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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2001-10-152 3 SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 1 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL, MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2001 AT 8:00 P.M. Regular Meeting: San Rafael City Council Also Present: Rod Gould, City Manager Gus Guinan, Assistant City Attorney Jeanne M. Leoncini, City Clerk CLOSED SESSION — CONFERENCE ROOM 201 — 7:00 PM: Present: Albert J. Boro, Mayor Cyr N. Miller, Vice -Mayor Paul M. Cohen, Councilmember Barbara Heller, Councilmember Absent: Gary O. Phillips, Councilmember 1. a) Conference with Legal Counsel — Existing Litigation Government Code Section 54956.9(a) Case Name: Gregory Cella v. City of San Rafael WCAB No.: SFO 0431688 b) Conference with Legal Counsel — Existing Litigation Government Code Section 54956.9(a) Case Name: MHC Financing, et al. v. City of San Rafael, et al. U.S. District Court, Northern Dist. of CA, Case No. C003785 Assistant City Attorney Gus Guinan announced that no reportable action was taken. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN URGENCY NATURE: None. 8:04 PM Councilmember Miller moved and Councilmember Heller seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar, as follows: ITEM Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of Monday, September 17, 2001 and Special Meeting of Monday, October 1, 2001 (CC) Resolution Approving the Creation of the Joint Powers Authority Oversight Committee and Appointing Councilmember Barbara Heller as the City's Representative to that Committee (CM) — File 239 x 113 x 4-4-6b 5. Appointment to the General Plan 2020 Steering Committee Due to Resignation of Member John Maurer (P98-4) (CD —File 115 (2020) 6. Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Sign a Professional Services Agreement with Mogavero Notestine for Professional Planning and Design Services to Assist with the Community Design Charette and with Land Use Policy Development Pertaining to the San Rafael General Plan 2020 (P98-10) (CD) —File 4-3-396 x115 (2020) RECOMMENDED ACTION Minutes approved as submitted. RESOLUTION NO. 10934 — RESOLUTION APPROVING THE CREATION OF THE JOINT POWERS AUTHORITY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AND APPOINTMENT OF A CITY OF SAN RAFAEL REPRESENTATIVE (COUNCILMEMBER BARBARA HELLER) City Council Appointed Ms. Chrise DeTournay Birkhahn to the San Rafael General Plan 2020 Steering Committee. RESOLUTION NO. 10935 — RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SIGN A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH MOGAVERO NOTESTINE ASSOCIATES FOR PROFESSIONAL PLANNING AND DESIGN SERVICES TO ASSIST WITH THE COMMUNITY DESIGN CHARETTE AND WITH LAND USE POLICY DEVELOPMENT PERTAINING TO THE SAN RAFAEL GENERAL PLAN 2020 (P98-10) (TERM OF AGREEMENT FROM OCTOBER 15, 2001 AND ENDING ON MAY 1, 2002 — MAY BE CONTINUED AN ADDITIONAL PERIOD OF THREE MONTHS WITH APPROVAL OF CITY MANAGER) SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 1 SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 2 AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Cohen, Heller, Miller and Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Phillips The following item was removed from the Consent Calendar for discussion, at the request of Mayor Boro: 4. SECOND READING AND FINAL ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 1772 — AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL ENACTING NEW CHAPTER 2.19, ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCE PROTECTION, OF THE SAN RAFAEL MUNICIPAL CODE TO ESTABLISH MEASURES TO IDENTIFY, PROTECT AND PRESERVE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCES IN THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL (CD) — FILE 10-6 x 10-2 Mayor Boro stated that on Friday, October 12, 2001, Council received a letter from Mr. Tim Campbell, Cultural Resource Officer, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, requesting an opportunity to speak on this subject this evening. It was pointed out to Mr. Campbell, however, that unfortunately, due to the late notice, neither the specialist hired by the City, nor the staff person who worked on this issue, could be present this evening and, therefore, the matter would be carried over to the City Council meeting of November 5, 2001. Councilmember Cohen moved and Councilmember Miller seconded, to carry the Second Reading and Final Adoption of Ordinance No. 1772 over to the City Council Meeting of November 5, 2001. AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Cohen, Heller, Miller and Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Phillips SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS: 7. a) INTRODUCTION OF NEW COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES: (CM) — FILE 9-3-85 Community Development Director Bob Brown reported that the Community Development staff was thrilled at this time to be almost fully staffed and he introduced four new employees. Emi Theriault, Associate Planner, is