Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-02-1963 City Council Minutes SARATOGA CITY CqUNCIL St~RY OF TI~: !Tednesday, January 2~ 1963 - 7:30 P. PLACE: Fruitvale Schoolt Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga, CaliSornia TYPE: Regular ~{eetin~ I ORGANIZATION ~hyor Brazil called the meetinS to order at 7:4S P. A. ROLL CALL Present: Brhzil, Glennon, Drake~ Hartman, Ritchie Absent: None B. MINUTES Councilman Ritchie advised that the City of San Jose did not request reconsideration by the Trafficways Committee on the Lawrence Express- way matter, as reported in the December 19, 1962 minutes. He stated that the Chairman of the Trafficways Committee did ask the various members if they would like to reonen the matter but because o~ the lack of response to this query, the matter was not reopened. Councilman Glennon moved, seconded by Councilman Ritchie to waive the readin~ and approve the December 19~ 1962 minutes as mailed, subject to the above correction, ~lotion carried unanimously. II BIDS AND CONTRACTS A. AGREEmeNT WI~[ COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA RE L~RENCE EXPRESSWAY . Lawrence Expressway Clerk reported that this matter had been continued from the last Agreement meetin~ for a land use survey report ~rom the Planning Department and a report frcm the County re~arding realignment, but that neither report has been received at this time. Director of Public ~orks reported that the rectaneular loop concept has been planned only for those intersections with right-of-way problems and/or where indicated because of traffic volume. He reported that the analysis of land use for this tyDe 1OOD intersection in Sara- toga should be ready for the next council meeting. B. LIBRARY LEASE AGREE~ENT !,rITH COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA Library Clerk reported that .the chances to this a~reement, which had been Lease suggested by the City Attorney, had been made and approved by the AKreement County representative. Councilman Drake outlined several ob3ections to the proposed a~reement and contended that while it adequately protects the County, i~ provides little or no protection for the city. He questioned the clarity of the section providin~ for the County's removal o~ certain items, should the contract be terminated, oh the basis that there might be a question o~ ownership as the agreement now reads. He also protested that the a~reement would bind the city to the use of the County library system ~or another 2 1/2 years, whether the buildin~ could be occupied for the entire period or not. Council- man Drake further objected to the County deducting the cost of immediate repairs from future rental and stated that many of these repairs were necessitated by the County's past use of the buildinS. !~ith no objeetion~ ~ayor de~erred action on the a~reeme~t to the next meeting and~ in the interim, Councilman Drake will confer with the City Administrator and City Attorney on those items which he feels should be considered further. -1- C, OPENING OF BIDS FOR PRINTING A~D PUBLISHING LEGAL NOTICES Clerk reported that two bids have L,,~n r:~eived in response to notice calli~.~ for bids ~or publication and prin'~ing of the City's legal notices for the balance of this fiscal year. City Clerk opened and read the bids, which quoted the foll6wing rates: (!) Saratoga Citizen - $i.11 per column inch, with $1.01 per column inch for second publications. (2) Saratoga N~¢s - $1.39 per column inch. Representatives of both newspapers were present and spoke on behalf of the City awarding the bid to their respective clients. ~. Geor~.e Tobin, Attorney reDresentin~ the Saratoga Citizen, urged the Council to award his client the bid, on the basis of a low bid from a newspaper which, at the present time, is a newspaper of general circulation within the City of Saratoga. He stated that the Saratoga News has filed an objection to the Court that the Citizen is not : legally a newspaper of ~eneral circulation because of a failure to pub- Awarding liSh on November !4~ 1962~ and that this matter is currently bein~ Bid for considered by Judge Peckham. He'stated that the Citizen has published Publication re~uiarly once a week for about four years, except for that one time of City's wheh it ~as unable to do So