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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-22-1995 City Council Minutes SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, August 22, 1995 - 6:00 PM PLACE= City Hall Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting 6:00 - Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION Title: City Manager Mayor Burger called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM. She announced that the City Council had not concluded its discussions on the closed session matter and that the closed session'would be continued to 11:30 AM on August 28, 1995, in the Administrative Meeting Room. She directed the City Clerk to so post the notice of adjournment from this meeting. 1. Roll Call Councilmembers Jacobs, Moran, Tucker, Wolfe and Mayor Burger were present. City Staff Present - City Manager Peacock, Community Development Director Curtis, Associate Planner White. 2. Report of City Clerk on Posting of Agenda The City Clerk reported that pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on August 18. The notice of adjournment from the August 16 Council meeting was properly posted on August 17. ' 3. Signs in the public right of way The City Council expressed concern about the problem in sign placement On front lawns, since in most areas of the City the public right of way extends several feet behind the curb. They discussed the fact that most people do not know that and how prohibiting signs in the public right of way, which would include such areas would be workable in a practical sense. There was some question as to whether in fact this would create an enforcement problem for the' staff. The City Council requested that the City Attorney be asked to consider this problem and be ready to discuss it if the City Council decided to hold a hearing to adopt such a change. The City Council then discussed the use of this new process for reviewing ordinance and general plan changes coming up from the Planning Commission and agreed that the process of having the City Council review the recommendations in general at an adjourned meeting before setting the matter for hearing is the process it intends to follow in the future, and staff is to follow this new process on future recommendations as well. Moran/Tucker moved to set the proposed ordinance for hearing on October 4, 1995. Passed 3-2 with Mayor Burger and Councilmember wolfe voting no. 4. sign ordinance changes from Planning Commission Councilmember Moran indicated that at presen~ it would be her preference to hold off on making the temporary banner ordinance a permanent change to the code but that she is agreeable to going forward with a temporary ordinance change which would allow A-Frame signs. She expressed the concern that a business could have a banner, then an A- frame sign and in effect have special temporary signs up most of the time. Wolfe/Moran moved to set both sign ordinance revisions for hearing on October 4, 1995. Passed 5-0. ~ 5. Tree Committee Guidelines The Community Development Director indicated to the City Council that the Planning Commission had asked him to request that the City Council City Council Minutes 2 August 22,1995 not consider this item until after the Planning Commission has had an opportunity to formally review and comment on the document, which they are proposing to do on September 27~1. The Commission feels they have not had the opportunity to make a fo~nal recommendation on the document to the City Council since the Tree Committee was appointed by the City Council and reported directly to the City Council. Discussion ensued as to whether the City Council should conclude this matter at this time and approve the changes listed by the staff in its report which points out areas in the document which are either not provided for in the current ordinance or would result in a change in policy. Tucker/Wolfe moved to direct the staff to change the document so that it is reflective of the current ordinance and policy~ the document is then to be forwarded to the Planning Commission for review to insure that it is so reflective and then returned to the City Council for final review and approval. Passed 5-0. 6. Development Standards Ordinances changes from Planning Commission Council members noted that the proposed ordinance change relating to allowable square footage and dwelling height were currently being reviewed along with all other development and design review standards by the design and development review task force. While this recommended change might be consistent with the findings of the task force once its work is completed, dealing with the proposed changes in. a piece meal fashion is not suggested. Moran/Jacobs moved to set the ordin2nce on hillside setbacks and the ordinance on lot line adjustments for hearing on October 18, 1995, and to hold the proposed ordinance on allowable floor areas for dwelling heights over 18 feet until the work of the task force is completed. Passed 5-0. 