a native of San Francisco and now Marin and has worked at all levels in Planning, including the State OPR (Office of Planning and Research), ABAG, and most recently, the town of Tiburon. Ms. Theriault is also the mother of a ten-month old daughter. Sonia Martinez, Code Enforcement Officer 1, who will be working on the Apartment Inspection program, is originally from EI Salvador and has been living in the Canal since 1988. Ms. Martinez attended Dominican University, is a Masters Candidate at the JFK University, has been very involved in Canal affairs and is on the Board of Canal Ministry. Damon DiDonato, Associate Planner, originally from Trenton, New Jersey, the Garden State, now resides in San Francisco and was most recently working in the County of San Mateo. Damon also has a ten-month old son. Mr. Brown noted that perhaps the biggest challenge for Ms. Theriault and Mr. DiDonato will be staying awake at late-night meetings. The second Code Enforcement Officer 1, Irving Godinez, currently resides in Daly City. Mr. Godinez has had a lot of involvement in social services, worked with teenage parents, and most recently, assisted in establishing a domestic violence prevention program with the City of East Palo Alto. b) INTRODUCTION OF NEW COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE: (CM) — FILF 9-3-65 Community Services Director Carlene McCart stated it was her pleasure to introduce Alison Turgeon, new Recreation Center Supervisor at Terra Linda Community Center. Ms. Turgeon is a native of Maine and began her career in Aquatics Management, working for the YMCA on both coasts. She has worked for the City of San Rafael on a seasonal basis and is a good fit with the management team. Ms. Turgeon now resides in Novato and is a student at Dominican University completing her work towards a degree in Education. Ms. McCart noted that with Alison's skills in Aquatic Management, the pool, when opened, will be in good hands and service to the community in North San Rafael will be greatly enhanced by her energy. SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 2 SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 3 Mayor Boro congratulated all new employees and welcomed them to the City of San Rafael, affirming they had made a great choice for themselves and the City. PUBLIC HEARING: 8. Public Hearing — CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION APPROVING THE ISSUANCE OF CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY KAISER PERMANENTE VARIABLE RATE REVENUE BONDS, 2001 SERIES A IN AN AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $275,000,000 FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINANCING AND REFINANCING THE ACQUISITION, IMPROVEMENT AND EQUIPPING OF SAN RAFAEL MEDICAL CENTER AND CERTAIN OTHER MATTERS RELATING THERETO (MS) — FILE 8-9 x 9-3-20 Mayor Boro declared the public hearing opened and requested staff to detail why this item was before Council this evening. Assistant City Manager Ken Nordhoff explained that under the Internal Revenue Code, issuance of bonds to the California Statewide Communities Development Authority requires that a public hearing be conducted in the community, or communities, where the financing will benefit. In this case, $275,000,000 of financing is contemplated by Kaiser, of which approximately $57,000,000 would be used to pay off an outstanding debt on their facility in Terra Linda. Mr. Nordhoff stated this is really part of a comprehensive package for Kaiser to reduce their overall debt burden and obviously affects the overall profitability and performance of Kaiser as an operation. Mr. Nordhoff stated it should be noted from the Resolution that the City is in no way obligated under this financing and has no commitment to pay any future bonds which may be issued. He indicated he would be happy to answer questions, and noted Mary Yaeger from Kaiser was in attendance. Responding to Mayor Boro's invitation, Mary Yaeger declined to address the Council and indicated she was present on behalf of Ms. Patricia Kendall, Medical Group Administrator. There being no further comment from the audience, Mayor Boro closed the public hearing. Councilmember Cohen moved and Councilmember Miller seconded, to adopt the Resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 10936 — RESOLUTION APPROVING THE ISSUANCE OF CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY KAISER PERMANENTE VARIABLE RATE REVENUE BONDS, 2001 SERIES A IN AN AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $275,000,000 FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINANCING AND REFINANCING THE ACQUISITION, IMPROVEMENT AND EQUIPPING OF SAN RAFAEL MEDICAL CENTER AND CERTAIN OTHER MATTERS RELATING THERETO AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Cohen, Heller, Miller and Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Phillips NEW BUSINESS: 9. RESOLUTION ENDORSING DRAFT COMPACT FOR A SUSTAINABLE BAY AREA (P01-4) (CD) — FILE 259 x 10-2 Community Development Director Bob Brown stated this is an item whereby the City is requested