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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-13-1995 City Council Minutes MINUTES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, June 13, 1995 - 7:00 p.m. PLACE: City Hall Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. TYPE: Special Meeting/Adjourned Regular Meeting/Jr. Meeting with Parks and Recreation Commission SPECTer MEETING - CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR Agency negotiator: Lori Pegg Employee organization: Saratoga Employees Association The meeting was called to order by Mayor Burger at 6:35 PM. A. Roll Call - Mayor Burger and Councilmembers Jacobs and Moran were present; Councilmembers Tucker and Wolfe were absent. Also present: Harry Peacock, city manager The city council adjourned from closed session at 7:00 PM and the Mayor announced that in closed session the City Council had instructed its negotiating team to execute the proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the City and SEA for the period from September 1, 1994, through August 31, 1996, and that the City Council would formally ratify the MOU at its June 21, 1995, meeting subject to prior ratification by the SEA. The Mayor then called the adjourned regular meeting of June 13, 1995, to order. ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING A. Roll Call: Council Present: Mayor Burger, Jacobs, Tucker, Moran Staff Present: Peacock, Perlin, Pisani, Rizzo Commissioners Present: Crotty, Clark, Dutra, Weiner B. Report of City Clerk on Posting of Agenda Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on June 9. The notice of adjournment from the June 7 Council meeting was properly posted on June 8. C. Joint Meeting with Parks and Recreation Commission 1. Parks Master Plan Discussion Topics A. Discussion of Parks and Recreation Facillties Needs Survey Recreation Director Pisani presented the February 1995 report and survey which had been prepared by staff and forwarded to the City Council in February and discussed at the March Policy Development Conference. A member of the public, A1 Rotten from the Greenbriar neighborhood, indicated that when one goes to special interest groups in surveys you get a special interest answer. B. Kevin Moran/Azule Park Development Members of the Commission asked if Park Development Fund money could be used to retain a consultant to work through the process of determining how the park is to be developed, such as a public opinion consultant or group facilitator? There was no ready answer to this question. A number of members of the public addressed the City Council and the Commission at this point. The major issues which were brought City Council Hinutes 2 June 13, 1995 up were: 1. The list of people to be contacted for meetings regarding these parks is incomplete and therefore people who wished to be notified were not. A sheet of paper was passed around the room for people to sign up if they wished to be notified and it was returned to the City Manager. 2. When people bought into the Keyin Moran Park neighborhood they didn't know that the park could be changed. 3. Issues relating to E1 Quito Park need to be discussed as well. 4. The City was thanked for replacing the old play equipment at Kevin Moran Park but plans should proceed to added even more facilities of a neighborhood scale. 5. · Kevin Moran Park should"be a neighborhood park both now and forever. 6. There are members of the community who want to work with the City to develop a good park for the Kevln Moran area. 7. According to ohe neighborhood survey, 87% of the people polled want no changes to Kevin Moran Park. 8. The City needs to focus on getting people involved; so far the City Council has not done that. 9. There is a need to focus on the entire park system, not just Kevin Moran and Azule. 10. There is a rumor going around that Kevin Moran Park will be sold to build houses. It was pointed out that this was an option which had been mentioned if the City were to not continue developing the rest of Kevin Moran Park but facility needs could be met by purchasing property somewhere else in the City and developing it. However, there was no intention of doing away with Kevin Moran Park as it now exists. Councilmember Moran commented that it was time to move forward to deal with the future park facility needs of the City and suggested that the City Council's next Town Hall meeting, set for July 8th be devoted to this topic, that the )neighbors be invited if they had signed up on the list and that the focus be on Kevin Moran and Azule Parks. Councilmember Tucker stressed there! is a need to look at the entire park system perhaps with a special focus on Kevin Moran and Azule. The remaining members of the Council agreed to these ideas and asked that in addition to written notices all the parks be posted with signs inviting people to attend the Town Hall meeting on July 8th. C. Parks and Trails Master Plan Commission Chair Crotty indicated that the key to a revision of the plan is the decision about the future of Keyin Moran and Azule Parks. Until those decisions are made, revision of the plan would be an incomplete effort. Public Works Director Perlin suggested that the group may wish to come back to this topic after all the other items are discussed. Then maybe the City Council could give better direction to the Commission regarding revisions to the current plan. Mr. Perlin indicated that there were some organizational changes to the plan he would like to see which would make the document easier to understand and use but these would not impact the substantive issues which remain to be decided. City Council Minutes 3 June 13, 1995 Councilmember Wolfe arrived at the meeting, the time being 8:25 PM. The City council agreed that the Commission should identify specific areas in the plan for updating and to report back to the City Council at another joint meeting in November as to the areas identified for change and what those proposed changes might be, if possible at that time. D. Discussion of Open Space Element and Master Plan Implementation committee Report It was noted that at the last joint meeting the recommendations contained in the report had been reviewed by the City Council but not adopted. It was agreed that when the City Couffcil and the Commission next meet that the Commission is to be prepared to recommend which of the conclusions of the Committee should be folded