HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/5/2013Town of Los Altos Hills
City Council Special Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, California
CLOSED SESSION CALL TO ORDER (5:30 P.M.)
OPEN SESSION CALL TO ORDER (6:00 P.M.)
A. Roll Call
Present: Mayor Waldeck, Vice Mayor Radford, Councilmember Harpootlian,
Councilmember Larsen, Councilmember Corrigan
Absent: None
Staff: City Manager Carl Cahill, Assistant City Attorney John Truxaw,
Community Development Director Debbie Pedro, City Engineer/Public
Works Director Richard Chiu, Administrative Services Director Yulia
Carter, Planning Consultant Corrine Bartshire, Community
Development Specialist/Planning Secretary Jaime McAvoy
B. Pledge of Allegiance
Councilmember Harpootlian led the Pledge of Allegiance.
1. AGENDA REVIEW
Councilmember Harpootlian requested that Agenda Item 2.A be pulled and not
considered.
2. COUNCIL INITIATED ITEMS
This item was not considered.
B. Consideration of Creating a 501(c)3 for Westwind Community Barn Lower Arena
and Other Uses (Councilmember Corrigan)
Councilmember Corrigan presented the item.
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Council discussion ensued.
Duffy Price, Los Altos Hills, stated that she was in charge of receiving donations
for the "donor art wall" at Town Hall and that there is already a mechanism in place
to receive tax deductible donations.
DIRECTION: The motion was tabled pending a report back from the City
Attorney's office on the full implications of starting a separate 501(c)3 or other tax
donation option.
C. Discussion on the Twenty -Four Hour Surveillance Requirement for the Westwind
Community Barn (Mayor Waldeck)
Mayor Waldeck presented the item.
Community Development Director Debbie Pedro provided a report on history of
the 24-hour surveillance requirement.
Kathy Liccardo, Los Altos Hills, expressed her belief that 24-hour surveillance is
unnecessary.
Council discussion ensued.
Richard Sereni, Los Altos Hills, stated that the surveillance cameras would work
better than having someone sleep at the barn and not hear a horse in a stall.
Jim Abraham, Los Altos Hills, agreed that cameras could be a solution.
Katie Boissicat, Los Altos Hills, said that she owns two horses and agreed that the
24-hour surveillance was out dated, but as a horse owner, she is comforted to know
someone is there on site.
DIRECTION: Revise the provision in the municipal code to remove the 24 hour
surveillance at commercial stables and possibly substitute a physical presence with
electronic surveillance.
D. Discussion on the Future of the Railroad Ties on the Fremont Road Pathway
(Mayor Waldeck)
Mayor Waldeck introduced the topic.
Council discussion ensued.
Steve Reedy, Los Altos, stated that he has been pushed off a bicycle into the
railroad ties on Fremont Road near Gardner Bullis School.
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DIRECTION: Continue the topic for further discussion at the August 2014 City
Council meeting.
3. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Persons wishing to address the Council
on any subject not on the agenda may do so now. Please complete a Speaker Card
located on the back table of the Council Chambers and submit it to the City Clerk.
Comments are limited to two (2) minutes per speaker. California law prohibits the
Council from acting on items that do not appear on the agenda. Under a Resolution
previously adopted by the Council, such items can be referred to staff for
appropriate action, which may include placement on the next available agenda.
There were no presentations from the floor.
4. ONGOING BUSINESS
A. Direction Regarding Options for the Future Management and Operations of
Westwind Community Barn (Staff- D Pedro/Y. Carter) - continued from the
October 24 2013 Special City Council meeting
Director Pedro presented the report.
Jitze Couperus, Los Altos Hills, presented further options for the Council's
consideration.
Council discussion ensued.
Roddy Sloss, Member of the Los Altos Hills Finance and Investment
Committee, was invited by Council to comment on the details provided by Mr.
Couperus.
Breene Kerr, Los Altos Hills, stated that the atmosphere at Westwind Barn has
changed throughout the years and he recommended having more volunteers be
involved.
Karen Ammer, Los Altos Hills, suggested only accepting subsidies for the short
term.
Margaret Mok, Los Altos Hills, stated that the subsidy is not only benefiting the
Westwind Barn boarders, because some horses are used by multiple people,
including Pony Club members.
Nick Dunckel, Los Altos Hills, said that when he was a member of Friends of
Westwind the subsidy was approximately $1,000 per month based on Byrne
Preserve being 50% full and the barn stalls 89% full.
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Jim Abraham, Los Altos Hills, said that the facility should be shut down and used
for Parks and Recreation activities only.
Michael Wagner, Los Altos Hills, said that there will be a fiscal impact if
boarding is not included.
Val Metcalfe, Los Altos Hills, pointed out that there are hidden costs and having a
no boarding option would impact revenue.
Wendy Mattas, Los Altos, said that the Westwind Barn is a treasure and should be
made available to the community.
Torie Dye, Mountain View, stated she currently runs the school program at
Fremont Hills Country Club and is potentially interested in moving the program to
Westwind Barn.
Richard Sereni, Los Altos Hills, proposed that he could be successful with the
Year Round Riding Program.
