The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About02-22-1994 City Council Minutes MINUTES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, February 22, 1994 - 7:00 p.m. PLACE: City Hall Administration Meeting Room, 13777 F]'uitvale Ave. TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting 1. Roll Call Councilmembers Anderson, Burger, Monia and Mayor Tucker Iere present; Councilmember Kohler was absent. 2. Report of City Clerk on Posting of Agenda Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for thi: meeting was properly posted on February 18. The notice of adjournme .t from the February 16 Council meeting was properly posted on Febrlary 17. 3. INTERVIEWS WITH FINANCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE APPLICAN~S Applicants Mitchell Cutler, Philip Koen, Peter Raisw,!ll, and Dan Wagenet were interviewed. Richard Van Hoesen was out of town and unable to attend. 4. Joint Meeting with Planning Commission Planning Commissioners Asfour, Jacobs, Kaplan, Moran, Murakami and Wolfe were present; Commissioner Caldwell was absent. Staff members present were Acting City Manager Perlin, I:ity Attorney Riback, Community Development Director Curtis, and Asso~!iate Planner White. a. 1994-95 Work Program Community Development Director Curtis explained the purpose of the Work _~ Program is to provide monitoring of advanced planning projects and _ Staffing levels needed to complete projects. Priority 1 projects are currently being worked on and are ;cheduled for completion within the next 18 months.' Priority 2 project] are not yet scheduled but are prioritized. They become Priority 1 projects as Priority 1 projects are completed. Priority 3 projects are neither scheduled nor prioritized. They serve as a "wish lis?' of future projects. Councilmember Anderson asked why the NHR Specific Plan Revision is scheduled ahead of the Sphere of Influence Study. Mr. Cl[rtis replied that it is primarily to resolve the SW-NE Road issue. Councilmember Anderson expressed concern about the proposed time frame for the sphere of Influance Study in the event that there is a development project in the County which the City might waz]t to comment Mr. White then reviewed each of the Priority 1 projects. Councilmember Monia suggested that a recently complet~ earthquake map/study referenced in a San Jose Mercury News article e reviewed to see how Saratoga might be affected and how the results ~f this study compare to the city's own information. Mr. White reviewed the Priority 2 projects, then tk Priority 3 projects. Mr. Curtis discussed the timing of projects. He state~ that two to three months are needed to schedule public hearings with the Planning Commission and the City Council. In addition, several more months are required for staff work and study sessions. Most projel:ts will take six to nine months to complete. Mayor Tucker asked whether the parking study should be advanced to coincide with the creation of a Village-wide parking district. Mr. Perlin replied that the parking study will focus on pa a while the Village-wide parking district will attempt to promote equity among the Village property owners for the cots of maintaining the four Village Parking Districts. MONIA/BURGER MOVED TO APPROVE THE WORK PROGRAMAS PRESENTED. Passed 3- 0 (Anderson temporarily absent). b. Draft Policy on Commission Communications with Council Commissioner Moran spoke on behalf of the Planning Commi:~sion, making three points: 1) They prefer not to have a policy in writi],g. 2) They may want a different policy for ordi~,ances. 3) The policy should apply to all commission:~. Concerning the section requiring commissioners to abstain on a Planning Commission item on which they might speak on appeal to the Council, Commissioner Asfour asked how a commissioner could know hn advance if an item would be appealed. That lack of knowledge makes it difficult to know when to abstain under the proposed policy. Commissioner Jacobs stated that the Commission's role is advisory. The public expects to be able to have its elected officials d~cide matters for them. Also, new commissioners should be trained about proper conduct and policies. Commissioner Wolfe echoed Commissioner Jacobs' comments, stating that the Council is like a Court of Appeal. Councilmember Burger stated that Commissioners give up c.~rtain rights as a "private citizen." Their comments will always be 3erceived as those of a Planning commissioner, and an appellant may ]~elieve he or she i not being treated fairly if a Commissioner speaks before the City Council on the appeal. Also, the! Council does review Commission minutes and understands the tenor of their deliberations Mayor Tucker stated there should be a written policy. It should be reviewed by the City Manager and then sent to all coxmissions for written comments. Councilmember Anderson stated that the Conflict of Interest Policy should be provided to all commission applicants. BURGER/ANDERSON MOVED TO DIRECT THE CITY ATTORNEY TO D}AFT A POLICY REFLECTING THE STATED CONCERNS AND CIRCULATE IT TO ALL C04MISSIONS FOR WRITTEN COMMENTS. Passed 4-0. c. Revolving Door Policy for Commissioners Commissioner Moran referred to comments in the staff mem Councilmember Monia said the policy should be adopted because it is in the public's best interest. Mayor Tucker said the policy should be given to departing ~ommissioners and councilmembers. MONIA/BURGER MOVED TO DIRECT THE CITY ATTORNEY TO REDRAFT THE POLICY TO INCLUDE CITY COUNCIL AND ESTABLISH A TWO-YEAR WAITING PERIOD. Councilmember Anderson suggested amending the motion to apply to any commissioners before any commission. The amendment faile for lack of support. Passed 3-1 (Anderson opposed). d. Commission Feedback on City Attorney Attendanc at Planning commission Meetings on as-needed Basis city Council Minutes 3 Febaruary 22, 1994 Mr. Curtis stated that the attendance program is wo]'king well. Commissioner Moran agreed. Proceeding to Item 8, Councilmember Monia asked if ther~ is anything the City can do to encourage applicants to proceed with ti~eir projects so fee revenues can be generated. He asked everyone to give this consideration.~ 5. Resolution Adding Councilmembers to Commissioner Conflict of Interest Policy Acting City Manager Perlin explained where changes ix policy are proposed. The changes add councilmembers to the proposel policy. Councilmember Anderson requested that paragraph 4 be ?ewritten to reference "before any City body." Councilmember Burger requested thatthe language in the fisst paragraph be cleared up. The City Attorney will redraft the policy and retur~ it to the Council. 6. Appointment of Finance committee Members There was consensus to postpone the appointments until Ma 'ch 2 so that Mr. Van Hoesen has an opportunity to be interviewed. ((~lerk,s Note: since Mr. Van Hoesen will not be back in the country in time to be interviewed March 2, the interview was postponed to Marc] 8.) 7. consideration of Expenditure of $1710 for countywi|e Survey on Library Support Mayor Tucker reported that she and Councilmember Burger h.~d attended a meeting where the survey was discussed. The survey woul~ include 800 Saratoga and Monte Sereno residents at a cost to Sarat3ga of $1710 based on population. Monte Sereno would pay approximatel 10% of this amount. Councilmember Monia asked if the money could be taken fr Friends of the libraries donations. MONIA/BURGER MOVED TO ALLOW AN EXPENDITURE NOT TO EXC}~D $1700 FOR PURPOSES OF HELPING TO FUND THE COUNTYWIDE SURVEY; F FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE FROM A CITY LIBRARY ACCOUNT, THOSE FUNDS AR TO BE USED FIRST. Passed 4-0. 8. Councilmember Items Councilmember Burger requested a ceremonial resolution fo~ Pan American Roundtable for the next Council meeting. There was conser~us to do so. Councilmember Anderson requested that a discussion be ager~ized in mid- April concerning establishing policies and procedures for Councilmembers and staff to follow for use of expense a lowances and reporting of expenses incurred on City business. 9. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Larry I. Perlin Acting City Manager