to consider endorsement of the Draft Compact for Sustainability. Mr. Brown stated that as pointed out in the staff report, staff believes San Rafael exemplifies most of these principles in planning efforts. He indicated that the only area of concern is with regard to some of the wording related to fiscal revenue sharing, which is relatively undefined; however, certainly, would be a topic of further discussion. Mr. Brown suggested Council go on record as having some reservations in this area; other than that, staff believes San Rafael is a model of sustainability. Mayor Boro welcomed former Marin County Supervisor and former Novato Mayor and Councilmember, Harry Moore. Harry Moore, Novato, representing the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development and the Draft Compact (subject to becoming final), stated there would not be substantive changes, although he believed all would like to see the elimination of the discussion on sharing revenues. Mr. Moore indicated he did not believe in revenue sharing, unless it could be equitable for all, and noted it was the sentiment expressed throughout the areas of the North Bay, Solano, Napa and Marin he visited SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 3 SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 4 in representing the Alliance Mr. Moore informed the City Council that being a member of this organization does not incur a cost. A secondary cost could be indicated when it is necessary for an alternate to attend a meeting to lend a voice, especially concerning the issue of revenue sharing. Explaining the Compact, Mr. Moore stated it attempts to bring together the environmentalists, business community and equity leaders, the equity leaders being those concerned with regard to people who are not receiving equal pay, do not have affordable, or any transportation to their place of employment, and do not have affordable housing. As Councilmembers were in possession of the relevant information, Mr. Moore concluded, stating he was available to answer potential questions. With regard to the issue of revenue sharing, which was of great concern, Mayor Boro referred to the paragraph in the Resolution "Now Therefore Be It Resolved", item 3) which states "expresses reservations about legislative efforts directed towards the sharing of tax revenues or other fiscal reforms that would affect the City's ability to provide services to new development or negatively impact the City's fiscal status", and suggested the word "reservations" be substituted with "opposition" as he believed this would be taken more seriously. Councilmember Cohen stated that in the recent past, some of the proposals regarding revenue sharing would not only impact the City's ability to provide services to new development, rather would impact the City's ability to provide services, period, and he suggested striking the words "new development" in the Resolution. He indicated his willingness to hear from staff as to why this phrase was included and favored the language "to oppose legislative efforts directed towards the sharing of tax revenues or other fiscal reforms that would affect the City's ability to provide services or negatively impact the City's fiscal status", which he believed would get to the intent. City Manager Gould stated both are improvements over the language offered. Having observed the legislative debate over the last few years concerning the state/local fiscal relationship, he indicated that frequently, when fiscalization or land use is discussed, the real issue is distributing sales tax on the basis of per capita, rather than per situs (where the sale occurs). As sales tax represents 30% of the General Fund revenues in San Rafael, Mr. Gould indicated that distributing on a different basis would be very negative for San Rafael and would unnecessarily reward cities which had zoned out retail and, therefore, did not have to service the effects of retail. He agreed with Mayor Boro's suggestion of expressing "opposition" rather than "reservations" and Councilmember Cohen's suggestion to delete the words "to new development" and would recommend both edits. With regard to revenue sharing, Councilmember Cohen stated his response each time this has arisen was to offer to share costs, which was totally different. He considered San Rafael had been very prudent in not accepting every retailer attempting to locate here and did not believe the City should be penalized for allowing certain retailers to so do. He reported having had ongoing discussions with the state, with the assistance of City Manager Gould, concerning ways to create incentives for the type of development to be encouraged, as opposed to punishments. Councilmember Cohen believed this should be the City's intent, together with ongoing discussion with the Alliance to explore ways to create incentives for affordable housing and counter the argument that housing costs money, by making affordable workforce housing pay for itself through grants from a state fund, or something like that. Councilmember Cohen