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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/20/2000 V Minutes of a Regular Meeting January 20, 2000 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Regular Meeting January 20, 2000, 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Dauber called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Dauber and Councilmembers Casey, Finn, Johnson and Siegel • Absent: None Staff. City Manager Mark Miller, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Curtis Williams, Public Works Manager Jim Ras and g P City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: Leslie Martin, Los Altos Town Crier 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 2.1 Special Presentation to Outgoing Councilmember William Siegel Councilmembers thanked Councilmember Siegel for sharing his expertise and skills as a member of the Council and for his major contributions over the years to the Town. In part these accomplishments included street signage in the Town, completion of the Quarry Subdivision and tree planting in Town. As a token of their appreciation to Councilmember Siegel, an oak tree will be planted overlooking the Quarry Subdivision. Sid Hubbard, 25228 La Loma Drive,thanked Councilmember Siegel for his contributions serving on the Los Altos Hills County Fire District. Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road and Carol Gottlieb, 24290 Summerhill, also thanked Councilmember Siegel for his many contributions to the Town both as a Planning Commissioner and Councilmember.. Councilmember Siegel thanked the Council for their comments. He noted that he had enjoyed • his participation on the Planning Commission and City Council. January 20, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 1 r 2.2 Appointment to Safety Committee This item was continued to the next meeting. 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT The Planning Director reported on the following applications discussed at the 1/12/00 Planning Commission Meeting: Lands of Wang, 27581 Samuel Lane: request for a site development permit for a new residence—continued; Lands of Torabi &Majidi, 26861 Purissima Road: approved request for a site development permit for a new residence; Lands of Baratta, 11675 Dawson Drive: request for a site development permit for a pool and variance to exceed the maximum development area—continued; Lands of Boyd, 12150 El Monte Avenue: approved request for a Site Development Permit for a new residence and variances to exceed allowable floor area and development area and to allow parking to encroach into the required setback; and Lands of Detrick, 12120 and 12160 Kate Drive: recommended approval of request for a lot merger. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to approve the Consent Calendar, specifically: • 4.1 Approved Minutes: January 6, 2000 (Regular Meeting) 4.2 Issued Proclamation: Vietnamese Community Week: January 31 —February 6, 2000 4.3 Authorized WSP Trucking Company for additional expenditure for construction of a retaining wall/guard rail along Robleda Road—Reso#10-00 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 5.1 Request for amendment of maximum contribution to employee health coverage Premiums—Reso # MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution#11-00 capping the employer's contribution of health care premium under the Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act at 110%of the average of available policies. 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Request from Purissima Hills Water District for Water Conservation Measures • January 20, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 2 • Ernest Solomon, Vice President—Board of Directors,Purissima Hills Water District, reported that the District was 20% over its water allotment and he was requesting Council's help to correct this problem. He noted that although this was not a critical problem now, it will be when the next drought occurs. He further noted that 400 homes in the Town used 50% of the water allocation. Mr. Solomon urged Council to include their proposed guidelines for water conservation in the Town's planning process for new homes and extensive remodels. In response to an inquiry about wells, Mr. Solomon reported that the Santa Clara Valley Water District was the permitting agency for wells and wells were not a problem in the Town. The draft guidelines include the following: Landscape area is that portion of a property utilizing plants, such as trees, shrubs, and ground covers and all agricultural and ornamental uses of water including pools, ponds and fountains. Hardscape is not included in the proposed calculations. The Purissima Hills Water District shall review landscape plans for all new residences and for landscape modifications exceeding 10,000 square feet. Comments will be submitted by the Water District to the Town's Site Development Authority during the planning process as to conformance with the guidelines. Exceptions to this provision may be granted where private well water was used for irrigation. The following guidelines apply to all landscape plans: 1) Low water-use plants should occupy at least 33% of the landscape area and require minimal water once established; 2) Moderate water-use plants should be limited to no more than 33% of the total landscape area or 10,000 square feet, whichever is less; and 3) The combined high water-use landscaping, including plantings,turf and/or water area(i.e. pools,ponds and fountains) should be limited to 34% of the landscape area or 10,000 square feet, whichever is less. • Patrick Walter, General Manger—Purissima Hills Water District, commented that these guidelines would apply to all and there would be no cost to the residents. Mr. Walter further explained the implementation of the plan. The Town's planning department would give out the information on the guidelines;the landscaping plans would be submitted to the Water District for review; if the guidelines are not met,the District will work with the applicants; the applicants may appeal to the Council; and the inspections will be conducted by the Town's Building Official as usual. Greg Zlotnick, Santa Clara Valley Water District,urged Council to adopt these water guidelines. He noted that the Town indeed was over its water allocation and needed to take steps to conserve water. He further commented that indeed an extension of pipeline was an option under review by the Santa Clara Valley Water District. However, if this took place stipulations would be placed on the Town if they wanted to share the pipeline. If the Town did not have conservation measures in place, it would not be served. Mr. Zlotnick stated that conservation was the key component of overall water management in the State. Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road, commented on the amount of landscaping removed when a project was done in Town. She recommended that this be looked at from the viewpoint of retaining as much landscaping as possible. Kelly Porter, Stonebrook, supported the Water District's guidelines. He commented that the Town being over in its water allotment was at the very least being unfriendly to other • communities. He believed the burden of water conservation should be shared fairly for all residents not just newcomers. January 20, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 3 Bob Fenwick, 28011 Elena, supported the guidelines proposed by the Water District. He commented on the increase of water usage and the allotment issue and noted that adoption of these guidelines was good public relations. Roy Rogers, Briones Way, noted that he had received the letter from the Water District on these proposed guidelines and the invitation to submit comments and/or attend this meeting. However, there had been a turnaround time of only about one day to submit comments and he believed this issue was an important one and should be given more time for review. Mr. Rogers believed these guidelines were well intentioned but not the best way to deal with the issue. In part he questioned what `extensively remodeled' meant and also noted that at the rate of 50-60 homes a year it would take years to make an impact. He believed common sense should be used and more education was needed on voluntary conservation measures. Jan Fenwick, President—Board of Directors—Purissima Hills Water District, commented that a Special Council Meeting had been held in June, 1999 at which time these water issues were discussed. This was not a new concern. The guidelines proposed by the Water District were the same as those used in Hillsborough. She further stressed the importance of informing the new owners of the need for water conservation. Eric Clow, Red Rock Road, supported using a pricing mechanism—higher water users pay more • but he did not support establishing another layer of bureaucracy. He also recommended an increase in the use of wells. Mr. Clow noted that the residents needed to be educated because if there was not enough water in the next drought,the high users were going to loose their extensive landscaping. Jean Struthers,member Environmental Design and Protection Committee, suggested that these guidelines be included with the current Town landscaping information that high water usage plantings should not be used. She also inquired about vineyards and was advised by Mr. Walter that vineyards were very water efficient. Bill Krause, Westwind Way, stated that water conservation was an important issue and the Town should carefully review and evaluate the options. He noted that only 4% of the total amount of water in the State was used by residents. Mr. Krause believed that the Purissima Hills Water District had an allocation problem and they should start taking steps to improve their allocation. Mr. Krause further noted that the California Water District did not appear to be experiencing allocation issues. Sandra Humphries, 26238 Fremont Road, noted that most landscapers choose the plantings and since it was difficult to get native plants wholesale these plants were not regulary selected. She believed these guidelines would be helpful when selecting landscaping. Ms. Humphries also suggested not allowing the new residents to remove so much of the landscaping when doing their projects. January 20, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 4 / • Ernest Solomon, Vice President—Board of Directors, Purissima Hills Water District, stated that the Water District had been involved in an educational effort for years on water conservation issues and the District was looking at ways to access additional water. He reiterated however that if water conservation measures were not in place it was highly unlikely they would receive additional water from the Santa Clara Valley Water District. It was an issue of fairness including other agencies involved. Doni Hubbard, 25228 La Loma Drive, stated these were not new issues. The Purissima Hills Water District had been informing residents for years of the very real concerns about water usage. Sid Hubbard, 25228 La Loma Drive,recommended giving these guidelines to residents with their application packets not at the time of review by the Environmental Design and Protection Committee. Dauber believed that the proposed guidelines before Council were a good first educational step. Casey did not believe the residents had been given enough time to give their input on this issue. She also recommended that the Purissima Hills Water District audit those 20%using 50%of the water in Town. Finn recommended using logic not adding another layer of bureaucracy. He acknowledged that he was one of the high water users and he believed that it would be more productive to go after the 20%using the 50%in Town. He believed by approaching it this way the problem could be resolved in 1-2 years. Siegel suggested that the Purissima Hills Water District audit the high users in Town and give reports to the Town on this audit. On the issue of only affecting new homes and major remodels,he referred to an earlier ordinance on fire retardant roofing and noted that these changes took time but eventually an impact was made. New owners should be made aware of these water issues in the beginning stages of their applications. Siegel recommended the Purissima Hills Water District and the Town working together. Johnson believed that in principle this was a good plan but implementation was a problem. He was concerned about adding another layer of bureaucracy and thereby extending the time of the planning process for applicants. Johnson thought that Finn's idea of asking the major water users in Town to work on decreasing their use could get good results. