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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/08/2007 Meeting Minutes February 8, 2007 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Regular Meeting Thursday, February 8, 2007 6:30 P.M. Town Hall Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Warshawsky called the City Council Regular Meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Dean Warshawsky, Mayor Pro Tem Craig A.T. Jones, Councilmember Breene Kerr (joined meeting at 7:40 p.m.-participated in votes on items 6.1, 6.2, 9.1, 9.2), Councilmember Jean Mordo and Councilmember Mike O'Malley Absent: None Staff: Administrative Services Director Sarah Ragsdale, Public Works Director/City Engineer Henry Louie, Planning Director Debbie Pedro, City • Attorney Steve Mattas, and City Clerk Karen Jost Mayor Warshawsky called for a moment of silence for United States Army Sgt. William Mason Sigua, Los Altos Hills who died on January 31, 2007 in Bayji, Iraq. Mayor Warshawsky announced that City Manager Cahill was absent from the meeting due to the impending birth of his fifth child. Warshawsky noted that Councilmember Kerr was representing the Town in a Santa Clara County Cities Association meeting and would be joining the Council meeting later. He was serving as the Town's voting agent on an item related to the MTC. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by O'Malley, seconded by Mordo and passed unanimously to limit comments from the floor to three minutes. 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 2.1 Ken Graham, CEO, El Camino Hospital Ken Graham, CEO, El Camino Hospital, thanked the Council for the opportunity to introduce himself and provide an overview of the services offered to Los Altos Hills residents by the hospital and to update the City Council on their major construction • project. Graham, a Los Altos Hills resident, explained that the Hospital was a not-for- profit facility, located in Mountain View and owned by the El Camino Hospital District 1 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 which encompassed the Los Altos Hills community. The hospital is a $350 million P tY P operation with approximately $750 million in assets. Staff consists of 2300 employees and numerous volunteers who support the care giving at the hospital. Graham proceeded with a video "Building Our Future". The presentation outlined the services provided by El Camino Hospital to Los Altos Hills. Graham noted that in 2006, 1448 inpatient discharges were from Los Altos/Los Altos Hills and over 2000 Los Altos/Los Altos Hills residents had visited the Hospital's Emergency Room. 2006 Tax dollar revenue to the Hospital from the two communities was $2,182,656.00 with Los Altos Hills providing $671,000.00 in support. Graham extended a personal invitation to the Council and city management to tour the new facilityand noted that pictorial updates of the construction were being featured on P p g the Hospital's website. Expectation was for the $480 million project to be completed in July 2009. In response to a councilmember inquiry, Graham explained that approximately 50% of LAH residents use the hospital's services with the remaining 25% going to Stanford Hospital and 25% elsewhere. Council thanked Mr. Graham for his presentation and for the excellent hospital services provided to the Los Altos Hills community by El Camino Hospital. • 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT Planning Director Debbie Pedro reported that the Planning Commission at their last meeting had reviewed two projects: a request for a fence on Simon Lane that was approved by a 3-2 vote; and the first draft of the General Plan update that included the Introduction, Open Space and Recreation Element and the Conservation Element. Pedro summarized the fence application for Council noting that the project called for a portion of a fence to be located along the edge of a 10 foot pathway easement. The future pathway easement had been removed from the Master Path Map by the City Council and there were no future plans to construct a physical pathway on the property. However, the applicant was required to leave a 10 foot opening to prevent obstruction of the path easement. Because the installation of the fence would have required removal of existing landscaping, the Commission voted to allow the fence to encroach 18 inches into the easement to accommodate the existing hedge. The General Plan update was currently scheduled to be forwarded to Council in April. The Commission recommended approval of the draft with some changes. Councilmember O'Malley appealed the Planning Commission approval of the fence application, Lands of Papp. He noted that he was appealing the approval to resolve a legal question regarding the technicality of pathway easements. O'Malley explained that • the City Council at the time they removed paths from the Master Path Map, had agreed that they were not abandoning the pathway easements owned by the Town. He was 2 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 concerned that approval of the project might set a precedent by permitting a fence in the off-road pathway easement thus abandoning the easement. O'Malley wanted an opportunity to review with the City Council the legal ramifications of the approval. City Attorney Steve Mattas explained that the project would be noticed as a public hearing and returned to Council at their next meeting. Council would be advised prior to the meeting with regards to the issues identified by Councilmember O'Malley. Issues of concern included: a land use decision and the use of an easement. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTIONED SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Mordo, seconded by O'Malley and passed unanimously to approve the consent calendar, specifically: 4.1 Approval of Minutes: Regular City Council Meeting January 11, 2007 Special City Council Meeting January 11, 2007 Special City Council Meeting January 26, 2007 4.2 Review of Disbursements: 1/5/2007- 1/30/2007 $557.699.05 4.3 Monthly Financial Report 4.4 Quarterly Interest Report-Investment Report for the Quarter Ended • December 31, 2006 4.5 Certificate of Commendation: Anthony Saviano, Eagle Scout-Boys Scouts of America, Troop 33. 4.6 Notification of Fast Track Approvals: Lands of Hyver: 12366 Priscilla Lane (175-06-ZP-SD-GD); A Request for a Site Development Permit for a New 5,605 square foot two-story New Residence with a 800 square foot Swimming Pool (maximum height:26'6") CEQA review-Categorical Exemption 15303 (a) 4.7 Award of Contract: Sanitary Sewer Main Replacement at 26030 Newbridge Drive—Resolution#3-07 4.8 Approval of Final Map: Kearns Subdivision, 11261 Magdalena Road Resolution#4-07 4.9 Award of Contract: Field Inspection Services for Site Development Projects Resolution#5-07 4.10 Award of Contract: Guard Rail Installation at 26437 Elena Road and at 26000 Altamont Road—Resolution#6-07 • 3 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 4.11 Acceptance of Flags from the American Legion, Los Altos Post 558 in Memory of Mr. Edward Greenhood, Los Altos Hills. 5. UNFWISHED BUSINESS 5.1 Town Goals 5.1.1 Public Education: Bring the Future of Public Education to a Vote Mayor Warshawsky provided an overview of his meeting with Los Altos School District Superintendent Tim Justus and LASD Board President Bill Cooper. John Radford, Los Altos Hills resident; had also participated in the discussions. Warshawsky offered that the meeting had been productive. Warshawsky highlighted the key elements of their two hour discussion. They included: 1) Justus reported that the Los Altos School District (LASD), Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) and Mountain View/Los Altos Union High School District (MV-LA) had met to discuss inter district transfers. Justus suggested that transfers would be given to Bullis students between LASD and PAUSD. There was no agreement in place, however a plan was under development that did include some degree of permanency. 2) The feasibility of Trusteeships had been discussed by LASD. However because Mountain View students constitute approximately the same size student population as Los Altos Hills,they would have to be considered in any agreement. 3) LASD was looking forward to future discussions with the Bullis Charter School (BCS). Due to the complexities of state and local issues regarding locating the school at the Bullis campus, Justus recommended putting the "topic" on hold with the Town. Warshawsky noted that a subcommittee had been formed by the. BCS to continue the dialogue with LASD and it had been suggested by both sides that .the Town, for the moment, "take a break"on the issue. 4) Justus reported that the District's enrollment plan for the Bullis campus featured a K-3 with a future projected plan for a K-6 on the campus. The phase I student capacity called for 85 pupils with a goal of 310 students. The enrollment plan was scheduled for consideration by the District Board at their February 12ffi meeting. Warshawsky encouraged all interested parties to attend the session. 5) Warshawsky reported that Justus had confirmed that the District had $11 million in construction funds allocated for the renovation of the Bullis-Purissima campus and this was appropriate funding to allow the school to serve the 310 projected enrollment. • 4 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 In conclusion, Warshawsky offered that Superintendent Justus had agreed that it was critical to keep the dialogue open between the Town and the district and regular meetings with the Town's elected officials had been suggested. 5.1.1a Consideration of the Following Actions Regarding Education Issues in Los Altos Hills: (1) Appointment of New Negotiating Team to Continue Discussions with the School Districts and Designation of Bart Carey as Chair; Mayor Warshawsky and John Radford as Initial Members (2) Disbandment of AHCDR; (3) Authorize Further Discussions with School Districts; and (4) Begin Exploration of Territory Transfers of More or All of Los Altos Hills into PAUSD Including Review of Public Survey Regarding Same—Mayor Pro Tem Jones Mayor Pro Tem Jones thanked Mayor Warshawsky for his comments and update on the most recent meeting with the District. Jones queried what the next formal steps should be for the Council. Council had before them a series of recommendations for their consideration that had been outlined by Jones. Jones explained that at the January 25, 2007 hearing, the Santa Clara County Office of Education's County Committee had voted