HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/19/1997Minutes of a Regular Meeting
March 19,1997
Town of Los Altos Hills
City Council Meeting
Wednesday, March 19, 1997,6:00 P.M.
Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road
1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Hubbard called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00
p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall.
Present: Mayor Hubbard and Councilmembers Dauber, Johnson and
Siegel
Absent: Mayor Pro Tern Casey
�Aw Staff: City Manager/ City Engineer Jeff Peterson, City Attorney
Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Curtis Williams, Carol
Ferrell, Finance Director and City Clerk Pat Dowd
Press: None
MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Hubbard and
passed unanimously by all members present to add the following item to the Consent
Calendar on the agenda as an urgency item: Lands of Krause, 25858 Westwind Way:
request for a site development permit for a new residence; a variance to allow grading
and improvements to cross a property line, and an amendment to a recorded tract map
to allow access from Westwind Way.
2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS
3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT
The Planning Director reported that the following actions were taken at the March 11,
1997 Planning Conunission Meeting: 1) Requests from Sprint Spectrum and Pacific Bell
Mobile Services for a site development permit, conditional use permit, and variance for
installation (co -location) of wireless telecommunications facilities and adoption of a
negative declaration, Lands of California Water Service Company, Magdalena at
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Eastbrook Avenue/1280 -- adopted findings for denial -- will be set for public hearing at
kar Council Meeting on April 2,1997; 2) Lands of Holing, 26045 Torello Lane: request for a
site development permit for a secondary dwelling unit - approved; 3) Lands of
Addison, 27863 Black Mountain Road: request for a site development permit for a new
residence - continued; 4) Lands of Wu & Chen, 26998 Beaver Lane: request for a site
development pernrit for a major addition and remodel - continued; 5) Lands of Lohr,
12117 Oak Park Court: request for a site development permit for a new residence, pool
and spa - approved; 6) Lands of Lohr, 24036 Oak Knoll Circle: request for a site
development permit for a new residence - approved; and 7) Lands of Finn, 12000 Finn
Lane: request for a site development permit for an accessory building and a variance to
exceed the allowable floor area for the property - approved.
4. CONSENT CALENDAR:
Items Removed: 4.1 - regular minutes (Dauber) and 4.3d (Dauber)
MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Siegel and
passed unanimously by all members present to approve the balance of the Consent
Calendar, specifically:
4.1 Approved Minutes: March 5,1997 (Adjourned Regular Meeting)
�hr 4.2 Reviewed Warrants: $69,612.08 (2/28/97)
4.3 Decided Not to Review the following Planning Commission Actions at its
meeting on February 26,1997:
4.3a Lands of Wong, 12352 Priscilla Lane: request for approval of a
Site Development Permit for a new residence.
4.3b Lands of Thomas, 14576 DeBell Drive: request for approval of a
Site Development Permit and a Conditional Development Permit
for a minor addition.
4.3c Lands of Coffman, 25280 Cantata Way: request for approval of a
Site Development Permit for a major addition and remodel.
4.4 Awarded Certificate of Appreciation: Jay Jenson, Safety Committee
4.5 Approved request from Environmental Design and Protection Committee to
appoint current members jean Struthers and Liz Dana as Associate Members
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Regular City Council Meeting
�w 4.1 Approval of Minutes: March 5, 1997 (Regular Meeting)
MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Johnson and
passed unanimously by all members present to approve the minutes of the March 5,
1997 City Council Meeting with the following correction: Page 3, Item 5.1, first
paragraph, last sentence should read: "The issue now before Council was whether or
not the Planning Director should send a letter to J. Lohr Properties on the use of exterior
materials. It was detern-dned that this was a moot point at this time because the
recommendations on exterior materials were being met."
4.3d Lands of Krause, 258558 Westwind Way: request for a site development
permit for a new residence; a variance to allow grading and
improvements to cross a property line; and an amendment to a recorded
tract map to allow access from Westwind Way.
Council decided to review the application for Lands of Krause and asked that it be set
for public hearing.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
6. NEW BUSINESS
6.1 Request for authorization to create a new staff position and to amend the
Town's Salary Schedule — Reso #_
Council had before them the request to approve the new staff position of
Accountant/ Office Manager.
Dauber believed it should be made quite clear that this person would be responsible for
Town Hall maintenance such as cleaning, painting, etc.
PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To amend the job description to state that this person would
manage (not assist as stated in the job description before Council) the management of
Town Hall contracts, including the maintenance of Town buildings and grounds.
MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Siegel and
passed unanimously by all members present to adopt Resolution #12-97 amending the
staff compensation plan for Fiscal Year 1996-97 with the stipulation that the exhibit be
changed to include only those staff positions currently filled.
