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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-27-1998 City Council Minutes SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, October 27, 1998 - 6:00 p.m. PLACE: Adult Care Center, 19655 Allendale Ave. TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting Closed session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE ERFORMANCE EVALUATION Title: City Manager Mayor's Report on Closed Session - No decisions were made. 1. Roll Call The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. Councilmembers Bogosian, Jacobs, Moran, Shaw and Mayor Wolfe were present. Also present were City Manager Perlin, Community Development Director Walgren, Acting Public Works Director Chefbone, Administrative Services Director Mary Jo Walker, and Parks and Recreation Director Pisani. 2. Report of City Clerk on Posting of Agenda Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on October 23. The notice of adjournment from the October 21 Council meeting was properly posted on October 22. 3. Oral Communications from the Public on Non-Agendized Items - None. 4. Commission Chair Reports Public Safety Commission - Frank Lemmon Mr. Lemmon reported on the following activities of the Commission: · Resolving traffic problems relating to pickup and delivery of children at schools (Marshall Lane, Redwood, Oak Street, Blue Hills). · ALTRANS - cit3nMde subscription bus system to transport kids to and from school · Prides Crossing neighborhood traffic study - contractor chosen - now collect data, update Circulation Element, define and implement traffic calming plan. · Argonaut Shopping Center redevelopmant traffic plan J. Walgren talked about the environmental initial plan for the Argonaut project, stating that it did address traffic. Steve Blalock, representing ALTRANS, talked about the plans they have and how the entire City could eventually be served by their program,, He described what is taking place and what is planned including the purchase of two new vans. Parems pay $4.50 a day. Youth Commission - Alex Scordelis Mr. Scordelis reported that Commission members are all Saratoga residents and are fi'om Saratoga High, Bellarmine High, Lynbrook High, Redwood Middle School, and Sacred Heart Middie School. He talked about their fundraising activities including the Saratoga Parade and street dance. Other events were dances for middie schools, a monthly series of concerts at Wamer Hutton House for high school kids, involvement in hiring of a new director for the Wamer Hutton House, tutors for middle school, and a disciplinary board. He said future events include concerts, dances, and fundraising for the Warner Hutton House attic conversion which should be done by the end of the year. City Council Minutes 2 October 27, 1998 Finance Commission - Nick Streih Chair Mr. Streit said the Commission had been charged with completing five-year revenue and expenditure projections for the City. He reviewed their progress and the work plan which included indirect cost allocation, budget document improvement, recreation program full cost recovery, enhanced description of expenditures on checks, formats for monthly financial reports to eounc'd, technology programs, hillside street repair funding and mitigation.' Harming, Commission - Marcia Kaplan She said she was pleased with the resolution of the fireplace issue. The Commission would be dealing with the general plan and circulation element, the adult business ordinance and downtown development, Sisters of Notre Dame, Azule Crossing, Argonaut Shopping Center, Navieo, Spalch/Hayfield, IOOF, and Mountain Winery. She talked about the discussion held at the last joint meeting in regard to Heritage Preservation. Councilmember Jacobs raised questions about the parking plan at Argonaut, noting he thought the City should discourage perpendicular parking. Counc'dmember Bogosian said he was pleased with the expanded Commission minutes, stating that it makes it easier for City Counc'~ to understand the Planning Commission's decisions. In reference to the circulation element, Community Development Director Waigren said the first step was develop'rag a work program, then outlining how various groups will be involved. Library Commission - Marcia Manzo. Chair Ms. Manzo outlined the Commission's main objective and emphas'tzed the need for space. She said they are los'rag books because there is no room. She expressed hope for Counc'd support to do a bond measure after educating the citizens. They were sending out two fact sheets on the Commission. She also expressed concerns about the 'deterioration of the landscaping. She said she was very pleased with the solution the JPA Board made about the Internet access and pornography issue. Mayor Wolfe stated that the Friends of the Utbrary are very important and talked about the membership drive. Counc'~member Bogosian talked about the JPA discussions regarding the building policy. Alex Scordelis said the Youth Commission would be interested in helping convert the Wamer Hutton House attic to a study area which would help relieve the space problem at the library. Mayor Wolfe was informed that each library in the county system has a different collection Heritage Preservation Commission - Norm Koepernik He said the Commission consists of hardworking members. The Commission will be working on the following: · They are anticipating going back into the decorator showcase type of housing including public tours. · Education. · Continuing the resource inventory book. · They would like to be more involved in decisions with the Planning Commission and City Council (downtown and design aspects of the V'dlage for example). Mayor Wolfe talked about the Village guideline book and the picture book of heritage treasures. Discussion followed regarding the difficulty of preserving residences and retaining tl ~ quality of the V'tllage Parks and Reereatlon Commission - Kay Whitney~ Chair City Council .Minutes 3 October 27, 1998 Ms. Whitney described the Park Development Fund Projects: · Playfield development and joint use agreements · Trail improvements - grant program and trail map Councilmember Moran announced that the Blue Hills Elementary School meeting scheduled for November 12 had been changed to November 19. 