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Home My WebLink About08-04-1999 Agenda Item 6ASARATOGA CITY COUNCIL ~) i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NO. ~ (tS S AGENDA ITEM MEETING DATE August 4. 1999 CITY MANAGE] ORIGINATING DEPT. Ci Manager PREPARED BY: Cit Clerk SUBJECT: Fourth Amendment to Weed Abatement Agreement RECOMMENDED MOTION(S): Approve fourth amendment to agreement. REPORT SUMMARY: The attached letter from the County Fire Marshal's office explains their need to adjust weed abatement program fees. Staff believes that this request is reasonable and will enable us to continue a valuable program. Marty Hicks of the Count Fire Marshal's office will be attending the meeting for anv questions. FISCAL IMPACTS: None to the City. ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT: None required. CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ACTING ON RECOMMENDED MOTION(S): Amended agreement will not be approved to continue the implementation of future weed abatement program by the County. FOLLOW UP ACTIONS: Upon Council approval, forward three signed copies of the amendment to the agreement to the County Fire Marshal's office. ATTACHMENTS: Letter from Sr. Deputy Fire Marshal Saunders. Attachment A Proposed Amendment FOURTH AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SANTA CLARA COUNTY AND THE CITY OF SARATOGA FOR ABATEMENT OF WEEDS The Agreement for the Abatement of Weeds (Agreement) between the County of Santa Clara (County) and the City of Saratoga (City) previously entered into on November 2, 1981, as amended on May 9, 1981, February 15, 1983, January 14, 1996 and August 18, 1998 is hereby amended to increase the charge for the County's program costs to administer the Hazardous Vegetation Management Program. IT IS AGREED between the parties as follows: 1. Statement of Costs Section 6. of the Agreement shall be amended to read as follows: County shall render to City an itemized statement or report of the cost of the weed abatement services performed for the respective parcels of land in the City on or before the 10th day of August of each year, which shall include the County's administrative costs of 140 % of the cost of the weed abatement contractor for the respective parcels for which services were performed. The statement shall include the description of the lots and parcels of land for which services were performed, and verification by signature of the County official administering the Hazardous Vegetation Management Program. 2. Duration of Agreement Section 13. of the Agreement shall be amended to read as follows: The Agreement became effective on the date of execution and shall run until the governing body of the City or the County shall exercise the right to terminate this Agreement as of the 1st day of September of any year, by giving notice to the other party not less than 10 days prior to the date of termination. The increased charge for the County's administration costs shall be effective commencing with the Fiscal Year 2000 weed abatement season. Except as modified herein, all other terms and conditions of the Agreement remain the same. SANTA CLARA COUNTY CITY OF SARATOGA Paul D. Romero, Director Environmental Resources Agency August 17, 1999 Date Approved as to form and legality: James E. Lewis, Deputy County Counsel Attachment B Saratoga Jurisdictional Summary 96/97 Season 97/98 Season Parcels Inspected 272 294 Parcels Abated 57 39 Avg. Cost/Parcel includin Pro ram fee $254 $182 Note: The 98/99 season data is not yet completed. The proposed County administrative cost increase to 140% of the cost of the weed abatement contractor equates to an effective 4.35% increase in the average cost per parcel. Using the 97198 season's average cost per parcel, the 4.35% increase would equate to an increase per parcel of $7.92 in the 98/99 season. Attachment C County-wide Summary Beginning Balance Revenues Expenditures: Staffing General Interest Subtotal Program Administration Contract Abatement FY 97 FY 98 FY 99 Actuals Actuals Estimated ($53,449) ($57,866) ($53,840} 497,162 379,315 428,983 180,607 138,356 * 129,864 48,237 23,350 28,473 20,412 22,902 20,000 249, 256 184, 608 178, 337 252, 323 190, 681 206, 362 501,579 375,289 384,699 Surplus (Deficit) (4,417) 4,026 44,284 Ending Balance (57,866) (53,840) (9,556) Both FY98 and FY99 staffing costs are artificially low due to salary savings from vacancies due to turnovers and medical leave. County of Santa Clara Environmental Resources Agency Fire Marshal's Office -Santa Clara County Fire Department County Government Center, East Wing 70 West Hedding Street, 7th Floor San Jose, California 95 1 1 0-1 705 (4081 299-3805 FAX 279-8537 July 20, 1999 Mr. Larry Perlin City Manager City Manager's Office City of Saratoga 13777 Fruitvale Ave. Saratoga, CA 95070 Re: Proposed Amendment to Adjust Hazardous Vegetation Management Program Fees Dear Mr. Perlin, For the past twenty years Santa Clara County has provided hazardous vegetation management services to local jurisdictions in order to address the issue of public fire safety in a cost effective manner. Since then, we have been fortunate to create partnerships with twelve jurisdictions to provide timely weed and brush abatement services and thereby reduce fire danger. The economy of scale employed by this Program and our efforts to keep administrative costs to a minimum have allowed us to continue to provide these services to your residents at minimal cost. We are committed to minimizing costs, but at the same time we must ensure cost recovery of the Hazardous Vegetation Management Program as directed by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Beginning with the start of the 1999/2000 weed abatement season in September 1999 we propose to raise our Hazardous Vegetation Management Program fees from 130% to 140% of the weed abatement contract costs. The proposed County administrative cost increase will equate to an average increase of only 4.35% or $7.92 per parcel in your jurisdiction. This increase will cover the rising costs of Program administration anticipated for FY00 due to the negotiated labor union contract costs recently approved by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors which includes salary and benefit increases. A proposed amendment to our agreement for weed abatement services is provided in Attachment A. The property owner would only incur costs if they choose not to maintain their property according to the minimum fire safety standards and the County provides weed abatement services. In keeping with the procedures of the current Program, if a property owner provides their own abatement, they are not assessed a fee for our inspection services. For your reference we have provided Attachment B that summarizes the number of parcels inspected, number of parcels abated and the average cost per parcel including Program fees for weed abatement services in your jurisdiction for the 96/97 and 97/98 seasons. Attachment C provides an accounting of the Hazardous Vegetation Management Program on a county-wide Board of Supervisors: Donald F. Gage, Blanca ,~Ivarado, Pete McHugh. James T. Beall Jr.. S. Joseph Simitian County EXCCUtive: Richard Wittenberg moo„ ,~ basis for the same period of time. Even with the proposed fee adjustment, we believe the benefits realized by the economy of scale still allow our services to be competitive. Please let us know if we can provide any assistance as you carry the amendment forward to your City Councils for approval. Considering our desire to provide uninterrupted service, we suggest the approval process by your Council and our Board of Supervisors be completed this summer. Please return a signed amendment to my attention by September 1, 1999. If you do not wish to continue contracting with the County for weed abatement services, we would appreciate being notified of your decision by August 4, 1999 so that we may inform our Board of Supervisors and make any necessary adjustments to the Hazardous Vegetation Management Program. We anticipate our Board will take action on the amendments August 17, 1999. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at (408) 299-3805 ext. 207. We thank you for your support will look forward to working with you. Sincerely,~~-` } `'" ".. ,~idy Saunders, Sr. Deputy Fire Marshal Attachments Attachment A: Proposed Amendment Attachment B: Jurisdictional Summary Attachment C: County-wide Summary cc: Richard Wittenberg, County Executive Paul D. Romero, Director Peter Ng, Financial and Administrative Services Manager Lauren Harvey, Sr. Management Analyst