because of a Dre~s breakdown. He reported Legal the circulation df the Citizen at ~03 paid subscribers but stated tha~ Notices he felt the circulation 6f h adder was of no imnortance for the citM's and Durp_oses. He illustrated this view b~ advisih~'that ~any legal notices Ordinances are placed in a certain San ,lose newspaper of low circulation because "the problem of legal notices is not one of advisine the people but of not advisin~ the people" and; that coverage for those items which the city wishes the public to have is provided by news articles, not legal publications. Mr. E. Day Carmen, Attorney reDresenting the Saratoga Mews, reported that, as of October 10, 1962 the Citizen had published, under oath, that its paid circulation was 225 and he questioned the Citizens state- ment of ownership. He cited the Citizen's failure to publish on Novem- ber 14, 1962 as indication of non dependability and stated that news- papers do manaZe to publish, somehow, in order to avoid the havoc which might be created if some legal publications were not Dublished on schedule. He stressed that the Saratoga News has proven itself over the years as a newspaper of continuous, dependable publication~ and urged the Council to accept his clients bid which~ he stated, would actually cost less per inch, computed on the number of subscribers it would reach. Mr. Sherman, cwner of the Saratoad Mews, stated that his rate for second publications would be $1.19 and that he bad not quoted fl~is rate in his original bid because of the very few city leeal notices which are published more than once. Councilman Glennon stated that, althounh he did not feel the ownership or the action presently before the court were particularly pertinent to the immediate matter, he did feel strongly that circulation is a matter of concern to a city which has always advocated that a well informed public contributes to well organized, effective ~overn- mentation~ Councilman Glennon stated that, in his opinion, the Saratoga News is widely received, accepted, and read in the City, where- as the Citizen, at the present time, is not and, based on this, nlus the ~act that, as a naid subscriber, he has railed to receive the Citi- zen for the hast few weeks, he would be inclined to favor acceptin~ the bid of the saratoga News as bein~ a more dependable means of bringing the city's le~als and ordinances to the ereatest number of people. Noting For the record that the City is not obligated to accept the low bid, Councilman Glennon moved, seconded by Councilman Hartman, to accept the bid o~ the Saratoed ~ews and authorize the ~ayor to execute the contract for publication of the City's legal notices and ordinances for the balance of the present fiscal year expirin~ June 1963. ~lotien carried unanimously. -2- III ORDINANCES AMD FO~,~L RESOLUTIONS A. ORDINANCE NS-,5o4 : Councilman Ritchie moved, seconded by Councilman Drake to adopt Ordin- Ord. alice NS-S,4, amendin~ the Subdivision Ordinance by increasing fees for NS-S~4 - building site approval applications and providin~ certain regulations SDR fees relative to minimum access road requirements for buildine sites. For ~ ~lin. the record, it was noted that 1980 is the year, according to the.General access rds. Plan, when the City should reach capacity and might be expected to ~o in and improve, roads as provided by this amendment to the subdivision ordinance. ~{otion carried unanimously and Ordinance NS-S.4 ~vas adopted. B. ORDINANCE 3E-1 Ordinance 3E-l, an interim urgency and emerdency zoni~ OrdinanCe prohibitin~ certain uses o~ certain lanH'~ within th~ city o~ saratoga Ord. was read in it'~ entirety. COuncilman Glennon.moved~ seconded by 5E-1 Councilman Ritchie to adopt O~dina~c~ 3E-l, which will reserve lands, Zoning for a period of one year, until s~udi~s are co~lete~ for the possible Ord, use of these lands as future parks or recrea~iohal areas. ~Iotion reserving carried by the followin~ roll call.vote~ AYES!. Councilman Brazil~ lands Glennon, Drake, Hartman, Ritchie N0~S: None AhSEM~ N6ne Recessx 9:0S P. 5{. Reeonvened: 9:2S P. IV SUBDIVISIONS AND BUILDIMG SITE~S SDR-361 A. SDR-361 - CHARLES )~RIDON ~daridon Clerk stated that this item had been continued until the applicant is present and, as he is still out of town, he requested that it