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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/15/1998M9 Minutes of a Regular Meeting April 15, 1998 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Regular Meeting Wednesday, April 15, 1998, 6:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Pro Tem Johnson called the Regular Meeting of the City to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Pro Tem Johnson and Councilmembers Dauber, Hubbard and Siegel Absent: Mayor Casey Staff: City Manager/City Engineer Jeff Peterson, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Curtis Williams, Public Works Manager Jim Rasp, Finance Director Carol Ferrell, Building Official Bill Carino and City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: None Johnson noted that the Mayor had requested that Item 6.2 (the operational review of the Building Department by the International Conference of Building Officials) be continued to the next meeting as she was unable to attend this meeting. Council did not agree to continuing this item. 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT The Planning Director reported on the following items discussed at the 4/8/98 Planning Commission Meeting: Lands of Joy, 25599 Fernhill Drive - request for a site development permit for a new residence and pool - approved; Lands of Chasson, 28221 Christopher's Lane - request for a site development permit for an 890 square foot secondary dwelling unit over an attached garage with an overall height of 18 '/z feet - approved; and Lands of Zatparvar, 26170 Fremont Road - request for approval of a grading and drainage plan - approved. The site development requests for Lands of Wong at 14470 DeBell Road and Lands of Harari, 12580 Miraloma Way were continued to the 4/22/98 Planning Commission Meeting at the request of the applicants. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR Items Removed: 4.2 (Dauber) and 4.4 (Dauber) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Siegel and passed unanimously by all members present to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar, specifically: 4.1 Approval of Minutes: April 1, 1998 (Adjourned Regular Meeting) April 1, 1998 (Regular Meeting) April 15, 1998 Regular City Council Meeting 4.3 Grant of Conservation, Public Utility and Pathway Easements and Dedication of Rights of Way, Lands of Wilson, 11471 Buena Vista Drive — Resolutions #16-98, #17-98, #18-98, #19-98 and #20-98 4.5 Certificate of Appreciation: Janet Saudis, Joint Volunteer Awards Committee Items Removed: 4.2 Approval of Warrants: $140,760.39 (4/6/98) Dauber noted that there were several warrants for traffic signals but there were so few traffic signals in Town. She inquired why so many contracts were involved. Dauber also referred to the new traffic lights in Sunnyvale and wondered if they would work in Town. It was agreed the Public Works Manager would prepare a report on this matter for the next Council Meeting. Siegel inquired about the warrant to ABAG for the Bowker Claim. The City Manager noted that this cost was for the ABAG attorney fees to work on the claim. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Hubbard, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously by all members present to approve the warrants in the amount of $140,760.39 (4/6/98). 4.4 Approval of Quarry Hills Subdivision Tract Map No. 8872, approval of a subdivision improvement agreement and approval of a conservation easement agreement, Lands of Vidovich, et al (John T. Vidovich, Kathy A. Tomaino, Mary Jane Vidovich and Michael A. Vidovich) —Resolutions # Dauber referred to the conditions, covenants and restrictions (CC&Rs) specifically as they addressed the lake maintanence agreement. She asked if the Vidovich family could sell the lake or change the lake maintenance agreement. Was the Town protected? Siegel asked what would happen if the homeowners' association did not do what was required in the CC&Rs? Siegel also commented on the naming of the streets in this subdivision. He referred to possible confusion with changing these names for County residents on Stonebrook. He suggested that letters be sent informing them of these time changes. The City Attorney stated that certain sections of the CC&Rs could not be changed without Council approval and this included the lake maintenance agreement. She also stated that the Town had the right to oversee the homeowners' association and could take them to court, if necessary for not fulfilling their obligations. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Siegel and passed unanimously by all members present to adopt Resolutions #21-98, #22-98 and #23-98 approving the Quarry Hills Subdivision Tract Map No. 8872, approving the subdivision improvement agreement and approving the conservation easement, Lands of Vidovich, with the stipulation in the conditions, covenants and restrictions that the Council would have to approve the sale of the lake and the lake maintenance plan could not be changed without the approval of the Council. 