stated that as a member of the Marin Economic Commission, the City pushed the County of Marin to use the notion of sustainability as the theme for the Countywide Plan Update, advice which has been taken. He believed it continues to need close attention to ensure the three Es (a prosperous Economy, a quality Environment, and social Equity) are balanced. Councilmember Cohen indicated that there had been substantial work done on the environment, but perhaps not as much on a sustainable economy and issues of social equity, albeit progress has been made in these areas; however, this approach provides an exit from the contest of growth versus no growth and the economy versus the environment. Councilmember Cohen moved and Councilmember Miller seconded, to adopt the Resolution with the amendments to the last paragraph, as discussed. RESOLUTION NO. 10937— RESOLUTION ENDORSING THE DRAFT COMPACT FOR A SUSTAINABLE BAY AREA (P01-4) (as amended — last paragraph, 3) — change word "reservations" to "opposition" and delete words "to new development" after word "services".) SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 4 SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 5 AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Cohen, Heller, Miller and Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Phillips COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS: 10. a) Council Chamber Upgrade — File 12-2 x 9-1 Councilmember Heller reported that the City Council Chamber Upgrade Audio/Visual Committee met and responded favorably to some of the planned changes to be implemented in the Council Chamber. She indicated that the siting of the screens for audience viewing was not satisfactory and staff will explore the possibility of positioning these across the corners. Councilmember Heller noted other proposed modifications would include LCD Monitors at the City Council/Planning Commission positions and she had been promised a new chair. b) Library — File 9-3-61 Councilmember Heller reported on having attended a meeting concerning development of a conceptual design for the expansion of the downtown Library, and speaking with three excellent architectural firms. She indicated that it was a very nice morning and plans will be forthcoming in the next few months. c) Bucket of Mud Group — File 12-10 Councilmember Cohen reported that subsequent to Councilmembers Heller and Miller attending a meeting with the "Bucket of Mud Group" concerning issues in the San Rafael Canal, dredging, etc., he met with the Steering Committee of this group. He informed them that in order to pursue these issues, they should become involved in the General Plan update process, evaluate land use issues along the Canal to ascertain whether the undertaking of the last ten years has worked, and seek an opportunity to make suggestions on the process for proceeding. As a result, Councilmember Cohen announced that he, City Manager Gould and Linda Jackson, Principal Planner, would meet with a smaller group of the Steering Committee on Wednesday evening to discuss the potential of an assessment district for dredging the canal, and also for Councilmember Cohen and Ms. Jackson to provide more insight into the General Plan update process and how they might become involved in the discussion of land use along the San Rafael Canal. Councilmember Heller agreed that this would be advantageous in bringing the group up to date as neither she nor Councilmember Miller could help them with regard to what the General Plan stated, and the City did, thirty years ago. Councilmember Miller stated he was pleased with the positive results of that meeting in that the group found an avenue to become part of the General Plan process and was serious concerning partnership with the City in terms of evaluating continual funding for canal dredging. Mayor Boro reported that an article in the Sunday, October 14, 2001 issue of the Marin Independent Journal discussed a $975 per year parcel tax in Tiburon for dredging purposes. This, he stated, indicates the presence of a working model in Marin County, which could be shared with residents. d) New Postmaster — File 9-15 Mayor Boro announced that the swearing-in of a new Postmaster takes place on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 at 10:30 a.m., and as he would be unable to be present, requested that a Council representative attend, or alternatively, a staff member. He believed that with the tenuous mail service in San Rafael, a good rapport with the Post Office is important. Mayor Boro stated he intends to meet Mr. Howard White, new Postmaster, independent of the swearing-in. Councilmember Cohen indicated he could possibly attend; however, he suggested having a staff member available as a backup. City Manager Gould indicated he would be available if needed. There being no further business, Mayor Boro adjourned the City Council Meeting at 8:30 p.m. JEANNE M. LEONCINI, City Clerk APPROVED THIS DAY OF .2001 MAYOR OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL SRCC Minutes (Regular) 10/15/2001 Page 5