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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-03-12 City Council (18)City of Palo Alto City Manager’s Report TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT:CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE DATE:MARCH 12, 2001 CMR: 160:01 SUBJECT:REMOVAL OF ITEMS FROM THE POLICY AND SERVICES COMMITTEE’S REFERRAL ITEMS IN COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends, that Council approve the removal of the following items from the Policy and Services Committee’s (P&S) Referral Items in Committee: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Review of scope of services for Alma Street Grade Crossings Feasibility Study Review of scope of services for Phase 2 of the. Citywide School Commute Safety Study Review of scope of services for Telephone System ReqUirements Utilities Records Requests Policy and Procedure Council Referral Regarding Oral Communications BACKGROUND The Council Policy and Services Committee has the responsibility to "make recommendations on matters referred to it by the Council relating to parliamentary and administrative procedures and policy matters pertaining to issues detailed in Chapter 2.04.240 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code." Council refers items to the P&S Committee through its own initiative or in response to a staff recommendation. In addition, it has been the City’s practice to provide the P&S Committee with a list of consultant contracts so that the Committee might decide the contracts for which it would like to see the consultant scopes of services before the Requests for Proposals (RFP) areissued. On occasion, items referred to the P&S Committee are held in committee because of the need for additional staff work or a change in the timeline for addressing the item. Such items are listed in the "Status of Referral Items in Committee" memo, which is updated as the P&S Committee takes action on the items (Attachment A). ~There are several items that have been in committee for some time that have been resolved or that might more appropriately be addressed by Council through other means. The purpose of this memo is to report on the status and proposed resolution of these items and recommend their removal from the P&S Committee’s Referral Items in Committee. CMR:160:01 Page 1 of 4 DISCUSSION Review of Scope of Services for Alma Street Grade Crossings Fcasibili~ Study On July 19, 1994, the P&S Committee indicated an interest in seeing the scope of services for the Alma Street Grade Crossing Feasibility Study. In June 1997, the transportation lement of the Infrastructure Management Plan was developed to determine how to phase, fund, and staff this and other important capital projects. As part of its deliberations on the Infrastructure Management Plan, the Council has established the priority that existing infrastructure needs will bc funded before new infrastructure is developed. Consequently, the Alma Street Grade Crossing Feasibility Study has bccn postponed and staff recommends that this item bc removed from the Referral Items in Committee. It should be noted that staff is aggressively seeking grant support for a Homer Avenue Undercrossing to address, in part, train grade crossing issues. Review of Scope of Services for Phase 2 of the Ci _tywide School Commute Safet~ Study On July 23, 1996, the P&S Committee asked to see the scope of services for both Phase 1 and phase 2 of the Citywide School Commute Safety Study. Phase 1 addressed the schools north of Oregon Expressway. The scope of services for Phase 1 was reviewed by the P&S Committee on June 13, 1995 and the study was approved by the City Council December 14, 1998. Phase 2 of the study, which addresses schools south of Oregon Expressway (Gunn High School, JLS Middle School, and Ohlone, Palo Verde, E1 Carmelo, Barron Park, Juana Briones, and Hoover Elementary Schools) has been delayed. This delay is due to the Palo Alto Unified School District’s Building for Excellence school renovation campaign. Given the School District’s initial exploration of the possibility of relocating the JLS Middle School as well as the ongoing construction at school sites, it would have been difficult to collect reliable data about school commute routes and safety. Since much of the uncertainty regarding school locations and conditions has been resolved, staff intends to initiate the Phase 2 School Commute Safety Study by the end of this fiscal year. As there has been a considerable delay since this item, was originally selected by the P&S Committee for review, staff has included this item the 2000-01 list of consultant contracts for Council Committee consideration. If Council decides to continue committee review of consultant scopes of services, the P&S Committee can select this item if it so desires. Consequently, at this time, staff recommends removing this item from the Referral Items in Committee. Review of Scope of Services for Telephone System Requirements On July 13, 1999, the P&S Committee asked to review the scope of services for the development of requirements for a new City telephone system. Staff has decided to integrate the City’s voice, video and