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Home My WebLink About12-12-1995 City Council Minutes MINUTES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, December 12, 1995 - 6:15 p.m. PLACE: Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. Ave. TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting/Joint Meeting with Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council 1. Roll Call Councilmembers Present-Mayor Jacobs, Vice Mayor Moran, Councilmember Burger, Councilmember Wolfe (arrived at 6:20 PM) and Councilmember Tucker (arrived at 6:25 PM). Staff Present-City Manager Peacock 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 December 8, 1995. The notice of adjournment from the December 6, 1995, Council meeting was properly posted on December 7, 1995. 3. Presentation by Freeway Noise Committee Joan Hershkowitz representing the Committee informed the City Council that the Committee had filed a claim for administrative relief with the State of California and that claim had been rejected on August 8, 1995. The Committee now has six months to file a suit against the State or it will be barred by the statute of limitations. The Committee is asking the City at this time to consider taking the lead in the filing of such a suit. They have been consulting with an attorney in Sacramento, Ron Zumbrum who indicates that if the City and perhaps Cupertino were to join in the litigation this would force Cal Trans to take the Committee seriously and sit down with the Committee to discuss seriously remedies to the noise problem. A brief of Ms. Hershkowitz's presentation is presented to the City Council. Mayor Jacobs indicates that the City Council can take no action on this request this evening, that it would be a closed session matter and the City Manager was asked to place it on the City Council agenda for January 3, 1996, for closed session discussion with the City's legal counsel. 4. Presentation on 8tormDamagefrom the Storm of December 11 and 12, 1995. As an informational item the City Manager briefed the City Council on the work done by staff over the past 24 hours relating to the severe wind storm and rains which the City experienced. He indicated that the Emergency Operations Center was opened at about 8 AM and continued to operate until about 4 PM this date. Most of the problems were caused by the wind. Numerous downed trees were reported, many roads were blocked or partially blocked and many power lines were down with the resulting wide spread loss of electricity throughout the City. There were two instances of downed lines starting fires, but those were cleared up by early afternoon. There was localized flooding in several areas caused by clogged storm drain inlets but the City crews had been able to clear those by the end of the day. Another storm is due on Thursday of this week but it is not expected to be a severe. No state of emergency was declared either at the local or the county level. 5. Joint Meeting with 8A8CC. Betty Eskeldson reports that SASCC has reorganized as an umbrella organization. The role her group plays is to operate the Senior Center. Ms. Eskeldson cataloged the various programs offered by the Senior Center Organization. The total budget for all the programs is just over $33,000 a year out of a total SASCC budget of some $238,000. The Organization only has two paid staff but more than 300 volunteers. She reports that 80% of senior households in Saratoga have an income of less than $25,000 a year and that 87% of the seniors in the City are over 65 years of age. Ms. Eskeldson expressed a desire to have more senior programs and publicity listed in the City'squarterly recreation City Council Minutes 2 December 12, 1995 brochure. They would like to have at least half a page rather than just three lines. The Recreation staff has informed her that to expand the brochure would require adding eight new pages and be very costly; that they do not want to cut down on the amount of space they are using. Councilmember Tucker asks if SASCC has considered inserting a flyer which could be inserted into the brochure and then taken out and saved. It was also suggested that perhaps articles in the semi annual issues of the Saratogan would also be a superior alternative. Ms. Eskeldson indicated that these options had not been considered, but they could be. Ms. Eskeldson indicated that SASCC could also use the City's help in recruiting volunteers through the City's Volunteer Coordinator. She also indicated that SASCC would like to have the chairs replaced in the Senior Lounge as they were now more than 15 years old and are the property of the City. Olga MacFarland provides the City Council with an overview of the current SASCC organization. She reported on five needs for SASCC which she would like to have the City Council consider: 1-more space for programs, 2-improved climate control, 3-the need to refurbish tables, chairs, drapes, etc., 4-improved transportation through Outreach and Escort, and 5-more promotion of SASCC and what it does. Ms. MacFarland also discusses briefly the growth of the senior population and the growing needs of that population which she hopes can be addressed by SASCC with the help of the City. A discussion ensued concerning the lack of adequate service being offered to seniors by Outreach and Escort's subcontracting taxi companies. The City Council agreed to provide a letter of concern to the County Transportation Agency, the funding agency, for Outreach and Escort. Rita Pennington discusses the Adult Day Care Center operations. The Center serves between 30 and 37 families at one time. Full fee cost is $3.00 per person per day for the 1/2 day session but most participants are subsidized to some extent. Challenges facing the organization are: 1-Recognition and awareness in the community, 2-Opening for longer hours and on Saturdays to provide better service for working care givers, 3-The need for more space, 4-Problems with Outreach and Escort's services to clientele, and 5-Need to have enrollment of between 40-50 families, which has yet to be achieved. The organization is changing its name to Saratoga Adult Care Center to more adequately describe the program and its purposes. Chuck Thompson reports on the finances of SASCC. Over the past several years the City's contribution has declined both in absolute and in relative terms. The City contribution is now downto less than $50,000 a year and about 23% of the total SASCC budget needs. Costs for SASCC are growing at a rate of about 5% a year. Mr. Thompson asks the City Council to consider reinstating the 1.3% general fund revenue budgeting target for Human Services funding in future years. The City Council adjourns to closed session at approximately 7:30 PM. The City Council returned from closed session at approximately 10:45 PM. Mayor Jacobs announced that no final decisions had been reached in closed session. 6. Self-Evaluation of Previous Meeting Vice Mayor Moran suggests the City look into making as much of the annual weed abatement process administrative with the right to appeal to the City Council rather than have the process appear on several City Council agendas each year. There is consensus to have the City Manager look into this possibility and to report back to the City Council at a future date. Vice Mayor Moran also indicated that perhaps items under New Business could be arranged so that those which might involve discussion with the City Attorney could be put first so he would be allowed to leave as City council Minutes 3 December 12, 1995 early as possible. This led to a discussion of trying to group other items similarly relating to the various departments so that when their items are complete the department heads would be free to leave also. The City Council agrees with this suggestion and asks the City Manager to implement same with the next and all future agendas. 7. Agency Assignment Reports There were no agency assignment reports given. 7. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 PM. Respectfully submitted, Harry R. Peacoc~ City Clerk