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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-23-1993 City Council Minutes HINUTES SAI~TOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, February 23, 1993 TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting/Joint Meeting with Saratoga Union School District GENERAL CITY COUNCIL BUSINE8S - 6:30 P.M. City Hall Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. 1. Roll Call 2. Report of City clerk on Posting of Agenda Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on February 19. The notice of adjournment from the February 17 Council meeting was properly posted on February 18. 3. Closed Session A. Management Compensation B. Employee Salar~ Negotiations C. Annual Review of City Attorney Performance and Renewal of Contract JOINT MEETING WITH SARATOGA UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD Redwood School Library, 13925 Fruitvale Avenue The joint meeting was called to order at 8:15 p.m. Trustees Dayle Moore, Ron Adolphson, Cindy Ruby, Jill Hunter, and Sue Masiello were present in addition to the City Councilmembers previously noted. Gall Wasserman introduced Pat Miranda, President of the Redwood Student Council, who presented plaques to the City Council, the City Manager, and the Recreation Director in appreciation for their financial contribution to the floor replacement in the Redwood School Cafeteria. Ron Adolphson was thanked for his efforts in coordinating the project. 4. Safety The Board and City Council discussed safety. It was suggested that better-defined bike lanes would improve the safety of the students. Jill Hunter suggested that some of the back route paths be improved to allow students to go and come from Redwood without having to travel Fruitvale and Saratoga Avenue. The City Council was thanked for the crossing guards they fund at some of the busier intersections. The Principal at Redwood reported that the change in the traffic light has been most beneficial in reducing congestion and improving safety. Congestion in the four school parking lots was discussed. At the joint meeting last year, the Council had suggested the possibility of furnishing. software for car pooling. The district does not have sufficient staff at the present time to take on this project, nor does the City. It was suggested that a company such as Tandem (with a car pool coordinator) be contacted to help the District. The City Manager suggested that funds might be found via the Congestion Management Agency if such a car pool program were eligible for these funds. 5. Americans with Disabilities Act The Act will impact both the City and the District. The City was thanked for identifying the needs and cost of complying. Because the cost is so tremendous, the District will proceed on an "as needed" basis. If the District will put together a list of projects and the cost, the City will try to help over the next three years. The District should apply'for funds from the City in January. Awards for this year have just been made. City Council Minutes 2 February23, 1993 6. Areas of Possible Sharing -. Library: City invited input regarding the hours the Community Library could most effectively serve students. The Board urged the City to make the Community Library available to students over a wider range of hours, not a reduced number of hours, because the District is having to cut back on the availability of District libraries. Facilities/Fields: The maintenance of fields ia an area in which the District would like help from the City. The fields are used by community groups on a regular basis. Other school districts are receiving help from their cities in maintaining fields. In some cases, the City has assumed full responsibility for field maintenance. E~uipment~ The City and the District are successfully sharing equipment. Maintenance of Parking Lots: Repavement of parking lots is an area that might lend itself to a joint effort. Repavement might be scheduled at the time street repavement is scheduled by the City for a significantly reduced cost to the District. Community Needs: The Recreation Department is presently offering twelve classes at Foothill and Argonaut. The After School Sports program at Redwood is through the Recreation Department. The Warner Hutton House is in operation, helping to meet the needs of students. Input was requested. Some possibilities for expanding the programs offered through the Recreation Department included 1) Science Fair and 2) Drama (possibly using the West Valley College auditorium). There appears to be an interest in the community for Chinese Culture Classes. Requests have been received for a preschool child care program. The joint meeting was adjourned at 9:15. The City Council returned to the City Hall Administration Meeting Room and reconvened at 9:26 p.m. ADDITIONAL CITY COUNCIL BUSINESS City Hall Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. 