5.1 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 5.1 Approval of Emergency Handbook (Abbreviated Guide) April 15, 1998 Regular City Council Meeting MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Hubbard and passed E. unanimously by all members present to approve the abbreviated guide for the Emergency Handbook dated April 1988 with the following changes: 1) an update of the abbreviated guide will be submitted by the City Clerk in November of each year for Council approval; 2) the location of the key to the generator cabinet will be included on page 22; 3) clearer copies of the pictures on page 22 will be included in the guides; 4) copies of the abbreviated guide and its distribution list will be stored with the emergency supplies at Town Hall; 5) on page 5 an addition will be made to the Logistics Section stating that the City Manager or his designee will be responsible for contacting the neighborhood coordinators and ham radio operators in case of emergency. The City Manager will also provide the neighborhood coordinators with a list of their responsibilities; and 6) on page 4 the command section shall be clarified to state that the Director of Emergency Services is the City Manager and the Assistant Director of Emergency Services is the Mayor. Council further approved the following distribution for the abbreviated guide for the Emergency Handbook: City Council, Standby Councilmembers, Town Hall Staff, Captain Robert Wilson, Fire Chief Douglas Sporleder, Captain Bob Haag and Chairman of the Safety Committee. Council thanked the Safety Committee for the excellentjob they did on preparing this abbreviated guide for the Emergency Handbook. 5.2 Goals and Objectives -Third Quarter Report Dauber asked if the Environmental Design and Protection Committee was aware of Objective LD "To work with the Environmental Design and Protection Committee to develop a storm drainage policy that established guidelines for the construction and design of drainage improvements within natural drainage swales and along roadways." The City Manager reported that staff would be preparing a recommendation on this for the committee to review. In response to an inquiry about the Parcel Data Base, the Planning Director reported that staff was now updating the data base. Concerning the development of a construction materials recycling strategy, the City Manager noted that he would be working with Bill Jones, General Manager of the Los Altos Garbage Company on this issue. Dauber asked that the list of Town areas where weed control spraying was conducted be sent to the Environmental Design and Protection Committee. Dauber also referred to objective 4.1) and recommended that pathway maintenance standards and the assessment and monitoring of pathway conditions be documented. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Hubbard, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously by all present to accept the third quarter report on goals and objectives. 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Approval of revised Personnel Rules and Regulations, and Compensation and Benefits Plan— Resolutions # The City Manager referred to the report before Council which included a new personnel policy manual, a compensation plan, position classifications and a revised benefit package. He noted that the personnel rules and regulations had been prepared in 1977 and adopted by the Council in 1984. Since that time they had not officially been reviewed, updated and adopted. To arrive at a fair compensation plan, the job descriptions had been updated and the Employee Relations Service had been contracted with to do a salary survey. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To continue the revised benefits package to a later meeting and to provide a more detailed discussion of the benefits, particularly how they are administered. April 15, 1998 Regular City Council Meeting The City Manager reviewed the policy manual before Council and suggested the following minor changes to the document 1) page 1, item 1.3 clarify to state that recommendations for changes and amendments can be made by either the City Manager or the City Council; 2) page 6, item 3.4 change the word `class' to `classification'; 3) page 8, item 4.7, second paragraph should read: `When an employee is promoted, his/her salary shall be that approved by the City Manager.'; 4) page 11, item 5.1 clarify wording concerning original and probationary appointments and change the reference to 14 days to 15 days; 5) page 21, item 6.11.9C clarify wording; 6) page 23, item 7.3 include a statement that an employee can not say no if a supervisor says that overtime is mandatory; 7) page 25, item 7.6.2 include statement that employees will be compensated for standby time at their regular straight time rate; 8) page 29, item 9.2 first sentence should read: `Resignation occurs when an employee tenders a written or verbal notice of his/her intention to resign.'; and 9) page 32, item 15 add the following: `excessive time spent on personal business or personal phone calls.'