HomeMy WebLinkAbout101-Staff Report.pdf
SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL
MEETING DATE: April 1, 2009 AGENDA ITEM:
DEPARTMENT: City Manager’s Office CITY MANAGER: Dave Anderson
PREPARED BY: Crystal Morrow DIRECTOR: Barbara Powell
Administrative Analyst II Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Community Garage Sale
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Accept report and provide staff with direction on the budget for the community garage sale this
year and in future years.
BACKGROUND:
In May 2008, the Council directed staff to host a community garage sale in conjunction with the
2009 annual West Valley Collection and Recycling cleanup, which takes place from July 13,
2009 to September 18, 2009. The Council hoped the citywide garage sale would serve as an
opportunity to build community and increase the amount of waste Saratoga diverts from
landfills. The garage sale is currently schedule for July 25, 2009.
Initially, staff was asked to coordinate the garage sale in partnership with the Town of Los
Gatos. However, Los Gatos indicated that it would not be able to collaborate with Saratoga. Los
Gatos staff wanted to be sensitive to the many participants from the Los Gatos/ Monte Sereno
garage sale who feel the event is already too large. Additionally, Los Gatos staff is anticipating a
significant reduction to the program’s budget. Other neighboring cities that hold city-coordinated
garage sales were also unwilling to include Saratoga in their citywide garage sales. In our
discussions, staff found that many jurisdictions are either eliminating or reducing the scale of
their community garage sales, because these events are both costly and staff intensive.
Staff researched the cost of independently coordinating a citywide garage sale and found that an
event of this type will cost approximately $5,000. This covers all of the necessary advertising
expenses, including:
- Advertisements in the Saratoga News to encourage residents to register for the garage
sale
- Advertisements in all of the Silicon Valley Community Newspapers aimed at attracting
members of the public to Saratoga garage sales on the day of the event
- Classifieds in the San Jose Mercury News
- Printing flyers, posters, and registration forms
This estimate does not include other expenses, such as staff time spent:
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- Managing registration
- Developing and distributing flyers/advertisements
- Compiling garage sale locations
- Managing traffic issues on the day of the event
- Updating the City website with event information
REQUESTED DIRECTION:
Before moving forward with the community garage sale, staff is seeking Council direction on the
following:
1. Council approval to use Community Event Funds, or another source in the City’s budget,
to cover the expenses of the 2009 community garage sale.
2. Council direction on how to fund the garage sale in future years
FISCAL IMPACTS:
The out-of-pocket expense of the community garage sale is expected to be $5,000.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Rather than holding a citywide garage sale, the Council could select another less-costly option to
help divert waste from landfills. One alternative is to partner with a local organization(s) to
coordinate donation collections from residences or at a central location in the City.
FOLLOW UP ACTION(S):
Implement Council direction.
ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT:
Nothing additional.
ATTACHMENTS:
Nothing additional.