09/17/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Dru Anderson, Los Altos Hills, said for the last 26 years, she has volunteered for the Town for emergency services. Her neighborhood ran a drill this last Sunday on evacuation which worked quite well. We all work together as best we can to keep our community fire safe. She expressed appreciation of Supervisor Simitian's assistance with this matter. Eleanor Wong, Los Altos Hills, asked if other fire districts are being considered for consolidation. Supervisor Simitian replied the recommendation in the LAHCFD audit was to suspend the delegation of authority due to capital projects that were undertaken. Since that issue was no longer pending and since the district had agreed to all six of the substantive recommendations in the audit, the seventh recommendation suspending authority should be voted against. Eduardo Arias, Los Altos Hills, would like to have the fire district work with the Town as well as we work with them. Putting together a CERT meeting that helps the community in terms of fire prevention. He thanked Supervisor Simitian and wants to work with everyone. Aanand Raganathan, Los Altos Hills, asked, "what is our backup plan in case all of this goes the wrong way? What is plan B?" Maria Caffey, Los Altos Hills, said that Los Altos Hills is unique in that the Town is divided by 280, and Caltrans have only cut the weeds once in 40 years; they are notoriously unsupported and have created a real fire hazard many times. This unique situation needs to be addressed. City Attorney Steve Mattas stated there are other options available to the Town if the consolidation option proceeds. LAFCO must approve the consolidation and there are options that could be considered regarding subsidiary district and service areas could be considered. Alternatives and legal options could be considered. They are not all completely within control of the Town. Council discussion ensued. Vice Mayor Tankha suggested that a Councilmember be designated to speak at the Board of Supervisors meeting on behalf of the Council. She asked that funds be allocated to send a postcard to unincorporated area residents. Mayor Wu attended the HLUET meeting and was very impressed by Supervisor Simitian and thanked him for his logical, reasonable deliberation. MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Councilmember Corrigan moved to appoint Councilmember Tyson as the Council's spokesperson for all matters related to this topic and prepare a strongly worded letter on behalf of the City Council expressing concerns about the consolidation. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Tankha. 3 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes September 17, 2020