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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-06-1996 City Council Minutes MINUTE8 SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 - 7:00 p.m. PLACE: Civic Theater, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. TYPE: Regular Meeting Closed Session for Quarterly Litigation Status Update from City Attorney - 7:00 in Administration Conference Room, 13777 Frultvale Avenue. Pursuant to Section 54956.9 (a): CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL-EXISTING LITIGATION Name of cases: Guadalupe Rubbish Co. v. Saratoga; Warfel v. Saratoga; Green Valley Disposal Co. v. Saratoga; Bloxham v. Saratoga; San Francisco Baykeepers v. Saratoga; City of Saratoga v. West Valley Community College District 7:30 Pledge of Allegiance - Led by Mary-Lynne Bernald 1. ROLL CALL Councilmembers Present: City Manager Peacock, Director of Public Works Perlin, City Attorney Riback, and Management Intern Hwang Loft 2. CEREMONIAL ITEMS A. Resolution appointing Bernald and reappointing Patrick and siegfried to Planning commission TUCKER/BURGER TO APPROVED RESOLUTION 96-58. PASSED 5-0. B. Administration of Oath of Office to above Mayor Jacobs administered the Oath of Office to the new commissioners. 3. REPORT OF CITY CLERK ON POSTING OF AGENDA City Manager Peacock reported that pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on November 1. 4. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMISSIONS AND THE PUBLIC A.. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS F. L. Stutzman, 15195 Park Drive, said he thought the citizens had commented clearly once more with the results of the election and said they are hopeful that the Council will listen and there will be more fair representation on the Council and commissions. He commented on a statement made by Councilmember Burger at a candidate forum held by the League of Women Voters and the AAUWprior to the election. He said he found it unpleasant, undignified by a member of the Council, and that it deserved a public apology. Marvin Becker, 12120 Mellowood Dr., president of Saratoga Park Woods homeowners association, expressed concerns about a valve which had been installed on Prospect in front the entry sign. Thebottom of the valve was 22 inches off the ground and blocked the letters in the sign. L. M. Thorpe, 19550 Farwell Avenue, said he was also offended by the statements made at the candidate forum and referred to by Dr. Stutzman. Jeff Schwartz, San MarcosDrive, said he had raised questions regarding the management staff letter of agreement at a recent meeting and these questions had not been answered. City Manager Peacock said he would respond to Mr. Schwartz by telephone. Councilmember Burger referred to the election and thanked people in the. community who expressed support and encouragement today. She said it had been a honor to serve the community and that she planned to continue to be active in the community. She expressed pleasure and thanks to the Council and staff for having worked with them. Ma~or Jacobs thanked Councilmember Burger and said Council will miss her and Councilmember Tucker. City Council Minutes 2 Novgm~er 6, 1996 B. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMISSIONS - None. C. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS - None. 5. CONSENT CALENDAR A, Previously-Discussed Items 1) Ordinance replacing existing Floodplain Management Ordinance., MORAN/BURGER TOAD OpT ORDINANCE NO. 71-167 REPLACING ARTICLE 16-66 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF SARATOGARELATING TO FLOODPLAINM~NAGEMENT, BY TITLE ONLY, WAIVING READING IN FULL. PANBED B. New Items 1) Planning Commission Actions, 10/23 - Note and file. 2) Public Safety Commission Minutes, 9/9~ 9/13 - Note and file. 3) Finance AdvisoZ7 Committee Minutes, 9/16 - ~ote and file. 4) Report on Emergency PUrchase - $11,800 to L&L Construction of Antioch for Repair of Demon Lane Retaining Wall - Receive and file. 5) Resolution 96-59 declaring Weeds a Public Nuisance and setting Public Nearing for December 4, 1996 6) Motor Vehicle Resolutions 225 and 226 authorizing Installation of Stop Signs at Bohlman Rd./OakSt./Sixth St. and on St. Charles P1. at Oak St. 7) Memo Authorising Publicity for Upcoming Nearings - No public hearings scheduled for 11/20. 8)Quarterly Report to Regional water Quality control Board on City NPDE8 Activity 9) Approval of Check Register MORAN/WOLFE TO APPROVE CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM~ 5.B., 1-9. PASSED 5-0. C. CLAIMS AGAINST THE CITY - None. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS - None. 7. OLD BUSINESS - None. 8. MEW BUSIMESS A. Award of Contract for Management Information System city Manager Peacock requested that the item be tabled since the outcome of the vote on Measure L is still unknown. TUCKER/MORAN TO TABLE THE ITEMTO A FUTURE DATE. PA~SED 5-0. B. ReqUest by TCI to amend Cable TVTransfer Agreement to allow up to Four Years to Rebuild Sunland Park Area City Manager Peacock presented the staff report. He said of the 200 homes in the area, about half have cable. The system is similar to Saratoga's old system but could not provide the P.E.G. access, which is the only thing the Sunland residents do not have. The two systems are served from different locations. Staff does not believe this is an unreasonable length of time for the rebuilding. WOLFE/BURGER TO APPROVE THEAMENDMENTTOCABLETVTRANSFER AGREEMENTTO City Counoil Minutes 3 Novm~er6, 1996 ALLOW UP TO FOUR YEARS TO REBUILD THE SUNLAND PARK AREA ~ AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE AMENDMENT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY. PASSED C, second Amendment to County Weed Abatement Agreement (increasing ~dministrative Costs from 65% to 120%) City Manager Peacock presented the staff report, adding that the option is for the City to undertake the program, they are not equipped to do so and it would be more costly.for them. The cost to the City is a pass-through cost. Karl Schneider, Lisa Brown and Peter Ng, fiscal officer, from the Fire Marshall's office, were present to answer questions. Ms. Brown said theLe had been no raise in the cost since 1983, and the program has been operating on reserves for the past three years. Costs to private citizens are competitive with services provided by contractors, and citizens have the option of using private contractors. She said several other cities in the County have approved this amendment. TUCKER/BURGER TO DIRECT THE MAYORTOEXECUTE THEAMENDMENT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY. PASSED 5-0. D. Resolution ~ppointing 8yd DUnton as a Trustee of the Rakone Foundation BURGER/MORAN TO ~DOPT RESOLUTION 96-60. PASSED E. Award of Contract for cit~wide street sweeping services through June 30, 1997 Management Intern Hwang Loft presented the staff report. Public Works Director Perlin said street sweeping is not necessarily required in the expansion of the storm water control program, but the countywide program has done some research in street sweeping and has determined the optimum amount of street sweeping. The City is proposing to go to that level. He said he did not think there is any~'hing in the law that says we have to do street sweeping, but the City has to meet objectives to achieve stormwater permit requirements. If they do not, they would have to explain why they aren't and what they are doing in its place. Regarding whether the community is getting $45,000 in benefits, Mr. Perlin stated that since the weekly sweeping of arterials had started, people seemed to notice. Merchants in the Village have commented and the City receives calls or letters after the quarterly sweeping. Mr. Perlin said the money for street sweeping is collected through a surcharge on the garbage bill. In regard to sweeping of parking lots, City Manager Peacock said Green Valley's proposal says that for the price they have quoted they will include sweeping of parking lots and they would not lower the price if they do not sweep parking lots. Councilmember Wolfe asked if the surcharge could be charged since the passage of Proposition 218. city Attorney Riback said it is likely that a property-related fee or charge added to the garbage bill, as that term is used under Prop. 218, and the garbage bill itself, would require that the process set out in Prop. 218 be followed for it to be increased. He said the process' would be that the City would send ballots to users of the garbage service asking whether they want the fee to be continued or not and increased or not. If there is not a majority protest by all users, then Council may continue it. The City would, however, be required to meet the state requirements so money would have to come from the general fund. The administrative cost of running the ballot procedure could be built into the garbage bills. City Manager Peacock said that if there is a majority protest the City could not recover the cost of the procedure. He estimated the cost to prepare and mail the notice giving the opportunity for a protest at $25,000. He said Prop. 218 will create some administrative issues that City Council Minutes ....... 4 November6, 1996 will have to be dealt with. The same thing applies to the basic rubbish and recycling costs~ cost escalators are built into existing contracts. He said under Prop. 218, there are certain exclusions to having to go through the process prior to July 1. Mr. Perlin said Caltrans has started an experiment with street sweeping alon~ state highways and freeways which would probably expand to include Highway 85 through Saratoga. Street sweeping operations in the City would cease if the proposed contract is not approved, but funds are in the current year's budget to cover the near term. MORAN/BURGER TO DECLaRB GRBEN VALLEY RECYCLING THE LOWEST RESPONSIBLE BIDDER. PASSED 5-0. MORAN/BURGER TO AWARD THB CONTRACT TO GREEN VALLEY RECYCLING IN THE ]LMOUNT OF $45,000. PABBBD 5-0. F. Recommendation from 'Public Safety Commission to perform a Traffic calming Study for Baylot Avenue Public Works Director Perlin presented the staff report and expanded on the fiscal impacts. Ha'said the funds were available because they were programmed for a full year for Congestion Management Agency (CMA) dues; it appears that the CMA has built up a surplus and the City will not have to pay the second half of their dues. Staff proposes the diversion of $4,000 for this study. Discussion