HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-09-18 City Council (17)TO:
18
City of Palo Alto
HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: FIRE
DATE:SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 CMR: 357:00
SUBJECT:SEVENTH AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT NO. 3820
WITH SANTA CLARA COUNTY FOR ABATEMENT OF
WEEDS
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council authorize the Mayor to enter into an agreement which would
provide for the City ofPalo Alto’s continued participation in the Santa Clara County Weed
Abatement Program.
BACKGROUND
The City of Palo Alto has been party to an agreement with Santa Clara County since 1977
regarding the abatement of weeds. The County program is directed to be fully cost-
recoverable by its governing bodies. In 1996, the County increased the fees for weed
abatement contract services. This was the first increase since 1983 (CMR 485:96). At that
time, the County indicated it plans to continually review weed abatement fees in order to
monitor its cost-recovery effort. The County no longer has available reserve funds which
previously had been used to subsidize the increased costs of the program. Consequently, the
County must meet any increases in the costs to execute and administer the program through
necessary fee adjustments. Program revenues and expenses for the County are outlined in
Attachment B.
DISCUSSION
The County proposes to increase administrative fees for the program to 150 percent of the
cost of the County’s weed abatement contractor for services performed in the City of Palo
Alto during the 2000-2001 weed abatement season. This is an increase of 10 percent from
the administrative fees which were set in 1999 at 140 percent of the County’s contract cost.
Approval of the proposed amendment to the agreement would continue the availability of
weed abatement services from the County for those property owners choosing to use these
services. Residents and the City of Palo Alto will continue to have the option to contract
independently for weed abatement services.
CMR 357:00 Pagel of 2
RESOURCE IMPACT
Compared to 1999 rates, the average increase in the cost per parcel for property owners
would be a~pproximately $14 in Palo Alto, bringing the average cost per parcel to
approximately $339 Attachment B. The estimated increase in annual fees charged to the City
of Palo Alto will be $1,423 which is a 5 percent increase.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
This recommendation does not represent any change to existing City policy.
TIMELINE
The 2000-01 weed abatement season will begin in October. The Santa Clara County Board
of Supervisors will take action on the amendments on August 29, 2000. Due to the Council’s
vacation schedule, the County granted an extension for the City Council’s approval of this
agreement.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
A Negative Declaration for the project has been completed and the project is found exempt
from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act, because the project will
have no significant impact on the environment.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Seventh Amendment to the Agreement between Santa Clara County
and the City of Palo Alto for Abatement of Weeds
Attachment B: Correspondence from Santa Clara County regarding proposed
amendments
Prepared By: Dan Heiser, Fire Marshal
Department Head Review:
RUBEN
Fire Chief
City Manager Approval:~ ~
EI~IK~i HARRIS ON
Assistant City Manager
CMR 357:00 Page 2 of 2
ATTAC]
SEVENTH AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SANTA CLARA COUNTY AND
THE CITY OF PALO ALTO FOR ABATEMENT OF WEEDS
The Agreement for the Abatement of Weeds (Agreement) between the County of Santa Clam
(County) and the City of Palo Alto (City) previously entered into on April 18, 1977, as amended on
November 5, 1979, November 20, 1981, February 15, 1983, January 14, 1997, August 18, 1998,
and October 12, 1999 is hereby amended to increase the charge for the County’s program costs
to administer the Hazardous Vegetation Management Program.
IT IS AGREED between the parties as follows:
1. Statement of Costs
Section 6. of the Agreement shall be amended to read as follows:
County shall render to City an itemized statement or report of the cost of the weed abatement
services performed for the respective parcels of land in the City on or before the 10th day of
August of each year. Commencing with the Year 2000/2001 weed abatement season, the
County’s administrative costs shall be 150% of the cost of the weed abatement contractor for the
respective parcels for which services were performed. The statement shall include the description
of the lots and parcels of land for which services were performed, and verification by signature of
the County official administering the Hazardous Vegetation Management Program. Charges for
services performed on parcels owned by the City will include a reduced administrative fee of 75%
of the cost of the weed abatement contractor.
2. Except as modified herein, all other terms and conditions of the Agreement remain the same.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY CITY OF PALO ALTO
Paul D. Romero, Acting Director
Environmental Resources Agency
Liz Kniss, Mayor
August 29, 2000 Date
Approved _as to form(an(~ legality:
Kathy Rretchmer,
Deputy County Counsel
Date: August~, 2000
Approved as to form and legality:
Wiiliam B.~yfi~d
Senior Assd.~City Attorney
county of Santa Clara
Environmental Resources Agency
Fire Marshal’s Office - Santa Clara County Fire Departnlent
County Government Center, East Wing
70 West Hedding Street, 7th Floor
San Jose, California 9511 O- 1705
(408) 299-3805 FAX 279-8537
ATTACHMENT B
July 10, 2000
Mr. Dan Heiser
Fire Marshal
Palo Alto Fire Department
City of Palo Alto
250 Hamilton Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Re:Proposed Amendment to Adjust Hazardous Vegetation Management
Program Fees- 2000/2001 Season
Dear Mr. Heiser:
For the past twenty-one years, Santa Clara County has provided hazardous
vegetation management services to local jurisdictions in order to address the
issue of public fire safety in a cost effective manner. Currently, eleven
jurisdictions have opted to partner with the County to provide timely weed and
brush abatement services and thereby reduce the potential for fire danger in
these communities.