unanimously (11-0) to reject the Town's request to create a Los Altos Hills K-8 school district. Their action cannot be appealed to the state and effectively ended the City Council's role in district reorganization. • However, interested citizens could continue the effort to create a new district via the circulation of a petition. Jones suggested that it would be appropriate, at this time, to disband the Ad Hoc Committee on District Reorganization (AHCDR). The specific purpose of establishing the committee had been concluded. Jones reviewed the lessons learned from the Council's recent education efforts. He offered that there was a clear consensus that passivity did not work and it was imperative that the Town remain vigilant on education issues. Jones outlined his recommendations for the Council moving forward: 1) Dissolution of the AHCDR. 2 The creation of a negotiating team to act on behalf of the Town in discussions g g with LASD and PAUSD. They would be tasked with pursuing the education goals previously approved by the City Council. He recommended the appointment of Planning Commissioner Bart Carey and John Radford as initial members of the negotiating body under the leadership of Mayor Warshawsky to meet with the School Districts and report back to Council. The expectation was that discussions would be ongoing and include varied educational issues that impact LAH including the creation of a"porous border"between Districts. 3) The formation of a new Education Standing Committee whose charter would be to monitor education issues in Los Altos Hills and report to the City Council. 5 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 Additional duties would include attendance and reporting of the Districts Board p g meetings. 4) The exploration of territory transfers. Jones noted that he was not seeking Council action on this recommendation at tonight's Council meeting. Hesuggested that the Council wait until the negotiating team had an opportunity to continue their dialogue with the Districts and evaluate what future actions were taken by the Districts to implement the verbal promises that had been made. Jones explained that the option of territory transfers would not have the numerous obstacles that confronted district reorganization. He suggested that if the Council did move forward with exploration of the option in the future, the first logical step would be a survey of the Los Altos Hills residents in LASD as to their interest in being part of PAUSD. Jones added that this was a potential long term solution to the education issue and there was no urgency associated with the recommendation. He suggested it would be appropriate to revisit the suggestion after the attendance boundaries were fmalized by the LASD in June. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Mordo, seconded by Jones and passed unanimously to disband the Ad Hoc Committee on District Reorganization. Council concurred with the recommendation to establish a new Education Standing Committee chartered with monitoring education issues in Town. OPENED PUBLIC COMMENT Jill Jensen, resident, expressed her concern that the proposed plan for Bullis school did not include the Bullis Charter School. She offered that the school had provided an excellent educational opportunity for residents and she wanted assurance that they were treated fairly. Jensen questioned the projected enrollment for Bullis and wondered what the future plans were for the extended Kindergarten. She believed that the district would move slowly to establish a true K-6 at the campus. Jones concurred with her concern about housing the all day Kindergarten permanently at the site given the tight constraints of the resource and the inability to accommodate the additional grades with the program. He noted that he was not aware of a calendar for the District's decision on the program. Duncan MacMillan, Natoma Road, urged the Council to adopt the "Go Plan" as the platform/framework for the negotiating team. The document's wording had been authored by people on both sides of the education issues and advocated that the parties think beyond Bullis for a long term solution. Kathy Evans, La Loma Drive, concurred with Council's decision to disband the AHCDR and supported the creation of a new Public Education Standing Committee that would be tasked with attending School District meetings and keeping the City Council informed. Evans urged the City Council to investigate the details of the re-opening of the Bullis school. The proposal had been amended and cut back and she was concerned that the 6 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 proposal only housed 225 students in permanent classrooms when the former campus served 310 students in permanent facilities. CLOSED PUBLIC COMMENT MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Jones, seconded by Mordo and passed unanimously to appoint Mayor Warshawsky, Planning Commissioner Bart Carey and resident John Radford to the negotiating team tasked with continuing the discussions with the Districts on public education issues and reporting back to the City Council as needed. Jones suggested that the "Go Plan" as a framework for the negotiating team and the creation of a new Education Standing Committee be agendized for Council consideration at the next Council meeting. Council concurred. 