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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/25/2003 Meeting Minutes February 25, 2003 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Special Meeting Tuesday, February 25, 2003 7:15 P.M. Bullis —Purissima School, 25890 Fremont Road, Multi-Purpose Room 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilmember Kerr called the Special Meeting of the City Council to order at 7:20 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room at Bullis School. Present: Councilmembers Kerr, O'Malley and Warshawsky, Planning Commissioner Kerns, Committee Members Downey, Mordo, Oldberg, Radford and Whaley Absent: Planning Commissioner Cottrell Staff: City Manager Maureen Cassingham and City Clerk Karen Jost Press: Los Altos Town Crier Representative • 2. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES —February 412003 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved . by Warshawsky, seconded by Downey and passed unanimously to approve the Minutes of the February 4, 2003 City Council Special Meeting. 3. NEW BUSINESS 3.1 Introduction of Architects and Presentations of Design Renderings Councilmember Kerr distributed design renderings and narrative copies to all Committee members. He announced that CD-Rom (electronic) copies would be available at Town Hall for those interested. Councilmember Kerr thanked the architects and public for attending this evening's meeting. He explained that the four participating architects had been asked to design a Town Hall in one of four design styles: Craftsman—Peter Duxbury, Rural—Barry Nathan, Mission—John Goldman, and Sustainable—David Arkin and Anni Tilt. Each received the same criteria for their design style of Town Hall. The building should be approximately 8,000 square feet, construction cost should be $300 per square foot, the building should meet the Town's code requirements for single family residences and incorporate the building program developed in 2002 by Goldman Architects. • 1 Special City Council Meeting February 25,2003 Councilmember Kerr rioted that each architect would be asked to describe their designs • for the benefit of the Committee and public. Following each presentation,there would be a brief question and answer period with the public and the Committee would then direct questions to the architect. The presentations would be in alphabetical order by design style. Craftsman St yle Design—Peter DuxbyM Architect Peter Duxbury explained his Craftsman style design for the new Los Altos Hills Town Hall is organized along an axial, gallery space that has two transepts and a large courtyard with the Heritage Oak tree as the center. The long linear site would be linked from the entrance to the building with a trellis continuing with a gallery through the building and connecting the Heritage House to the building with a matching trellis. Parking would be closer to the proposed Town Hall at the south end and there would be no auto access to the north. The proposed materials for the new Town Hall include a charcoal composition roof, natural redwood beams and working window casings, a combination of wood siding and stucco exterior and a low stone/masonry seat at the courtyard. Following a brief exchange with the Public, the Committee asked if there would be access to the Council Chambers from the exterior. Duxbury explained Chambers would be accessible from the gallery and from the • courtyard. Mission Style Design—John Goldman, Architect John Goldman explained his site plan was similar to Peter Duxbury's with all parking located on the southern portion of the site and the entry at Fremont and Concepcion. He noted that in his design, he had located Council Chambers on the south side because the greatest number of visitors to Town Hall are for meetings in Chambers. Goldman's design incorporates a courtyard scheme centered around the Heritage Oak. He noted that he has included the Heritage House square footage in his proposal and the new building would be approximately 7,700 square feet. The design changes from his earlier Mission Town Hall (2002) included the elimination of the clock tower, smaller clearstory at the roof, and exposed wood tresses in Chambers. Round columns have been eliminated in favor of stucco walls and half of the proposed roof would be tile and half wood trellis. Goldman added that his courtyard would consist of pavers on sand. Councilmember Kerr asked if the trellis would be covered in the design. Goldman responded that vines could be used or, if desired, glass infill could be used. Jean Mordo noted that there is less light with this design than the craftsman. The Mission style generally has more walls. • 2 Special City Council Meeting February 25,2003 Rural Style Design—Barry Nathan, Architect Barry Nathan introduced his Rural design as a combination of Folk, Prairie and Craftsman style. The main focus of his design is to open the complex to the street (Fremont Road) and provide an entrance access at this point. Parking would be on the south side of the complex. The building would be low and rustic in scheme with the average roof height at 20 feet and the clearstory at 25 feet. Nathan added that it is feasible to wrap the new proposed building around the old to accommodate staff during construction. His courtyard would be visible from the street and the Heritage Oak would be the focal point. Pavers on sand are proposed for the courtyard. Councilmember O'Malley noted that the rendering showed the exterior of the Town Hall building in wood and asked if this construction element could be too costly. Nathan responded that it might and that the design allows for other exterior materials possibly a synthetic "wood look-alike" product that is being used successfully