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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-08-1999 City Council Minutes MINUTES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, June 8, 1999 - 5:00 p.m.- PLACE: Closed Session, Administration Conference Room, 13777 Fruitvale Avenue Adjourned Regular Meeting, Civic Theater/Council Chambers, 13777 Fruitvale Avenue TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting/Joint Meetings OPEN SESSION - 5:00 p.m. - Administration Conference Room 1. YOUTH COMMISSION INTERVIEWS · 5:00 p.m. - Sheeva Ghassemi, Candice Goodman, Sam Kendall · 5:10 p.m. - Stephanie Goodman, James Atkins, Heide Cmikshark, Kristy Kirwan · 5:25 p.m. - Cristina Behrens, Lee Blair, Jennifer Chapski · 5:35 p.m. - Jennie Levin, Abhik Pramanik, Mieka Sywak · 5:45 p.m. - Anna Rotsko, Elliot Onn, Ramy E1-Diwany · 5:55 p.m. - Amyllia Goddard, Jackie Luskey, Elliott Shuffle, Interviews were conducted and selections were made to appoint Sheeva Ghassemi (reappointment), James Atkins, Kristy Kirwan, Lee Blair, Jennie Levin, Abhik Pramanik, Mieka Sywak, Elliot Onn, Jackie Luskey to the Youth Commission. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION 2. CLOSED SESSION, Administration Conference Room A. Conference with Legal Counsel-Anticipated Litigation Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Government Code Section 54956.9: (Two cases) B. Conference with Legal Counsel - Existing Litigation Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9 - Name of Cases: City of Saratoga vs. West Valley-Mission Community College District; City of Saratoga vs. County of Santa Clara (Arbitration) MAYOR'S REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION: Mayor Shaw declared there were no reportable actions taken. CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Shaw called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers/Civic Theater at 13777 Fruitvale Avenue. ROLL CALL - All Councilmembers were present. 3. RESOLUTION OF APPOINTMENT AND OATH TAKING FOR NEWLY APPOINTED LIBRARY COMMISSIONER BOGOSIAN/STREIT APPROVED TO ADOPT THE RESOLUTION APPOINTING ANNE CROSS TO THE LIBRARY COMMISSION. Mayor Shaw administered the oath of office to Ms. Cross. REPORT OF CITY CLERK ON POSTING OF AGENDA - City Clerk Ramos reported that pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on Jtme 4, 1999. The Notice of Adjournment from the June 2 meeting was posted on June 3, 1999. Page 1 of 8 Minutes for City Council June 8, 1999 Adjourned Regular Meeting/ Joint meetings with Library Commission and Park and Recreation Commission 4. JOINT MEETING WITH LIBRARY COMMISSION ROLL CALL: All members were present. A. Status of Library expansion efforts B. Upcoming 21*t Anniversary Celebration Marcia Manzo, Chairperson, provided an overview of the Commission's activities and programs and deferred additional comments to Sally Towse, Commissioner, who reported on the Library expansion efforts and invited the Council and the public to attend the library's upcoming anniversar~ celebration. There was a consensus of the Council to recommend moving forward with the library expansion efforts. City Manager Perlin commented staff will update the Council on their progress. A. Other None Mayor Shaw requested to proceed with the other agenda items at this time and come back for the joint meeting with Parks and Recreation Commission and Oral Communications afterward. 7. MONTHLY REPORT ON Y2K COMPLIANCE EFFORTS Recommendation: Receive report. . City Manager Perlin presented the staff report. Discussion ensued. Councilmember Baker requested to include in the next report information regarding replacement items. 8. COUNCIL LIAISON FOR THE SARATOGA HIGH SCHOOL RENOVATION PROJECT. Recommendation: Council to consider selecting one of its own to serve as liaison for the Saratoga High School renovation project. BOGOSIAN/MEHAFFEY MOVED TO SELECT COUNCILMEMBER STREIT TO BE THE LIAISON FOR THE SARATOGA HIGH SCHOOL RENOVATION PROEJCT. MOTION PASSED 5-0. 9. SELF-EVALUATION OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: May 19 and June 2, 1999 No comments. 