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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-24-1998 City Council Minutes SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, March 24, 1998 - 5:30 p.m. PLACE: Adult Care Center, 19655 Allendale Avenue TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting/Joint Meeting with Parks and Recreation Commission and Hakone Foundation 5:30 p.m. - Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54~57: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION Title: City Manager Mayor's Report on Closed Session. - No action taken. The closed session was continued to a time immediately before the next regular meeting. 1. Roll Cell - 7:30 p.m. Councilmembers Bogosian, Jacobs, Shaw, Moran, and Mayor Wolfe were present. Also present were City Manager Perlin, Recreation Director Pisani, Administrative Analyst Jacobs, 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 20. The notice of adjournment from the March 20 Council meeting was properly posted on March 20. 3. Oral Communications from the Public on Non-Agendised Items - None. 4. Joint Meeting with Rakone Foundation Nakone Foundation Board Members present were Marjory Bunyard, Joe Clevenger, Ian Goddes, Helen and Ralph Metcalf, Dan Pulcrano, Elaine Salter, Lynn Walker and President Daryl Becket. A. Council Representation to Foundation Board City Manager Perlin announced that because of scheduling conflicts experienced by Councilmember Bogosian, Councilmember Shaw would take over the duties of Council liaison to the Board. He will also represent the Council at Sister City Committee functions. B. Management/operations issues - Written report submitted. John Tauchi commented that the requirement for a Certified Public Accountant to certify the Foundation financial reports was expensive. Me requested that the Foundation be allowed to omit the CPA letter and review. He stated that they could attach their federal income tax return to attest to the accuracy of the report. City Manager Perlin suggested that the Foundation put the request in writing so it could be referred to a member of the financial staff. Daryl Becker said the Foundation would submit the CPA review this year as the agreement with the City requires. This item can be'discussed again next year. Dan Pulcrano mentioned that the Hakone World Wide Web site is up at the electronic address of www.hakonegardens.com. C. Report on rentals/memberships - Written report submitted. D. Status of restroom project Daryl Becker stated that the new restrooms appeared to be a wonderful addition to the gardens aside from some punch list items. City Manager Perlin will see to it that punch list work is done. Custom lights were made by one of the Board members. E. Caretakers house renovation City Manager Perlin reported that he had requested that the County City Council Minutes 2 March 24, 1998 allow the project to go to bid. He mentioned that it appeared that the use of Community Development Block Grant funds would require that a tenant of the house meet low-moderate income level guidelines. A letter of understanding may need to be agreed upon. In response to Mayor Wolfe, Daryl Becker stated that the tenant must maintain security at the Gardens, but would not necessarily perform caretaker duties. F. Upcoming projects and events - Written report submitted. At the conclusion of the joint meeting City Manager Perlin reported that the Gardens had been chosen for special recognition at the Arboreta Internationale in Edinborough, Scotland this fall. Jack Tomlinson will travel to the conference as a quest speaker. 5. Joint Meeting with Parks and Recreation Commission Elaine Clabeaux, Jennifer Crotty, Frank Friedrich, Sheila Ioannou, Barbara Olsen, Marianne Swan, and Chair Kay Whitney were present. A. Park Development Fund Project Update Chair Whitney submitted written reports concerning the projects on the priorities list. Chair Whitney stated that an experienced consultant was required to oversee the playfields project, probably at a total cost of $30-35,000. She submitted a Statement of Qualifications from the Commission's unanimous choice to oversee this project, Jay Beals. Other commissioners confirmed Mr. Beals' excellent qualifications for the. job. City Manager Perlin agreed that limited staff resources meant that the only way the project could be done was by a consultant, at a cost of about $1500 to start with. Chair Whitney and Administrative Analyst Jacobs answered Councilmembers' questions about the various projects. Concerning the Heritage Orchard, Commissioner Friedrich stated that the City could adjust its agreement with Mr. Novakovich, who maintains the orchard, according to various scenarios. He believed the City could recover its investment in capital improvements over a period of years and could then make a profit on the orchard production. City Manager expressed doubt that anyone could be found to perform the work other than Mr. Novakovich, and the improvements would pay for themselves in about a year in any case. Commissioner Swan mentioned that the orchard could be turned into an educational resource. There was consensus to follow steps one through four in the Heritage Orchard Improvements and take up the Novakovich agreements