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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/01/1995Minutes of a Regular Meeting `r February 1, 1995 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Meeting Wednesday, February 1, 1995,6:00 P.M. Council Chambers 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Dauber called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 6:02 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Dauber and Councilmembers Casey (arrived at 6:30 p.m.), Hubbard, Johnson and Siegel Absent: None Staff: City Manager Jeff Peterson, City Attorney Sandy Sloan, Planning Director Linda Niles and City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: Jan Shaw, Los Altos Town Crier 2. APPOINTMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS 2.1 Appointment to Technology Improvement Committee Michael Scott, 27856 Black Mountain Road, addressed the Council and commented on his interest in this committee. He referred to his experience in this area and believed the committee could make suitable recommendations for advancement. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously by all members present to appoint Michael Scott to the Technology Improvement Committee for a term of two year. 2.2 Request from the fifth grade at Bullis Purissima School for a variance to the Town's sign regulations Eli Wismer, fifth grade student at Bullis Purissima, addressed the Council on behalf of his class. They were asking for permission to install a sign 5' x5 on the school February 1, 1995 property which was larger than allowed by Town Code. The purpose of the sign was `, for an environmental awareness program. The hanging plaques (4' x 3') would be changed each month to address different environmental issues. Jill Jensen, Vice President of the Bullis Purissima PTA, commented that the School District concurred with this request for a sign on their property but believed it was appropriate to obtain the Town's concurrence. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously by all members present to agree that this request for a sign from Bullis could be handled at the staff level with the understanding that no fees will be charged for the variance. 2.3 Presentation by Nancy Couperus on concept of a Farmers Market at Town Hall Nancy Couperus addressed the Council on the subject of a Farmers' Market at Town Hall. She was experienced in the Farmers' Market in Menlo Park. Ms. Couperus commented that a farmers' market could serve as an excellent vehicle toward bringing the community together but there were several components necessary to make it work. These included the buying public, variety of good produce, good accessibility, good location. It must also be well managed and thus attractive to the farmers. A farmers' market was a good way for revenue to be raised for service clubs if one sponsored the entire market. The farmers' markets could be run by the city, a service group or the farmers themselves. They could also be certified or non - certified markets. Certified markets were encumbered by State regulations; the vendors could sell only their harvest; and limitations were imposed on what could be sold. A non -certified farmers' market could include a variety of things such as baked goods and crafts and had minimal external regulations. Whatever the choice, publicity was extremely important. Jill Gilliland, Vice President - Bullis Purissima PTA, believed the school might be interested in sponsoring such an event whether by providing the site only and charging rent to a service group or by handling the entire event. With their broad base of parents and school activities, she thought the publicity through the school could be quite good. Craig Murray stated that it was important to get a lot of people included and as a farmer he was not sure if he would participate. It was difficult to move produce from one location to another and he would have to give it some more thought. Jill Jensen, commented that for years she had participated in the Palo Alto Farmers' Market selling candles and honey but interest had diminished over the years and it was a lot of hard work. She would be interested to see how the community responded. February 1, 1995 �w William Johnson, 13733 La Paloma, stated that he was a firm believer in farmers' markets and had gone to the one in Palo Alto for years. However, he just did not believe it would work in the Town as he thought there were just too many good options and there would not be enough customers. One suggestion if the Town did pursue this however might be to hold such a market mid -week. Council discussed the option of a farmers' market including the traffic issue, the location issue, who would sponsor and the accessibility of so many nearby markets. Dauber further commented that one fundraising suggestion might be funds for the Town Float. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To continue this item to the March 1, 1995 City Council Meeting and to request any and all interested parties to submit input to the Council prior to that meeting. 2.4 Presentation by Pacific Gas & Electric -- John Leach and Steve Machado John Leach reported on the January storms and their impact on their utility. He explained that with the storms coming one right after another the result had been a roller coaster effect -- one day as many as 529,000 customers without service, the next day 20,000 with this being repeated time and again. They had had 650 poles down, 600 transformers down, over 500,000 calls received in one day and huge spans of wire down. Their priority system for restoring power was as follows: health and safety, hospitals, health care facilities, highways, high voltage lines, supermarkets and large blocks of customers. Isolated customers were last. Mr. Leach did acknowledge that there had been serious public relations problems and much better use was needed of their communications systems. Steve Machado stated that the January storms had been a disaster from a public relations point of