10. AGENCY ASSIGNMENT REPORTS Alternate Association of Bay Area Governments Mehaffey Chamber of Commerce Board Shaw County HCD Policy Committee Mehaffey Emergency Planning Council Baker Mehaffey Hakone Foundation Liaison Shaw KSAR Community Access TV Board Mehaffey Baker Library Joint Powers Authority Board Bogosian Streit North Cent. Flood Cont. Zone Adv. Committee Bogosian Mehaffey Penin. Div., League of Cat. Cities Bogosian Shaw Santa Clara Valley Water Commission Baker Bogosian Santa Clara County Cities Assn./ City Selection Committee Baker County Cities Assn. Leg. Task Force Bogosian Baker SASCC Liaison Streit Mehaffey Page 2 of 8 Minutes for City Council June 8, 1999 Adjourned Regular Meeting/ Joint m~etings with Library Commission and Park and Recreation Commission Saratoga Business Development Council Mehaffey ~ ' ' ' Streit Sister City Liaison Shaw West Valley Solid Waste JPA Streit Bogosian Valley Transportation Authority PAC Streit Shaw West Valley Sanitation District Baker Streit Councilmember Mehaffey reported on discussions at the SBDC meeting on various matters including the Performing Arts Theater, Saratoga2Smmyvale Road, neon signs at the Village. Councilmember Baker reported on discussions at the Santa Clara County Cities Assn. meeting regarding the Countywide anti-graffiti program. Vice Mayor Bogosian reported on discussions at the Noah Central Flood Control Zone Advisory committee meeting regarding flood management practices and Y2K efforts. Councilmember Streit reported on discussions at the West Valley Solid Waste JPA meeting regarding the recent acquisition of Green Valley Disposal from Waste Management USA. Mayor Shaw reported on the following: Chamber of Commerce is having a dinner awards night on June 17 to recognize Mary Jeanne Fenn as the Chamber's Citizen of the Year; Sister City Commission is moving forward with plans for the upcoming Sister City festivities in the fall; Hakone Foundation is continuing discussions regarding the Caretaker' s cottage. 11. OTHER City Manager Perlin reminded the Council of the special meet'mg under Closed Session to discuss City Attorney contract services on June 18, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. in the Administration Conference Room at 13777 Fruitvale Avenue. At this time, Mayor Shaw convened the parks and Recreation Commission meeting. 5. JOINT MEETING IWITH PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION ROLL CALL: All Commissioners were present with the exception of Commissioners Swann and Friedrich. A. Report on status of Park Development Fund Mary Jo Walker, Director of Administrative Services, provided background going back ten years and used visual aids for her presentation. Highlights of her report included: · Fund balance · Revenues · Quimby Act requirements - no funds are at risk at this time. Councilmember Streit recused himself due to a conflict of interest. B. Playfields Project Discussion: 1. Project background and current status City Manager Perlin provided a chronological series of events from 1990 to the present time regarding the playfields project and provided copies of the report to City Council. Vice Mayor Bogosian commented that in November 1990 at the General Plan Open Space Element Task Force, of which he was a member, school sites were included in the inventory for open space designation. In his recollection, there were no recommendations made for their intended use except for open space. He requested staff to go back and review the records for clarification and report back to Council. City Manager Perlin commented it is his understanding that there is specific language in the Open Space Element of the General Plan regarding the City coordinating efforts with School Districts to make maximum use of school sites in order to achieve additional playfields, athletic fields and Page 3 of 8 Minutes for City Council June 8, 1999 Adjourned Regular Muting/ Joint meetings with Library Commission and Park and Recreation Commission opportunities for those sorts of facilities. He said he would look into it afTd r~brt b~ck to Council. Chairperson Olsen commented that in April 1998 the Commission supported staffs recommendation to increase the park use fee to $12.00 per participant in place of the current flat rate of $1500/season for the use of Congress Springs. She felt this was important to mention because it was critical to the fact that the make up of the task force included the user groups, their concem over the use of the fields and supporting the participant fee increase without increasing any of their fees. 2. Expenditures to date The main expense has been with the Beats Consultant Group, other expenses included aerial photos, public notices and mailings, blueprints and copying. Total expenditures to date are $66,761.14. 3. Commission's views about and recommendations for the project Chairperson Olsen reported the Commission held their regular meeting last night and there was consensus that because of the recent discussions about the playfields, the Commission does not know how to pmceed with this matter, with the exception that they feel strongly about setting aside $1 million for the renovation of playfields. No playfields have been designated by name or location, however the Commission feels there is a safety issue with the current playfields, particularly Congress Springs. There are other issues such as trails and park equipment that are currently on the Commission's agenda for discussion. 