. The following changes needed to be made to the job descriptions: Office Manager - duty regarding preparation of invoices needs to be completed; Associate Engineer - in description change the word assistant to associate; and City Clerk - add computer literate under abilities. Siegel did not believe that retirement benefits should be extended to part time employees unless required by PERS. He also suggested a section be added to the manual stating that an employee shall not be hired at step D or E without the approval of the Council. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Hubbard, seconded by Siegel and passed unanimously by all members present to adopt Resolution #24-98 adopting a revised personnel policy manual including the changes recommended by the City Manager and Siegel and Resolution #25-98 amending the Town's classification plan and compensation schedule for Fiscal Year 1998-99 including the job reclassifications. 6.2 Operational Review of the Building Department by the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBG) The Planning Director presented an overview of his staff report on this review and staffs recommendations. In the 1997-98 budget an audit was approved for the building department to assure that the level of service met industry standards, to assure that staffing was adequate and to determine the true costs of Building Department operations for an analysis of building fees. A contract was entered into with ICBO (the International Conference of Building Officials) to conduct such a review. The ICBO report included the following results: 1) the Building Department was comparable in size and budget to those of other small jurisdictions with one or two professionals and primarily responsible for review of residential projects, with 50 - 75 inspections a week; 2) the department spent less time on building plan check than other agencies and sent less plan check review to outside contract plan check services; and 3) department training and certifications were below average. Concerning the plan check issue, the ICBO report included the following conclusions: the Building Official did not have the time to thoroughly plan check each project given the inspection load and public contact needs; not requiring resubmittal of `red -lined' plans had potential legal consequences in that this could void the stamp of the professional; and structural plan reviews were not conducted by the Town and instead plans and calculations stamped by a professional were accepted. There was increased pressure at the State level to legislate a requirement for structural plan checking at the local level and such plan review must April 15, 1998 Regular City Council Meeting �. be made by a licensed engineer or architect. The recommendation in the ICBO report was for the Town to contract for plan check services and staff concurred with this recommendation at least for major additions and new residences. This would assure structural plan check by a licensed professional and would allow adequate time for review without increasing the workload of the Building Official. The disadvantages to this option would be an increased time review for applicants and a loss of revenue to the Town. The Building Official clarified statements in the report and answered questions about the operation of his department for Council. He also commented on the issue of special inspections which were those provided by outside experts for construction activities such as drilling piers or for concrete, reinforcing and structural steel welding. Councilmembers discussed the report and in particular the issue of outside plan check. They supported structural review of plans especially in view of the increasing changes in the requirements. They also commented on the fee schedule. Council agreed that staff should proceed with the investigation of implementation of these recommendations and bring back additional information on the impact on fees and length of review time. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Hubbard, seconded by Siegel and passed unanimously to direct staff to take under advisement the discussion of this issue, to move forward and to bring specific procedures back to Council for review. Council further directed staff to evaluate the Building Department personnel job descriptions to assure that adequate training and certifications were required and include provisions in the budget to accommodate training needs 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB -COMMITTEES. AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 7.1 Safety Committee Siegel, Council liaison to the Safety Committee, expressed their disappointment on the recent speaker from the Sheriffs Department at the Crime Prevention Meeting held on April 2°d. This meeting had been noticed Town -wide and was well attended by interested Town residents. Unfortunately, the speech did not include any relevant statistics to the Town and was not very focused. It was agreed the City Manager would contact the Sheriff s Department and request that a representative of their office attend a Safety Committee meeting to discuss these concerns. Evan Wythe, Page Mill Road, asked if the Town had emergency drills and was informed that one was held annually. 