Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-21-1998 City Council Minutes MINUTES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, April 21, 1998 - 5:00 p.m. PLACE: Adult Care Center, 19655 Allendale Avenue TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting/Quarterly Budget and Program Review/Joint Meeting with Library Commission 5:00 p.m. - Special Meeting for the purpose of a Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9: CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL-EXISTING LITIGATION Names of cases: San Francisco Baykeepers v. Saratoga; San Francisco Baykeepers v. Water Resources Control Bd. et al.; City of Saratoga v. West Valley Community College and Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(c): CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL-ANTICIPATED LITIGATION .- Possible initiation of litigation in one case. Mayor's Report on Closed Session - No decisions. 1. Roll Call The meeti'ng was called to order at 7:10 p.m. Councilmembers Bogosian, Jacobs, Moran, Shaw and Mayor Wolfe were present. Also present were City Manager Perlin, Recreation Director Pisani, Administrative Analysts Burns and Jacobs, City Attorney Riback, and Deputy City Clerk tory. 2. Report of City Clerk on Posting of Agenda Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on April 17. The notice of adjournment from the April 15 Council meeting was properly posted on April 16. 3. Oral Communications from the Public on Non-Agendized Items - None. Mayor Wolfe announced that the Council would consider Item 5 first because it was not expected to take long, and there were a number of people in the audience waiting for that item. 5. Recommendation from Parks and Recreation Commission concerning Fees for Use of Congress Springs Park by Sports Leagues City Manager Perlin reviewed the staff report. He recommended that the Council consider allowing the Little League contract to be renewed for the current season and for the AYSO contract to be renewed through the end of the current year, both at the current rate of a flat $1500 per year. If this is done, all the sports leagues must cooperate with the soon-to-be hired playfield. Program Manager to form a task force to discuss the future fee structure in good faith to reach an agreement. Councilmember Jacobs suggested having a hearing on this matter as soon as possible. City Manager Perlin stated that it would be appropriate for the meetings with the Project Manager to take place, then have the Parks and Recreation Commission make a recommendation, then hold a public hearing on December 2 or December 16. Larry Fine, Regional AYSO Commissioner, stated that the two sides are far apart, and that AYSO actually reduces the cost of maintaining fields. A member of the audience stated that if the rates were raised too high, there would be no place for AYSO to go. At 7:40 p.m. Mayor Wolfe stated that the Council would put off further discussion on playfield issues until after consideration of Item 4. 4. Joint Meeting with Library Commission City Council Minutes 2 April 21, Xgg8 Library Commissioners Ceppos, Foscato, Grantham, McLaughlin, Sessler, Towse, and Chair Manzo were present. Community Librarian Dolly Barnes was also present. A. Report on Activities of Library Space Consultant Chair Manzo reported on discussions of space problems and needs at the Library. The consultant, Robert Rohlf, has begun examining the problems. She said the community room may be needed for other purposes because the library has exceeded its capacity. He will prepare a report which could probably be ready for the Council in late May. Councilmember Bogosian stated he had met with Mr. Rohlf and had concerns about his procedures. He wished to leave the community room as it is and see what could be done with the other rooms. Chair Manzo stated that the library is so full that something must be lost. She and other commissioners expressed confidence in the abilities of Mr. Rohlf. Councilmembers suggested other options such as small add-one or satellite operations in Saratoga. They also discussed the extent of the authority the City has over use of library space. Staff was directed to discuss with the City Attorney the terms of the library lease agreement. Community Librarian Barnes stated that the situation with the County was not an adversarial One, and everyone wishes to cooperate to determine the best use of the library space. B. Continuing Discussion of Internet Access to Minors Commissioner Towse stated there were two issues: preventing small children from being exposed to pornography accidentally and preventing older children from finding it on purpose. The Library Commission felt it was best to have no filters at all for the present. Commissioner Ceppos agreed and stated that filtering.would not solve the problem. Chair Manzo agreed and stated that pornography was not a significant problem in the Saratoga Library. She believed only a few people were upset about the perceived problem, and the Citizens Advisory Committee recommended that there be open access. She felt there should be personal choice when the technology allows it. Councilmember Bogosian recounted an incident in which a man went into the children's section of the library and was asked to leave. Councilmember Jacobs saw the disagreement as a clash between philosophy and practicality. He pointed out that the Council had taken a stand favoring some form of control over access. Libraries controlled access to pornography by not buying pornographic books, he said, which could be viewed as censorship. Commissioner Sessler stated that the major problems on the Internet are news groups and chat rooms, neither of which can be filtered. Concerning censorship by not buying books, he stated that those decisions are made on the basis.of the whole book, while filters restrict access on the basis of a single word. He also expressed the belief that time parents spend with their children overrides anything available on the Internet. Mayor Wolfe then returned to Item 5 on the agenda. 