5.1.2 Underground Utilities: Complete Pilot Projects and Assist Underground Assessment Districts Mayor Warshawsky reported that a meeting had been scheduled for February 27ffi with all of the project participants. Public Works Director/City Engineer Henry Louie reported that the design was in its final review stage with PG&E and expectation was for the Pilot Projects to begin in June/July 2007. 5.1.3 Sanitary Sewers: Update and Implement the Master Plan Councilmember O'Malley reported that the City Council had convened a Special Meeting within two days of receiving the Sewer Agreement from Los Altos to approve the agreement for sanitary sewer service. He thanked staff and Councilmember Mordo for their efforts in bringing the agreement to fruition. O'Malley noted that Public Works Director/City Engineer Henry Louie had been instrumental in the process. O'Malley explained that applications from residents interested in serving on the Ad Hoc Sewer Committee had been received by staff and once a mutual meeting time was agreed to,the initial meeting of the group would be scheduled. Councilmember O'Malley stated that he and the City Manager had scheduled a meeting with Rich Larson and a group that had expressed an interest in annexation. Mayor Pro Tem Jones expressed his appreciation for the work of Councilmember O'Malley on the sewer agreement and offered that he deserved the gratitude of the Town for finalizing this long term project that now enables the Town to add sewer capacity 5.1.4 Wireless Communications: Continue to Improve Town Wide • Cell Coverage 7 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 Planning Director Debbie Pedro provided a brief update on Wireless projects in Town. Verizon had completed their project at Westwind Community Barn and collocator T- Mobile was nearing completion. Landscape screening was scheduled for installation at the project in the near future. 5.1.5 Complete General Plan Review Councilmember O'Malley reported that the Draft General Plan update had been reviewed by the Planning Commission at their last meeting. He offered that it had been a good discussion particularly on the new "ideas" that had been forwarded by the Open Space Committee. The Elements reviewed included the Introduction, Open Space and Recreation Element and the Conservation Element. O'Malley noted that there had been some comment that there had not been adequate notice of the meeting. He suggested that for the Council review of the General Plan updates, a letter with additional information and tentative dates should be sent to residents. Staff would return to Council at their next meeting with a notification template for their consideration. 5.1.6 Develop Plan For and Begin the Process of Approval of the Building of a New Town Park/Recreation Facility — Consideration of the Following Action Item: Authorizing Commission of Design Study Regarding Soccer Field at the Los Altos Hills Little League Fields — Mayor Pro Tem Jones Mayor Pro Tem Jones introduced this item. He explained that Council had included the improvement of recreational opportunities for Town residents as a Council goal for some time. Under the leadership of Councilmember O'Malley, the Parks and Recreation Committee had undertaken an investigation of increasing recreation capacity in Town. Currently, a mail-in survey of residents was being conducted to identify their ranked recreational preferences and where they would like Town resources allocated. Jones noted that in terms of adding a new soccer playing field, there were several options available including the improvement of the upper field at Bullis school and the construction of a new multi-purpose field on one of the existing Little League fields on Purissima Road. The latter would require that the new field be consistent with the field's usefulness as a baseball field and the assurance that the new field schedule would be compatible with the little League's schedule. Additional issues that could be addressed simultaneously to the building of the new field at the Little League site included the parking lot and drainage. Jones reported that the initial step to evaluate the feasibility of the multi-use field had been taken by City Manager Carl Cahill. Cahill had visited the site with Little League President David Rock to assess the most appropriate field location. The next step was to hire a professional to evaluate the proposal. The consultant could be hired under the signature authority of the City Manager. Jones asked if there was any Council opposition to proceeding with the feasibility study. There was none. 8 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 Mayor Pro Tem Jones offered that with the survey findings and the feasibility study; it was possible that the Council could make a decision on the issue this year. He noted that the Los Altos School District was open to discussion on the Bullis field. Improvements to the field were not included in the current phase of renovations at the site. Jones suggested that the Council wait to assess the residents' comments on recreation priorities and review the feasibility study on the Little League study to better evaluate the options. Councilmember O'Malley requested that the Parks and Recreation Committee