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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-14-1998 City Council Minutes MINUTES SARATOG]& CITY COUNCIL TIME:Saturday, March 14, 1998 - 9:00 a.m. PLACE: Savannah Chanel Vineyards, 23600 Congress Springs Road TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting 1. Roll Call - 9:00 a.m. Councilmembers Bogosian, Jacobs, Shaw, Moran, and Mayor Wolfe were present. Also present were City Manager Perlin, Interim Assistant City Manager Larson, City Attorney Riback, Community Development Director Walgren, Recreation Director Pisani, and Deputy City Clerk Cory. 2. Report of City Clerk on Posting of Agenda , Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on March 13. The notice of adjournment from the March 4 Council meeting was properly posted on March 5. 3. Oral Communications from the Public on Non-Agendized Items - None. 4. Retreat Items General discussion of the following items was facilitated by Consultant Judy Sweet. A. Improving Council/staff and Council/commission relations B. Long range planning issues C. Increasing citizen involvement in decision making processes to avoid future conflicts D. Achieving greater efficiency at Council meetings E. Exploring ways for tapping into the community,s talent and knowledge base F. Examining diversity in City government 5. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m. to closed session pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9: Conference with legal counsel- existing litigation - Name of case: San Francisco Baykeepers vs. City of Saratoga; and, pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(c): Possible initiation of litigation in one case. 6. Reconvene to Open Session for Mayor,s Report on Closed Session - No action reported. 7. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Grace E. Cory Deputy City Clerk SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL RETREAT MARCH 14v 1998 AGENDA · Tapping into the Talent of Saratoga Methods for fostering civic-mindedness Drawing volunteers from the community · Examining Diversity in City Government Integrating all populations into the City government process · Improving Council/Staff and Council/Commission Relations · Long Range Planning Vision - Focusing on Advanced Planning, Recommendations for the Future, Identifying Major Policies, Technology and Financial Issues · Increasing Citizen Involvement in Decision Making Including citizen input at the beginning of processes · Enhancing Council Meeting Efficiency Agenda setting and time utilization TAPPING INTO THE TALENT OF SARATOGA DISCUSSION The difficulty of getting members of the community to volunteer their time. Parents are more apt to volunteer their time with the schools and other youth activities. The need to keep current volunteers active by creating different kinds of opportunities for them to be of service. The importance of formally asking members of the community to volunteer. Commission membership is hard to fill - serving on a Commission does not always match the needs of those who want to volunteer. PLANS OF ACTION The Volunteer Coordinator will develop and implement a community survey that will include ways for citizens to indicate their interests in volunteering and ways they can be of assistance to City. By October 1, Larry and the Volunteer Coordinator, along with the council and staff, will identify projects which would lend themselves to volunteer involvement. They will also identify community groups that should be contacted regularly as sources for obtaining these volunteers. As soon as the project list is completed, Larry will incorporate request for volunteers in his City Manager's report at each Council meeting. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS Create an ongoing data base - web site- for the City that could list volunteer opportunities and other items of interest (this could be a project for volunteers).Send information about volunteer needs in the City to schools to send home with children. Ask other community groups to incorporate Saratoga's needs in their flyers. Enlist the assistance of other groups such as the Asian American Parent's Group and the Indian Business Association to get the word out. Use those other organizations as sources for volunteers. Have the Chamber of Commerce distribute flyers and include volunteer opportunities in their web site. Look at other organizations that have been successful and see how they do it. Install marquee-type signs at City Hall announcing council meetings and other City activities a la Saratoga High School. EXAMINING DIVERSITY IN CITY GOVERNMENT PLAN OF ACTION After developing the list of volunteer needs, Larry and the Volunteer Coordinator will develop a plan to recruit more diverse members from the community as volunteers. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS Since the schools deal with a very diverse population, get information about how they get people involved. Have a spokesperson for the City on ethnic television and radio stations in the community discussing the City's volunteer needs and opportunities. Recruit volunteers to develop a mailing list of the ethnic newspapers and other journals and contact them. Distribute information at the Lutheran church's Korean service. Distribute flyers for activities and volunteer opportunities at ESL classes. Have volunteers develop Council agendas and minutes in other languages. Determine issues that are of interest to the ethnic community and engage them with meetings, workshops, etc. IMPROVING COUNCIL/STAFF COMMUNICATION PLANS OF ACTION Joan and Jennie will plan a social get together in June on a regular work day that will include council members, staff, spouses and children (possibly at the Warner Hutton House). In April, Larry and the Human Resources Analyst (if on board) will communicate with staff about setting up a shadowing process for Council members. This process will begin in the fall and will allow the Council to better understand staff jobs and working conditions. Beginning immediately, Council members agree to discuss hot issues with staff before meetings - not blindside them at meetings. Don and Larry will work together to ensure that staff provides more thorough information for the Council before meetings. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS Council members are encouraged to drop in, visit with and recognize staff accomplishments as long as they are not "micromanaging" or circumventing the City Manager. Larry and staff will work on a statement that clarifies for Council the appropriate way to formally communicate with staff. The HR Analyst will develop a "brown bag" meeting program where a Council member, a commission member and interested staff can have an open dialogue. Don and Larry will coordinate sending letters of recognition to staff. IMPROVING COUNCIL/COMMISSION COMMUNICATIONS PLAN OF ACTION The Mayor, Commission Chairs, City Manager and Commission staff will meet one · month before any joint meeting to plan the agenda for the meeting. Joint meetings will be composed of short commission presentations (depending upon the topic - no lobbying). Council members are encouraged to visit with commissioners and attend their meetings. Instead of placing minutes from Commission meetings on the City Council'sagendas, staff will send draft minutes to the Council along with the Potpourri or in agenda packets (except for the Planning Commission). Larry will coordinate a commission/council BBQ in late July or September. Before an item is referred to a Commission, the Council will attempt to communicate with the Commission about what exactly they would like done. Express appreciation for Commissions and individual Commissioners more. LONG RANGE PLANNING INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN (including managing infrastructure deterioration, Community Center, and Public Safety Facility) The new Director of Public Works will submit a report to the Council in early 1999 describing the current status of the City's infrastructure, recommendations for improvements/alternatives and cost estimates. The Finance Commission will provide information on the cost for hillside maintenance and operations and alternative plans for revenue sources to deal with the additional costs of maintaining and repairing hillside infrastructure. DOWNTOWN Larry and Don will convene a meeting of local developers and real-estate people and pose the issue of an enhanced sustainable downtown and get feedback. Don will contact SBDC and the real-estate board and involve them in the process. Downtown Saratoga - as it currently exists will not survive. It provides insufficient services for Saratoga residents. Those most satisfied with the Village are the visitors. Inherent problems include the Village's remote location and small size which are attributes which also make it an attraction. Many ideas for improving the downtown were discussed, such as building in things to attract more "day trippers", establishing a small mall that would provide a greater variety of services, subsidize quaint stores, a need for more second story offices, a ban on additional dry cleanerS, providing services for hikers and bikers traveling through the Village, more moderate priced restaurants or franchises, another upstale hotel, a theater, and a pocket park. TRAFFIC A consultant will be retained to update the Circulation Element. Redo community meetings to gauge current concerns. James will prepare a report reviewing the traffic circulation, opportunities, resources and costs required to make changes, scope the project, hire the consultant and manage the project to completion in one year. The Finance Commission will review the cost of existing infrastructure maintenance and determine effective funding mechanisms such as an assessment district or maintenance district, having new roads/streets declared private, a city wide tax devoted to infrastructure, a hillside road repair fund, or a one time reserve fund. They will commence the project after the budget process and report back to the Council in early fall. GENERAL PLAN There is an Executive Summary of the General Plan being completed by staff to be reviewed by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission will take up the issue of a rewrite of the General Plan making it more user friendly, and up to date, re-defththg the neighborhoods as necessary. Staff will develop a schedule and process for a rotating review of each General Plan element every two years INCREASING COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION MAKING Create a statement that requires the developers to meet with neighbors to build consensus. At a future adjourned Council meeting, develop a proactive approach for ways to engage the public early on. Use the quarterly review meetings to identify items to get public input on early in the process. Examine how Pinn Brothers did it with the Spaich project. COUNCIL MEETING EFFICIENCY Aim for three instead of four meetings per month. Do agenda planning with the staff and get more information in staff reports. Allow for public participation but do not reinvent the wheel. Stan will present recommendations for the Council to review within two months on additional ways. to improve meeting efficiency.