view but it had been an educational experience. He had met with Los Altos officials and looked forward to meeting with Town officials to discuss better solutions to issues raised during the January storms. Shannon Paboojian, 14395 Purissima, commented that there had been a brown out during the storms and he inquired if there were any safety issues involved or negative impacts on residents. Steve Machado responded to Mr. Paboojian's question by saying that applicances could be damaged as a result of a brown out. It was not a safety hazard but a mechancial hazard. It was agreed that this would be a good article (how to proceed in a brown out) for the next PG&E newsletter. February 1, 1995 Council discussed various issues raised and it was agreed by all that much better `, communication was needed. It was very important that those at Town Hall were able to obtain an update so they could pass it along to residents and the residents too should be able to contact someone at PG&E and ascertain if their power was going to be out four hours or four days. Some information was much better than none. Council thanked Mr. Leach and Mr. Machado for attending the meeting and stated that they looked forward to future discussions on solving some of these communication problems. 3. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT 4. CONSENT CALENDAR Items Removed: 4.1 - 12/7 and 12/19 minutes (Dauber); 1/18/95 regular meeting minutes (Hubbard); 4.2 (Dauber), 4.3b) (Dauber) and 4.10 (Dauber) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar, specifically: 4.1 Approved Minutes: December 6, 1994 (Adjourned Regular) December 7, 1994 (Regular Meeting) December 19, 1994 (Special Meeting) January 18, 1995 (Adjourned Regular) January 18, 1995 (Regular Meeting) 4.3 Decided Not To Review the following Planning Commission Actions at Its Meeting on January 11, 1995: 4.3a Lands of Nguyen, 11632 Rebecca Lane: approved request for a Site Development Permit for a pool 4.4 Awarded Certificates of Appreciation: Lois Tierney - Community Relations Committee; Yvonne and Thornton Fisher - Safety Committee; Ray Rooker - Community Development Block Grant Citizens' Advisory Committee 4.5 Granted request for extension of the expiration date of a Site Development Permit for a pool, Lands of MacDonald, 11800 Francemont Drive 4.6 Approved sixth amendment to agreement to provide local law enforcement agency access to the California Identification System -- Reso #9-95 February 1, 1995 4.7 Approved Notice of Completion, Driveway Roughening Project `, (FY 93-94) -- Reso #10-95 4.8 Approved contract for design of the Robleda Pathway and Retaining Wall Project with William Cotton and Associates -- Reso #11-95 4.9 Accepted Heritage Tree Nomination --1994 Heritage Tree (large bay tree located about 100' east and across the street from the Hidden Villa gate on Moody Road Items Removed: 4.1 Approval of Minutes: December 7, 1994 (Regular Meeting) December 19, 1994 (Special Meeting) January 18, 1995 (Regular Meeting) MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the December 7, 1994 City Council Meeting with the following changes: page 7, first paragraph, amend motion to read: .....exceed 370' contour line in height and the house on lot #3 shall not exceed 380' contour line in height" and page 8, paragraph 7, add the following sentence: "They would write a letter addressing their intention to study distribution of costs among the cities." �w MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Hubbard, seconded by Siegel and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the December 19, 1994 Special City Council Meeting with the following corrections: page 2, amend the last sentence of Mr. Jensen's comments to read: "....possibility of an inverted rate structure".; page 3, next to the last paragraph, amend the second sentence to read: "... add additional language to the agreement allowing for an adjustment to be made after the first few months...."; and page 4, change the Passed By Consensus vote to read: "To amend the language of the approved rate schedule to be attached to the settlement agreement to reflect the following - Since only a portion of the total costs are costs that will vary with an increase in the cost of living, the rates for the twelve (12) month period will be adjusted by a percentage of the cost of living increase as determined pursuant to Section 4 of the Settlement Agreement." MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Hubbard, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the January 18, 1995 Regular City Council Meeting with the following corrections: page 5, Item 9.2, third line change "trees" to "power lines"; page 8 add the following to the next to last Passed by Consensus vote: "..... plan of protection for heritage trees and to add the following statement: "The recorded restriction and the CC&Rs shall also include a statement %kw February 1, 1995 as set forth for each lot in condition #31 that the development area and floor area for each lot SHALL be restricted further from Maximum Development Area (MDA) and Maximum Floor Area (MFA) due to lot constraints such as the Human Habitation Setback (HHSB) from the existing fault trace crossing lots 1 and 6; conservation easements; topography; existing swales; significant stands of trees; and required development setbacks."' and page 9, add the following statement after the roll call vote: "Dauber stated that she objected to this subdivision and voted against it because of the lack of road attached to the cul-de-sac." 4.2 Approval of Warrants: $248,322.06 (1/13/95) Dauber asked for clarification of the payment being made to Casey Construction and also asked for a status report on the storm drain projects in Town. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to approve the warrants for 1/13/95 in the amount of $248,322.06. 