4. Council comments In response to Mayor Shaw, Chairperson Olsen replied the Commission does not have an alternative plan at this time. In response to Councilmember Mehaffey, Chairperson 01sen replied that the needs assessed for Blue Hills for soccer fields came about from comments from the user groups. In response to Councilmember Baker, Chairperson Olsen replied that to her recollection, during the entire process of meetings, deliberation and discussions, there was one citizen who expressed concems of traffic and narrow streets to the Blue Hills proposal. At that time, the Commission felt that given fn'ne to understand what the Commission was trying to accomplish and what was ultimately going to occur on that site, that there would be some understanding that there would be no opposition after everything was out on the table and the public could look at it and make some changes and see how things could .happen. The Commission felt there was going to be some corntnunity input at the conuntmity meetings after they've had a chance to look at the proposal. Discussion ensued. Vice Mayor Bogosian clarified his understanding that based on the Commission's last meeting, the Commission is not recommending any intensification of use in Blue Hills or Marshall Lane but would like to set aside one million dollars to be used to address safety issues in Congress Springs Park. Chairperson Olsen confirmed Vice Mayor Bogosian's comment. Commissioner Clabeaux added that that on a personal note, if the City is going to spend money from the Park Development fund, the City would have to make sure that the money is spent on a site where there is adequate maintenance provided in order to continue making it a safe site. Commissioner Ioannou commented that one of the reasons why the Commission didn't push to spend the money and complete this process was because without a plan for increasing the number of fields at potential sites, the Commission would be doing a disservice to the future. Councilmember Mehaffey commended the Commission for all of their efforts and recommended putting the plans for renovating school fields on hold while looking for other alternatives. Page 4 of 8 Minutes for City Council June 8, 1999 Adjourned Regular Meeting/ Joint meetings with Library Commission and Park and Recreation Commission Mayor Shaw commented that based on what has happened with the process 6fthe playfields matter, it is important to notify the property owners ahead of time on future potential silos. BAKER/BOGOSIAN MOVED TO DIRECT THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION TO REMOVE FROM THEIR TOP PRIORITY THE FOCUS ON THE CONVERSION AND LIPGRADE IMPROVEMENT ON THREE SCHOOL SITES NAMELY MARSHALL LANE, BLUE HILLS AND FOOTHILL SCHOOLS, THAT ARE UNDER CONSIDERATION, AND REFOCUS THEIR PLAN TOWARD POTENTIAL FUTURE UPGRADE IMPROVEMENT FOR PARKS. MOTION PASSED 4-0-1 (Councilmember Streit abstained due to conflict of interest). Councilmember Streit returned to the dais at 8:55 p.m. C. Discussion ,of Civic Center Hub concept City Manager Perlin provided a background report on the Civic Center Hub concept and posted an illustration of the Civic Center property. Mayor Shaw called a recess at 9:00 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 9:10 p.m. Councilmember Streit read his article in the Saratoga News regarding the hub concept. Mayor Shaw recognized Rosemarie Woodward, who submitted a request to speak. Ms. Woodward did not respond and believed to have left the meeting. He announced that the requests to speak regarding the hub concept will be handled under this item. The requests to speak regarding the playfields will be handled under Oral Communications. Mayor Shaw asked for Council comments. Councilmember Mehaffey supported the hub concept to include not only playfields but other amehities such as a skateboard park, etc.. He would like to recommend looking at other sites, review the opportunity cost at the Heritage Orchard and address the issue of maintenance. Councilmember Baker expressed support of a hub if that is what the citizens of this community want. He would encourage the citizens to get involved in helping the City determine what this hub should look like. Vice Mayor Bogosian commented that the focus should be on developing a process to understand the consensus of the community. Perhaps developing an inventory list of all sites and begin a process of elimination. Mayor Shaw concurred with Vice Mayor Bogosian and stressed the importance of notifying the affected property owners. There being no more comments fi'om the Council, Mayor Shaw recognized the following: Don Wolfe, 14656 C Bi~ Basin Way. commented that he spoke to the President of West Valley College and suggested to open a dialogue between the City and the Board of Trustees, in conjunction with the ongoing review of the West Valley College master plan, to consider utilization of part of the 143 acres of WVC property, for community use. PegS/Corr, 19224 DeHavilland Drive. commented that before the public can provide comments on the hub concept, it would help to provide a clearer definition or description of the hub. Norbert Fronczak. 