and future improvements later. In answer to Councilmember Bogosian, City Manager Perlin stated that it probably would not be worthwhile to pump water from the new orchard well for use by City buildings and landscaping because so little water is used for those purposes. Concerning the Warner Hutton House renovation, City Manager Perlin stated that it might be possible to use Community Development Block Grant funds for the project. There appears to be about $130,000 available in the SHARP loan program which could be transferred to such a project. Councilmember Moran said that Recreation Director Pisani had told her that the renovation of the Warner Hutton House attic would not require additional staff or funds for maintenance and operations. Recreation Director Pisani stated that the Foundation is doing fundraising, and grants are being applied for. Concerning play areas in parks, Chair Whitney stated that, contraryto the chart, public input would be obtained first. City Council Minutes 3 w~rch 24, 1992 Councilmembers and commissioners discussed the need for an update of the Trails Master plan and an inventory because some trails are being encroached upon. Concerning the Community Center renovation, Chair Whitney said the Commission could work with a consultant to find out what is needed and whether replacement or renovation of the building is required. There was consensus to direct the Commission to do so. Councilmember Jacobs clarified that the Commission should return to the CoUncil with a proposal for hiring the consultant. 1) CounCil SUpport for Parks and Recreation commission in Implementation of Prioritised Projects Chair Whitney explained that the Commission wanted assurance that the Council would not authorize new uses for the Parks Development Fund until the list of prioritized projects had been completed. Councilmembers requested that City Manager Perlin look at all the projects and see what could be done. Mayor Wolfe suggested he prepare a report on decisions made at the Council retreat on March 14 in comparison with the prioritired list. City Manager Perlin stated that projects two through five could be started fairly quickly, but projects such as the playfield would take longer. He suggested the he prepare a report for the April or June quarterly review. There was consensus to direct him to do so. B. Selection of Project Manager to Coordinate School Playfield Development There was consensus to authorize the Commission to conduct further meetings with the proposed project manager and prepare a work plan with cost estimates for approval by the Council. C. Recommendation on Request from High School for Park Development Funds for Aquatics Facility Chair Whitney reported that the Commission felt there was no need for an aquatics facility in Saratoga. Kevin Skelly, principal of Saratoga High School, asked that the Council use Park Development funds for an aquatics facility. There was no consensus to do so. Councilmember Jacobs felt the Council might be able to work out a way to cooperate with Principal Skelly to convert capital funds into future credits for use of school facilities for recreation activities. D. Report on Commission/staff attendance at recent California Parks and Recreation Society conference Chair Whitney reported on the conference, particularly the fact that there are 17 registered sex offenders in Saratoga, two of them being high risk. City Manager Perlin commented that the Sheriff has the list of such offenders and monitors them closely. E. 8tatus of request for funding skateboard park Administrative Analyst Jacobs stated that the response of the Youth Commission had not been received by the Parks and Recreation Commission. She will follow up on it. Chair Whitney thanked Administrative Analyst Jacobs and Park Maintenance Supervisor Mooney for their assistance to the Commission. 6. 8elf-Evaluation of Previous Meetings - 3/4; 3/18 - No conunents on previous meetings. City Council Ninutes 4 March 24, 1992 Councilmember Moran remarked that she would have liked to receive the materials from the Parks and Recreation Commission before the meeting. She a~so would like more backup information. 7, Agency Assignment Reports Councilmembers reported on meetings they had attended and upcoming meetings. Councilmember Moran asked if the Council was interested in asking Bob Reid to talk to the Council about sewer rehabilitation. There was consensus to direct the City Manager to arrange such a presentation at an upcoming Council meeting. Councilmember Moran also suggested that the County Cities Association be approached to oppose the proposed telephone area code redesignation which would split Saratoga into two area aodes. 8, Citizens Recognition City Manager Perlin noted that a request for a proclamation had been received from Asian Americans for Community Involvement. It is scheduled for the April 1 agenda. 9. Other County tax issue: There was consensus-to direct the City Manager to send a letter to the County Cities Association Legislative Task Force requesting their support. 10. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. on Friday, March 27, in Administrative Conference Room for meeting with State Senator Sher. Respectfully submitted, Grace E. Cory Deputy City Clerk