be included in the process. OPENED PUBLIC COMMENT Kathy Evans, La Loma Drive, spoke to the many recreational opportunities available in Town including Westwind Barn and the development of the O'Keefe property as a wetlands. She advised Council that a property was for sale at the rear of Foothill College that would be an appropriate site for a Parks and Recreation facility for classroom courses. Evans encouraged the Council to explore all opportunities. David Rock, Little League President, explained that he had discussed the shared field concept with City Manager Cahill and after visiting the site with the consultant, it was determined that there was not adequate space for a "stand alone new field". However, there may be room for a field in the outfield of Field#2. CLOSED PUBLIC COMMENT 6.1 Consideration of Council Meeting Schedule for February 22, 2007 The City Clerk introduced this item. At the request of Mayor Pro Tem Jones, discussion of the February 22, 2007 meeting schedule had been agendized for Council consideration. Both the Los Altos School District and the Palo Alto Unified School District had vacation weeks scheduled concurrent with the next council meeting. The Clerk noted that the tentative meeting agenda was very light. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Jones, seconded by Mordo and passed unanimously to cancel the regularly scheduled February 22, 2007 City Council meeting. 6.2 Consideration of Adjustments to Council Meeting Agenda Format City Attorney Steve Mattas introduced this item to Council. He explained there were several options to a meeting format that might be amenable to Council. He noted that some surrounding communities schedule the closed session discussions at the beginning of their meetings. They convene their meetings and then adjourn to closed session and at a designated time, return to the open meeting and public hearings. Council could have the closed session begin at 6:30 pm with a planned end of the closed session at 7:00 pm and • move directly into Presentations from the Floor and the Public Hearings and the remainder of the administrative agenda. Another option suggested was to establish time 9 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 limits for agenda items. Mattas suggested that if Council chose this method they would want to adhere to the time limits as they did establish an expectation in the community. Mattas offered that efficient use of the consent calendar was a method of running an effective meeting and the Town was currently doing this. Mattas suggested that if the Council chose to schedule the closed session at the earlier time, with the appropriate advance information,they should be able to give direction in the allotted time period. Council discussion ensued. Councilmember O'Malley commented that he was amenable to setting a meeting time limit. He proposed that no new agenda items be opened for discussion after 10:00 pm. O'Malley suggested that it might be prudent to limit the speakers time on agenda items when there were numerous speakers. Mayor Pro Tem Jones did not think it was practical to set time limits on specific agenda items but supported having the closed session at the beginning of the meeting at 6:30 pm and public hearings at 7:00 pm. He suggested that in the absence of a closed session, the meeting could start at 7:00 p.m. and he concurred with Councilmember O'Malley's idea of no new business after 10:00 p.m. Council consensus was to move forward with the discussed agenda format changes. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Jones, seconded by Mordo and passed unanimously to convene the regularly scheduled council meeting at 6:30 p.m. with the roll call and closed session as the first order of business; open session to commence at 7:00 p.m. with presentations, comments from the floor and public hearings as the order of business and no new items to be opened after 10:00 p.m. unless waived by the Council. All agenda items not addressed would be rolled forward to the next agenda and prioritized as the first item of business following the public hearings. 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES Councilmember O'Malley reported that he had attended the Santa Clara Valley Water District meeting and presented the annual report of the Lower Peninsula Flood Control District and Watershed Advisory Board activities. Councilmember Mordo reported that the Finance and Investment Committee at their most recent meeting, had agreed to review the Town's fee structure in an effort to close the gap between fees charged and the deficit. The Committee planned to review fees of neighboring cities to ensure that any proposed modifications were appropriate. Their recommendations would be forwarded to the City Council. Councilmember Kerr reported on recent activity at the VTA. Kerr had been elected to serve as Chair of the Finance Committee. He offered that supplementary funding from the recently passed Bond measures would be available for local projects; specifically, the El Monte/Moody Road pathway. Future pathway projects are being reviewed by the Pathways Committee and staff for additional funding opportunities. Kerr reported that the Environmental Initiatives Committee had installed story poles next to the Heritage House. The poles identify the location of the Town Hall solar expansion 10 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 project. Kerr offered that the project had been previously been approved by Council but had been revised and would return to Council at a future date. The revised project had a � lower cost and shorter payback period. 