12255 Goleta Avenue. expressed support of the hub concept. Katie Alexander, 12340 Goleta Avenue, on behalf of the Azule Park Neighborhood Assn., endorses the hub concept and asked the Council to involve Citywide participation in its definition and further investigation perhaps through a task force or a committee. She further commented that the Heritage Orchard Park is the largest and most expensive to maintain in the City and felt it should be improved to make it more usable. Page 5 of 8 Minutes for City Council June 8, 1999 Adjourned Regular Meeting/ Joint meetings with Library Commission and Park and Recreation Commission City Manager Perlin asked to correct the statement that the Heritage :Orchard Pirk is the most expensive park to maintain in the City. On the contrary, the Heritage Orchard Park is about 1/3 to ¼ of the cost per acre (about $2,000'- $2,500/acre/year) to maintain than the developed park sites in the City. A1 Roten, 19812 Veronica Drive, commented to move forward with the hub concept to further evaluate what needs to be done to accomplish it. Peter Boulton, 12335 DeSanka Avenue, expressed support of the hub concept, however he is concerned about the process and suggested that there are ways to engage the public in this process i.e., web, email, create a contest for best ideas of a city hub, newspaper, etc. John Bellicitti, 18500 Marshall Lane, expressed support of the hub concept. Lisa Kurasch, 18665 Ravenwood Drive, supported the idea of inventorying sites versus locking into one site. The idea of a "hub" is like that of a city complex, and the anchor is already in place, somehow we would have to think about eontintting it into the heritage park and the library. She would encourage further discussion about the process and ideas for funding. Darwin Barrett, 14050 MarilVn Lane, expressed support of the hub concept. Geraldine Barrett. 14050 MarilVn Lane, expressed support of the hub concept. John Mallory. 12258 Kirkdale Drive, expressed support of the hub concept or other variations thereof and is willing to pay more taxes to support the hub if it will make Saratoga a better city. In this city, the citizens have deliberately decided to not have an economic base in order to have this type of community, therefore, any funding for improvement would have to come from the citizens. Eddie Sweeney, 20018 Knollwood Drive, expressed support of the hub concept and believes it will bring a better sense of community in this city. He also supported improving the park with walkways, playfields and restroom to maximize its use. The Parks and Recreation Commission can be'helpful in identifying an inventory of sites, the City can utilize the services of KSAR, the newspaper, and the online webpage to disseminate options and other information on the process in which citizens can respond to. Steve KurasCh, 18665 Ravenwood Drive, endorsed the hub concept, but, if at all possible, he would like to keep the Heritage Orchard an open space. He commented about renting playfields at West Valley College to help alleviate intensification of use at other playfields and utilizing email or neighborhood groups to help disseminate and collect information. Jim Stallman, 19740 Braemar Drive, expressed concern over using the Heritage Orchard Park for a hub or playfields and felt the City should preserve the last orchard in Saratoga. Mark Linskv. 1422~0 Barksdale Court, expressed support of the central hub, however, he is concerned that there is no process. The City Council needs to establish criteria for a process and move forward in the interest oftfine. The idea to use the playfields at the WVC may be a good one if the College will allow kids to play in their playfields since this was an ongoing problem for AYSO in the past. Thomas Soukun. 