8. Response to Regional Water Quality control Board's Request for Information on Illegal Discharges into Saratoga Creek (continued from 2/27) Councilmember Monia asked who had inspected the drainage inlets and what did inspecting them mean? Environmental Programs Manager Gloege stated that forty were done by a group of high school volunteers and sixty by a troop of Boy Scouts. As this work was not satisfactory, the rest were done by a hired part-time employee with the Maintenance Department. Actual inspections were not started until a month or so into the program. The field note should have had a column of inspection of inlets on it. Therefore, records on inspections were not kept, only the logs of work which was done. The inspections made were for illicit connections, not for whether a particular drainage inlet needed clearing. Street Maintenance Superintendent Enriquez stated that a total of two connections were found, but both appeared to be for drainage, one general, one a swimming pool. Therefore, they were not illegal in NPDES terms unless the pool water is not dechlorinated first. Councilmember Monia asked if these two connections had been followed up by city staff. The answer was I don't know. Councilmember Monia stated that he did not believe the inspections were done. The backup material to prove they were inspected didn't exist, nor were any corrective measures taken. He also felt the records of stenciling do not match the numbers reported to the Regional Board. This should be corrected and an explanation given as to what the City did and did not do. Councilmember Monia then discussed the reported discharge on November 26, 1993, which, according to Leo Barnard, did involve a flow. Even City Council Minutes 3 February 23, 1993 though it was very low, he was able to collect three jars of fluids directly from the outfall. Mr. Monia therefore disagreed with staff's report that there was no discharge. Mr. Monia stated he visited the same location on November 27, 1992, and that Mayor Anderson confirmed that when she visited the same location over the weekend there was a flow. This should all be reported. He also stated the staff claim of being unable to sample doesn't make sense since the City did sampling earlier in the month. Earlier there were meetings to cover how to respond from all agencies and yet when events happen, they didn't respond properly. This happened again in January when another event was reported. Donald Whetstone stated that because the City had not removed the street surfacing material from twomanholes, the West Valley Sanitation District couldn't finish its storm drain cleaning down to Saratoga Creek at 4th Street. Councilmember Monia asked why the reports from the cleaning and inspection work the City had contracted for had not been included in the report to the Regional Board and suggested they be added as well. This would alert the Board to the size and magnitude of the problem the City faces and what is being done about it. He continued that the City's data must be solid and accurately reported or it will always be suspect. City should not report on any thing it is not prepared to back up. He feels the City Council should not take the heat for an inadequate job, lie about what we are doing, or can't substantiate it. Documentation and procedures must be improved. The report should be rejected by the City Council as being incomplete and inaccurate. Staff should revise and expand it to cover the deficiencies noted. Jeffrey Schwartz asked about the certification of a certain portion of the City's storm drains as being free of illicit connections. The 10,000 plus feet reported as certified over the past twelve months was not installed between July 1, 1991, and June 30, 1992. It appears the City did not use the correct time period. The numbers appear to be cumulative and the term "inspected" and "accepted" should be clarified so that future reports are consistent. He also asked for a clarification on the number of brochures distributed. Environmental Programs Manager Gloege stated that the figure 30,000 was intended to indicate the number of people reached, not brochures distributed. The City did not have an accurate count because some were traded with San Jose, 4,800 additional were ordered and paid for by the City, but the original number given to the City by the NPDES program were not counted. A correction to the report should be made to clarify what the City meant by 30,000. Councilmember Monia indicated he would review the questions submitted by Mr. Whetstone and reduce them to a reasonable number and turn them in next Wednesday night to the City Manager for a reply from the City. MONIA/KOHLER MOVED TO HAVE THE STAFF REWRITE AND UPDATE THE REPORT FOR RESUBMITTAL TO THE REGIONAL BOARD AS DISCUSSED. Passed 5-0. The City Council then recessed to closed session to evaluate the performance of the City Attorney and to consider extending his contract for an additional year, the time being 11:00 p.m. The Council reconvened and announced it had agreed in closed seEsion to extend the City Attorney's contract through December 31, 1993. 9. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 11:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Harry R. City Clerk