again be continued to the next meeting. ~'~ith no objection, the ~{ayor so ordered. B. SDR-391 - CHARLES V. CORDON, JR, SDR-391 Gordon,Jr. Councilman Drake moved, seconded by Councilman Hartman to adopt Reso- lution No. SDR-391-1, approvin~ one lot on !'Yoodbank {Vay, owned by Charles V. Gordon, Jr., as a building site. ~{otion cax~ried unanimously. V PUBLIC HEARIMGS Mone VI OLD BUSINESS A. S~ATOGA-COX AVENUE ASSESSmeNT DISTRICT PROPOSAL Council ~enerally discussed the draft of a petition, presented by Dr. Isaac Abrams at the December S, 1962 meetinq, for a proposed improve- ment district on Saratoga and Cox avenues. The draft ~vas referred tc Saratoga- the Plannin~ Commission for study and the report back to the Council Cox Ave. pointed out Several errors and omissions in the proposal and recommends Assessment that the Council take no ection to approve the plan in its present form, District Dr, Abrams, whose comments were more specifically outlined in a written report, dated January 2, 1963, stated that it was his hope that the Council would consider the petition, clarified by the comments in his progress report and those of the eneineers, both of which recognize much the same errors or omissions in the petition draft which were pointed out by the Plannin~ Commission. He suegested that the Council, or one of its committees, study the matter further and add their suggestions, if any. After some discussion, ~-{ayor directed, with Council approval, that the matter be referred to the Public Facilities Committee for study and comment, and directed the Staff to provide the entire council with copies of all the pertinent documents discussed. B. ASSOCIATION OF BAY'AREA GOVER~,~NTS Mayor raperred that, after considerable s'~udy of the council committee A.B.A.G. work assi~nments over the past months, he recommends that Councilman Delegate Drake be appointed as the official delegate to the Association of Bay ~ Alt. A~ea Governments, with the ~ayor as alternate. He also suggested ti~at the: Council consider abandonment of the committee system entirely, un;~ss an alternative can be discovered which Would equalize the work load without interruption to continuity of assignments. Councilman Glennon moved, seconded by Councilman Hartman to approve the appointment of Councilman Drake as official delegate to A.B.A.G. with Mayor Brazil as alternate. Hotion carried by the followin~ vote: AYES: Brazil. Glennon, Hartman, Ritchie NOES: None ABSTAINING: Drake ABSENT: None C. DRAINAGE PROBLE~ Standard (1) Councilman Hartman asked for a progress report on Mr. Standard's Drainage drainage problem and was advised by the Director of Public !~orks that Mr. Standard has not yet returned the drainage questionnaire which is necessary before City responsibility, if any, can be determined. Director of Public I~orks was instructed to remind Mr. Standard that action is pending until kis'~",~ission of the necessary data. (2) Councilman Drake, in answer to his query as ~o why the drainage Shadow situation in the Shadow ~ountain Drive area can not be corrected ~ountain at this time, was advised that the Staff is endeavoring to effect Drainage a solution throUHh the O~ency or individual that is responsible for the problem, on the advice from the City Attorney that, in this situation, the City might be liable if it were to ~o in and try to correct the problem unless it happened to be an emergency situation. City Attorney reported that he must have more facts pertainin~ to this matter before he can determine if the City does or does not have a duty to do anything, and that it is expected that the necessary infozmation will be available by the next meeting. Sara.Heft. {3) City Attorney reported that the drainage problem brought to the Foundation Council's attention by the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation Drainage has been determined to be a matter between the individuals con- cerned and the Flood Control District and is not the jurisdiction D. FUTURE HIGH SCHOOL SITE City Administrator advised, on a query. from Councilman Glennon, that Future he had been unable, over the holidays, to contact the proper High Hiah School School officials re~ardin~ the future high school site ~hich has been Site reported as proposed for the Saratoga area, and that he