12340 Goleta Avenue, expressed support for a city hub and 'concurred with Mr. Linsky not to drag this process for many years but to have a plan the City could move forward with. He asked the Council that during the course of developing parks, to consider developing Azule Park to a neighborhood park. Jenny Crotty, 13861 Raven Court, commented she is happy about the positive response to the hub idea which was initially conceptualized and endorsed by the task force in 1996, of which she was chair. She clarified that at the 1996 task force workshop, the hub idea was voted number one on the priority list followed by playfields at existing school sites. The latter was in addition to the hub not in place of the hub. She felt that this is a very important point and urged the City never to consider dropping an idea permanently because one never knows what the future holds for this community. Lastly, she asked that the City keep in the mind that it is through the graciousness of our surrounding cities that Saratoga children are able to play at their parks, so whatever we proceed Page 6 of S Minutes for City Council June 8, 1999 Adjourned Regular Meeting/ · Joint meetings with Library Commission and Park and Recreation Commission with it is important that we reciprocate the same way. ~ ' ' ' Sofia Poullada. 18240 Purdue Drive. expressed support of the hub concept. She asked the Council to take great consideration before making any changes to the Heritage Orchard Park because of its heritage and uniqueness which becomes more evident after each year. Following public testimony, Commissioner Ioannou clarified that the million dollars earmarked for playfields should be spent for playfields only. Chairperson Olsen commented that the Commission is interested in working with the Council to come up with a plan and reiterated that the comments by Commissioner Ioannou reflect the consensus of the Commission. Mayor Shaw asked the pleasure of the Council. Councilmember Mehaffey commented that several good ideas and comments were expressed tonight and stressed the importance of establishing timelines and targeting a completion date. He would like to see part of the Park Development Fund used to develop neighborhood parks and move forward with spending one million dollars for Congress Springs Park as long as there is an adequate plan to maintain its use. He supports Mr. Wolfe's plan to begin a dialogue with West Valley College for use of their playfields. Lastly, he has some concerns about changing the Heritage Orchard Park from its current status. Vice Mayor Bogosian followed up on the issue about process by asking staff to prepare a matrix inclusive of an expansive inventory of potential sites for playfields and a central hub and come back for another joint meeting in a few weeks to further discuss costs and other altematives mentioned this evening. Mayor Shaw added to ask staff to think about potential ideas of how to get into the hub concept. Councilmember Streit concurred with Councilmember comments to begin the process moving and to set timelines so as not to drag the process. He encouraged other citizens to participate with their ideas and comments. Discussion ensued regarding inventorying of potential sites. Vice Mayor Bogosian recommended that staff be overly generous in selecting these sites in the beginning, so that the City could begin the discussion process with an expansive list and work towards narrowing it down as criteria is established and decisions are made. Following discussion, the City Council concurred to schedule a joint meeting with the Parks and Recreation Commission on July 13, 1999. City Manager Perlib asked anybody who has ideas i3f properties for the inventory list to forward the information to him. 6. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDIZED ITEMS - Any member of the public will be allowed to address the City Council for up to three (3) minutes on matters not on this agenda. The law generally prohibits the Council from discussing or taking action on any such matters. However, the Council may instruct staff accord'mgly regarding Oral Communications. Mayor Shaw recognized the following: Euna Fought, 18591 Marshall Lane, expressed support of the hub. Eddie Sweene¥,20018 Knollwood Drive - spoke earlier under the hub item. Drew Westcolt, 18640 Ravenwood, - Did not respond. Ron Sartori, 20074 Knollwood Drive, commented that the Azule park is an illogical place for play fields regardless of any demographic shift in the community. He thanked the Council and the Page 7 of 8 Minutes for City Council June 8, 1999 Adjourned Regular Meeting/ Joint meetings with Library Commission and Park and Recreation Commission Commission for listening to the community and thanked CouncilmembEr Mehaff6y for addressing the prospect of a neighborhood park in Azule. 12. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Shaw adjourned the meeting at 10:38 p.m. Respectfully submitted, City Clerk Page 8 of 8