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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/29/1993`' Minutes of an Adjourned Regular Meeting June 29, 1993 Town of Los Altos Hills City Council Meeting Tuesday, June 29, 1993, 3:00 P.M. Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Johnson called the Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 3:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. Present: Mayor Johnson and Councilmembers Dauber, Hubbard, Siegel and Tryon Absent: None Staff: City Manager Les M. Jones, II, Town Planner Linda Niles, �w Director of Public Works Jeff Peterson, City Treasurer Louise Parmett and City Clerk Pat Dowd Press: None MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Siegel and passed unanimously to add the following item to the agenda as an urgency item: 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS TO SIGN THE PROGRAM ELEMENT FOR THE EL MONTE/STONEBROOK DRIVE SIGNALIZATION PROTECT MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Siegel and passed unanimously to adopt Resolution #40-93 authorizing the Public Works Director to sign program supplement in connection with the El Monte/Stonebrook Project. ,� June 29, 1993 Adjourned Regular Meeting 2. 1993-94 PROPOSED BUDGET - STUDY SESSION Regarding the Community Service Budget, the Mayor noted that a request had been received from the Silicon Valley Arts Fund for financial assistance. Due to budgetary concerns, Council agreed that this request could not be granted and it was further agreed that the Mayor would send them a letter with this information. In the police budget, Siegel raised the issue of parking ticket enforcement and noted that cities had to have a plan in place by July 1st as the County would no longer be doing doing this. The City Manager noted that the Town would more than likely participate with the Sheriff's Department for this service but costs were unknown at this time, although it was anticipated this would be part of the present agreement with the Sheriff's Department. Tryon noted that there could be a significant reduction in booking fees as a result of a change to the present process used by the County and the cities' request for accurate accounting of costs involved in booking, if a compromise bill pending in Sacramento passed. In Planning it was agreed to remove the design guidelines project for separate discussion. %W $300 BY CONSENSUS: To increase Planning dues and subscriptions from $300 to $350. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to increase salaries for planning hourly employees to an amount not to exceed $5,000. In Building Council discussed the computer consultant charges and it was agreed that the City Manager would look into and report on these expenses, how long they would continue, etc. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Hubbard, seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to remove the dead animal expenses ($1,500) from the Engineering budget and to include them in a separate account to be established for animal control in the amount of $30,000. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Dauber to increase the budgets in Engineering for supplies and training to $1,000 each. June 29, 1993 Adjourned Regular Meeting 4 PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To direct the City Manager to return with a `, proposal for consolidating several of the budgets such as playing fields, Town Ring, Westwind Barn, parks and open space and pathways toward the goal of achieving a more accurate budgetary picture. Dauber noted that the budget for the playing fields should have been decreasing since the major work was done but this was not the case. Tryon also expressed her concerns that there was no agreement with the Los Altos Hills Horsemens' Association for the use of the Town Ring. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to reduce the total operating expenses for the playing fields and Town Ring to $34,167. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: To direct the City Manager to obtain a budget from the Little League, to get an agreement with the Horsemens' Association and to report back to Council on both the Town Ring and the Little League. Concerning the Westwind Barn budget, Council asked the City Manager to report back to them on the agreement with Westwind specifically regarding the rent paid and the charges for grazing horses in Byrne Preserve. Council further noted they thought it very important that the Town have access to the budget, financial statements, etc. for Westwind. Regarding pathway maintenance, Siegel asked how the crew's time was actually divided among projects. The Director of Public Works responded that 1/3 was spent on streets, 1/3 on pathways, 20% on drainage and 17% on other projects. Siegel commented that he did not believe the landscaping around Town Hall was being done well at all and thought the crew could do this project. Tryon commented the amount budgeted for pathways was never spent and she questioned the priorities decided by Council and those carried out by staff. The Director of Public Works responded that his work load had been so heavy with day to day important issues that it was true he had not had the opportunity to plan and implement path projects. With the hiring of an engineering technician this month, he anticipated having more time to work on such projects. He did show a map he and the Maintenance Supervisor had begun using which showed where and how often the crew had worked on a path. In addition the Maintenance Supervisor submitted an hourly activity report. Council asked if contract help would be of assistance or if the Director of Public Works needed additional crew members. The suggestion was made to have one crew member work entirely on paths. Council suggested several organizations who have experienced trail specialists. June 29, 1993 Adjourned Regular Meeting The Director of Public Works commented on a policy statement from the Council on how they believed the paths should be cleared. The crew had run into difficulties using equipment to clear the paths. Council concurred that the use of equipment was sometimes necessary. He noted that he would be returning to the Council with a request for a policy statement on maintenance methods and standards for paths. PASSED BY CONSENSUS: It was agreed the Director of Public Works would bring back a report in six months on how the pathway projects were going, what plans were in place, did he need more help, use of a chipper, etc. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to state that the following three goals regarding pathways shall be attained by December 31, 1993: 1) completion of signing of paths; 2) completion of project to accept dedication of paths; and 3) realization of one/third of the crew's time spent on paths. In the future the City Treasurer will report actual costs of labor for the crew's time spent on paths. On the subject of Town Center Operations the issue of the lease with the Purissima Hills Water District was raised. It was agreed that the Council would discuss this lease negotiation issue at a closed session on July 21st and a decision would be made in the near future, Tryon raised the issue of the cellular lease and was advised that it was being worked on and was near completion. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Dauber and passed unanimously to add $15,000 to the Vehicle and Equipment Operations Budget for a new Town car to replace the one that was recently totaled in an accident. The City Manager noted a correction to the Vehicle and Equipment Operations Budget for depreciation expense. The figure should be $14,400 not $17,400. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Hubbard and passed unanimously to add $2,500 to the Town Equipment budget for a sound system for Council Chambers and to direct the City Manager to return with a report on type of equipment, etc. June 29, 1993 Adjourned Regular Meeting �W MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Hubbard, seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to approve the $5,000 expenditure for voice mail. Dauber asked for a complete description of the system to be installed. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to add $17,000 to the City Manager's budget for the database project. This project will come back for specific Council approval. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to add $5,000 to the Town Equipment budget for two computers for the new staff members. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Johnson and passed unanimously to add $10,000 to the Street Maintenance Budget for tree planting on an ongoing basis. Tryon asked the City Manager for a report on the use of reserves. She did not believe the needs of the community were being met and thought there could be good uses for the community as a whole for some of the reserve funds. Council discussed the Town Handbook and Design Guidelines Project. Tryon strongly supported the production of the Town Handbook. She believed this was an extremely worthwhile project which would benefit all residents of the Town. Dauber distributed several examples of brochures, etc. she had received from PRX. She noted that the big cost item was the use of four colors. Tryon noted that reducing the number of photographs in the handbook would also reduce the cost. Dauber stated that although she was concerned about the cost of the project, she was more concerned about the image it would project. Siegel was concerned about the issue of priorities. It seemed poor timing to him to be completing a handbook project when the libraries were facing cuts, sales tax was being increased, etc. MOTION SECONDED AND FAILED: Moved by Tryon, seconded by Johnson and failed by the following roll call vote to budget $35,000 for the Town Handbook with the direction that the Council subcommittee would work with all involved with this project, would get bids and would arrive at a final product approved by all involved. June 29, 1993 Adjourned Regular Meeting L AYES: Mayor Johnson and Councilmember Tryon NOES: Mayor Pro Tem Dauber and Councilmembers Hubbard and Siegel MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Dauber, seconded by Tryon and passed by the following roll call vote to budget $40,000 for the publication of both the Town Handbook and the Design Guidelines with the direction that both projects will be brought back to Council for final approval. AYES: Mayor Johnson and Councilmembers Dauber, Hubbard and Tryon NOES: Councilmember Siegel Siegel commented that he would be comfortable proceeding with the Design Guidelines project but he was not in favor of producing the Town Handbook in these times of financial difficulties. Dauber gave a report on the library budget issue. She noted that they had lost $800,000 and the budget was now $1.9 million. Although there would be layoffs and reduction in services, they had not been as negatively affected as some other branches. She did say that the libraries would be approaching the cities for assistance. Tryon went through a list of pending issues and asked for a status: 1) goals and objectives (final list will be presented with adopted budget); 2) where were the AB8 funds listed in the budget (page 17); 3) what was the status of the purchase of land from Caltrains; 4) how many newsletters would be published (two); PERS for Council (City Manager will report); 5) would the City Attorney's time on the Site Development Ordinance review be in addition to her contract (no); and 6) when were the fees and the survey of surrounding cities to be discussed (October). MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Siegel, seconded by Tryon and passed unanimously to approve the submittal of the proposed 1993-94 budget as amended by Council for a public hearing scheduled for July 7th and to direct the City Manager to prepare an appropriate press release on the budget reflecting the decisions made by the Council. 3. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR June 29, 1993 Adjourned Regular Meeting 4. ADTOURNMENT There being no further new or old business to discuss, the City Council Meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m. Respectfully syibmitted, Patricia Dowd City Clerk The minutes of the June 29, 1993 Adjourned Regular City Council Meeting were approved at the July 7, 1993 City Council Meering. June 29, 1993 Adjourned Regular Meeting