will transmit the information to each council member as soon as it is available, City Attorney briefly Outlined to the Council recent legislation pertaining to municipal control or lack of Control of school site locations. He stated that although present law does not provide complete city jurisdiction over such matters, it does ~ive a munici- pality more control, public relations-wise, for a well organized city. VII AD~!INISTRATIVE ~IATTERS A. ~YOR No reports B. FINANCE Bills Councilman Drake moved, seconded by Councilm~n Hartman to approve the bills on the list dated Jan. 2, 1963, for a total amount of $7,179.13, and authorize that warrants he drawn in payment. ~1otion carried; C.CO~tITTEE REPORTS No reports ' D~ DEPARTmeNT:HEADS AND OFFICERS (1) Director of Public Works reported that, upon investigation of the request f~o;~ il~.s. Sullivan that the City maintain the road westerly of Reid L~ne, he has been unable to find any records indicatinffi that Sullivan - the County has ever regarded this road as a public street and. fur- Road status thero that records indicate that the San Jose k!ater ~Vorks, in 1928, obtained an easement adjacent to the road, substantiating the -~ -~ = assumption_that it was, and is, a private road. Councilman Glennon "" ' ~mowe4~s%conded~bL.C~ou~n~ci_l~man Ritchie, that Mrs. Sullivan be ad'- vised, i~adc'ofdance wi~h _~he reCommendation~of~the. Director of- . Public l?orks, that investi~ati~ show~ that the ~st-~ee~ii~"que~fi~n is not a public strait'and that the only alternative is thaf'iY" be_brought uV to city standards and, after the requisite'time, a' request ~r'~ity~acceptance~of_the street be submitted. ~otion carried unanimously. '~--~---~--~ (2) Director of Public !!Forks reported that the Division of Highways has Highway #9 advised that they will participate in the installation of a drain Drain line line alon~ Highway #9 to the extent of paying for the cost of re- location of the open channel, and expect to submit an estimate within the next 30 days. He also reported.that they expect to submit the data regarding acquisition of right o~ way within two months after the execution of the right-of-way agreement fo~ the highway. Highway #9 (~) City Administrator reported, in answer to a progress request from r/w Councilman Glennon~ that the matter of the letters to property Agreements owners regarding right-of-way for Nighway #9 has been referred to the City Attorney to draft the proposed a~reements. F. CITY ADMINISTRATOR LC.C. (1) City Administrator reported that the Inter-City Council will meet Mtg. at Vahl's restaurant in Alviso tomorrow evenin~ and that those councilmen who wish to make reservations should so advise him. (2) City Administrator tenorted that a letter has been received from the County advising that unless the City has completed negotiations Bngineering for En~ineerin~ services by June 30, 1965, the County EngineerinK Services · ' Contract department will recommend to the Board of Supervisors that the enRineering services contract between the County and the City be h teminated' as of that date. Council discussed t e matlet briefly and Councilmen Glennon and Hartman advised that they have planned a meetinR on this matter with County officials within the next week. Copies of the County letters re~ardin~ this matter will be transmitted to council members, for their information and study. City Adm. (3) Council authorized City Administrator, Gordon H. Howe to attend Conference the City ~Ianager's department meeting of the League of California Cities, to be held in ~onterey from February 13 to 15. Procedure- (4) City Administrator reported that several matters have been referred to Staff and/or the Chief of Police and Sheriff's Department and Referral to Council ratified its approval of this procedure so long as the Staff applicants involved are notified that such matters have been re- ferred to Staff for report before presentation to the Council. VII CO~IUN I CATI ONS A. IVRITTEN None B. ORAL Mayor Brazil acknowledged, with pleasure, the nresence of Plannin~ Commissioner Johnson. VIII ADJOURNmeNT Councilman Hartman moved, seconded by Councilman Drake to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously 10:40 P. M. Respectfully submitted, /,- "~'ORDON H. HO!"~;'CITY CLERK .... -5-