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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/20/1996( r. Minutes of a Special Meeting May 20,1996 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Meeting Monday, May 20,1996,7:00 P.M. Council Chambers. 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL. AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Siegel called the Special Meeting of the City Council to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Siegel and Councilmembers Casey, Dauber, Johnson and Hubbard Absent: None Staff: City Manager Jeff Peterson, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Public Works Manager Ed Taylor and City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: Clyde Noel, Los Altos Town Crier 2. SOLID WASTE ISSUES A. Mandatory Collection 1. Should mandatory collection of garbage be repealed? Council discussed the franchise agreement, the Town's ordinance on solid waste and the option of eliminating mandatory collection of garbage. It was agreed that most of the residents would continue with garbage service anyway so it would not make much difference. Jon Angin, Los Altos Garbage Company, commented that having no mandatory collection of garbage could affect the rate structure but administratively it did not matter if it was mandatory or not. Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road, asked if garbage could be picked up every other week. `" May 20, 1996 Special City Council Meeting The City Attorney noted that if garbage became a health issue (i.e. accumulating on one's property) then it became a code enforcement issue. Council commented that perhaps a streamlined process for such cases could be implemented thus avoiding the lengthy code enforcement procedure. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to eliminate mandatory garbage service. Council asked the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance, perhaps even an urgency ordinance, reflecting this decision as soon as possible. A rate adjustment was scheduled for October and it would be helpful to see if this decision affected the rates. 2. Should mandatory baseline service be repealed? Council noted that the baseline service cost had been in place since 1990 and, unlike garbage service, had never been discretionary. This basic service included the four clean up days, the yardwase center, household hazardous materials pickups, recycling, and roadside and creekside cleanup. Margaret Rands, Solid Waste Program Manager for Santa Clara County, noted that in 1991 an agreement had been entered into including Los Altos Hills and other cities to study the disposal of solid waste. A company had been hired to determine the solid waste generated by each of the cities involved and projections for the future. A disposal reporting system was also generated. Ms. Rands advised Council to carefully review the adopted Household Hazardous Waste Element and Source Reduction and Recycling Element before making any changes. AB939 requirements were in place and the State could impose costly fines. Jim Valenti, 25354 LaPena Lane, was not in support of the baseline service except for the household hazardous waste program for which he would be willing to pay separately. Los Hogle, 2000 Old Page Mill Road, asked for clarification of the rates. She noted that her home was 1/2 mile from the road and therefore she did not use the services of the Los Altos Garbage Company. However she was a strong supporter of recycling. Ms. Hogle supported the baseline service. Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road, supported mandatory recycling. Dr. Howard Martin, 11666 Dawson, commended the Los Altos Garbage Company on their clean, efficient services. However, he did note that Los Altos Hills paid higher rates than other neighboring cities. %W May 20, 1996 Special City Council Meeting Siegel stated that this was not a fair comparison as different dump sites were involved which resulted in different rates. Hubbard also commented that Los Altos Hills had no commercial base to help subsidize the residential. Scott Overstreet, 23200 Encinal Court, did not support mandatory baseline service. He did not use the yardwaste center and commented that the regulations for the clean up days were so restricted it was not a worthwhile service. He did support recycling and the household hazardous waste program and would be willing to pay for the services he would use. Mr. Overstreet stated that if he were to use the clean up days, he would strongly support keeping the Magdalenda and 280 location open. Jon Angin, Los Altos Garbage Company, commented that they were looking for another site for the County residents to use after one of the school sites closed. They had considered making the Magdalena and 280 site open only to the County and having the Town's residents in that area use Foothill College. However, after further reflection and input, they decided to keep Magdalena and 280 open to Los Altos Hills residents. In response to Mr. Overstreet's comments about the clean up days, he noted that they should be accepting small scraps of wood which are clearly not the debris from construction sites and he would work with the Town on the issue of appliances being dropped off at the clean up locations. Stephanie Munoz, 13460 Robleda Road, voiced her opposition to mandatory