into the Parks and Trails Master Plan. E. Locating a Place f~r a community Garde~ Within Existing Park Properties. The staff was requested to invite the Friends of the Nelson Gardens and members of the community who are on the list for garden plots at E1 Quito Park to the Town Hall meeting as these groups have special perspectives on park facilities needs which should be heard. F. Locating a Dog Run Area within Existing Park Properties or Otherwise Dealing with the Issue of Dogs in the Parks The Commission asked if the issue of liability had been examined regarding allowing dogs to run loose in the parks? The City Manager responded that he would inquire through the City's risk manager as to the potential liability exposure this could create and whether such a course of action was recommended and if so under what conditions. Parks and Building Superintendent Rizzo reported that he had looked into fencing an area under the PG & E power lines to create a safe dog exercise area, that PG & E seemed to be willing to cooperate and that it would cost about $6,500 to fence an area about 1/2 the size of a football field. Several dog owners spoke to group about this issue indicating they liked the current situation where they run their dogs free at Congress Springs Park even though it violates the leash law. The City Council asked the dog owners present to look at alternative locales to Congress Springs Park since apparently the owners do not arrive on foot but drive to the Park with their dogs. 2. Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages at City Parks Users of E1 Quito Park on Monday for volleyball, etc. consume significant quantities of alcoholic beverages according to neighbors. Therefore the neighbors are seeking the .same restriction on the consumption of alcoholic beverages at E1 Quito as currently exist at Wildwood Park. After extensive discussion as to the options available to the City, the City Council asked the staff to try direct contact with the people involved first, stressing the behavior which is unacceptable to the neighbors to see if the behavior is modified after the matter has been brought to the offending party's attention. Staff was instructed to report back to the City Council at its second meeting in July and give a progress report on the outcome of the intervention effort. 3. Trails A. San Juan Bautista De Anza Trail Commission Chair Crotty reported the City is supporting the development of this trail which coincides with the City's plan to have a trail which runs along the rail road line. Funding for the project is through the federal Rails to Trails Project. The problem is that the program may be the target of major cuts in City Council Minutes 4 June 13, 1995 funding with the current Congress. B. City Trail System The Commission reported it is working on an "adopt a trail" program similar'to the "adopt a park program" with which the Commission and staff have had good initial succe~;s. 4. Possible Budget Cuts fo~ Parks and Recreation Programs The Commission indicated that the staff had briefed the Commission on the issues facing the City Council and the cuts which had been proposed by staff earlier in the evening. Bill Weller was introduced as the volunteer recording secretary for the Commission. 5. Status of the Adopt a P~trk Program The Commission reported that it has three agreements working, one to maintain the open space area at Pollard and Quito with Saratoga Tree Service, one to do maintenance at Kevin Moran Park by Boy Scout Troop 566, and one to maintain Ravenwood Park by that neighborhood group. The Commission indicated that the Rotary Club and community volunteers did a major renovation on the Memorial Arch over the past few weeks as well. 6. Status of the Creek Bea~xtification Program The COmmission reported the next. major event is scheduled for September 23rd in a joint effort 'with Sunnyvale as a part of the coastal cleanup campaign. 7. Role of the Commission 'with Regard to the city council and the Public The Commission indicated that it felt that it was comfortable with the role it was playing and things were going well in terms of its relationship with the City Council.. D. Set Deadline for Submittal of Final Tree Committee Report The City Council received a letter from the Parks and Recreation Commission regarding this matter and it was made part of the record. It was moved by Councilmember-Wc,lfe, seconded by Councilmember Tucker and passed 3-2 with Moran and Jacobs voting NO to declare the work of the Tree Committee over, to thank them for their efforts, to accept the guidelines prepared by the Committee as a reference document and to recognize all who had participated in the work of the Committee by appropriate resolution. E. Authorization for Submission of Grant Application to Packard Foundation by Volunteer Coor~linator It was moved by Councilmember Moran, seconded by Councilmember Tucker and passed 5-0 to approve the submittal of the grant application and authorized the Cit3, Manager to sign the application on behalf of the City. F. Other Items 1. Self-Evaluation of the Previous Meeting The City Council discussed the problems with the audio-visual capability of the current Council Chambers. Staff was asked to look into the possibility of mounting a screen and placing the overhead and slide projectors at ].ocations where both the Council and the audience can see the presentations at the same time and that they are large enough to be f~een. councilmember'Tucker asked to talk about this evenings meeting and City Council Xinutes 5 ~uno 13, 1995 how to best prepare for .the July 8th Town Hall meeting. What documents should the staff try to dig up for the City Council to review on the history of the parks, etc. It was the consensus of the City Council that the July 8th meeting should focus on brainstorming and that a second meeting be used to try to work toward a consensus on future parks and recreation facility development sometime in September when s~,mmer vacations are over. 2. Agency Assignment Reports Councilmember Tucker reported on the City's Association meeting. The City Manager was requested to provide the Council members with a list of those who would be attending the leadership training workshop on Friday as there were about four slots open and some members have an interest in inviting more members from the community. The meeting was adjourned at 11 PM. Respectfully submitted,