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager None 8.2 City Attorney None 8.3 City Clerk None 9. COUNCIL-INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Consideration of Request for Sponsorship of 2nd Annual Summer Concert Series at Hidden Villa—Mayor Warshawsky Marc Sidel, Hidden Villa Community Programs Manager, thanked the Council for the opportunity to present Hidden Villa's request for the Town to sponsor their 2nd Annual Summer Concert Series. Last year's series had been deemed a success with over 1500 attendees and the expectation was for an even larger turnout this year. The 2007 series is scheduled for four Sundays during the summer months and free to the public. The Town was lead sponsor for last year's program and Hidden Villa was seeking a commitment from the Town as the "Presenting Sponsor" for the 2007 series. All proceeds from the concerts go directly to camp, education programs, and intern programs that support Hidden Villa. Sidel explained that the Town was their most immediate neighbor and they were looking forward to building a stronger relationship with the community. OPENED PUBLIC Duffy Price, Community Relations Committee member, commented that the committee had worked with Hidden Villa on their inaugural program. The Town's financial participation last year was $5,000 and this year the Committee was recommending a commitment of $2,500 and suggested that Hidden Villa request sponsorship during the grant process. CLOSED PUBLIC COMMENT Council discussion ensued. Council concurred that Hidden Villa was a valuable resource to the community and residents and it was important to strengthen the relationship between the Town and Hidden Villa. It was noted that this was the only Art event in Los 11 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 Altos Hills and it was important to promote cultural events in Town. Councilmember O'Malley expressed that he was comfortable with a $5,000.00 commitment. Council consensus was that this was not a charitable donation and should not be included in the grant process. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Mordo, seconded by Jones and passed unanimously (5-0) to approve the request for $10,000 as the "Presenting Sponsor" for the 2007 Summer Concert Series. 9.2 Consideration of Authorization for Seeking Bid for Public Opinion Survey Firm to Conduct Resident Survey in Regards to Resident Opinion on Various Residential Development Issues—Mayor Pro Tem Jones and Councilmember Mordo Planning Director Debbie Pedro introduced this item to Council. Council had before them a request for authorization to contract professional services for a community preference survey on site development and zoning standards. Pedro reported that staff had been working with Mayor Pro Tem Jones and Councilmember Mordo to develop a community opinion survey. Several of the questions had been based on a previous survey conducted in 2001. Categories in the current survey included: grading, outdoor lighting, estate homes, and open space easements. Following completion of the final draft, a professional consultant would be engaged to review the questions to ensure that they were objective and to conduct the telephone survey of residents. Council discussed the option of returning the survey questions to Council for their review. Mayor Pro Tem Jones offered that the option of a postcard survey or a professionally conducted survey needed to be resolved. Both Jones and Mordo supported the professional survey noting that it was the most representative and the results would have more validity. Councilmember O'Malley expressed an interest in reviewing the questions. Kerr offered that he preferred polling that retained objectivity. He feared that the survey would become politicized if the questions were made public before the survey was conducted. Jones commented that the subjects were not new and he did not believe that a review of the questions would be detrimental to the survey. Mayor Warshawsky questioned if the request for funding was adequate for the survey. Pedro explained that she had received a quote for approximately $15,000.00 and believed the allocation was adequate. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Jones, seconded by Mordo and passed unanimously to authorize staff to seek bids for and hire a firm to assist in the evaluation of resident attitudes towards various development issues as identified in the staff memo and to return to the City Council a draft of the survey questions for their review. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR None 12 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 11.1 Review of Conditional Use Permit for Town Hall; Lands of Los Altos Hills, 26379 Fremont Road; File#227-06-CUP Planning Director Debbie Pedro introduced this item to Council. The Planning Commission at their meeting on January 4, 2007, had unanimously recommended approval of an extension to the Town Hall Use Permit finding that the use was consistent with the conditions of the permit. Pedro noted that staff had received an email from adjacent neighbor Mark Breier late afternoon prior to the Council meeting (February 8, 2007) and copies of the correspondence had been made available for Councilmembers at their seats on the dais. Pedro reviewed the issues that had been identified by Mr. Breier. They included: preservation of the existing apricot orchard; placement of mature landscaping, exterior lighting and noise on the site from early morning garbage pick-up and landscaping maintenance. Pedro proceeded with a PowerPoint presentation of the Town Hall approved landscape design plan and exterior lighting schematic. It was noted that all of the required landscaping had been installed prior to Town Hall facility receiving a building Final. Additionally, three 36" box oak trees had been planted as landscaping enhancements as part of the Cingular Cell Tower project at Town Hall. Regarding the noise complaint from Mr. Breier, Pedro commented that since June of 2005 when the operation of the facility began, the Town had received two complaints from Mr. Breier. In each instance, the Town took measures to remind the garbage company and landscape maintenance service of the appropriate hours of operation. Pedro added that staff was recommending a condition of approval for the use permit that would specifically limit the weekly pickup of garbage and use of leaf blowers on the Town Hall property to 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Staff had worked with Mr. Breier to address the exterior lighting issue. Te original lighting plan had called for lights at the rear of council chambers and in the breeze way. Those lights had been permanently disabled. A temporary shield had been constructed around the remaining light in the breezeway adjacent to the outdoor restrooms as a test In addition to the light shield, it was proposed that one of the 36" box oak trees be relocated to the front of Mr. Breier's property to help mitigate the glare. OPENED PUBLIC HEARING Mr. Breier, Esparanza Drive, provided an overview of the building process of the new Town Hall. He referenced the campaign that was lead by neighbors and citizens for a Town Hall that was "half the height and half the cost". Breier suggested that the original landscaping plan called for more mature landscaping and less lighting. He appreciated the attention that had been directed towards noise abatement; however, he requested that Council consider directing staff to continue to work with him to resolve his issues. Breier suggested that the conditional use permit be reviewed on an annual basis. 13 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 CLOSED PUBLIC HEARING Council discussed Mr. Breier's request. Jones questioned what the commitment had been on the original Conditional Use Permit concerning the issues that had been raised by Mr. Breier. Pedro explained that the landscaping plan before Council was the approved plan. She did not have information on the discussions that had transpired at the public hearing on the landscape plan. Jones requested that staff reconcile the specific commitments that were made as part of the permit approval process. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Jones, seconded by Mordo and passed unanimously (Kerr absent) to approve the extension of the Town Hall Conditional Use Permit subject to the conditions of approval identified by staff in the report dated February 8, 2007 and to direct staff to return to Council with any commitments that were made with the original approval specifically with regards to landscaping and lighting. Council adjourned to Closed Session at 9:00 p.m. 12. CLOSED SESSION 12.1 Conference with Legal Counsel—Existing Litigation (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a).) Carranza v. Friends of Westwind, Town of Los Altos Hills, Gheryi v. Town of Los Altos Hills 12.2 Conference with Real Property Negotiators Agency Negotiators: Jean Mordo, Breene Kerr, Steve Mattas Property: 27210 Altamont Road, Los Altos Hills Negotiating Parties: Town of Los Altos Hills/Friends of Westwind Under Negotiation: Lease Terms Council reconvened to Open Session at 9:30 p.m. Report out of Closed Session Agenda item 12.1:No Action was taken. Agenda item 12.2: MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Jones, seconded by Mordo and passed unanimously (5-0 vote) to authorize the sending of a notice to the Friends of Westwind invoking the review that is provided for in Article 3 and Article 21 of the Lease by and between the Town of Los Altos Hills and Friends of Westwind, Inc. dated January 28, 2004. 13. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the February 8, 2006 City Council Meeting was IS adjourned in memory of Mary de Cristoforo (Cristy), longtime Hills resident and Los 14 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007 Altos Town Crier columnist who's "View from the Hills"was featured in the Town Crier for over 50 years at 9:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen Jost City Clerk The minutes of the February 8, 2007 Regular City Council Meeting were approved as presented at the March 8, 2007 Regular City Council Meeting. 15 City Council Meeting Minutes February 8,2007