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to endorse in principle the voluntary guidelines on water conservation measures as proposed by the Purissima Hills Water District in their 1/13/00 letter to the Town. MOTION MADE BUT FAILED DUE TO LACK OF A SECOND: Dauber moved that the when the Environmental Design and Protection Committee reviewed landscaping plans,they would notify the applicants if the project was not in compliance with the guidelines. Dauber stated that this process would not add any additional time to the development process,no extra ordinances nor extra review. It would simply make the applicants aware that if they proceeded with their landscape plans it would not meet the voluntary guidelines for good water • management of their property. Casey did not concur with the Environmental Design and January 20, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 5 • Protection Committee making this determination. She further expressed her concern that these voluntary guidelines will become mandatory. Casey did think that review by the Purissima Hills Water District would be helpful in advising the applicants. Finn did not think this review by the Environmental Design and Protection Committee was necessary. Johnson suggested that staff be directed to implement the motion passed by Council in the best way and to get the information to the applicants on the voluntary guidelines in a timely fashion. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To request the Purissima Hills Water District review landscaping plans on new homes and major remodels and to audit the high water users in Town and report back to the Council on a quarterly basis on how the audit and the implementation of the voluntary guidelines was going. In addition the Town will include these voluntary guidelines in the information materials given to applicants. 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 7.1 Report from Finance Committee on Investment Policy Dave Struthers, Chairman of the Finance Committee, stated that the committee discussed the investment policy at their 1/10/00 meeting and decided that they should hear from an outside investment manager to determine whether it would be worth investing Town funds through some • one other than LAIF. The Finance Director had contacted the firm of Chandler Management and they agreed to speak to the committee at their 1/31/00 meeting. Casey and Finn stated that they had asked the committee for information on this issue last May and had not received it. They believed the Finance Committee was giving the Council a false sense of security when in fact the Town was losing money. Finn further commented that he thought the management of investments outside of LAIF could be handled by the Town's Finance Director. Siegel questioned who would be making these investment decisions and did not think the management of investments could be handled by the Finance Committee. Dauber stated that the Finance Committee studied the issue and found that increased earnings would most likely be used up by the increased expense of administration and that was in line with what other cities had determined. Johnson believed the Town might be doing a better job of investing its money but suggested investing no more than one-half of the available funds outside of LAIF. Casey noted that the reserves had increased from$6.2 in 1992 to $10.7 million in 1999 and was advised that basically this increase was attributable to more income and less expenditures. Casey therefore reiterated her belief that there were problems with the Town's fee structure. She noted that residents were being told the fees could not be lowered yet the Town was making a profit on its building fees. Casey further stated that the Town was not in the business of making a profit from its fees. Sid Hubbard, 25228 La Loma Drive, stated that the purpose of the reserves was to have funding • available in unforeseen situations such as earthquakes, Town building repairs, etc. He believed January 20,2000 Regular City Council Meeting 6 • LAW was well diversified and the funds were readily available. Hubbard stated it could be devastating to the Town if funds were in investments which were not readily available. Doni Hubbard, 25228 La Loma Drive, stated that the Council and not the Finance Committee was responsible for the finances of the Town. The Finance Committee members were volunteers who made recommendations to the Council. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To schedule a joint meeting of the City Council and Finance Committee for February 17tH 7.2 Letter requesting Westwind Barn and its surrounding property be designated"open space and agricultural use" Dan Alexander, President, Board of Directors, Friends of Westwind, explained why they were requesting restrictions be placed on the Westwind Property. The Board had noted that presently there were no restrictions on the use of this property and they were asking the Council to place a conservation easement on the property to protect it from future development. The Board was also requesting that the property be designated for open space and agricultural use. The Planning Director noted that the Land Use Committee could consider this request for designation of the Westwind Barn parcel as open space and agricultural use in their current • discussions of the Land Use Element update. He also commented that Council should be aware if they put a conservation easement on this property a future Council could reverse this decision. Council decided not to take any action on this request noting that the issue would be discussed during the Land Use Element update discussions. They further decided not to consider a conservation easement since it could be changed by future councils. 