followed regarding the need to defer this and other expenditures pending review of the budget in l%ght of defeat of Measure L. Councilmember Burger compared how the Baylor and Miller Avenue problems were handled. She said the people on Miller have been working with the City over a long period of time. Sue Hollis, 18297 Baylor said they have been working with the City for a long time and action has been deferred. She said this is a safety issue as people are traveling 40-50 miles an hour on the street. She said they have worked hard to get to this point and she was disappointed to hear that action might again be deferred. She asked Council to consider the-support there is from the neighborhood and said they had no control over the election. They'were told something would be done this year. The study would provide possible solutions and they need an expert to deal with the problem. Councilmembers agreed that the safety issue is one of their duties and that residents had followed the proper procedures. However, Council did not know how the cost Of the study could be covered in light of the anticipated budget shortage, and they agreed that the budget review was necessary to determine what resources the City has to deal with this and other public safetyiSsues. Mayor Jacobs suggested that residents speak to newly-elected Councilmembers as they will probably want to study the budget as well. Gall Poffenberger, 18324 Baylot, asked that when CounCil evaluates the budget they remember that the consultant's recommendation may not cost the City any money and therefore the study might be a minor expense. Nancy Price, 18465 Baylot, commented that while she realized the two. issues were not connected, Council had just approved $45,000 for street sweeping as opposed to a $4,000 safety issue. She said that while she realized that the street sweeping money could not be spent for the study, there should be $4,000 somewhere that could possibly save the life of a child. She said they tried to get this resolved toward the middle of the year and had gone through proper procedures. She described the dangers existing on the street and said she did not understand why the study cannot be funded. Mayor Jacobs repeated that Council would like to study the budget to see where funding will come from in light of Measure L and Prop. 218. Ms. Price believed that having the study people on site would slow City Council Minutos S N~vm~ers, 1996 people down. She said they would appreciate anything Council can do to assure the safety of Baylot residents. Mayor Jacobs said the City will contact the Sheriff regarding enforcement on Baylot. Maureen Fisher, 18409 Baylor, described a neighborhood incident and said they are a good neighborhood and keep up their properties and yards. She said this is a family neighborhood but is not safe. She said it took a long time to get to this point and they thought this was end. They would appreciate what Council could do for them. Discussion followed regarding continuing the matter to the December 18 meeting. City Manager Peacock said he thought Council would know · where they stood from the standpoint of reduced revenue, but they might not know what they wanted to do about budget cuts. He said he and the Finance Director could report about the revenue picture for the rest of the year. He suggested continuation to December 18. MORAN/TUCKER TO CONTINUE THE ITEM TO DECEHBER 18. PA~SED 5-0. G. Oral CommuniCations (continued) and instructions to staff regarding actions on current oral communications Council directed Public WOrks Director Perlin to contact Mr. Becket about his concerns regarding the valve installed on Prospect. 9. ROUTINE MATTERS A. Approval of Minutes - 10/165 10/22 TUCKER/WOLFE TO APPROVE THE OCT. 16 MINUTE8 MORAN/WOLFE TO APPROVE THE OCT. 22 MINUTES ~ SUBMITTED. P~SED 10. CITY COUNCIL ITEMS A. Agenda items for adjourned regular meeting - No meeting (Thanksgiving week) B. Other Mayor Jacobs said indications were that Measure L would fail but there is not a final count. However, on the assumption that the measure has failed he asked that staff prepare an ordinance repealing the tax retroactively to this date. City Manager Peacock said PG&E would be contacting him to let him know what communication would be necessary to cease collecting the tax and be legally protected. He said the County is party to the tax equity allocation. Property taxes won't change; however, under Section 98 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, the City would not be entitled to the money any more. He said the Council ought to consider suggesting· amending legislation in Sacramento. By consensus, Council directed the City Attorney to contact the County Attorney regarding this issue. Councilmember Wolfe stated that Donna Collins is arranging for the white lights on Big Basin Way again this year and recommended that all i merchants cooperate. He said that as far as he knew the holiday open house would take place again this year. 11 · KDJOURNI{ENT 8:52 Council adjourned to the next meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12, at Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Avenue. Respectfully submitted, Rob~erta~W~'lfe~_ Minutes Clerk ~