7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB -COMMITTEES, AND
COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES March 19, 1997
Regular City Council Meeting
�w 8. STAFF REPORTS
8.1 City Manager
8.1.1 Spraying Program
The City Manager reported that some complaints had been received concenung
the spraying program. He had on file for anyone interested a complete report
on the chemicals being used and staff would be working with the
Environmental Design and Protection Committee on sensitive areas such as
spraying near creeks. The program seemed to be having quite positive
results including greater fire protection.
8.1.2 Public Works Manager
The City Manager reported that an interim Public Works Manager would be on
staff in April and May.
8.2 City Attorney
8.2.1 Lands of Rogez
The City Attorney reported that a negotiating session had taken place with Mr.
Rogez and Abby Ahrens; an agreement had been drafted and plans for their
house had been submitted.
8.2.2 Proposition 208
In response to an inquiry from Dauber, the City Attorney commented that the
section stating that'Individuals who are appointed members of
public boards or commissions may not make contributions to,
accept contributions for, or solicit contributions on behalf of, the
person who made the appointment'referred to political
appointments to boards, etc. and not to Council appointed
committees.
8.3 City Clerk
8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence
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It was agreed that Dauber would contact the Santa Clara Valley Water District stressing
the importance of the Adobe Creek project. It was further agreed to take no action on
the letters received from Covina on SB 1310.
9. COUNCIL -INITIATED ITEMS
9.1 Council Vacation Schedule (Mayor Hubbard)
PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To cancel the August 6,1997 and December 17,1997 City
Council Meetings.
9.2 Scanner (Councilmember Johnson)
Johnson reported that Michael Scott of the Technology Improvement Committee had
donated a scanner to the Town and had also donated his time in setting it up. This was
scheduled to occur on Friday, the 21st, at the Heritage House.
9.3 Chipping Program (Councilmember Siegel)
Siegel noted that a chipping program was about to begin for approximately 800 parcels.
This pilot program was being paid for by the Los Altos Hills County Fire District.
Letters had been sent to the owners of the selected parcels and in April an additional
letter outlining the details of the program would be mailed. McClenahans Tree Service
would be providing the work on the properties and would either take the chippings
with them or leave them at the owner's request.
9.4 Chairmens'Meeting (Mayor Hubbard)
Hubbard noted that he had recently met with the Chairmen of the Standing
Corrunittees and the Exhibit Curator and the meeting had been quite productive. He
asked staff to send the chairmen a copy of the recently adopted policy on committee
expenses for their reference.
9.5 Los Altos Library Commission (Councilmember Dauber)
Dauber asked the City Clerk to call the applicants for the Los Altos Library Commission
and let them know the next Library Commission Meeting was scheduled for April 1 st at
5:00 p.m. at the Library.
9.6 Web Page (Councilmember Siegel)
Siegel referred to the Town's Web Page and references to what could now be found on
the page. He noted that some of the documents were not available and he strongly
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believed that if they were not on the Web Page the Town should not be saying that they
were. The minutes and agendas of Council and Planning Commission meetings, for
example, were not all available. It was agreed that this should be a staff function and a
disk with pertinent information would be delivered to the Town Crier on a weekly
basis.
9.7 Rhos Ridge Parking Issue (Councilmember Siegel)
Siegel asked about the status of the parking issue on Rhos Ridge and the declaring of
Rhos Ridge as a public road for purposes of being covered by the vehicle code. He did
not think this was a complicated issue and it could be resolved rather quickly. The City
Manager stated that he was waiting to get a response from the residents on Rhos Ridge
as to what action they wanted taken on this matter. He would bring the issue back to
the Council at the April Z 1997 Council Meeting.
9.8 Town Holidays (Councilmember Siegel)
Siegel questioned the Town Holidays including Lincoln's Birthday. It was noted that
this issue would be discussed at the review of the Town's Personnel Rules and
Regulations.
9.9 Parking on Old Altos Road (Councilmember Dauber)
Dauber expressed concerns about the parking on both sides of Old Altos Road for a
construction project that was actually in Los Altos. It was agreed the Planning Director
would contact Los Altos about this matter.
10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Ray Rooker, 12819 Viscaino Road, commented on two issues: story poles and
certifications by civil engineers. He noted that these were practically standard
conditions now for all projects but in his opinion they were not always necessary. Since
they resulted in additional costs for the applicants, Mr. Rooker recommended that staff
discretion be used when requiring these conditions.
Siegel asked staff to review the use of story poles. He believed that they provided
important advance notice to neighbors of nearby projects but to be effective they
needed to be well done. For example, in Carmel they were connected with red tape so
they provided a clearer outline of the proposed project. Another option would be for
the Town to provide the poles and rent them to applicants so that they would all be
uniform in appearance. It was agreed that the implementation of these suggestions
would be left to staff's discretion.
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Regular City Council Meeting
11. PUBLIC HEARINGS
f&r
12. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting
was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia Dowd
City Clerk
The minutes of the March 19,1997 City Council Meeting were approved at the
April 2,1997 City Council Meeting
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