Nancy Couperus, Los Altos Hills, mentioned that the Friends of Westwind had no
Year Round Riding Program that brought in revenue, so the numbers may be even
better.
Rebecca Hickman, Los Altos Hills, encouraged the Council to go forward with
commercial boarding.
Allan Epstein, Los Altos Hills, said that the Finance and Investment Committee
had a discussion of a need for a subsidy and there was support among the
committee members.
Saila Kariat, Los Altos, said she boards two horses at Westwind and outlined the
business structure that works at Portola Valley Training Center and Portola Farms.
Jolon Wagner, Los Altos Hills, said that the community has amazing resources.
Kathy Evans, Los Altos Hills, said that the barn is a "community barn," not a
commercial barn and it is for kids and families.
Further Council discussion followed.
MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Vice Mayor Radford,
seconded by Councilmember Harpootlian and passed unanimously to conduct
structured interviews with any candidates that believe they can do the entire vendor
process or part of the process and have them interviewed in the next week; then
move from there to indicate which ones the Town wants to submit a request for a
quote for what they think they can do; it should be a staff function with one
Councilmember participating.
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Vice Mayor Radford agreed to serve as the participating Councilmember.
Council recess at 8:26 p.m.
Council reconvened open session at 8:38 p.m.
5. NEW BUSINESS
A. Resolution Adopting the October 2013 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (Staff. D.
Pedro
Corinne Bartshire with Dewberry Consultants presented the report.
Council discussion ensued.
Allan Epstein, Los Altos Hills, asked questions of the consultant.
Jim Abraham, Los Altos Hills Planning Commissioner, recalled that the
Planning Commission did not spend a lot of time on the document. He said that the
reason for going through the exercise was for the potential of receiving some grant
money.
Jitze Couperus, Los Altos Hills Planning Commissioner, said the Fire
Commission has reviewed some of the infrastructure in the past.
MOTION MADE AND SECONDED: Moved by Councilmember Larsen,
seconded by Vice Mayor Radford and passed unanimously to approve Resolution
56-13 Approving the Association of Bay Area Governments Report "Taming
Natural Disasters" with the County and City Annexes as the Town of Los Altos
Hills' Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.
6. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES SUB -COMMITTEES AND COUNCIL
MEMBERS ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES
Roger Burnell, Member of the Los Altos Hills Art in Public Places Committee,
reported that the committee has begun to assemble some art samples of various types of
site specific materials and artwork that could be used to inspire an artist or donor. He
introduced the first selection the Committee is proposing created by artist Selena
Rodriquez.
Council discussion ensued. No action was taken.
Councilmember Larsen reported that the VTA elected him as a VTA Board Alternate
and Councilmember Harpootlian as a second alternate.
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Councilmember Larsen reported out on the County's Policy Advisory Committee for the
Expressway Plan 2040.
Mayor Waldeck provided a brief update on the status of the Lehigh amicus brief.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Councilmember Larsen,
seconded by Councilmember Harpootlian and passed unanimously to approve the
CONSENT CALENDAR with the exception of 7.A and 7.B specifically
C. Resolution 57-13 Authorizing the December 2013 Town Holiday Closure (Staff:
Y. Carter)
D. Resolution 58-13 Accepting the 2013 Pavement Rehabilitation Project (Staff: R.
Chiu)
E. Notification of Fast Track Approval: Lands of DJNH, LLC, 26400 & 26420
Eshner Court; File #305 -13 -LM; A request for a lot merger of two existing parcels
into one 4.56 acre parcel. CEQA Review: Exempt per Section 15305 (a) (Staff:
D. Pedro)
F. Recommendation of Approval for a Resolution 59-13 Approving Amendment No.
7 for City Attorney Services between Meyers Nave and the Town of Los Altos
Hills (Staff. Yulia Carter)
A. Review of Disbursements: October 1 2013 - October 31 2013
Councilmember Harpootlian inquired about two invoices for water that were
labeled "Edith," and requested that staff detail the invoice for $1,200.00.
Public Works Director Chiu responded to the request stating that staff was
checking for leaks.
MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Councilmember
Harpootlian seconded by Councilmember Larsen and passed unanimously to
Receive and Approve October 2013 disbursements.
B. Recommendation of Approval for Ginny Lane and Purissima Road Sanitary Sewer
Main Extension Project (Staff: R. Chiu)
Allan Epstein, Los Altos Hills, questioned the future users list and specific
properties.
Director Chiu responded to Mr. Epstein's inquiry.
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November 5, 2013
MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved by Councilmember Larsen,
seconded by Councilmember Harpoothan and passed unanimously to approve the
Ginny Lane and Purissima Road Sanitary Sewer Main Extension Protect under the
condition that properties three and four potentially may not be included m the future
user's agreement.
8. STAFF REPORTS
A. City Manager
No report.
B. City Attorney
No report.
C. City Clerk
No report.
D. Community Development Director
No report.
E. Administrative Services Director
No report.
F. Public Works Director Update on the Westwind Barn Lower Arena Repairs
Director Chiu reported that he has been meeting with barn arena experts and
receiving recommendations and options for proposed work in the lower arena.
9. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 9:39 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
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Deborah Padovan
City Clerk
OR
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