7.2 Santa Clara County Cities Association Johnson reported that Assemblymember Ted Lembert attended their last meeting to address the issue of sales tax on the internet. Johnson noted that this issue is not a high priority in the Town. 7.3 WebPage Council Subcommittee members Johnson and Siegel and the City Manager met recently with Jim Campbell who was the volunteer handling the Town's webpage at the Town Crier. Issues and strategies were being developed and a report would be made at a later date. April 15, 1998 Regular City Council Meeting 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager 8.1 Solid Waste Issues The City Manager reported that there had been some logistical problems at Foothill College regarding the location of the yardwaste pickup. The details were being worked out and Bill Jones, General Manager of the Los Altos Garbage Company was going to get in touch with the Town Crier to get additional information on the changes, etc. in the Crier. Concerning the yardwaste center on Purissima, the Los Altos Garbage Company would be cleaning it up and a plan would be prepared for the site. The funding for such plans and improvements would come from the solid waste fund. The suggestion was made that a sign be placed at the yardwaste center giving the dates at Foothill College for yardwaste pickups. Regarding the contract with Zanker Road, it had been reviewed by the City Manager and the City Attorney and may be ready for Council review at the next Council meeting. 8.2 Sound System - Council Chambers The City Manager reported that Johnson had agreed to advise staff on the sound system for Council Chambers. 8.2 City Attorney 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence Council agreed that the letter from Donna Green regarding cable issues would be sent to Sun Country Cable for reply. They also agreed to agendize the issue of pathways on both sides of a road as raised in Les Earnest's letter concerning Arastradero. Council further agreed that the Mayor should send letters to the Director of NASA at Moffett Field and to Hill Reiser thanking them both for working out the problems concerning the installation of the new beacon light at Moffett. 9. COUNCIL -INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Community Health Awareness Council (Councilmember Hubbard) Hubbard commented that he had attended a breakfast meeting held by CHAC and he was very impressed with the work they were doing. 9.2 Community Services Agency (Mayor Pro Tem Johnson) Johnson reported that he had recently attended a CSA meeting and he was quite impressed with their achievements. 9.3 Foothill College Yardwaste Collection (Councilmember Siegel) April 15, 1998 Regular City Council Meeting Siegel reported that there had been some confusion on the fust day of the Foothill College yardwaste pickup dates and the location of the pickup had to be moved to another location on th campus. He also reported that an assault had been made on a worker from the Los Altos Garbage Company and this matter was being investigated. 9.4 Los Altos Garbage Company Yardwaste Collection Schedule (Councilmember Dauber) Dauber recommended that the garbage company send out another notice since their first notice did not include the Foothill College pickup dates. Siegel stated that the pickups at Foothill College were not being paid for by the Town which is why the Los Altos Hills County Fire District sent a separate mailing. Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road, commented that the garbage calendar and the yardwaste calendar from the Los Altos Garbage Company were the same color and it was very confusing. 9.5 Newsletter (Councilmember Dauber) Dauber commented on the new format for the newsletter. She also noted that with the initial format now in place, articles for future newsletters would be emailed to the printer. This would definitely shorten the preparation time for future newsletters. 9.6 Proposition 208 (Councilmember Dauber) Dauber asked the City Attorney to prepare a report on Proposition 208. 9.7 Teleminder Call System (Councilmember Siegel) Siegel requested that a demonstration be scheduled with Teleminder for a Council Meeting before budget discussions begin. The Safety Committee was recommending approval of this call system in next year's budget. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 12. CLOSED SESSION: PENDING LITIGATION: PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54956.9(a) — Casey Construction vs. Los Altos Hills 13. CLOSED SESSION: PERSONNEL: PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957 - Public Employee Performance Evaluation - City Attorney The City Council adjourned to a Closed Session on Pending Litigation and Personnel at 9:15 p.m. and reconvened at 9:30 p.m. Council returned to Open Session to report, if necessary, any action taken. April 15, 1998 Regular City Council Meeting 14. There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. (R�espJe�ccttfuullly. submitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the April 15, 1998 City Council Meeting were approved at the May 6, 1998 City Council Meeting. April 15, 1998 Regular City Council Meeting