7. charter and parameters for Park Development Focus Groups In discussing this topic, members of the City CoUncil suggested examples of the types of things which might be included in a charter and parameters statement for the focus groups. Vice Mayor Jacobs suggested, for example, that one par~meter might be to make more of the parks accessible to more people (i.e. providing picnic areas or rest rooms), or one might be not to leave major portions of Kevin Moran Park undeveloped. Councilmember Moran suggested, for example, that the Heritage Orchard should remain essentially as is and retain its current purpose. City Manager Peacock indicated that the staff is preparing background data and layouts of the parks and the school play areas using aerial photos to brief the focus groups on the park and school playground system, how heavily they are currently used and what the expressed needs of various segments of the comnunity are from the research done by staff. He indicated that this information should be available by mid-September. Included in this information would be things such as what it would cost to maintain a new rest room at a park or certain other facilities if they were installed in the park. Council agreed to do self guided tours of all facilities once the staff work is complete and then further refine their ideas about the charter and parameters and schedule a further discussion at that time. S. 8elf-Evaluation of Previous aeeting The Mayor noted that she had watched a taped broadcast of the last City Council meeting and that the camera would remain focused on one member of the City Council or another for several minutes, rather than on the person speaking. Councilasked the City Manager to discuss this with the coordinator at KSAR. 9. Agency Assignment Reports Councilmember Wolfe reported that the Cities Association by-laws were undergoing revision in the area of selection of officers, that the County Transportation Agency is working on a Mission Statement, and that the SBDC was moving toward the retention of a professional in economic development planning to help with the program effort. City Council Minutes 3 August 22,1995 Councilmember Moran reported that there was a proposal to make the Emergency Planning Council a more independent agency with budget authority, replacing the Board of Supervisors as theEmergency Planning policy body for the County. There appears to be no objection from the County at this time but the proposal is still in its talking stages. Vice Mayor Jacobs reported that KSARwould be doing more local event, remote productions and that they have developed a training program to develop producers for shows as that is the critical need in creating more local programming. Mayor Burger reported that the Library JPA tour of all the libraries in the system is now complete, that the JPA is still getting itself organized, having just completed work on establishing its appeals process, that the Chamber of Commerce mini-retreat last week focused on Celebrate Saratoga, and that she has agreed with the new president of the West Valley College Board, Maxine Sanders, to have a joint meeting with the Board on September 12th. In this regard it was agreed to have a further closed session on potential litigation and a possible memorandum of understanding on September 6th, to have the College Board meet with the Council at 7:00 PM at City Hall and to schedule the joint meeting with the Planning Commission to begin at 8:00 PM and go to 9:00 PM. 10. Discussion concerning Establishment of a Council Subcommittee to deal with Commission/Committee Member Issues Councilmember Tucker suggested that the City Council needs a method of communicating with commission members and committee members about problems identified by the City Council and that this would be agood way to head off problems by direct counseling. She indicated that the, City of Campbell has appointed a sub-committee of two members of the City Council to perform that task after a concern has been raised by a member or members of the City Council. Moran/Tucker moved to establish a .City Council sub-committee on Commission/Committee Member Issues and to appoint the Mayor and the Vice Mayor as the members of the subcommittee. Passed 5-0~ Councilmember Tucker asked the committee to speak to Commissioner Abehire concerning the proper procedures related to the role of commissioners in speaking before the Council on pending issues and speaking out when misinformed. She also asked the committee to speak to Commissioner Caldwell concerning circumventing the instructions and the intent of the City Council regarding the work and report of the Tree Committee, especially in reference to the June 12th letter and the resignation from the committee of Barrio Coate. 11. Request for Council Resolution Mayor Burger indicated she had been approached about placing a resolution of support on the City Council agenda for Harry Wu, the resident of Milpitas currently being held by the government of china, and for the City to conduct a "yellow-ribbon" ceremony in his honor. The City Council agreed that it was the long standing policy of this and all former City Councils not to engage in foreign policy issues because of the precedent it would set for so many other issues around the world for which people would want the city to take a position. The City Council expressed concern for the family of Mr. Wu but declines to take a position on his situation visa vis the government of China. 12. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 PM to August 28, 1995, at 11:30 AM in the Administration Conference Room, 13777 Fruitvale Avenue. Respectfully submitted, Harry R. City Clerk