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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/09/2004 Meeting Minutes March 9, 2004 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council and Planning Commission Special Meeting March 9, 2004 6:30 pm Council Chambers 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL,AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilmember Kerr called the Special Meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission to order at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers. Present: Mayor Emily Cheng, Mayor Pro Tem Mike O'Malley, Councilmember Dean Warshawsky, Councilmember Breene Kerr, Planning Commissioners Bill Kerns and Jean Mordo and Committee Members Jim Downey, John Radford, Vicki Oldberg, and Al Whaley Absent: Planning Commissioner Carl Cottrell, Staff: City Manager Maureen Cassingham, City Attorney Steve Mattas, City Clerk Karen Jost • Guests: Peter Duxbury, Bill McIntosh-Duxbury Architects Tony Mirenda and staff, TBI Construction Management Press: None 2. CONSENT CALENDAR Item removed: Item 2.2 (Kerr) 2.1 Approval of Minutes: Special City Council/Planning Commission Meeting February 10, 2004 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved b d y Kerr, seconded by Downey and passed unanimously to approve Item 2.1 February 10, 2004 meeting minutes. 2.2 Approval of Letter to the Valley Transportation Authority(VTA) Councilmember Kerr reported on his VTA activities. He has joined with other representatives from Northern Peninsula Cities to form a "subgroup" to ensure that the VTA Board addresses concerns from this region. Mayor Cheng has been approached by the coalition to sign a letter as Mayor urging the VTA to adopt their criteria. Kerr noted that it was appropriate to bring this request before Council for their consideration. Since time is of the essence, he felt this meeting would be a more expeditious approach to gaining approval from the Council. • 1 Special City Council and Plannina Commission Meeting March 9,2004 i MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: moved by Kerr, seconded by O'Malley and • passed unanimously by the Council to authorize the Mayor to sign a letter on behalf of the Town to the Valley Transportation Authority from the North Peninsula Cities. 3. NEW BUSINESS 3.1 Consideration of a Policy for Engagement of Consultants by New Town Hall Sub-Committees Councilmember Kerr explained that during the design phase of the Town Hall project, several Town Hall Subcommittees had engaged consultants and the question has arisen whether or not the consultants could later bid on the project. Kerr has requested an opinion from City Attorney Steve Mattas. Mattas explained that in order to limit the participation of the consultant in the bid process, it would be necessary to specify that limitation as the Council's policy in the agreement/contract for the consultant's services during the design phase; otherwise the consultant is permitted to bid. It is important that the work that the consultants do be generic in nature and the design be appropriate for all bidders. The consulant's work should not limit others from participating in the bid process. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 4.1 Project Status Report and Design Update—Peter Duxbury, Duxbm Architects • Proposed changes to Council Chamber Design to Accommodate Audio Visual Production Peter Duxbury reported that after reviewing comments from the A-V consultant and the Subcommittee, he has made several changes to the Council Chamber design. The most notable change is to the window grouping behind the dais. Duxbury explained that he has changed the feature to 2 smaller windows to accommodate a larger video screen. He is very pleased with the adaptations and believes that architecturally it has more appealing proportions. Al Whaley, commented that Peter has been very flexible and open to the Subcommittees requests. They are also requesting the addition of curtains or fabric wrapped baffled fronts to soften the acoustics of the room. After a brief discussion, the Committee by consensus, approved the Council Chamber design modifications and the use of fabric wrapped panels for the acoustical requirement. They agreed to have design consultant Pam Penington review the fabric panels. Al Whaley reported that he had been working closely with the audio-visual consultant to identify the AV system component list and specifications. The drawings are progressing but aren't ready to have the AV detail added. He explained that the system is being • designed to be easily adapted from the minimal requirements of the budget to an upgraded and expanded system. Whaley explained that the lighting system as originally 2 Special City Council and Planning Commission Meeting March 9,2004 specified is inadequate and that the consultant has noted problems with the visibility of • the video screen. Several other lighting issues had been identified, but to date had not been resolved. The budget for lighting will require additional funding. Following a brief discussion, the consensus of the Committee was to wait for the results of the initial construction bids and to revisit the lighting and audio-visual budget at that time and prepare a separate bid package for the audio-visual component for Council Chambers. The Committee also agreed to seek funding from Comcast for audio, video and a-v mixing system. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Radford, seconded by O'Malley and passed unanimously to authorize Committee Member Al Whaley to enter into an agreement with CSA for Audiovisual consulting services for the new Town Hall Council Chambers for an amount not-to-exceed $5,000. Architect Peter Duxbury requested direction from the Committee on the prioritization and allocation of donated funds and monies generated from the donor wall. The Committee concurred that they will make the final decisions on allocations and authorize the funds distribution to items that are "outside" or over the present budget. Areas that will be considered include: audio-visual upgrades, landscaping, interior design and furnishings, and the green energy program. 4.2 Report from Construction Manager and Project Schedule Discussion— • Tony Mirenda, Toeniskoetter&Breeding, Inc. Tony Mirenda, Toeniskoetter A Breeding, Inc (TBI) commented that he is very excited about his firm's recent selection by the City Council as the construction manager for the new Town Hall project. He introduced his staff to the Committee. He distributed a project budget summary that identified the project's soft costs, hard costs and a list of budget qualifications. Mirenda reviewed the anticipated market condition adjustment category with the Committee. Adjustments for market conditions will be listed separately from the budget to better identify budget increases. He explained that steel is seeing a steep escalation at this time, but he will have a better comprehension of costs when the building plans are done. Mirenda reviewed the proposed project timeline: construction bids/award of contracts mid-May, relocation of Town Hall mid June and project construction should take approximately eleven months. Mirenda reported that the proposed foundation is presently being assessed by peer review. He is hopeful that a more conventional method for the foundation will be acceptable at a lower cost. • 3 Special City Council and Planning Commission Meeting March 9,2004 4.3 Options for Relocation of Town Operations During Construction • The Committee and Mirenda considered on site relocation options for Town Hall. TBI proposed that staff could stay in their present location during the construction of the parking lot and then moved to temporary trailers on the new lot once it was completed. Sanitary sewer lines and water line connections are available. Two double-wide trailers will provide+/- 3,000 square feet of space. • Status Report on Negotiations with Los Altos School District for Lease of Bullis School Councilmember Kerr reported that the offer had been made to the LASD for the lease of Bullis School for up to 15 months starting in May. The District directed their staff to begin lease negotiations with the Town. He expects to have a negotiating session with the District later this week. 5. REPORTS FROM SUBCOMMITTEES 5.1 Green Energy Program Status Report—Councilmember Kerr Councilmember Kerr distributed a report on the Green Energy Program. Kerr announced that he had received approval from the California Energy Commission for the Energy Conservation Assistance Loan in the amount of$160,000 for the Town Hall project. The loan terms are 15 years payback at 3.95% interest. Loan payments will be made from the • energy cost savings from the implementation of the program. Kerr reviewed the components of the program and the energy use and cost summary calculations. Two different solar system designs are being proposed. Kerr explained that he would like to bid both options; Option 1 would be less expensive and include only solar roof panels and could require a smaller loan amount with the PG&E rebates calculated in the cost; and, Option 2 with the addition of the ground solar panels, would be more costly but include higher PG&E rebates. Following review of the proposals, the Committee directed the Architect to review noise levels from the proposed energy saving equipment and return to the Committee with a report at the next meeting. The Committee also requested that additional attention be paid to the aesthetics of the proposed solar trackers and that modifications be made to mitigate or screen their appearance in the orchard. The Committee agreed that both designs should be prepared as bid packages. 5.2 Subcommittee Updates from Donor Wall, Council Chambers Design and Information Technology, Staff Offices Requirement, Heritage House and Project Budget Duffy Price, Donor Wall Chairman, distributed a draft press release "Opportunity for residents to create a donor wall."to the Committee for review and Council approval. The • expected release date of the item is March 31. Price noted that she will be seeking funds for a publicity brochure at a later date. The subcommittee will have a station at the Town 4 Special City Council and Planning Commission Meeting March 9,2004 picnic June � p un 6 ' to kick-off the donor wall campaign. She will work with staff to set-up the fund. Price will be working with TBI to coordinate an agreement with Petroglyph • Studio for the tiles. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Warshawsky, seconded by Kerr and passed unanimously by Council to approve the draft press release as written. 6. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR 7. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm. Respectfully submitted, Karen Jo City Clerk The minutes of the March 9, 2004 Special City Council and Planning Commission Meeting were approved at the April 7, 2004 Special City Council and Planning • Commission Meeting. • 5 Special City Council and Planning Commission Meeting March 9,2004