data communications. Therefore, the new telephone system will be designed to use the City’s fiber optic infrastructure. In order to do this, it is first necessary to connect all City facilities with the fiber optic ring. Staff will propose. funds for both the fiber ring connection and telephone system design in the 2001-02 CMR: 160:01 Page 2 of 4 budget and expects to issue an RFP for this work in June 2001. Staff has included this item, with its revised scope, on this year’s list of consultant contracts for Council Committee consideration. If Council decides to continue committee review of consultant scopes of services, the P&S Committee can select this item at that time. Consequently, staff recommends removing this item from the Referral Items in Committee. Utilities Records Requests Policy .and Procedure On June 17, 1996, Council referred a proposed policy regarding Utilities Records Requests and Privacy Protection for Personal Customer Information to the P&S Committee. Since that time, staff has successfully pursued a change in t~. state Public Records Act to provide privacy protection to Utilities customers. Consequently, there is no need for a local policy. Staff recommends that this item be removed from the Referral Items in Committee. Council Referral Regarding Oral Communications On March 24, 1998, a Council colleague memorandum referred the issue of oral communication to the P&S Committee for discussion. In accordance with discussion at the February 27, 2001 Council retreat, Council will consider this issue as part of its deliberations on streamlining. Staff recommends the removal of this item from the P&S Referral Items in Committee. Review of Scope of Services for lntermoda! Transit Center Conceptua! Design On July 13, 1999, the P&S Committee expressed an interest in seeing the Intermodal Transit Center Conceptual Design scope of services. This scope was reviewed by the P&S Committee on September 14, 1999 and, inadvertently, was not removed from the Referral Items in Committee. ¯ Staff will remove this item. RESOURCE IMPACT There is no resource impact associated with the recommendations in this report. POLICY IMPLICATIONS The recommendations in this report do not constitute any change in City policy. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The recommendations in this report do not constitute a project under the Califomia Environmental Quality Act. TherefOre, environmental review is not required. CMR:160:01 Page 3 of 4 ATTACHMENTS A: Policy and Services Committee Status of Referral Items in Committee Memo PREPARED BY: AUD~ Assistant to the City Manager EIv~rY"~MRR! S ON Assistant City Manager CMR: 160:01 Page 4 of 4 TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: MEMORANDUM Policy and Services Committee Audrey Seymour March 1,2001 Status of Referral Items in Committee The following items have been assigned to staff for additional follow-up or information: Council Referral Date 7/19/94 7/23/96 7/13/99 6/17/96 2/18/97 Item and Status Scope of Services Consultant Contracts Over $25~000 Alma Street Grade Crossings. Feasibility Study (1994-95). This project is on hold, pending the broader discussion by the Finance Committee of major transportation and infrastructure funding issues. Citywide School Commute Safety Study - Phase 2 (1996-97). Telephone System Requirements and Intermodal Transit Center Conceptual Design (1999-00). Utilities Records Requests Policy and Procedure Council referred to the Policy and Services Committee and Utilities Advisory Commission the proposed policy and procedure regarding Utilities Records Requests and Privacy Protection for Personal Customer Information. This item was discussed at the July 23 meeting and held in Committee. Report of Mayor’s Committee on Escalating Rents Council referred to the Policy and Services Committee a set of recommendations from the Mayor’s Committee on Escalating Rents. This item was discussed at the October 14, 1999 meeting and was held in Committee. Staff was directed to return with recommendations regarding support for information, referral and mediation and an amendment.to the Palo Alto Municipal Code to require 60 day notice for rent increases for leased apartments. Staff repo~ted on these issues at the December 12, 2000 Policy and Services Committee meeting. The item was held in Committee and staff was asked to work with the Human Relations Commission to define the scope of a possible ordinance to address the issue of escalating residential rents. Policy and Services Committee Status of Referral Items in Committee March l, 2001 Page 2 Council Referral Date Item and Status 3/24/98 Council Referral re Oral Communications 2/22/00 A Council colleague memorandum referred the issue of oral communications for discussion at the March 24, 1998 meeting of the Policy and Services Committee. Strategies and issues regarding making the best use of oral communications time were discussed. The item was held in Committee to be revisited when the Attorney’s Office presents new Brown Act rules and procedures. Process re Ci,ty Positions on Ballot Propositions Council referred to Policy and Services Committee the discussion of a process for addressing ballot propositions.