom: Staff has reviewed your letter of March 22, 2002. In that letter, you propose that one wing of artist studio space be redesignated for use by the Friends of the Palo Alto Li.brary to prepare and conduct book sales. While I understand that the proposal would meet your organization’s needs, it is not an acceptable proposal given the City Council’s established direction for use of the Cubberley Community Center space. The Utility Users Tax initiative that was approved by the voters to fund the City’s use of school district properties was initiated and promoted by the Arts community with one of the goals to provide artist studio space. The Cubberley Master Plan that was approved by the City Council reflects this commitment, . clearly identifying specific spaces for artist studios. The Council has also acted to subsidize the rent paid by the artists for studio space, while retaining its commitment to have the Cubberley Community Center operations be self- supporting. A change of the kind you propose would require broad community input and City Council action to change the Master Plan and the revenue policy. This action could also create substantial controversy in the community. ¯ Based on these issues we do not see this as a feasible solution, We remain committed to finding alternative space for the Friends, and have offered 1920 square feet of relocatable space elsewhere on the Cubberley campus. Our staff is working hard already to make the space ready for your occupancy, and intend to have it available by September 2002. We are grateful for the Friends’ continuing support of the Palo Alto public library system and look forward to working closely with you in the future. gmi~tl:r’aa~ison - Assistant City Manager Paul Thiltgen Mary Jo Levy Del Thorpe Frank Benest P.O. Box 10250 Palo Alto, CA 94303 650.329.2563 650.325.5025 fax