on many residential buildings. Sustainable Style Design—David Arkin, Architect David Arkin stated that he preferred to refer to his design as a sustainable approach not style. His proposal included the use of solar heating, daylight and natural ventilation and added his design was simple, rustic elegance. Arkin would identify the best part of the existing space and retain it. He noted that the current Town Hall could be remodeled or rebuilt depending on the condition of the building. He would prefer to keep the existing building because of its established identify within the community. Arkin noted that the • construction materials proposed for his building included a combination of PISE and fiber-cement with a metal roof,possibly of copper. Arkin concluded that his proposal would create a rural complex that would include a public gathering space, restored orchard, and areas beyond the Heritage House for educational demonstrations of sustainable technologies and agricultural research. John Radford asked about the expense of the proposed construction materials and how the complex would be compatible with the residential neighborhood. Arkin commented that he felt it was important to recognize the Town Hall as a different form than houses. Cupolas would be used as a defining mark from the residences. Arkin explained that the roof would be expensive but the life span may justify the cost. He added that grants might be an option for the solar heating costs. Councilmember Kerr thanked the architects for their participation in the meeting and their efforts with their designs. • 3 Special City Council Meeting February 25,2003 3.2 Discussion of Bullis School Multi—Purpose Room as Future Site for • Town Hall Meetings Councilmember Kerr noted that this item had been initiated by Councilmember Warshawsky. He added that due to the unpredictable nature of the Los Altos School Board in terms of facility use, it is difficult to predict the long term use of the multi- purpose room as meting chambers for Town Hall. John Radford commented that the District could possibly upgrade the facility with bond funds and work with the Town in a cooperative partnership. The school site could be used for Town meeting space and the construction of a new Town Hall could focus on new staff offices. Public member observed it would be nice to eliminate the school's portable buildings. This could possibly be accomplished by bringing Town Hall to the school site and having a charter school use the remaining space. Public member noted that the timelines of the District, charter school and a new Town Hall were not necessarily compatible. Councilmember O'Malley added that he would rather have Council Meetings in Council Chambers than attempt to conduct a meeting in the cavernous multi-purpose room. Jean Struthers commented that Bullis School would be an ideal site for a community • recreation center. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Kerr, seconded by O'Malley and passed unanimously to focus on the present Town Hall site for improvements of Council Chambers and administrative offices. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 4.1 Approval of Town Newsletter Article Duffy Price, Newsletter editor, reported that she has everything she needs for a story about the new Town Hall for the upcoming newsletter. She has written a cover story and the architectural renderings and a thumbnail of their narratives will be included. 4.2 Discussion of Development of Town-Wide Mailer Following discussion the committee agreed to: not include a ballot in the newsletter, define the ballot form in the mailer as an advisory poll, allow one vote per household — verification of the address to be done by a subcommittee, include all four designs and narratives in a color mailer, not include site plans, have the architects return to answer questions at a Public Hearing to be scheduled for the April 4 Replar City Council Meeting, and request all ballots be returned to Town Hall by April l Ot to the attention of • the City Clerk. Councilmember Kerr will facilitate the mailer and have the format ready for approval at the next scheduled meeting of the Town Hall Committee. 4 Special City Council Meeting February 25,2003 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by O'Malley, seconded by Radford • and passed unanimously to compensate the architects for their appearance at the Public Hearing on April 3, 2003. -Fee set at$250.00. 4.3 Discussion of Functional Requirements.for New Town Hall Continued to the next scheduled meeting. 5. COMMITTEE REPORTS 5.1 Website Subcommittee—Status Report Al Whaley and Bill Kerns distributed printouts of the proposed new web pages for the Town's website. These will be informational and include the architectural renderings and narratives, a downloadable ballot, schedule of the public hearing, and the voting deadline. The Web subcommittee was encouraged to keep it simple and user friendly. The final version should be ready for the next meeting and the product should go live by the end of that week. Councilmember Warshawsky volunteered to develop a new Town Hall FAQ's page for the website. 4. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR 5. ADJOURNMENT The next Special Meeting of the City Council New Town Hall Committee was scheduled for March 11, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. There being no further new or old business to discuss, the Special Meeting of the City Council New Town Hall Committee was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. Res ectfully Submitted, Karen Jo City Clerk Minutes of the February 25, 2003 were approved as amended at the March 11, 2003 Special City Council Meeting—Town Hall Committee • 5 Special City Council Meeting February 25,2003