5. Quarterly Program and Major Project Review City Manager Pertin referred to the report, stating it was much lengthlet than usual because it was compiled from separate reports submitted by department heads and smtf Councilmember Jacobs asked when the Saratoga Avenue Underground Utility District project (Item 5.D.3) would be started, City Manager Perlin said the public heaxing would be continued on November 18. He said it would take PG&E 10-12 months to design the project after the district is formed. Discussion followed about the traffic backups on Saratoga Avenue during recent construction and how to deal with those backups in the future. Acting Public Works Director Cheeoone said they might have to restrict hours of construction. A. City Manager's Office: 3) ALTRANS Project Update Steve Blalock, representing ALTRANS, said the City Manager has the final report on the work they did this year. He highlighted two projects: t. Car pool program. 2. Shuttle and busing program. Dr. Bernard talked about the response to the program. 1) Recruitment and Reorganization Issues City Manager Pertin reviewed the report, noting that recruitment for the City Clerk is halfway complete at this time. 2) City Council Policy Manual - on hold for new City Clerk B. Community Development Department: 1) Circulation Element Update Community Development Director Walgren said this will be postponed until early in 1999 so they can complete the General Plan executive summary. He said it would probably be a 5-6 month project. 2) General Plan Executive summary 3) Adult Business Ordinance 4) DowntoWn devdopment roundtable 5) Major development projects update C. Administrative Services Department: 1) FY 97-98 Year-end Audit Update 2) MIS Update Mary Jo Walker reported that Brad Brown, a consultant retained by HTE, had met with staff regarding implementation. He will be producing a report for Council. She thought implementation could be completed within three or four months. She also talked about the Y2K issues and said recommendations will be spelled out in the report. Councilmember Moran requested that there be an executive summary of the report and said she would like to know how it has improved productivity and service delivery. 3) 5-Year Financial Plin ~ 4) Hillside Infrastructure Reserve Requirement 5) New Volunteer Efforts CRy Council Minutes 4 October 27, 1998 Councilmember Moran referred to Item 5.B.4), Downtown development roundtable, and asked if staff wanted direction on this issue. Community Development Director Walgren said they did want to know if this is how Council wanted them to pursue the program. Discussion followed regarding identification of stakeholders, setting ground rules, and what they want to talk about at the roundtable. Community Development Director Walgren suggested that they might want to get through the circulation element and general plan prior to the roundtable. He added that there has been extensive involvement by merchants in the current Saratoga V'~lage Plan and Saratoga V'tllage Design Guidelines which are relatively up to date. Councilmember Shaw agreed and said that without spending a lot of time and effort they could frame the concept and put it out to the business community and try for feedback while they work on other projects. D. Public Works Department: 1) Capital Projects Update a. Quarry Creek Weftands Mitigation (Project 9109) b. Quito Road Bridge Replacements (Project 9111) c. ADA Improvements (Project 9302) d. Quito Rd. Sidewalk (Project 9501) 2) Park Development Projects Update (Projeff 9704) a. Playfields Development b. Wildwood Park Restrooms c. Kevin Moran/Gardiner Park improvements d. Community Center Renovations e. Trail Improvements f. Heritage Orchard Water Well 3) Saratoga Ave. Underground Utility District · 4) HakoneCaretakersHonseRenovation 5) Sr. Center Improvements 6) Civic Theatre Renovations 7) Prides Crossing Teattic Study 8) Infrastructure Report - CIP Devdopment 9) Pavement Management Program Work 10) Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd. OSTEA Project & Relinquishmerit efforts) ll)FEMA Disaster 1203 Damages (Quarry C~ek Repairs, including issues raised by Councilmember Bogosian) Council and staff discussed FEMA' s policy~ on landslide repair, acceptance of public streets and engineering criteria in teems of building on the hillsides. City Manager Perlin noted that the cost of maintaining infi-astructure in the hillside areas is far greater than in the flat pan of the town. He said the sanitation district charges hillside property owners for the added cost of maintaining the sewer system in the hillsides. In addition there is a mechanism for potentially creating a maintenance district or special benefil district in the areas where it is known that the cost of maintaining the infrastructure is higher than the norm. Acting Public Works Director Cherbone highlighted the Quarry Creek Water Shed Erosion repair and described the two main componems of the work. City Manager Perlin said it appeared that the City has a system that is maintainable. E. Recreation Department: 1) Warner Hutton House attic conversion Recreation Director Pisani said that after 10 months the pl',ms for the Wamer Hutton House are completed. They will accept informal bids and will aggressively pursue grants. City Council Minutes 5 October 27, 1998 2) Civic Theatre lighting system renovation Recreation Director Pisani reported that work will start a/~er the Thanksgiving vacation and be completed within 4-5 weeks. 6. Process for handling written communications City Manager Pedin passed out the report. He said L'mda Burke prepared the outline which described the process for reviewing logging and placing items on the agenda (next one usually) if action is required. He said the goal is to respond within 10 days to those that do not require council action. He described how a specific letter would be handled. Counc'dmember Shaw suggested that the City Manager review responses on sensitive issues prepared by staff members before they go out. Counc'dmember Moran suggested that they review the process in six months and see how it is working. 7. Self-Evaluation of Previous Meeting - October 21 8. Agency Assignment Reports Solid Waste JPA - Councilmember Moran reported that there will be a pilot project concerning abandoning of septic systems in Saratoga. Others who are interested are welcome to join in. Ulbrary Joint Powers Agenda - Councilmember Bogosian said they had received a check for $200,000 from Infoseek. N. Cent. Hood Cont. Zone Adv. Bd.- Coun(dmember Bogosian reported on the public meeting in Sunnyvale, noting that the district will be asking the voters for money to fund flood control programs. He said he thought Saratoga residents want to protect life and property and the stream environment as well. He said there would be an informal meeting about Calabazas Creek. 9. Citizens Recognition - None. 10. Other - None. 11. Adjournment At 9:45 p.m. Mayor Wolfe adjourned the meeting in memory of Deborah Larson, Interim Assistant City Respectfully submitted? Rc~e~Wo~e~~ IVinutesClerk