5. Recommendation from Parks and Recreation Commission concerning Fees for Use of Congress Springs Park by Sports Leagues (continued) Councilmembers and members of the audience continued to discuss fees for playfields, work that needed to be done on the fields to make them playable and safe, how maintenance costs are calculated, the fact that City cm,mc~l Minutes 3 ~r~l 21, 1998 the national AYSO does not allow differential fees based on residence, and the fact that Saratoga has the lowest radio of employees per capita of any city in the State. When a member of the audience asked about the connection between raising fees and hiring a playfield consultant, Councilmember Jacobs pointed out that there was no connection, since the revenues from fees did not go to the fund from which the consultant would be paid. Paul Lavoie, AYSO, stated that they were providing a service and should not have to pay for use of the fields. He said they had offered to provide maintenance of the parks themselves. Mark Linsky said the negotiations may need to be completed earlier than December because of AYSO scheduling. Bill Wallace, representing AYSO and Little League, complained about the condition of the fields and stated that AYSO improves property values by making Saratoga a more desirable place to live. Councilmember Jacobs pointed out that the deterioration of the fields were a part of the gradual deterioration of the infrastructure resulting from loss of the Utility Users Tax. City Manager Perlin stated that if AYSO or Little League wished to' take over park maintenance, they should give their proposal directly to him for review. Bill Cooper stated that a committee should be formed to discuss the issues similar to the Saratoga Business Development Council. Councilmember Shaw stated that is what is planned. There was consensus for the sports leagues and staff to form a committee to meet with the playfields consultant and to have staff provide the committee with a list of maintenance requirements for the' fields. Jay Shepherd stated that they could figure out how to pay for maintenance. Mayor Wolfe called a recess from 9:25 p.m. to 9:40 p.m. Quarterly Program and Major Project Review City Manager noted that programs and major projects were covered in his written report. There were no questions on items up to 6.D.2. Mayor Wolfe proceeded to that item. 2) Recreatiou Director Salary Study and Job Description Review City Manager Perlin reviewed the staff report. He noted that the Council might wish to consider placing the Facilities Management function under her supervision and increase her time to 1.0 FTE rather than .9 FTE. Councilmembers and staff discussed the Recreation Director's duties in comparison to other recreation directors and whether a reclassification study was warranted on the position. Mayor Wolfe asked whether facilities rentals were included in Recreation Department income. City Manager Perlin replied that they were not, in response to the City Council's direction to keep recreation-related items separate from others. Councilmember Moran felt the Council should concentrate on cutting "loss-leader" programs rather than changing the Recreation Director's job. Councilmember Jacobs felt the Recreation Director and the Finance Director should work to get a plan for full cost recovery, assuming Cit~ Council Xinutss 4 April 21, 1998 that the Finance Commission charts are correct; He believed that cuts needed to be made to those programs that failed to recover their costs rather than across-the-board. There was consensus to direct the Recreation Director to work with the new Finance Director to prepare a plan for full cost recovery in two years to be presented at the October 27 Council meeting. E. March Financial Reports and Third Quarter Financial Highlights City Manager Perlin explained the reports and answered Councilmembers~ questions. He noted that the reports were presented in a new format which shows trends and issues. All numbers had been downloaded from the new MTE computer program. F. FY98-99 and 99-00 Budget Development 7. Landscaping and Lighting District LLA-1 for 199S-99 - Resolution preliminarily approvlng Engineers Report and Resolution of Intention John Heindel, Engineer for the District, stated there would be no mailing problems with the District this year'because his firm would do the mailing themselves. MORAN/SHAW MOVED TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 98-05.2. Passed 5-0. MORAN/SHAW MOVED TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 98-05.3. Passed 5-0. 8. Self-Evaluation of Previous Meeting - No comments. 9. Agency Assignment Reports Councilmember Bogosian mentioned the Library Joint Powers Agreement meeting on Thursday. 10.. Citizens Recognition - None. 11. Other City Manager Perlin reported on staff reQruitment. 12. AdjoUrnment The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Grace E. Cory Deputy City Clerk