4.3b Lands of Wise, 24301 Elise Court: approved request for a Site Development Permit for grading and a variance to allow grading within ten feet of the property line Dr. Walker, 24245 Elise Court, referred to his 1/17/94 letter in which he raised concerns about the public hearing process and the amount of grading being done. He hoped it would took as natural as possible. The Planning Director noted that Dr. Walker's comments primarily pertained to the Vidovich property. This application would be coming in soon and his concerns would be noted at that time. She further noted that a natural transition would occur and there would be no change in the drainage pattern. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To concur with the Planning Commission's approval of a request for a Site Development Permit for grading and a variance to allow grading within ten feet of the property line for Lands of Wise, 24301 Elise Court 4.10 Recommendation to create new positions and to amend the Town's salary schedule Dauber suggested that it be made clear in the job descriptions and organizational chart who was responsible to whom. Siegel asked for an up to date list of staff positions and salary ranges. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to approve the creation of new staff positions and amend the Town's salary schedule -- adoption of Resolution #12-95. %" February 1, 1995 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5.1 Outstanding Weed Abatement Charges from the summer of 1993 The City Manager reported that there were outstanding charge for weed abatament work from 1993. Seven properties were involved for a total of approximately $20,000. Part of the reasons for nonpayment included disagreements with the property owners on the amount charged, the manner in which the work was done and the inability to locate the owner for billing purposes. The City Manager referred to the process of placing these charges on the tax bill and further commented that these charges, although from past years, could still go on the tax bill. To do this however a public hearing was required. The complete files were available if anyone wished to review them. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To authorize the City Manager to review these charges, to drop any he feels are unwarranted and to bring back a procedure for the remaining to a future Council Meeting. 6. NEW BUSINESS 7. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES, SUB -COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILMEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES 7.1 Safety Committee 7.1.1 Recommendation concerning organizational structure of the Committee MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to accept the recommendation of the Safety Committee and change their membership from eight to seven. 7.1.2 Recommendation concerning adoption of an ordinance requiring homes to have clear addresses for safety purposes Ralph Vetterlein, member of the Safety Committee, relayed the committee's concerns about poor signage in the Town. It was very difficult for emergency vehicles to find certain homes, especially those that were located on one street but had an address for another. The committee was recommending the adoption of an ordinance to correct this. Council discussed such an ordinance and how difficult it would be to enforce it. They also commented on the suggestion of the fire district being asked to VAW February 1, 1995 survey the Town and to identify those streets which were poorly marked. It `; was also noted that the Safety Committee could contact residents when they became aware of such a signage problem and recommend correction. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To authorize the Mayor to send a letter to the Fire District asking them to survey the Town for poor street signage. 7.1.3 Mountain Lions Ralph Vetterlein, member of the Safety Committee, reported that mountain lions had been sighted in Town. An article was going to be included in the next newsletter which would include safety tips if one saw a mountain lion and a pamphlet was available at Town Hall. 8. STAFF REPORTS 8.1 City Manager 8.1.1 Request for a budget amendment of an additional $1,000 for Volunteer Dinner in February MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Johnson, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to approve a budget amendment of an additional $1,000 for Volunteer Dinner in February 8.1.2 City Council Update The City Manager noted that the City Council Update would be available tomorrow and he asked Council for any input and/or suggestions on format. 8.1.3 Eagle Scout Project The City Manager reported that one of Rick Ettinger's sons was going to be doing an eagle scout project which involved the screening of the propane tank in the parking lot. 8.2 City Attorney 8.3 City Clerk 8.3.1 Report on Council Correspondence 8.3.1a Recommendation concerning limiting the number of cable rate increases %W February 1, 1995 8.3.1b Recommendation concerning telecommunications legislation Dauber commented on the new format for Council Correspondence which was being implemented. This format included notations for Council Action (no action, City Manager working on issue or agendized for Council Action). Council took no action on the above referenced correspondence. 9. COUNCIL -INITIATED ITEMS 9.1 Appointment to the Emergency Preparedness Council (Mayor Dauber) PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To approve a Council policy that the appointment to the Emergency Preparedness Council would be the Mayor and this appointment would rotate with the Mayor's position. 9.2 January Storm (Hubbard) Hubbard noted that he had received word from the resident at Fremont and Edith i (Mrs. Seafoss) whose house was seriously flooded during the storms. She thanked br the City Manager and the Assistant Engineer for their assistance during the storms. 10. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS 12. ADIOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, -�. Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the February 1, 1995 City Council Meeting were approved at the March 1, 1995 City Council Meeting. February 1, 1995