7.3 Land Use Committee Dauber commented that the Safety Committee should be asked to appoint an alternate representative to the Land Use Committee since Ralph Vetterlein has missed several of the meetings due to illness. Dauber also noted that Emily Cheng had resigned from the Land Use Committee and Mary Calderon had been appointed in her place. Casey expressed her concerns about the direction of the Land Use Committee concerning the questionnaire. She recommended that Council look at the questions. Johnson commented that Council had been asked for their comments and he had responded to this request. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: Council accepted the appointment of Mary Calderon in place of Emily Cheng on the Land Use Committee. Doni Hubbard,member of the Land Use Committee, commented that these draft questions had come from the consultants working with the committee on this project and not the committee • members themselves. They were jumping off points rather than a final set of questions. January 20, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 7 i Amir Rosebaum, member of the Land Use Committee,noted that the committee had discussed with the consultant that a standard model survey would not work in Los Altos Hills and thus the questions put forth were not appropriate. He believed the consultants now had a clearer understanding of the direction to take regarding the questionnaire. 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager 8.1.1 Cable TV The City Manager reported that additional complaints had been received concerning cable tv in the Town and he would be putting them on notice that they were not meeting their contract obligations with the Town. 8.1.2 Bay Area Council The City Manager noted that he had attended an Outlook Conference put on by the Bay Area Council on 1/14/00 which was both interesting and informative. • 8.1.3 Animal Control The City Manager stated that the contract with Palo Alto for animal control services was up for renewal in June and he was looking into alternatives for these services. 8.2 City Attorney 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence 8.4 Planning Director The Planning Director asked Council when they wanted to have the color board issue brought back to them for discussion and Council agreed to not set a certain date at this time. 9. COUNCIL-INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Request for support of resolution opposing the construction and operation of a proposed salt factory at Laguna San Ignacio in Baja California, Mexico (Councilmember Casey) • January 20, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 8 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Casey, seconded by Finn and passed by the following roll call vote to support the resolution passed by the California Coastal Commission in opposition to the construction and operation of a proposed salt factory at Laguna San Ignacio in Baja, California, Mexico. AYES: Mayor Pro Tem Finn and Councilmembers Casey and Siegel NOES: None ABSTAIN: Mayor Dauber and Councilmember Johnson Johnson stated that he wanted to hear the argument in favor of the salt factory before making a decision and Dauber stated that if Council was going to start making such endorsements they should begin by addressing issues that are pertinent to the residents of the Town. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 11.1 Discussion of future Town Hall needs and options for Town Hall Building The City Manager referred to his 1/20/00 staff report which outlined the following three options for Town Hall needs: major Town Hall building repairs only-- $471,500; additional space with repairs -- $822,500; and a new building-- $1,020,000. The City Manager further noted that the consensus of the Town Building Committee was to build a new Town Hall but to keep the existing Council Chambers. This consensus also included the hiring of a consultant at a cost of up to $50,000 to provide the basic architectural and cost information before proceeding with this project. Casey believed the costs reported in this report were too low and local contractors should be contacted for cost estimates on this project. Sid Hubbard,member of the Town Building Committee, stated that the consensus of the committee was to build a new Town Hall; keepthe Council Chambers; hire an architect to draw , up preliminary design to get a better idea of the actual costs; and to keep Town Hall open while new building was being constructed. The following stated their support of building a new Town Hall as the most cost effective course of action: Bill Downey, 14330 DeBell Drive; Lew Throop, 27272 Bryne Park Lane; Dave Struthers, Chairman of the Finance Committee; and Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road. Janet Vitu, 13828 Page Mill Road, stated that she needed more information on the costs involved before making a recommendation for a new Town Hall or a rebuild. Amir Rosenbaum, Chairman of the Utilities and Information Systems Committee, commented that costs varied so much for such major projects that it was important to get more specific information before determining whether or not to proceed. He also felt that his building costs were less than the Town building report estimated. January 20, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 9 MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved b Johnson seconded b Finn and passed Y � Y unanimously to direct the City Manager to bring an RFP (request for proposals)back at the next Council Meeting to contract with an architect at a cost up to $50,000 to provide a building floor plan, site plan and accurate cost estimates for a new Town Hall. 12. CLOSED SESSION: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: Government Code Section 54957—City Manager continued from January 6, 2000 Council Meeting) This item was cancelled. 13. ADJOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss,the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, • Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the January 20, 2000 City Council Meeting were approved at the March 16, 2000 City Council Meeting. • January 20, 2000 Regular City Council Meeting 10