baseline services. She believed this was a back door tax and simply raised revenue. `, Ms. Munoz suggested an in lieu fee to pay for the household hazardous waste program. She also believed a moral issue was involved in that people should be responsible to recycle things to the less fortunate. Thus there was no need for clean up days. Regarding the yard waste center, she believed those who used it should pay for it. Mark Jensen, 26225 Purissima, supported a lower baseline service such as $4 to $5, with optional recycling and a small charge for use of the yardwaste center. John Huang, Viscaino, stated that he had come to the United States twenty four years ago from a very poor background where recycling was a way of life because everything was used. While still a strong supporter of recycling, he questioned the rationale of charging the owners of empty lots a baseline service. He was looking for a fair and logical approach and supported optional services. Donna Prudence, 13452 South Fork, stated that she did not use the services of the Los Altos Garbage Company, handled her own recycling and thought the baseline was too high. She believed there must be a fair resolution to the issue. Dauber referred to the baseline charge and noted that there was no other funding available to pay the administrative costs of complying with AB939 regulations and the State had definitely mandated that the Town do something. She did not want to `'' May 20, 1996 Special City Council Meeting have to pay the fines when and if the Town did not comply with AB939. Hubbard supported the baseline charge noting that everyone benefitted from these services. They helped make the Town a cleaner one and like sewer and police service, while not always used, they were available. He also believed it created incentives toward meeting mandated goals. Casey supported optional not mandatory baseline charges. She further believed the Town should let the Sacramento legislature know what it was doing in this area. Casey was opposed to the yardwaste center, commenting that it was not only being abused but was used by very few of the residents. Concerning recycling, she did not believed this would change much as the majority of residents recycled anyway. Siegel stated he would like to move toward residential yardwaste service but for now supported curbside service. He was concerned about how changing the baseline charge would affect rates and believed the baseline charge provided essential services whether the residents used them or not. Jon Angin, Los Altos Garbage Company, noted that it had been about three years since the agreement had been signed. He recommended making no changes to the baseline charge at this time and allowing him to work with the Town staff on a restructured program involving the baseline charges. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Hubbard and passed by the following roll call vote to continue with mandatory baseline service. AYES: Mayor Siegel and Councilmembers Dauber and Hubbard NOES: Councilmembers Casey and Johnson B. Delinquent Bill Collection 1. Should the Town undertake the lien procedure to collect delinquent accounts? Dauber supported proceeding with the lien procedure. This process applied to all residents and for those who objected there was a public hearing process which could result in changes being made to the charges. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Siegel and passed by the following roll call vote to enforce the procedures in place regarding the lien process within a reasonable period of time. AYES: Mayor Siegel and Councilmembers Casey, Dauber and Hubbard ABSTAIN: Councilmember Johnson Johnson stated that he did not support such government intervention. Casey stated that she voted affirmatively only because she understood that this process was part of the contract with the Los Altos Garbage Company and it was not optional. `' May 20, 1996 Special City Council Meeting C. Rate Related Issues 1. Should there be a 1/2 can rate and should it be subsidized? Hubbard did not support this 1/2 can option. He believed there was too much subsidization by larger families (using more cans) of smaller families ( using fewer cans). Dauber strongly supported the implementation of the 1/2 can option. She thought it was a psychological boost -- people could do better. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Casey and passed by the following roll call vote to direct staff to include a 1/2 can option in the proposed rate structure. AYES: Mayor Siegel and Councilmembers Casey, Dauber and Johnson NOES: Mayor Pro Tem Hubbard 2. How is rate for service on private streets computed? Should changes be made? Jon Angin, Los Altos Garbage Company, noted that some driveways in Town could only be serviced on foot and therefore required several trips. In addition not everyone would let them on their private driveways. They were presently following the procedures set forth in the franchise agreement. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to request the Los Altos Garbage Company to correct the length of driveway definition in their proposed rate structure, so that the length of the driveway is charged only once despite the number of cans. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Casey and passed unanimously to state that Schedule D shall list the streets that the Los Altos Garbage Company cannot drive on; if the street was not listed on Schedule D, the measurement shall be from the edge of street (private or public) to where the can is located. 3. Discussion of franchise fee policy Kevin Cerutti, Los Altos Garbage Company, referred to the terms of the Settlement Agreement and the franchise fee and clarified which monies were excluded from the franchise fee. Casey commented that she would like to see more information on the franchise fee. Is it a tax? Is 10% the correct figure? What do we use the money for? What do other cities do? Siegel asked if the fee was specifically used for street improvements? May 20, 1996 Special City Council Meeting MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Dauber and %W passed by the following roll call vote to retain the franchise fee policy. AYES: Mayor Siegel and Councilmembers Dauber, Johnson and Hubbard NOES: Councilmember Casey 4. Discussion of can attrition on rate projections - Schedule H It was noted that the number of cans had not reduced as much as expected therefore there was more revenue. D. Yard Waste 1. Residential Yard Waste Collection - what are the prospects? 2. Should the user pay for the drop off center? 3. How do we implement changes? Barbara Hall, representative from Ms. Rands' office, stated that it was not the yardwaste that counted toward legislative requirements but rather how much was disposed in the landfill. �br Margaret Rands, Solid Waste Program Manager for Santa Clara County, stated that without the yardwaste program, Los Altos Hills would never make its AB939 goals, if the yardwaste went into the landfill. She further referred to a letter she had distributed to Council on Town/County coordination on waste related services. She noted that presently yard waste recycling services were not available to those in the unincorporated area. Ms. Rands hoped the Council would consider opportunities to work with the County on these solid waste issues, such as the development of a joint yard waste drop-off or curbside collection program. Johnson did not support a charge for the yardwaste center. Casey believed those using the yardwaste center should pay for it and enforcement should be increased for not putting yardwaste in the garbage cans. Dauber noted that the yardwaste costs were a very small amount of the total contract cost. Dauber also did not believe that yardwaste should be accepted on the clean up days, unless it was kept separate and recycled. Jon Angin, Los Altos Garbage Company, responded to Dauber's comments about the yardwaste being accepted on clean up days. He stated that they actually encouraged this as the safety of the yardwaste center was a concern. It was so crowded at the yardwaste site on a regular basis and especially when little league was going on that to add the increased number of people who only used the clean up days created a serious traffic problem. May 20, 1996 Special City Council Meeting PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To keep the yardwaste program as it is in place. E. Discussion of additional recycling items Jon Angin, Los Altos Garbage Company, noted that presently there was no formal program in place for the recycling of construction materials. He commented that the recycling of mixed paper and corrugated cardboard was beginning in Los Altos on June 3rd. He asked the Town for feedback on the issue of enhanced recycling. On the subject of hours of operation, Mr. Angin stated that they would stay open any hours the Town requested. Mr. Angin stated that if Council wished compost could be made available at Westwind Barn and in about six months he would have more information on debris box recycling. In response to Mr. Angin's request, the City Council stated that they did want additional recycling. Margaret Rands, Solid Waste Program Manager for Santa Clara County, commented that she had a handout on the recycling of construction materials which might be useful in educating the public on this issue. 3. BUDGET STUDY SESSIONS PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To cancel the previously scheduled June 4, 1996 Study Session on the proposed budget for FY 96-97. 4. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Betsy Bertram, 11854 Page Mill Road, referred to her letter dated 5/16/96 on the subject of her neighbor planning to asphalt Central Drive. Mrs. Bertram stated that she was adamantly against this action and her neighbor had not contacted her about his plans. She noted that the was planning to sell his property and a condition of the sale was this work done on Central Drive. She referred to easements which were in place on Central for Town pathways and on her property for Central Drive itself. Mrs. Bertram requested legal opinions from the City Attorney on several aspects of this issue and believed it may go to mediation. The City Attorney commented that since Central Drive was a private road, it was a matter for the owners of the road to resolve as long as the Town's paths were not negatively impacted. %W May 20, 1996 Special City Council Meeting `r 5. ADIOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 11:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the May 20, 1996 Special City Council Meering were approved at the June 5, 1996 Regular City Council Meeting. May 20, 1996 Special City Council Meeting