The economies of scale employed by this cooperative program and our efforts to
keep administrative costs to a minimum have allowed us to continue to provide
these services to your residents at minimal cost. We are committed to
minimizing costs, but at the same time we must ensure cost recovery of the
Hazardous Vegetation Management Program as directed by the Santa Clara
County Board of Supervisors.
Beginning with the start of the 2000/2001 weed abatement season in October
2000, we propose to raise our Hazardous Vegetation Management Program fees
from 140% to 150% of the actual weed abatement contract costs for each parcel
abated. The proposed County administrative cost increase will equate to an
average increase of only 4.17% or $14.14 per parcel in your jurisdiction
compared to last year’s activity. This increase will cover the rising costs of
Program administration anticipated for fiscal year 2000/2001. This increase is
Board of Supervisors: Donald E Gage, Blanca Alvarado, Pete McHugh, James T Beall Jr,, S, Joseph Simitian
County Executive: Ricllard Wittenberg
due primarily to negotiated labor union contract salary and benefit adjustments
for staffing that are scheduled to be increased later this month.
It should be noted, however, that the actual salary and benefit adjustments
negotiated for this new fiscal year amount to an increase of approximately 7%.
As stated earlier, the County is committed to only increasing the administrative
fee to the level necessary for ensuring cost recovery based on the current level
of projected abatement activity. Hence, the proposed adjustment is being
capped at the effective 4.17% level.
For city owned parcels, the Program Fees are proposed to increase from 70% to
7,5% of the actual weed abatement contract costs for each parcel abated. This
increase will equate to an average increase of only 2.94% compared to last
year’s charges.
However, an unknown impact at this time is the actual new rates for the contract
abatement services to be provided. The County’s current contract with Apple
Tractor will expire at the end of the current season in August. We are in the
process of issuing a Request for Proposals for a new contract. Depending on the
proposals received, there may be additional increases for abatement services
that will be passed on to the property owner in accordance with the current
contract requirements.
In any case, the property owner would only incur costs if they choose not to
maintain their property according to the minimum fire safety standards and the
County then provides weed abatement services through its contractor. In
keeping with the procedures of the current Program, if a property owner provides
their own abatement, they are not assessed a fee for our inspection services.
For your reference we have provided Attachment A, which summarizes the
number of parcels inspected, number of parcels abated and the average cost per
parcel, including Program fees for weed abatement services in your jurisdiction
for 1996/97, 1997/98, and 1998/99. Attachment B provides an accounting of the
Hazardous Vegetation Management Program on a countywide basis for the
same period of time. Even with the proposed fee adjustment, we believe the
benefits realized by the economies of scale still allow our services to be
competitive.
A proposed amendment to our agreement for weed abatement services is
provided as Attachment C. Please let us know if we can provide any assistance
as you carry the amendment forward to your City/Town Councils for approval.
Considering our desire to provide uninterrupted service, we suggest the approval
process by your Council and our Board of Supervisors be completed this
summer.
2
Please return a signed amendment to my attention by September 1, 2000. If
you do not wish to continue contracting with the County for weed abatement
services, we would appreciate being notified of your decision no later than
August 7, 2000 so that we may inform our Board of Supervisors and make any
necessary adjustments to the Hazardous Vegetation Management Program. We
anticipate our Board will take action on the amendments on August 29, 2000.
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at (408) 299-3805 ext.
207. We thank you for your support and look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
!/~~i orS ~Uenpdu~ ~1~ i r e Marshal
Attachments
Attachment A:
Attachment B:
Attachment C:
Jurisdictional Summary
Countywide Summary
Proposed Amendment to Agreement
Richard Wittenberg, County Executive
Paul D. Romero, Acting Director, Environmental Resources Agency
Peter Ng, Financial and Administrative Services Manager, ERA
Attachment A
Jursidictional Summary
Palo Alto
Parcels on Program
Parcels Abated:
State Board of Equalization (SBE)
Private (Residential & Commercial)
Total
Average Cost Per Parcel Abated (incl Program Fee)
State Board of Equalization (SBE)
Private (Residential & Commercial)
1997 Season
Actuals
377
0
$
$ 218.20
1998 Season
Actuals
363
0
$ 313.19
1999 Season
Actuals
101
$
$ 339.01
7/12/00
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